In my current coaching cycle I am working in a 5th grade classroom. We
have put readers' workshop in place, and the teacher asked at the
beginning of the coaching cycle that we have flexible small group guided
reading going well by the end of the coaching cycle. So far, it's
working well for us, not to say that it's perfect. One of us
teaches/models the strategy lesson, then we practice it with a common
text (shared reading, with a wide variety of genre), similar to Goudvis
and Harvey's suggestions. So far we have taught using what we already
know to help us understand what we are reading today (which to me is the
intermediate version of making connections), and creating and using
images. After the shared reading the students read independently and we
do one or two groups. Today, one of the groups, level M, was reading a
nonfiction book about dolphins. Our goal in small group guided reading
is to see that the students actually practice the strategies taught.
The kids today used BOTH strategies, and were delighted with themselves
- used what they already knew to figure out what a "pod" was, what
"echolocation" meant, and "why the dolphin attacked the shark in his
gill area." They created an auditory/visual image of the dolphins using
their echolocation to find a school of mullet to eat, and what the sea
looked like as the dolphins threw the fish into the air, stunning them
when they landed back on the water, and then they ate the stunned fish.
The day before, the group in Level P were reading a nonfiction biography
of the inventor Elijah McCoy ("the real McCoy"). They used what they
had just studied in social studies about the Civil War to help them
understand why Mr. McCoy's parents went to Canada on the Underground
Railroad, and what they had learned about the political climate in our
country after the Civil War create a picture for themselves of what Mr.
McCoy's life must have been like when he returned from Scotland with a
degree in engineering. I find that flexible small group guided reading
can be very complimentary to strategies teaching, and a definite part of
Readers' Workshop - especially with struggling readers (which ours are)
in the intermediate grades. I too have worked with Ellin Keene and
Chris Tovani, and my learning from their workshops has been tremendously
helpful in working with small groups.
PJ
4,5,6 & Lit Coach
>>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 09/17/06 8:35 AM >>>
I could really use some input here!
My school has struggled to get out of the dark ages of reading for some
time. We finally made the big move to strategies about three years
ago. We even
had a big group of us go to a conference with Ellin, Debbie Miller,
etc.
summer before last. The problem is that our specialist (who did not go
to the
conference, but is the one who started strategies school wide) has not
really
followed up with enough training, follow through, etc., and many of the
teachers who should have been teaching strategies have not really been
doing it. I
just don't think that the teachers quite "get it" yet, and so they end
up
falling back on old ways. My incoming 5th graders this year didn't
even know
what schema is. Here is the problem. We have a new staff member who
was a
reading specialist at her old school. We were very excited about her
coming.
She has had lots of special training, etc. She is a teacher here.
Long
story short, even though I have not "heard" what she is expert in yet,
I now
strongly believe that she was doing guided reading in her old school.
Guided
reading seems like a totally different thing to me than Reading
workshop. It
is set up differently, the timing is different, etc. I only have a 110
minute block each day for Reading and Writing, and so where does that
leave time
for the truly independent reading that I want my readers doing each
day?
My fear is that because this is a strong personality coming in, who is
confident in what she has been doing, and because some grade levels are
struggling
with Reading Workshop, that we will cave in to yet another system. I
don't
want that. I have seen the format that we are doing work too well at
my
grade level, where we have actually been doing it, albeit imperfectly.
I was wondering if any, many, or a few of you have leveled groups
during
your independent reading time for Reading Workshop? Do the two mix,
and I'm
just not getting it? I'm feeling that what we really need here is more
support
in the school for strategy teaching in the reading workshop format.
Opinions?
Sherry
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