Why Workshop?

William chooses a book from his book box and sits quietly on the couch.  Caroline raises her hand to signal she'd like to read with a friend, and Nancy moves across the room to sit down at the computers, puts her earphones on and listens to a story online, and what did the teacher do??? Smiled as her students made independent choices for Reader's Workshop,  then slid over to a round table, opened her Pensieve Reader's Notebook, and got ready to meet with children.  No redirection, no managing aimless walkers, no drinks to the water fountain, no silliness in the corner.  Just work: true-focused-smart-self-directed work.

So Why Workshop? Our Fourth Grade Team for years has "taught" reading!  We read aloud, listened to students read, guided literature circles, created book extensions, taught strategies inspired by Stephanie Harvey and Fountis and Pinnell, and the list goes on and on...but as we reflect on those practices, we saw the gap between self-directed learning & discovery versus teacher talking and planning.  Students were needy during reading time: many not focused, interruptions made during small group instruction, and some students who needed constant "check-in" to make sure they were really reading! So how could we transform our ways to truly create an atmosphere that "buzzed" with exciting literature, listened more to students talking than ourselves, and guided students to be responsible for their own learning? The answer: Workshop.


What does WORKSHOP look like, sound like, feel like?
It is the persistent, purposeful, planning of a MINILESSON, WORKTIME, and DEBRIEF. Most of the time given for the student's worktime (note: not teacher whole group instruction-hence, less teacher talk).

So how do we get students to be independent thinkers and learners in a workshop model?
TIME-STRUCTURE-ROUTINE-MODELING
The sisters, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser,  give excellent step-by-step ways in the Daily 5 resource book, to succesfully create a working workshop model.  Every day, the class works on what the classroom should look and sound like during Reading Workshop time.  Modeling what Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, and Word Work looks like (and does not look like) makes the class very clear on their expectations early in the school year.  Explicit, repeated, purposeful structure building is the key to successfully create the workshop atmosphere.   Samantha' Bennett, author of That Workshop Book, stresses routines, rituals, structures, and systems because when all four come together, there is something magical.  The little things that happen every day in the classroom add up to the great big thing: students doing the work of learning.


So where do we get the minlessons for our daily Reading Workshop time?  Several resources: CAFE, Guiding Readers and Writers (Fountis and Pinnell), and Strategies that Work (Harvey).  Minilessons are a focused teaching strategy, however the core of learning occurs in the worktime-- allowing students time to put the strategy to work, "catching" the students in their learning then "releasing" them for continued practice and application, and drawing them back in to reflect on what learning happened in the room.  With this constant teaching, application, and debriefing, we are cognizant of what the students need next to continue their journey.

That's WHY WORKSHOP!