A large block of our day is devoted to reading. These activities are integrated through-out our day and are included as part of our math work and even with our science and social studies lessons.
Our actual reading lessons usually occur in the morning. We talk about what Reading Workshop looks like and sounds like. This includes private reading as well as partner reading.
Reading Workshop looks like the readers quickly picking a book and doing a picture walk. It looks like children having their eyes on their books and their fingers pointing to the words looking to match words with the pictures. Reading Workshop looks like the readers sitting and turning pages carefully and focusing on their stories. It looks like lips moving as readers enjoy their books.
Reading Workshop sounds like students quietly turning books pages and using soft whisper voices to read or tell the stories. It sounds like children making the letter sounds as they work on figuring out new words. It sounds like a low hum with readers busy with their books.
Monday is Book Shopping day. Children select five books from a basket of "just right" books (those books that are on their reading level.) They place their five chosen books into a large zip lock baggie and go off the to a quiet reading spot to explore their new books privately. During the week the children continue to read their five books, sometimes privately, sometimes with a classmate or with a second-grade buddy reading student, and sometimes with a teacher. The books are read on many different levels from examining and talking about the pictures, to storytelling, to actual or memorized reading. We can think about what might happen next after the book ends and how the story could be extended. Towards the end of the week, the children enjoy teaching each other to read their books.
Most importantly we are fostering a love of reading; an opportunity to connect with characters, their actions, their locations, and the joy of their stories.
