RApp: TCRWP Reading Day One with Lindsey Wilkes~ June 2015

This blogpost is from my small group session with the amazing Lindsey Wilkes. I had so much fun with her and her enthusiasm is contagious!

Charts in the Room

She has a map for the reading spots in the classroom. This is such a great idea for teaching mapping skills.

Below is an example of the folders Lindsey uses in her classroom. This is the inside left hand side. All the books are placed there at the beginning of reading workshop. This helps the children begin to make a plan. Some directions you can give are: start with your favorite book, your newest book, the easiest book. etc. if you feel they are beginning with the same book every day.

As the children complete a book, they place it on the right side of the folder as seen below. This is an early example of a reading log. It helps the children keep track of how many books they've read.

We don't want children to write much at these levels. We want quality over quantity... or children do not want to read. Children that read on a Level M would only need to write like 2 titles a week, while those reading on a Level D, would have to write tons a day! Not fair! You want them to read during reading workshop... not write titles!

The front of the folder looks like this...

The children really need to know what a habit is- Lindsey teaches her children that a habit is something you do all by yourself... a teacher doesn't have to remind you.

A sticky note with each goal the child is working on goes on the "I'm Practicing This Strategy" side. After the strategy is made a habit, the sticky note goes on the "I Made it a Habit" side.

The stars along the right side help with shopping for book levels. Simply use a vis-a-vis and mark how many of each level they need in their folder.

Reading workshop is composed not just of children reading but a compilation of Balanced Literacy. It is also shared reading and read aloud. For shared reading, choose a text slightly above the level where most of the children are! You should begin with a warm-up (song, poem, chart, the daily schedule, etc) Make sure to tuck in some sight words and read and reread these!