Reading Workshop

Mini Lesson 1

Connection	Do you realize that you have the best job this year? You have many important jobs as third graders in school. Talk to someone next to you and share some of the jobs you might have as third graders. I think one of the best parts about being a third grader is that you get to read every day. Not many jobs in the world have built in reading time every day.
Teaching	Many readers have a special book that they love. We cannot get enough of it. I want to share with you my absolute favorite book. I call this a “Forever Book” because I know I will always remember it. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Active Engagement	I am wondering if you have Forever Books. Turn and tell one person next to you about one of those books. When you hear me sing, “Eyes up lips closed” you are to repeat the line and sing it after me.
Link	Tomorrow you are going to get a chance to bring in your own “Forever Books”. Today, you are going to get a chance to do some reading from the bins at your tables and maybe you will find a new book you absolutely love.

Mini Lesson 2

Connection	Yesterday I shared my Forever Book and I am so excited that you brought in your own too! Today I want to take a look at the books you brought in and see fi they can help us figure out some things about ourselves as readers.
Teaching	What do we notice about some of our favorites? Take a good look at peoples’s picks. One thing that I notice is..... and this tells me that some of you really love....
Active Engagement	Let’s discuss connections between books that we brought in. Are they books that you have read over and over? Are they books that you are interested in because you read them with special people or before bed?
Link	Before we go off to read today let’s put our books on this display with the sign “Check Out Our Class Favorites!” and let us practice “Eyes up lips closed”

Mini Lesson 3

Connection	You are going to be growing as readers a lot this year. One of the ways to tell if we are growing is to take a look at our reading logs.
Teaching	This year, after you read independently you will write down your thoughts (summaries, connections, predictions, sketches) about what you just read. This is really important because it tells us about how we read and what we can work on.
Active Engagement	Today you are going to read for fifteen minutes silently from one of your Forever Books and then we will practice writing in our reading logs. You will then share with one person next to you what you wrote down. Afterwards, we will practice, “Eyes up lips closed” when I need your attention.
Link	We will share together our reading log entry for today. These logs can show us what we think about when we read and they allow us to be in charge of our own reading lives by setting goals.

Things to look for in your reading logs:

What comments are you making about the book?

Are you finishing books?

Are you reading a single book over several days or bouncing around?

Which genre do you seem to read the most?

Are you thoughtful about your book choice?

Do you set goals for your reading?

Mini Lesson 4

Connection	Over the past few days we have been talking about books and reading. Now we will begin to understand that reading is more than getting words right; Reading is Thinking!
Teaching	We often believe that reading is just about the words but we want to learn more about the thinking that goes into reading. Today you will see how much thinking actually goes into reading any book, even those with few words.
Active Engagement	I have a very special book with me called Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. I know it looks easy but I am always surprised by the amount of thinking that goes on when reading. Today, while I am reading, I will stop and ask you to write down some of your thoughts at key points in the story. We will share some of these when we are done reading the story.
Link	Tomorrow you are going to get a chance to read with a partner and share things that you liked, connected to, or questions you had about the book.

Whole Class Reflection:

Was it hard or easy to pay attention to your own thinking?
Did anyone notice that they were mostly thinking about predictions?
Did anyone notice that they were thinking of something that was confusing?

Mini Lesson 5 Connection	In our last lesson we learned that Reading is Thinking. But how do we know that we are choosing good books to think about?
Teaching	Today, we are going to learn how to pick a “Just Right Book” by following some easy to remember rules. In fact, you will get a very special bookmark that will help you to do this.
Active Engagement	Using your bookmark as a guide, you will choose three books for yourself. One that is too easy, too hard, and one that is a “Just Right Book”. We will then share with the class why you chose this book as your “Just Right Book”.
Link	Tomorrow you are going to get a chance to read your book independently and right about them in your reading logs.


EASY * you can read the words fluently (smooth and with an interesting voice) there often are not a lot of words on a page you know how to say all the words there are not a lot of pages in the book you have a lot of schema for the subject sometimes the book has a larger font you totally understand the story your reading rate may be quicker your thinking comes easy as you read the words
CHALLENGING many of the words are too hard to decode (failed a five finger test) you don't know what the tricky words MEAN your reading becomes choppy more than it is fluent you don't have any prior knowledge the subject there are often a lot of words on the page often the font is small you lose focus as you are reading you are not enjoying the book because you have to do too much word work your thinking is confused your reading rate slows way down
JUST RIGHT you can read most of the words you can understand what you are reading you enjoy the book you may have some schema for the subject you can read the book with smooth fluency but there are some choppy places your reading rate is just right- not too slow and not too fast *you can figure out the tricky words and still get the meaning of the story

Mini Lesson 6 Comprehension Connection	We are learning how reading is thinking but are we truly understanding what the author is trying to tell us?
Teaching	One way to comprehend the text is to follow what your mind does with the reading to all five of your senses.
Active Engagement	During the read aloud today, I want you to write in your notebook what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. You can use this graphic organizer:
Link	Tomorrow you are going to get a chance to record the senses that you experience while you read your book.

Mini Lesson 7 (Comprehension through predictions) Connection	We learned a strategy in the last lesson that helped us understand what we are reading by paying attention to our senses as we read. We are going to learn how making predictions can also help us to understand what we are reading.
Teaching	A prediction is when we make our best guess about what is going to happen based on the material we have read.
Active Engagement	I am going to share part of the Jellybean Principal with you and you are going to make predictions as we go along. Judy opened her notebook. Just as she was starting to write, Jim dropped his ant farm on the floor. What do you predict will happen next? Judy stood up. Crack! She stood on the ant farm. “Ow! Ow! OW!” Judy shouted. What do you infer is happening to Judy? Mrs. Newit tried to brush the ants off Judy’s legs. The ants bit her, too! Jim ran up front pistols squirting. He blasted Mrs. Newit. “AAAAAACK!” she cried. “Help! Mr. Russo! Mr. Russo!” Who do you predict Mr. Russo is and what will he do next? The three friends sat in front of the principal’s desk. Mr. Russo loved jellybeans. Kids did not get any. He certainly looked sour. What do you predict Mr. Russo will do next?
Link	Tomorrow you will practice making connections in your own books as you read independently. Be sure to write your predictions in your reading log under the “thoughts” section.

Mini Lesson 8 (Comprehension through inferring) Connection	We learned a strategy in the last lesson that helped us understand what we are reading by paying making predictions. Today we are going to learn how inferring can also help us understand text.
Teaching	Inferring is how we create meaning from text. When we infer, we read between the lines by making conclusions, predictions, and connections. Inference Statements I predict... I think that... My guess is... My conclusion here is...
Active Engagement	In the whole blue sea there was a very friendly fish named Big Al. You could not find a nicer fish. Why was Big Al swimming all alone? But Big Al was also very, very scary. Why was Big Al so scary to the other fish? Big Al was lonely, and cried big salty tears into the big salty sea. Why was Big Al crying? Big Al wrapped himself up with seaweed? Why did big all do this? Big Al puffed himself up round. The other fish steered clear. Why did the other little fish stay away from Al?
Link	Tomorrow you will practice making inferences in your own books as you read independently. Be sure to use inference statements listed above to get you started.

Practice Asking THICK questions. These types of questions lead you to make inferences and to think beyond the text!

What if?
Why did?
What caused?
How would I feel if?
Why is?
Why do you think?
What would happen if?
What character traits describe?

READING STRATEGY: HOW TO FIGURE OUT TRICKY WORDS

say the sound of the beginning letters

notice the ends of the words

move through the whole word

think about what makes sense