Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary - Chapter 4 Knowledge of Reading Development

A Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary Grades by Lucy Calkins

BIG ideas in Chapter 4

A Knowledge of Reading Development Can Power Your Teaching

1. Emergent storybook reading

• research of Elizabeth Sulzby gives 4 major levels to support
• develop concepts of print
• do the work of phonemic awareness before conventional reading 

2. Work of A/B books

• work at this level is about meaning
• should recognize 12-20 high frequency words, one-to-one matching
• do not hold students at this level, 2-4 weeks is appropriate

3. Work of C/D books

• introduction of visual clue (phonics)
• integration of M(meaning) S(syntax) V(visual)
• transition to book language, introduction of said and prepositional phrases
• addition of consonant blend and digraphs
• continuous teaching of high frequency words
• stop and think about the story

4. Work of E/F books

• stories with clear beginning, middle, end
• commas and questions introduced
• compound words and inflectional endings are introduced
• not ready to skip a word and read on and need better problem solving (M+V-looks at first group of letters and then next group) to stamp out "first letter guessers"

5. Work of G/H/I books

• monitoring for self-regulation
• more episodes (longer books, chapter books) requiring synthesis to retell
• full range of phonics
• multi-syllabic words (chunk and blend)
• addition of Tier II words

6. Work of J/K/L/M books

• longer, chapter books with illustrations disappearing
• greater variety of genres
• more character work
• figurative language

Channeling Lucy!

Try this activity to see how well you know the levels:

How well do you know the text levels?

Place the level or levels  (A-M) by each skill or strategy that you would want to see the student using consistently at that level. 

	1. Retells and summarizes, making inferences, and commenting on story events
	2. Matches spoken words to printed words.
	3. Uses parts from known words to read unknown words.
	4. Envision the story to compensate for low picture support.
	5. Solve difficult words with relative ease.
	6. Moves from left to right when reading.
	7. Word solve with control and independence at the point of error.
	8. Makes a return sweep.
	9. Begins to monitor, cross-checking and self-correcting at the point of error.
	10. Begins to integrate sources of information: making sure it makes sense, sounds right, and looks right (Meaning, Syntax, Visual).
	11. Independently integrates all sources of information during reading.
	12. Thinks about more abstract themes and universal themes.

Next assignment:  1-7-15

Chapter 6 "Tracking Kids' Progress and Using Assessment to Support Instruction"