Reader's Workshop

I love reader's workshop!! Like I said in an earlier post, I've tried the Daily 5 for a few years and in a few grade levels, but just plain ol' reader's workshop is for this girl! Like any workshop model, we begin our day with a mini lesson on the rug. We have two rules: (1) I teach them something new and (2) the kids learn. I know, kinda cheesy, but when I ask, "What's your job today?", they all respond with "to learn!". Music to my ears : )

So then comes the fun part... I posted earlier about how I do individual conferences, so I thought I would let you all know what the rest of the kids do. Each kiddo has a reading binder that keeps everything in it, literally. We have tabs set up and everything. That's a whole other post in itself! Two of the sections are Reading logs and Reading Response. When they start a new book, they write it down on their reading log and graph it on the Genre graph. Both of these I stole borrowed from Beth Newingham; she's so awesome! In the Reading Response section, readers can write down their thoughts on stickies and keep them using the sticky note keeper, or on a response page.

The rest of the time is devoted to...you guessed it, reading! That's why I love this so much; how can we expect our students to grow as readers if we don't give them enough time to read?  I have carpet squares and rugs that my students can take to where they want to read. But, some still just choose to stay at their desks to read.

What do you do for reader's workshop? How do you have your kiddos pick where they sit? Leave a comment below!

Happy teaching! : )