Building Good Reading Habits
First Grade Quarter One
The main purpose of this first unit is to remind readers about the good habits they already use at the beginnings, the middles, and the ends of books. Because it is easy for early readers to turn their attention to breaking the code, you will remind students to preview books so their work with words happens within the awareness of an entire book. According to literacy researcher, Jerry Harste, “Our job is to create in the classroom the kind of richly literate world that we believe in and then invite our students to role play their way into being the readers and writers we want them to be.” Keep this front and center in your thinking as you launch this year.
Your temptation may be to teach one thing on Monday, another thing on Tuesday, and yet another thing on Wednesday. The urge to try and get everything going is understandable. The problem, though, is that tossing one tiny teaching point after another at your kids means that very few of these will make a lasting impact. Your mini-lessons (teaching point) during these first couple of weeks should instead convey a sense of urgency and excitement. You’ll be teaching children to adopt enduring priorities. The little strategies are useful options, but there are some really important big priorities to spotlight. For now, at the start of this year, one of those priorities is conveying to kids that as first graders, they can now become more grown-up as readers, which means taking charge of their own reading lives.
The first concept of this unit sets the stage for the routines and procedures that should be prominent during a Reading Workshop classroom. What do good readers do? becomes the overarching question for this set of lessons. Explicitly teaching students to choose books that are “just right”, knowing what to do when you are finished, and how to work and speak with a partner. There are additional routines and procedures lesson examples included on the curriculum map.
Readers ask themselves questions as they read to make sense of the text. When readers ask their own questions, the reader learns to seek, pursue, and search for answers or deeper understanding. The second concept reminds students to ask themselves questions as they read. Readers learn that through questioning before, during, and after reading we stay connected to the text. Staying connected to the text helps readers think deeply about the characters and plot in fiction books as well as thinking about important facts in informational books. The third concept continues with questioning but moves towards asking and answering questions about the main idea (topic) and which details are key to understanding the message, lesson, or information. The fourth concept takes a deeper look at nonfiction and how textual features helps us as readers.
The structure that your reading workshop will follow from day to day will stay the same, even when the unit changes from month to month, and grade to grade. For example, every day in your reading workshop, you’ll provide direct and explicit instruction through a brief mini-lesson; you’ll provide children with long stretches of time to read emergent storybooks, shared reading texts, interactive and shared writing texts, and just-right books; and you’ll provide individuals with assessment-based conferences and coaching.
Differentiated Instruction
Whole group reading units should not replace the work needed to support students in their development of phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, and spelling skills (RF standards). Reading Foundational Standards will be addressed daily during Differentiated Reading using Full Circle Reading and Reading A to Z Decodable lessons/books. Students will have opportunities to apply and reinforce the use of word recognition skills and strategies during Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop. For example, when a teacher models letter-sound correspondence during a Differentiated Reading lesson, the teacher will want to draw attention to using that skill during the workshop mini-lesson, and provide opportunities for students to apply their use of the skill during authentic reading and writing. Likewise, when teachers introduce a reading comprehension strategy (asking/answering questions) students should be expected to apply that strategy when they are working in their Guided Reading books. Graphic organizers and sticky notes should be used by students while working independently in their Guided Reading levels. Writing Standards 1-6 and most Language Standards will be taught during Writing Workshop, which is separate from Reading Workshop. However, these standards will be reinforced and will support the learning of other standards throughout these units.
Balanced Literacy
Although this unit focuses on specific reading standards, balanced literacy must be ensured so that students’ progress in all aspects of literacy. Writing should occur both during the Reading Workshop and the Writing Workshop. During the Reading Workshop, writing will focus on writing about reading. During the Writing Workshop, writing will focus on the writing process. Shared Reading (guided reading) and Word Work (phonics) will occur during Differentiated Reading. Social Studies and Science standards should be integrated whenever possible. Connections between content areas helps students apply what they are learning.
Read aloud with accountable talk (see website for examples of lessons) is a critical component of a balanced literacy program. The purpose of read-aloud with accountable talk is to model the work that readers do to comprehend books and to nurture ideas and theories about stories, characters, and text. During this interactive demonstration, the teacher has purposely selected text and flagged pages with the intention to teach a specific skill or strategy. The teacher is reading so children can concentrate on using strategies for comprehension and having accountable conversation about the text. To ensure that this occurs, teachers should read at least 2-3 books aloud to students daily. Students are asked to engage with the text by responding to one another through talking or jotting notes about their thinking. Read alouds should foreshadow the reading work that will be done in future mini-lessons and units of study. Remember, read aloud with accountable talk is different from using mentor texts as part of the Reading/Writing workshop. This is a perfect time to build in constructive response and higher order questioning.
A Note About Books
None of the book titles suggested in these lessons are needed if you have titles which match the suggested books’ genre and characteristics. In other words, there are thousands of books that would work during modeling and throughout your mini lesson. Many of the scripts are based on the language of the suggested book. Scripts should be modified if a different book is used.
Student access to books is critical. This unit is built on the assumption that readers have access to 5-7 books of varied genre and type (leveled books, emergent books, informational books, favorites (ones they know so well they can read), counting books, ABC books, etc) every day. Quantity does matter – the more books we allow readers to choose during independent reading time, the longer readers will read. This makes time for conferences and additional small group work.
Why a Script?
The whole group reading units are written in a script format to help guide and support teachers in implementing effective reading instruction; routines, procedures, strategies, and specific instructional vocabulary. In other words, the script serves as a “reading coach” for teachers. The scripts also provide consistency in best practices across the county. This is critical for specific instructional vocabulary. Teachers, whether new to the teaching of reading workshop, or not completely comfortable with the intent of common core standards, may benefit from having detailed lesson plans. The goal is that in time teachers will no longer need a script per se because they will have had time to study and gain knowledge about best practices and the standards. View the scripts as a framework from which to work – rewrite, revise, and reshape them to fit your teaching style, your students and their needs. The outcome (knowledge and skills) of the learning should remain the same.
Scripts are organized in a best practices format. Each lesson begins with a connection or way to hook/activate the learning or connect to a previous lesson. This is followed by a teaching point or the time in the lesson for the teacher to model the thinking and learning using a mentor text. Active engagement is the time when students practice while the teacher is close by listening in to clear up any misconceptions about the learning. The independent section is sending students off to work usually in a text of their choice but with a clear focus back to the teaching point. Teachers use this time to confer and even do informal assessment on the learning. The mid-workshop teaching point is used to reinforce a routine/procedure or to move the teaching point further along. Finally, the summarizer is for students to come back together to share their work and thinking. During all parts of the lesson students are turning and talking to their partner and many times recording their thinking in a written format.
Reader’s Notebooks
Most lessons have a writing connection. Many times this is a response to the literature students are reading. This is not writing instruction. Using a binder for each student provides an opportunity to watch progress over time. As writing instruction grows, independent writing should grow as well which should be reflected in all aspects of writing. A binder also provides the opportunity to add thinking tools (graphic organizers, sticky notes, etc.) to the notebook. Once a thinking tool is introduced and modeled, students should be expected to continue to use the tool when appropriate.
Getting Started
During the first few weeks of school you will individually assess your students using Lexia CRT and Guided Reading. These assessments will help you group your students for Differentiated Reading instruction. These assessments will also let you know which instructional lessons each group needs (see Differentiated Reading page for more details).
During this time, Whole Group Reading should focus on building procedures and routines. Reading Workshop at the beginning of the year is less about teaching children how to read and more about modeling and teaching students what good readers do. Reading emergent books aloud to your students will help you establish these procedures. Remember these same procedures should be implemented throughout the day and across all content. Best practices in Reading and best practices in Math, Science, and Social Studies are the same.
Priority Standards Addressed in this Unit:
Highlighted standards were modified in ELA Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE).
ELAGSE1RL1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
ELAGSE1RL2: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
ELAGSE1RL3: Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story.
ELAGSE1RL5: Explain major difference between texts that tell stories and texts that give information.
ELAGSE1RL7: Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
ELAGSE1RL10: With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.
ELAGSERI1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
ELAGSE1RI2: Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
ELAGSE1RI5: Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of content, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.
ELAGSE1RI6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.
ELAGSE1RI10: With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.
ELAGSE1RF4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
ELAGSE1L6: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., I named my hamster Nibblet because she nibbles too much because she likes that).
ELAGSE1SL1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELAGSE1SL2: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
ELAGSE1SL4: Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.
ELAGSE1SL6: Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 1 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
Table of Contents for Procedure and Management Lessons – Concept One
Lesson name hyperlinked to lesson pages
General Procedure Lessons
1. Reading Workshop Basics and Transitions
2. Using Book Baskets
3. What Do Readers Do?
Workshop Format Lessons
Mini Lesson
4. Student and Teacher Roles
Independent Reading Lessons:
5. Classroom Library
6. Choosing Books
7. Individual Book Baggies
8. Expectations
9. What Do You Do When You Finish a Book?
10. Interruptions During Conferences
11. How to Begin Partner Reading
12. Options for Partner Reading
Share Time Lessons:
13. Share Time Procedures
14. Building Stamina
Literature Suggested for Part 1
Lesson 5 – Library Lion by Michelle Kudsen
Lesson 6 – The Three Bears by Paul Galdone
Lesson 9 – Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Lesson 14- Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Fire Flies by Julie Brinckloe
Other Book Suggestions for Part 1
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
Oliver Button Is A Sissy by Tomie de Paola
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Ish by Peter Reynolds
Table of Contents for Questioning – Concept Two
Lesson name hyperlinked to lesson pages
15. Fiction and Realistic Fiction
16. Characteristics of Nonfiction
17. Reading is Thinking
18. Questioning Before, During, and After
19. Answering Questions
20. Finding Answers 1
21. Finding Answers 2
Extended Texts Used in Lessons
Lesson 15- What Do You Know About Dolphins by Harley Chan
Lesson 17 – The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola
Lesson 18- 19 – Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
Lessons 20-21 – The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
Table of Contents for Main Topic and Key Details– Concept Three
Lesson name hyperlinked to lesson pages
22. Main Topic and Supporting Details
23. Which Details Are Important
24. Using Details to Retell
25. Using Details to Find the Central Message