Envisioning Reader's Workshop & Role of Mini-Lessons

It's no surprise that reading is an extremely important aspect of elementary classrooms. I see reader's workshop as a way to ensure that reading and writing is being continually practiced and encouraged. Reader's workshop can start off with a mini-lesson, then move to independent practice, and progress further to one-on-one conferences with each student. Here's a general breakdown.

• Mini-Lesson

-Statement of Explicit Goal(s)

-Modeling

-Guided Practice

• Independent Practice:

- Students practice what they learned in the mini-lesson

- They read, think, and journal in their reader's notebook

• One-On-One Conferences:

-Teacher assesses individual student progress

-Listens to them read, has them think aloud, asks them questions, etc.

-Assigns and records appropriate learning goals for each student.

So that's the mini-lesson and reader's workshop in a nutshell. But I'm sure you want to hear about this in more detail! This is how I envision reader's workshop ~~~


The teacher calls her students to the reading rug and models the explicit goal(s) he or she has set for the particular day. For example, a goal may be to focus on making predictions while reading. The teacher can model this by reading a few pages of a story to the class and thinking out loud as she shows how she forms predictions from reading. The teacher can model how to make predictions about characters.

For example, she can say, "The boy in this story says he is going to the pet store to buy a bone and leash for Max. Even though we aren't told exactly who Max is, I can predict that Max is a dog because dogs chew on bones and need leashes for a walk. Also, Max is a common name for a dog." The students' observation of the teacher thinking aloud will teach them how to form their own predictions. 

 

She can also model how to make predictions about story plot. For example, she can say, "I predict that Max is sick because he doesn't want his bone and won't go for a walk. Dogs always like these things so something may be wrong. I predict that the boy will take Max to the vet so they can figure out if Max is feeling okay." These predictions are engaging for students because as they continue to read they can record whether or not their predictions were correct. It makes the students more connected to the story and is interactive.
The teacher can model this by saying, "Now that I turn the page, I see my prediction was wrong because it turns out the reason Max didn't want his bone or to go for a walk was because he was a new puppy and was in an unfamiliar environment. He's a little afraid and still trying to adjust."

 

The next step of the mini-lesson would be guided practice where the teacher asks for student participation after having observed the modeling. She may say, "What do you predict will happen when the boy's mom comes home and sees Max's muddy paw prints on the carpet?"… "Yes! She might be mad. What clues helped you to make your prediction she will be mad?" The guided practice reinforces the modeling and prepares the students for the next step: Independent practice!

 

 

Independent practice is where the students get the chance to go back to their seats and practice what they have just learned in the mini-lesson. They can record their predictions and the outcomes in their reader's notebook as they go along.  At this time every student should be focusing.