The block of time for Reading Workshop consists of whole-group instruction, small-group instruction, and independent reading.

Here are some additional resources specifically useful as extension strategies during the Reading Workshop block.

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

Carousel Graffiti

Groups of students respond to content-related question prompts introducing a topic on stations around the room in a sequential manner. Post questions on chart paper and have the students write responses on the chart like graffiti artists with different types of media.

Word Splash

Key content-related word is written on board for students to spontaneously add words/phrases associated with the topic.

SUMMARIZING

ABC Summarizing

List letters of the alphabet vertically and ask students to write a word, phrase of sentence beginning with that letter of the word that is related to the topic.

3-2-1

Have students individually or in groups write three things they consider important to remember from what they have read; two things they will find out more about; and one thing they will do a project on.

Ticket to Leave

Have students provide a brief written summary of what they have read just prior to the end of the lesson.

VISUALIZING

Visual Inferencing

Students review the definition of inference and discuss how they make inferences from their books. Then, the teacher plays a video without words for the students and asks what the students think is happening based on what they see. This helps students understand how to use evidence and their schema to determine what is happening. In addition, it present that some inferences can change over time. This strategy will help students to transfer making inferences from a movie to a text to help them comprehend better. At the end of this video, the teacher has students read their books and place a sticky note on the page when they make an inference. This will help the teacher to determine if each student understands how to make a correct inference with a text.

Use Descriptive Books

Use The Very Blue Thingamajig by Narelle Oliver. This book is excellent for teaching about visualizing because of the rich descriptive text about the physical characteristics of the very blue thingamajig. Read the story without showing the pictures as the children draw the images you describe through text. Share their pictures and see their wonder and joy as they reveal their artwork.

SYNTHESIZING

Synthesis Fold-a-Fans

Model how to fold a piece of paper, accordion style, so that it has 4–5 sections and forms a fan. Then provide each student with a piece of paper, inviting them to create their own fold-a-fan. Explain that you will be using the fans to track how a reader’s thinking can change from the beginning of a story to the end.

Begin reading. After reading the beginning of a story, work with students to write their thoughts about a character, the plot, or another topic from the text in the first section of the fan. As you read the story, stop periodically, to fill in fan with new thoughts or information. At the end of the lesson, use the final section of the fan to write down how their thoughts changed by the end of the story. Write an Ever-Changing Book Review.

Try a Brain Squeeze

Collect three pieces of paper each with a large thought bubble. Each thought bubble should be labeled 1, 2, and 3. Start by previewing the text. Identify the topic. Then ask students to “squeeze” their brains to let out all the information they know, or think they know about the topic. Record all their information inside of the first thought bubble.

Begin to read the text. When you have read approximately half of the text, tell the students it’s time to “squeeze” their brains again. Write the new information inside of the second thought bubble.

Last, finish reading the book. Then invite students to “squeeze” their brains one final time. Record the information inside of the third thought bubble.

MONITORING

Monitor Chart

The most important thing to do while reading is to think and react. Are you really reading if you’re not thinking? Use a chart with 4 columns: reminds me of, I wonder, I think, I feel. Use Post-it notes to respond to the text under each column. For beginning readers use pictures for older readers write responses. This activity has students making connections, asking questions, making inferences to encourage them to try these out themselves. The chart also includes “having feelings” – which might be considered both making connections and making inferences. This helps children recognize that their emotional reactions are as important as their cognitive ones.

Fix-it Strategies

• Re-read. This is one that most readers want to skip. “I’ll just keep on reading and she’ll never notice I misread that,” is what a lot of young readers tend to think. But re-reading helps readers to clarify their thoughts or go back and re-read something that was misread to find the mistake and fix it.
• Read out loud. Sometimes it just helps to hear yourself read out loud.
• Use context clues. What clues does the picture or sentence(s) surrounding the unknown word offer to help you comprehend? Using context clues can help readers figure out how to decode words or figure out a word’s meaning. As readers advance, context clues are typically used to figure out how to read words with more than one pronunciation (such as tear or live) or words with more than one meaning (such as run).
• Look up a word you don’t know. When using context clues still doesn’t help, readers may need to look up the meaning of a word. Words can most certainly be researched on the computer, tablets, or phones (supervised for kids), but we don’t want to neglect the dictionary. Most readers do not even know how to use a dictionary. Yes, they might be able to look up the word they need, but they also need to be taught how the dictionary lists words by base or root so they can find the definition quickly.
• Ask questions. Questions such as, “Where did my thinking get off?”, “Does that make sense?”, “What will happen next?” or “What does that word mean?” are quite helpful to the reader.
• Think about what you’ve already read.
  Is what you’re now reading fit into the story or purpose of the text?
• Make connections. Making connections is at the heart of reading comprehension strategies. Readers want to be able to use what they know so it can be connected with what they’re reading. When text doesn’t make sense, good readers may try to make a meaningful connection to make sense of it.
• Slow down. Struggling readers often hope to zoom right past problems so that no one can draw attention to their mistake. They may also want to just get the reading assignment “done.” Slowing down is the last thing they want to do.
• Think about the author’s purpose. The author’s purpose for writing dictates the structure they use, the vocabulary they use, and the text features they use. While a reader may be reading the find out more information about a subject, he may discover quickly that the author’s purpose isn’t to share all the arguments, but to persuade the reader only to one side.
• Pay attention to your own thinking (metacognition). This may the umbrella that covers all the other fix-up strategies: Proficient readers pay attention to and heed the warnings of the thoughts in their head. When a prediction they make does not pan out as they read, they stop and make new predictions. We must teach readers to think about and be aware of the thoughts in their head as they read.

INFERRING

Move to Infer

Write up a set of movement cards (e.g. a cat stalking). Students choose a card and dramatize the movement. Students infer what is acted out. Students must share what helped them make their inference.

Reading Between the Lines

Teacher takes an enlarged section of text. Read text aloud pausing to ask, “So what is really going on?” (inference). Teacher models finding clues in the text to support thinking. Demonstrate how prior knowledge helps to make inferences. Continue reading and making inferences. Prompts can include:

• Why do you think that happened?
• I wonder…
• What is really going on?
• What evidence does the author provide to support…?
• What clues did the author give that led to your conclusion?
• What is the story beneath the story?
• How do you know that?
• How do you think the character feels?
• How do you combine the clues in the paragraph with what you already know to draw a conclusion?

QUESTIONING

Four types of questions are examined in the QAR:

1. Right There Questions: Literal questions whose answers can be found in the text. Often the words used in the question are the same words found in the text.
2. Think and Search Questions: Answers are gathered from several parts of the text and put together to make meaning.
3. Author and You: These questions are based on information provided in the text, but the student is required to relate it to their own experience. Although the answer does not lie directly in the text, the student must have read it in order to answer the question.
4. On My Own: These questions do not require the student to have read the passage, but he/she must use their background or prior knowledge to answer the question.

Depth of Knowledge Question Stems

DOK 1

• Can you recall______?
• When did ____ happen?
• Who was ____?
• How can you recognize____?
• What is____?
• How can you find the meaning of____?
• Can you recall____?
• Can you select____?
• How would you write___?
• What might you include on a list about___?
• Who discovered___?
• What is the formula for___?
• Can you identify___?
• How would you describe___?

DOK 2

• Can you explain how ____ affected ____?
• How would you apply what you learned to develop ____?
• How would you compare ____? Contrast_____?
• How would you classify____?
• How are____alike? Different?
• How would you classify the type of____?
• What can you say about____?
• How would you summarize____?
• How would you summarize___?
• What steps are needed to edit___?
• When would you use an outline to ___?
• How would you estimate___?
• How could you organize___?
• What would you use to classify___?
• What do you notice about___?

DOK 3

• How is ____ related to ____?
• What conclusions can you draw _____?
• How would you adapt____to create a different____?
• How would you test____?
• Can you predict the outcome if____?
• What is the best answer? Why?
• What conclusion can be drawn from these three texts?
• What is your interpretation of this text? Support your rationale.
• How would you describe the sequence of____?
• What facts would you select to support____?
• Can you elaborate on the reason____?
• What would happen if___?
• Can you formulate a theory for___?
• How would you test___?
• Can you elaborate on the reason___?

DOK 4

• Write a thesis, drawing conclusions from multiple sources.
• Design and conduct an experiment. Gather information to develop alternative explanations for the results of an experiment.
• Write a research paper on a topic.
• Apply information from one text to another text to develop a persuasive argument.
• What information can you gather to support your idea about___?

FLUENCY

Timed Pair Reading

Partner students and have each take turns reading the same passage aloud to each other for one minute. Each in turn marks where he/she stops. They repeat the same reading three times, each taking turns (each time they read they will cover more words in their reading).

Repeated Readings

Repeated readings help students recognize high-frequency words more easily, thereby strengthening their ease of reading. Have students practice reading by rereading short passages aloud to promote fluency. Chose a short poem and project it on the board. Read the poem aloud several times while your students listen and follow along. Take a moment to discuss your reading behaviors such as phrasing (i.e. the ability to read several words together in one breath), rate (the speed at which we read), and intonation (the emphasis we give to particular words or phrases). Students to engage in an “echo reading,” in which you read a line and all the students repeat the line back to you. Following the echo reading, have students read the entire poem together as a “choral read.”