Literacy Work Stations

In Kvitka's literacy program, she has set aside time for guided reading in the morning, for 20-25 minutes, when her schedule allows it.  During this time, students work at different work stations and one group meets with her in a guided reading session.  This structure first thing in the morning allows her students to transition to their station and begin working right away at their task.  While she meets with a group, the other students know what is expected of them as the work reinforces literacy skills already taught.

Kvitka's four work stations are: computers, reinforcing word processing/keyboarding skills; penmanship, allowing for students to practise writing; buddy reading, where students read quietly together, sharing their thoughts and ideas; making words, reinforcing word study skills.

Computers: Kvitka uses different programs to reinforce literacy skills.  Here, she has students work on Dance Mat Typing to help them strengthen their keyboarding skills. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

Buddy Reading: Students of similar reading abilities sit together and read quietly, stopping to share ideas and discuss the reading.  

 

Penmanship:  While cursive writing is not explicitly in the curriculum, spending 20 minutes, once a week, at this station allows students the chance to practise writing and strengthen their penmanship.  

Making Words: Using a word provided by Kvitka, students spend time making words with the letters in the bigger word.  Manipulatives, such as the letters for the word, help students reorganize them to make other words.  Kvitka provides whiteboards and markers for students to jot their new words and organize them as they'd like.

Guided Reading:  Kvitka structures her guided reading groups in different ways, as she changes them frequently depending on reading levels, interests and abilities.  This group of boys was brought together to read the book about robots based on their reading interests.  The novel will be used for several sessions and is part of a series, which excites the boys as they want to continue reading each book to find out what has happened.  Pre, during and post reading strategies are investigated together and lots of time is alloted to have the students talk about what they read.

Kvitka has organized her groups and keeps records of her students' reading in her guided reading binder.  She makes notes and keeps track of their progress, making time later in the day for reading conferences, where she meets one-on-one to discuss what students are reading and how they are progressing.  Thinking about possible next steps and how she can support her students is something she constantly talks to them about.

Two professional resources that Kvitka has used to ground her Grade 3 reading program are Literacy Work Stations by Debbie Diller and On Solid Ground by Sharon Taberski.  

Using Images to Infer

The strategy of inferring is often seen as a more difficult one to teach, especially with younger students.  Teachers have reflected on how to teach inferring so that students are able to draw out information that is implicit yet still relevant.  Many have turned to connecting this strategy with predicting (in the early years) and resources often used are wordless picture books and illustrations in texts.

Another powerful strategy to teach inferring is through the use of images and photos.  Using images from current events integrates media literacy with reading and allows students to be able to discuss what is going on in the world around them.  

In her lesson, Kvitka has done just this.  She has used photos from different natural disasters around the world to teach inferring and create a safe space for students to share their thoughts and feelings.  Using the O-W-I strategy from Nonfiction Reading Power, Kvitka has looked at different images together with her class to break down what they infer from them.

This is the first image she used, right after the disaster in Japan:

After spending some time viewing the photo, the class completed an O-W-I chart together.  Kvitka had her class focus on each category separately first, so students looked at what they observe, wonder and infer from the photo.

The next lesson looked at another photo, and again, students brainstormed together under the separate categories.  As Kvitka reflected on the work, she decided to reorganize the class chart and instead of going down the column of each category separately, she went horizontally on the chart, connecting the students' observations, questions and inferences.  This reorganization was important to her as it allowed her to talk to her students about the process of making an inference... we use what we see and what we wonder to make an inference.

Part I:  Following the two whole class lessons, Kvitka began her next lesson talking to her class about her reflections and how she reorganized the chart.  Her students were able to identify the importance of using what they see and wonder to infer.  From this discussion, she co-constructed the success criteria for making inferences together with her students.  This allowed students to think about what they need to do to be successful at inferring.  Their prior knowledge from the previous whole-class lessons helped them understand what is expected.

Part II:  Students worked together, in groups of 3, to infer connected to the image they were working with.  They listened to one another and shared their ideas, making sure all voices were included.  They then noted what they observed/wondered/inferred on their O-W-I sheet.  While groups worked, Kvitka visited each group to see how they were doing.

These are the six images Kvitka chose to work with, weaving in different current events, like the photos from Haiti, Egypt and New Zealand.  She also used three photos connected to real-life situations. 

Part III:  After each group had enough time to work on their inferences, the class came back together to share their thoughts and ideas.

The O-W-I strategy comes from Adrienne Gear's Nonfiction Reading Power:

Asking Thick vs. Thin Questions

Micheline has worked very hard to integrate the strategy of questioning into every facet of her classroom.  Moving beyond using it simply as a reading comprehension strategy, she anchors many of her lessons around what her students wonder.  This leads to rich contexts to share their thinking and research aspects of a topic that is important to them and self-direct their learning.  During her Reading Workshop, Micheline uses a three-part lesson format to organize her time and address the needs of her students in small groups, as well as in learning centres.

Part I: Mini-lesson

Micheline refers to some work the class has done in a previous lesson, looking at thick vs. thin questions.  She then moves into another text and asks students to think about any questions they have while she reads.  As she reads, she stops periodically to have students think/pair/share their ideas and share their questions with the larger group.  Micheline then writes these questions on sticky notes and adds them to their class Q-Chart.

Part II: Independent/Guided Practice

In order to meet students in small groups for guided reading, Micheline uses learning centres for students to work at independently.  She spent a lot of time setting up the routines and expectations of these centres with her students at the beginning of the year.  She doesn't always use the centres as sometimes she has her students doing independent reading during this time.  Students work on their task quietly and are able to work with another member of their group, if needed.

The "I Wonder" table is an integral part of her centres.  This table integrates the different Science or Social Studies topics into her Language program as she carefully chooses items connected to the big ideas of those units.  In addition to this cross-curricular integration, Micheline also pays close attention to the interests of her students when changing the items in this centre.  If there is something they are interested in, or talking about, she includes it here so they can investigate further and think about the topic.

While the rest of the class is working at the centres or reading independently, Micheline works with a small group, addressing common needs in their reading.  Using different leveled texts, and integrating the mini-lesson focus, she guides students in their thinking and progression as readers.  

Part III: Group Share and Consolidation

To end her Reading Workshop, Micheline brings her students back together to have them share what they did and what they learned.  This is not only an accountability piece for her class, but it also consolidates the learning for the period.  Here, students share their questions from the "I Wonder" table and together, the class looks for possible answers.  Micheline models how to look for information and that research doesn't always have to result in going through the research process or writing a report.  

Here are a couple of Q-Charts, the second one divided into categories of questions, instead of levels:

Q-Chart

Q-Chart - categories of questions