Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary - Chapter 13 Reading Aloud

A Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary Grades by Lucy Calkins
        *This review includes content from the chapter and content from the discussion

Our last Primary Book Study session was led by 2nd grade teacher Christy Constande.  What a perfect choice to lead a session about Read-alouds!  Christy is a lover of books and exemplifies the type of teacher that Lucy Calkins writes about. This beautiful poster above is taken from Christy's Chets Creek Teacher of the Year celebration.  She was also a finalist for the Duval County Teacher of the Year.

 BIG ideas in Chapter 13

Reading Aloud



"Together with our children - we gulp down stories..."

"Read to them. Take their breath away."





Choosing texts - choose carefully to read aloud several times a day

Use the read-aloud to teach the skills of proficient reading -  20 minutes, several days a week is specified read-aloud time

• Choose the skills to teach - spy on yourself as you read and select the sequence of skills to teach

Reading aloud across the curriculum - read fiction and nonfiction

Making read-alouds more interactive

• Use your hands, eyes, posture, voices and heart
• Let the students take the wheel -"stop and think" and then leave a pool of silence or "turn and talk," "stop and jot,"  "stop and sketch," "stop and retell."
• Some day "be quiet" and "don't talk the experience to death."

Supporting a whole-class conversation

• At Chets Creek, we call this accountable talk  where the students talk to each other without raising their hands and  without the teacher facilitating the entire conversation                                                                                                            

Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary - Chapter 11 Word Study

A Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary Grades by Lucy Calkins
        *This review includes content from the chapter and content from the discussion

This session was led by Kindergarten teacher Maria Mallon
who often teaches our demo lesson for Skills Block.
Our Book Study might not be exactly like sitting with Lucy Calkins (above),
but we get as close as we can!

BIG ideas in Chapter 11

Word Study

What, when and where

• Word Study includes phonemic awareness, letter-sound work, spelling patterns, high-frequency words, strategies for solving words, and vocabulary.  At CCE word study is used included in Skills Block which is a 30-minute block (Calkins suggest a 20-minute block) in addition to the one hour Reading and Writing Workshops.  In first grade we also include hand writing.
• At CCE Skills Block teaches the skills in isolation and then those skills are reinforced in context during the Reading and Writing Workshop.

Assessment



Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

can be assessed informally by caring a checklist on a clipboard and only  needs to be formally assessed if the student is having trouble 
Sequence: rhyming, syllables, phonemic isolations and identity, blending and segmenting, phoneme manipulation
At CCE many Kindergarten teachers use the Nursery Rhyme unit to reinforce these skills and to give extra practice in phonological awareness at the beginning of the year.  This can also be small group work.    

Letter-Sound Knowledge

• can be assessed informally with a checklist on a clipboard and only needs to be formally assessed if student is having trouble
• assess students having difficulty by asking them to name the letters and sounds

High-frequency Words

• assess a month or two into school
• check TCRWP website for resources

Word Study in Kindergarten

• Word study will be longer at the beginning of the year and then shorter towards the end
• The first six weeks word study includes name study and letter-sound identification daily, the second six weeks high frequency words are added and name study completed, and from then on phonics three days a week and and high-frequency words two days a week.    
• Name Study -Begin with Patricia Cunningham's "Star Name" (This looks familiar to CCE teachers since it was taken directly from Teachers' College)  
• Shared Reading - Put names into shared reading poems and rhymes 
• Interactive Writing - Use names such as drawing picture of what the star student likes to do
• Writing Workshop -  Use the name chart for students to write friends' names and also for thinking about words that start with the names
• Phonics: Letters and Sounds - Includes letters, sounds and spelling patterns  - start with consonants, the ones found is student names - first teach continuant sounds (/m/, /s/...) and then stop sounds (/b/, /t/...) -  teach one letter/sound a say, about three a week but continue exposure to entire alphabet
• Interactive Writing - use the tools created in Word Study as strategies for writing new words
• Writing Workshop -use these same tools created in Word Study as strategies for writing new words
• High-frequency Words - teach 2-3 each week - choose one or two letter words to start and words that look different - use Marie Clay's "three ways to remember" (visual - looking at the word and features, movement - write the word or make it with play doh, magnetic letters, etc. and use their voice by saying the letters of the word) - use the word in context
• Interactive Writing - introduce words like I and see immediately in predictable charts Writing Workshop     
• Writing Workshop - students write their own predictable/pattern books with high-frequency words   
• Spelling Patterns - "Making Words" combines approaches and could be used twice a week (to manage the letters for this approach many teachers at CCE have students do this whole group with a white board with only a smaller group -Tier 2- manipulating with magnetic letters )
• Interactive Writing - Display charts such as alphabet ,name and short vowel chart for students to use in writing

Assessing Word Knowledge in First and Second Grade

• Phonics -
• use a Formal Spelling Inventory (such as the one in Words Their Way - children who miss a concept one of two times will need review but who miss the concept three or more times with need explicit instruction- this is how small groups are pulled for differentiation
• samples from writing also provide information
• Running Records provide valuable insights - pay attention to visual errors
• High-frequency Words - check TCRWP website

Word Study Instruction in First and Second Grade - one phonics concept a week and extend to a second week if needed - engage with spelling patterns first cvc followed by CVCe and CVVC or vowel teams and last ambiguous vowel patterns

• Phonics
• sorts for spelling patterns, both closed (teacher provides the parameters) and open (inquiry based) - if sorting by sound, provide pictures but if sorting visually, provide word cards
• "Guess the Covered Word" by Cunningham
• Interactive writing - After working on words in isolation (above) use the words in context- one variation is interactive editing with Game On!
• Writing Workshop - Put a number at the top of the page and play Game On! to transfer what is going on in Interactive writing to individual work
• High-frequency words - beginning with three words a week and building to five - check words in writing because they have learned the word when they use it correctly in writing
• Snowball and Bolton's "look-say-spell-cover-check" - Do each word three times for each word using white boards
• Practice finding the words in their writing

Vocabulary - Vocabulary is casually mentioned in this chapter but CCE teachers teach it explicitly using a curriculum written in house to go with the Kindergarten "Star Books" and using Text Talk for first and second during their Skills Block time