Reader's Worshop Lab

Last year, my district started using the Reader's Workshop model- officially.  My teaching partners and I had been using it for 2 years prior and LOVED it!  We have also been using the workshop model for writing.  If you are not familiar with workshop, it has a basic structure for every session and it caters to your students' needs by giving them the opportunity to read for an extended period of time and confer one-on-one with the teacher throughout.  This is what mine looks like:
Connection (to prior learning and a hook lead-in)
Mini-Lesson (10 minutes)

• New skill lesson
• Active engagement to practice skill
• Link to current work as a reader

Individual Reading time (20-30 minutes depending on stamina)

• Teacher confers with students individually or in small strategy groups (not guided reading)

Mid-workshop Teaching or Refocus (2 minutes)
Partnerships- ability matched (5-10 minutes)

• Read together
• Discuss books
• Retell or use current teaching point

Share (3 minutes)

• Teacher reiterates the lesson by using a student example of what "smart readers do", based on the mini-lesson

Although I've been teaching this way for a while, I'm new to first grade.  When our Literacy Coach offered me the opportunity to study another first grade teacher's RW three times this year, I jumped at the chance.  How cool, right?  Kate (Literacy Coach) was worried that I may not get as much out of the lab as the other teachers who have not been teaching or are new to workshop.  I am so glad she was wrong :)

The first thing I lovingly stole for my kiddos was the idea of a toolbox that readers use to keep their reading strategies in while they read.  She had the students make a paper with a toolbox drawing, then they added the clip art reminders of the strategies to figure out unknown words (as they were introduced in workshop).  Then, the papers were laminated to keep in the students' book bag.  Genius!  I was so inspired!  I recreated the toolbox and the tools for my own class to use.  It has been such a help.  Even though the strategies were on an anchor chart we created earlier, they had stopped looking at it!  Now, my students pull out their Strategy Toolboxes every day while they read.

Another awesome idea that I added to my workshop is the idea of a warm-up and cool down time.  She used the students' poetry notebooks for the warm-up (about 3 minutes) because they are all comfortable with the text and it has been practiced as a whole group.  At her signal, they switched to their "just right books" and a "challenge book" (instructional level) for the bulk of the reading time.  Near the end, she signaled for the cool-down (3 minutes), in which they were able to read a look-book or anything else in the bag.  This was so inspiring!  I put it in to use within the week.  It has made a huge difference in their stamina and they are up to 20-25 minutes solid reading.  (Don't get me wrong- I still have a handful that I keep a close eye on because they lose focus easily!)

I was so blessed by this teacher and her willingness to share her room with us for the hour!  We also had an opportunity to debrief with her and ask questions about her room and methods.  It was an action packed day of learning!  I can't wait until January for the next one :)

Name-plate nonsense (bucking the system)...

I am done.  My students no longer have name-plates on their tables.  Every time I turned around, I saw this:

Being the neat-freak that I am, it drives me nuts.  On the first day of school, it made sense- they needed to know where to sit.  Everyone needs a place to call home, right?  Here are 5 reasons why I ditched them and broke with tradition:

1. If they are taped down, I will immediately need to move a child.
2. If they are not taped down, some one is always bending or chewing on them.
3. They should know their name and how to spell it by now.
4. The fancy ones with tons of info serve as a crutch- they need to learn it and not rely on a chart for numbers and letters.
5. My students only sit in their assigned table seat for writer's workshop and some social studies & science activities.  They rest of the time, they are in pairs or alone around the room learning.  No one stays in the same spot for long!

I think it's my teaching style that has a big part in this, too.  We have community everything.  We share- tables, materials, ideas, learning, EVERYTHING. 

I'm not a fan of desks, either.  When I moved from kindergarten to first, I asked my custodian to track down tables for me.  I just couldn't imagine desks (clutter collectors) and huge name-plates taped to them.  It almost made me feel like the students would be locked into that location for all eternity.  I believe in movement in the classroom- physical and social.  I want my students to have multiple opportunities to work with and learn from different people throughout their day.  I think name-plates and desks  represent (in my warped mind) a statement that they are locked into certain people and experiences within the room.  This is NOT to say that there is no structure.  There is so much structure that they wouldn't notice if I left the room most of the time.  This freedom of movement came after a month of learning routines and expectations.

I guess because I am new to first, I will be questioning everything this year.  I read somewhere that "everything should be on purpose" when designing the classroom and planning the experiences for your students.  I just want to make sure that there is a reason for doing things, not just because "it's what you do".


 

Admitting you just aren't getting through....

This week, I struggled through teaching the concept of growing patterns.  I turned to my favorite math book (Kathy Richardson) for help.  On day 1, I modeled how a pattern can either repeat (which was beat into their brains until they cried- not really!) or it can grow and change.  I modeled a pattern and asked what they noticed was happening.  (insert crickets soundtrack here)  I'm not exaggerating.  Total blank looks staring at me.  I went back to looking at the pattern unit- Remember this from last year?  (more crickets)  Nada!  I owned it and simply said, "I think we will come back to this tomorrow and talk about pattern units."  No arguments, more crickets.  

***On a side note, there really are cricket sounds coming from the classroom next door- the nature girl has them in her room along with a tarantula (whom I have no plans to make nice with any time soon!).  

The next day, a fabulous guest teacher retaught the pattern unit concept.  When I returned, I came prepared with some models of growing patterns on construction paper (borrowed from Richardson's book).  I asked them again, "What changed each time?"  


Before the crickets could even begin, a sweet little hand popped up.  I had to do a double -take, because she was looking a her shoe the whole time I was talking.  Do I dare call on her?   I waited.  It was painful.  I called on her against all instinct..... by golly- she knew the answer.  The crickets began squeaking the Hallelujah Chorus!  Another hand went up on my next example, then more each time.  In the bliss of the moment, I paired them up to practice either recreating my examples or create their own. 

            

This activity is now in my Math Stations area for additional practice.  Following this lesson (and more practice the following day), we moved on to identifying and extending the growing pattern on paper.

One of the most important things I've learned over the year it to cut your losses and regroup- to seek out experts with a different way of thinking than you and give it a try.  I'm not naturally a "math person", but I try to find the best people to seek inspiration from when I'm in doubt.                                                                                                        

You an peek into more classrooms at: Clutter-Free Classroom

A Quiet Spot

We all know how crazy busy a day can be in first grade! This year, I tried something new... I created an oasis for my little ones when they need a break to regroup or just to take a breather from the action. Heck- I need it too some days! According to the Conscious Discipline method, "The safe place provides the opportunity for children to remove themselves from the group in order to become calm, regain composure and maintain control when upset, angry or frustrated. Children may come to the safe place in order to be helpful and not hurtful to themselves and others".


Although this area speaks to the design of my classroom, it was constructed with the child's heart in mind. I struggle with the notion of calling it a "safe place", implying that the rest of the school/classroom is not safe. At the start of the year, when I was introducing the methods of stress relief, the children named the spot "The Quiet Spot". It is NOT a time-out or any other form of punishment. It is a continuation of the idea that we need to take care of our hearts and physical needs in order to be efficient learners. Children must feel safe in order to learn at their personal best. Here are some photos of our "Quiet Spot".

This is in the back corner of the room, out of the flow of traffic.  I knew that it needed to be by the window so the child could look out onto the beautiful woods that surround us. I got the chair from Target. I liked the style because it seemed to "hug" you when you sit in it. 

The signs are downloaded from the CD site and were placed in the area after the method of stress release was taught in our morning meetings.  I also have a tin of fidgets and stress balls on the window sill.  The big leaf is from IKEA.