Reader's Workshop and Mini-lessons

     I envision reader's workshop to be a daily block of time that students will silently and independently read. Students can anticipate this specific time everyday to relax from the set curriculum and indulge in their own personal books. I envision my reader's workshop to be a comfortable environment that nurtures student reading to the fullest. I plan to have comfortable spaces set up around the room such as pillows, and bean bag chairs for students to sit and read in. These "book nooks" will help to make Reader's Workshop something to look forward to each day. They will also help break up the monotony of sitting at a desk all day. I also plan to implement and model specific rules during reader's workshop such as: silent reading for 15 minutes, bathroom/ water breaks before or after and books will always be self-selected. Finally, I will implement a book-log for each student to track their reading. This log will serve as an easy way for me to assess each student and will also help students/ parents track their progress and accomplishments.
     Mini-lessons will play a role in how to teach my students to become effective readers. I will use mini-lessons to focus on one particular skill that I feel will benefit the entire class. These skills might include: looking for textual evidence to support a claim, using textual clues to help define an unknown word or tracking character development. These mini-lessons will provide support for students struggling to effectively and actively read. It will teach students skills to practice and apply independently during Reader's Workshop. These lessons will only be about 15-20 minutes.

How will you Create a Balanced Literacy Program?

For one, I must be conscious of the notion that all of my students are individual learners and therefore I should create lessons that cater to all learners. I will create balanced reading instruction that combines phonics instruction to whole-language which will accommodate to the individual learner. Phonics will be used as a base for comprehension and for literature-based expression. I will also implement a program where literacy is practiced in a variety of environments. Not only must literacy be practiced in the classroom, it should also be present at home and in the library. I will create a program that gets the parents involved with providing a balanced literacy program and invite frequent communication between the parent and teacher. I will balance literacy within my classroom through the use of structured literacy activities such as read alouds, guided reading, partner reading and independent reading. Research suggests that in order to create a literacy balanced classroom, teachers must implement a structured, uninterrupted time each day for reading. I will provide scaffolded instruction as well as several opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. Finally, I will find opportunities throughout my entire curriculum to implement reading and writing so the two are not restricted to just a specific time each day.

Create an autobiography about who you are as a reader and writer

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Describe a Memory from Language Arts

In reflecting upon my time in elementary school, I've certainly always loved language arts. One particular memory that I have of language arts is from the fifth grade. My teacher had a knack for making language arts exciting for us. Looking back now, she was very effective in applying language arts to the entire school day. She would assign us to work on “free-writes” during our language arts period. We then would proceed would share our stories. Several of us were so excited about the stories we had been working on we would share our stories every day and even bring them to our morning meetings for

“Show and Tell”. Our teacher made writing so exciting for us that when we had free time in the classroom, most of us would sit down and continue to write and develop our stories. Finally, this teacher also assigned us a journal. We were to get any type of journal, notebook or diary of our choosing and we were to write in it each night for ten minutes. We could write about anything that interested us, from a thrilling mysterious story to an acrostic poem. She would then collect the journals each morning, respond to them and hand them back to us for the next evening. This small assignment really helped our class to practice our literacy skills and become comfortable writing.

Design your Perfect Classroom

In consideration to designing the perfect classroom, there are several factors one must first consider. First, it is important to promote a literacy-enriching learning environment. By doing so, the students will be encouraged to read and write during free time.

            In order to create a literacy-enriched learning environment I plan to organize my classroom in such a way that my students don’t even realize that they are learning. I will space the classroom as such that each center is separated from the others using various furniture, hanging mobiles and shelves. Second, I will join organization and literacy together by creating labels. I will label each storage bin and other various classroom objects at eye-level. I will also target specific play centers for literacy enrichment. These centers may include The Library, The Kitchen or The Post Office. Each center will be provided with real-life manipulatives for the students to work with. These manipulatives may include envelopes or notepads. It is important to consider safety when providing students with real-life props. Objects such as paperclips, staplers and clipboards should only be used with adult supervision. Finally, it is important to consider the physical arrangement of each play center. The play centers that are literacy enriching will be focused away from centers that can be distracting and noisy.

By promoting a literacy-enriching environment for my students, they will be able to use their reading and writing skills more purposefully and in service of their play.