Do I have to read all the books in Reading workshop?

Reading workshop entails a great deal of things that teachers have to think about and apply in order to run an effecient workshop that will help lift students level of understanding and move them across Bands of Text complexity. However, we must also remember to build in a love for Reading. If we don´t establish that first the rest will not matter.

As a Reading Teacher who is truly invested in my job as a reading teacher, I am always studying, and investing in my craft. I become the go to to many colleagues and co workers. The one thing that is asked of me the most is: How do I confer with students and groups when they all are reading different level books? or Do I read every book students are reading to be able to help them level up? Especially since I moved to Middle school and told them it was possible to do Readers Workshop in MS instead of direct teach. So I decided to write a post to answer.

Here is a short answer to that. NO

However, what you need to make sure you do is understand what type of work is required at different levels of text as well as understanding the different genres characteristics students should pay attention to as they are reading. You have to reember that levels are for the teacher and not the students, Some teachers feel the need to level their whole library with Reading levels. However, research and many experts say that reading levels should be used for the purpose of planning to move kids to the next level, not to label kids. So yes, I would sort my books, but not label them all. Label some, and than use my previous blog to help you label the rest. How will you know the kids has chosen the right book? The easy answer to that is look it up. As I sort my library books, I also try to identify the levels of most, but it has become easier over time to look and determine their levels now. For those that are not able to do that do what I did in the beginning. I created a list of books and thier levels, I read the books provided below, and I spent time really working on setting up m library and understanding the Bands of Text Complexity.

So through my learning and studies, these books were offered as representative of the variousl text levels. What exactly will readers have to be able to do with these level of books?

FICTIONS

KLM--- Magic Treehouse

NOPQ-- James and the Giant Peach

RST--- Bridge to Terabithia

UVW--- The Lightening Thief

XYZ--- The Hunger Games

NONFICTION:

KLM- Sharks by Gail Gibbons

NOPQ- Shark attack by Cathy East

RST Sharks by Seymour Simon

UVW The Truth about Great white Sharks- by Cerullo

XYZ Shark Life Peter Benchley

So now you only have10 books you need to read. Read these and Pay attention to:

1. Genre and form

2. Text structure

3. Content

4. Themes and ideas

5. Language and literary features

6. Sentece complexity

7. Vocabulary

8. words

9. Illustrations

10 Book and print features

To understand and learn more about Bands of Text complexity, I highly recommend you read Jennifer Serravalloś Understanding Texts and Readers, , A Teachers Guide To Reading Conferences and Fountas and pinellé work. If you are working with UOS they have a break down of Text bands with these same title and other titles representative of the levels. You have to put in the work, If we truly want to inspire kids to read and move them across bands of text we need to be familiar with expectations in each band, read the books our kids will be reading, and become students of our craft.

What other questions do you have about running a Reading Workshop in Middle school?

Reading Matters

So you have your small groups, and now your ready to get reading rolling, but your noticing you have students that are not totally engaged or motivated to read. I have the perfect resources that will give you ideas on how to ramp up your reading instruction and get students actively involved.

Donalyn Miller is one of my favorite authors she has two great books I think every teacher should read:

The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild

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In Miller's books, she shares ideas on how to increase the volume that kids read and how to track their reading.  She shows you  how she to set up her  Reading workshop so it can be productive and inviting to students.  She provides ideas on how to introduce books to students, how to monitor student reading, how students can monitor their own reading as well as how to encourage the unenthusiastic reader to want to read. She talks of student choices and  inspires you to help students develop lifelong reading habits.


Another author that I truly enjoy reading is Jennifer Serravallo's,

In her book she provides information on how to develop strategic readers using mini lessons organized in this manner: Strategy, Teaching Tips, and Prompts. You can use the table of contents to go directly to the section/goal that you have set for your readers and, through several structured lessons, you model for students what they need to do to become strategic readers. It has lessons arranged by reading levels that make it a great tool to use for targeted or focused small group teaching.


Another book that I read every year is Reading with Meaning, depicted below.

Debbie Miller not only provides lessons and ideas on how to make the most out of Reading Workshop, she also provides Read Aloud titles to address the core reading skills that I feel readers should be able to use with any book they read: Determining importance, Inferring, Asking Questions, Synthesizing Information, and Visualizing, 

Last, but not least, Steven L. Layne's Igniting a Passion for Reading, which provides help to teachers in regards to motivating those hesitant readers or those that cringe at the mention of the word reading.  

Layne provides insight for teachers on how to tap into students interest, set goals, do book talks, and create an inviting reading environment within the classroom that will make students want to see what's in your class library.

These are just a few of the many books that I read year after year, to keep their ideas at the forefront of my planning and preparation for each school year. I am a lifelong reader of any and everything. So, up next, books that I gave book talks on to motivate my reluctant readers, and boy readers. Stay tuned!