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About
This Video Clip
"I
am excited. The kids are excited. I see what they've done
and what they can do. I think it's important that we expect
the best from these kids
and that [our] expectations
are high because they can do it."
Flora Tyler
Picacho Middle School
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Flora
Tyler says her classroom design is strongly influenced by
the reading and writing workshop model described by Nanci
Atwell in her first edition of In the Middle: Writing,
Reading, and Learning With Adolescents (1987). The theory
underpinning this model centers on the importance of students
learning to make informed choices about what they read and
what they write, and taking charge for both the planning and
execution of their work in both areas. The role of the teacher
is to suggest, guide, offer individual instruction through
targeted mini-lessons, and keep track of student performances
and progress. In addition, the teacher ensures that students
have adequate time for silent, independent reading; reading
is the central activity of the literature program.
View this video==>

Although
a reading workshop may seem disorderly to outsiders, clear
rules govern its operation. Typically the period begins with
a mini-lesson. After that, students must read (a book
no magazines or comics are allowed) for the entire period
(they cannot do homework or work for other classes). They
must have a book and be ready to read when the bell rings,
and they may not disturb others. In addition, they are expected
to offer written responses to their reading, either to the
teacher or to other students.
In
Ms. Tyler's class, we see a teacher working with 20 students
who come to class with a wide range of educational experiences
as well as diverse abilities. Students are taught how to locate,
choose and read texts appropriate to their reading levels
and areas of interest independetly. They then learn ways to
share share those readings with others. Clearly, the organizational
structures and their skillful implementation
in such workshops provide the glue that holds the classroom
together. Students have to be clear about their short- and
long-term obligations and be willing to accept individual
responsibility for meeting them. Teachers have to come to
such workshops with a wide range of knowledge about both young
adult literature and adolescent psychology. In addition, such
workshop settings demand that both teachers and students are
tolerant and accepting of occasional deadends as well as an
atmosphere of creative commotion.
Both
the online and print materials connected with this video will
focus on the reading workshop, although it should be understood
by viewers that within the classroom, reading and writing
are integrated, and that the instruction in each workshop
is grounded in the same theory.
For
resources that can help you use this clip for teacher professional
development, preservice education, administrative and English/language
arts content meetings, parent conferences, and back-to-school
events, visit our Support
Materials page. There you will find PDF files of our library
guide, classroom lesson plan, student activity sheets, and
other Teacher Tools.
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