About Reader's Workshop
Reading is taught using the Reader’s Workshop model at Janney . The purpose of Reader’s Workshop is to give students tools for selecting and comprehending literature and to foster their independence as readers.
Reader’s Workshop emphasizes the interaction between readers and text. Students learn to ask questions, make connections with prior knowledge and previously read texts, and clarify faulty comprehension. Explicit instruction in reading strategies is integrated with opportunities for students to practice each strategy independently, with a peer, and in small groups.
In fourth grade we emphasize critical thinking skills: questioning, making inferences, and evaluating what we read and hear. We continue to develop the students’ reading comprehension through the use of active reading strategies. Our curriculum for the year is aligned to the fourth grade Common Core Standards for Reading.
A typical Reading Workshop Lesson Includes:
- A mini-lesson where students are taught a new strategy or skill.
- Independent reading time, where students read their just-right book and practice the new skill they have just learned. Students use all of the skills in their “reading toolbox” to read, jot, and respond to literature by writing their thoughts about what they are reading. They might also be working on personal reading goals during this time.
- Student-teacher reading conferences to discuss individual reading, to set goals, and learn new skills.
- Small strategy and skill groups, in which students work with a teacher and peers to practice or learn a new skill.
- Share, in which students share with partners and classmates what they have learned and practiced during the lesson.
Units of Study in Fourth Grade Reading
Launching the Reader’s Workshop
Character Study in Fiction
Informational Texts (two units)
Traditional Literature (with a focus on myths)
Short Texts (fiction and nonfiction)
Historical Fiction Book Clubs
Homework
Students are expected to read 30 minutes each evening in a Just-Right Book, and log their reading. For more information on identifying just-right books, click the button below.
Projects in Reader's Workshop
During November and December, all fourth grade students engage in an informational research project on a topic of their choice. Through this project, they will learn key fourth grade skills, including determining main idea and details, summarizing a text, and taking organized notes on a text.