Reading Workshops

This is a new trend sweeping English classrooms nation-wide.  We know that the most effective way to improve our students' reading scores is to let them READ!  With this in mind, many teacher have realized that the best way to help their students is by letting them read what they want, how they want, and be only a silent guide---the idea is to give your students the time they crave to READ!  This is a drastic change to the classroom, but, as Nancie Atwell writes in her book The Reading Zone, “For students of every ability and background, it’s the simple, miraculous act of reading a good book that turns them into readers, because even for the least experienced, most reluctant reader, it’s the one good book that changes everything.  The job of adults who care about reading is to move heaven earth to put that book into a child’s hands” (28). 

So... you want your students to read, to love literature as much as you do?  This is the best way to help your students become engaged and literary.  Here are some suggestions Atwell has for teachers who are ready to turn their classroom instruction into a reading workshop.

How to Turn Your Class into the Reading Zone

(What works, according to the kids...)

1. Book Talks and mini-lessons
2. A big, diverse classroom library with regular new additions
3. Quiet, daily, in-class time to read
4. Individuals’ free choice of books, authors, and genres
5. Recommendations of books from friends and the teacher and a special bookshelf for kids’ favorites.
6. Comfort during in-class reading time
7. Students’ letters to the teacher and friends about their reading
8. Individuals’ conversations with the teacher about their reading
9. Individuals’ lists of the books they want to read someday
10. Homework reading of at least half an hour every night

RULES FOR READING WORKSHOP

1. You must read a book.  Magazines and newspapers don’t help develop fluency, and more   

     importantly, will not help you discover who you are as a reader.

2. Don’t read a book you don’t like.  Don’t waste time!

3.  If you don’t like your book, find another.

4.  It’s more than all right to reread a book that you love.  It’s something good readers do all the time.

5.  It’s okay to skim or skip parts of a book if you get bored or stuck.

6.  Record the title of every book you read or abandon.  Record it’s genre, title, author, date you

     started reading, and your rating (1-10). 

7.  Understand that reading is thinking.  Try to do nothing to distract others who are trying to read. 

8.  Take care of our books!  Sign out each book you borrow and return it when you have finished.

9.  Read the whole time.

10. Read as much as you can.

Not quite ready to convert your entire classroom into a workshop?  Check out Reading in the Classroom for more suggestions!