You asked about where I fit my read aloud into my day as well as word study concepts like vocabulary, synonyms, prefixes, dictionary skills, etc. Read aloud and word study are not part of my one hour reading workshop block. They are often connected to it in terms of the strategies I model in the book I read aloud or the word study concepts I am teaching, but they are not squeezed into the one hour block. Here is what a typical morning looks like in my classroom.
8:45-9:10 Morning Work (usually realted to grammar)
9:10-10:10 Reading Workshop
10:10-10:40 Special (gym, music, Media,or Art)
10:40-11:25 Writing Workshop
11:25-11:50 Word Study
11:50-12:10 Read Aloud
In terms of your unmotivated readers, there will always be those students who are less interested in reading. However, I have found that when they are truly reading books (of their own choosing) at their independent reading level, they are much more capable of sustaining their reading over a longer period of time. I have made sure that my classroom library is equipped to satisfy the interests and the reading levels of my lower readers so that they are not constantly trying to read books that are too challenging for them.
Thanks for your posts! I hope my ideas are helpful, even in your seemingly difficult situation.
Hi Lee Ann,
You asked about where I fit my read aloud into my day as well as word study concepts like vocabulary, synonyms, prefixes, dictionary skills, etc. Read aloud and word study are not part of my one hour reading workshop block. They are often connected to it in terms of the strategies I model in the book I read aloud or the word study concepts I am teaching, but they are not squeezed into the one hour block. Here is what a typical morning looks like in my classroom.
8:45-9:10 Morning Work (usually realted to grammar)
9:10-10:10 Reading Workshop
10:10-10:40 Special (gym, music, Media,or Art)
10:40-11:25 Writing Workshop
11:25-11:50 Word Study
11:50-12:10 Read Aloud
In terms of your unmotivated readers, there will always be those students who are less interested in reading. However, I have found that when they are truly reading books (of their own choosing) at their independent reading level, they are much more capable of sustaining their reading over a longer period of time. I have made sure that my classroom library is equipped to satisfy the interests and the reading levels of my lower readers so that they are not constantly trying to read books that are too challenging for them.
Thanks for your posts! I hope my ideas are helpful, even in your seemingly difficult situation.
-Beth