[MOSAIC] Starting Reader's Workshop For the First Time

[GRISTINA, KRISTIN]

Stephanie-
In my own experience, most kids usually have an easier time making text to self connections and then they move on to text to text and then text to world. I've seen people spend 4-6 weeks on each comprehension strategy. But the truth is, you need to do what's right and best for your students in your classroom. You can go slower than that if you need to. Also it may be a good idea to roughly map out your school year so you are sure that you have enough time to teach all of the strategies. I think the most important step is to get the children to start understanding how these strategies help them as readers. I have found that if you don't explore that area, the kids don't really see how these strategies help them become better readers. This is a lot more difficult (and time consuming) than just getting the kids to verbalize or write down a connection or draw a mental image etc. To me, this is deeper teaching of the strategies. I'm a literacy coach in my school, and this is what I find most teachers overlook. 
Kristin
NJ



-----Original Message-----
From: mosaic-bounces at literacyworkshop.org on behalf of Stephanie Sanchez
Sent: Wed 9/13/2006 10:33 PM
To: mosaic at literacyworkshop.org
Subject: [MOSAIC] Starting Reader's Workshop For the First Time
 
Hi All,
  I'm soooo glad the list is back up. I started Reader's Workshop for the first time ever with my 3rd grade class. My school is a low performing school in the inner city. We are in our 3rd week of school. They have learned procedures for finding books, caring for books, choosing Just Right books, choosing a book nook, and logging their books in their response journals. I started this week teaching Text to Text connections. I have about 5 kids who have really grasped the concept and have begun making their own connections to their books and writing about them in their journal. What other experiences have you had with kids grasping the concept? I would love to hear from other teachers in an urban environment (with lots of ESL students) to hear what success they have and how long it takes for their kids to grasp a concept, such as connections. How long does it take? I love the philosophy of Mosaic but want to know realistically what time line I should except.
   
  Thanks!
  Stephanie
  3rd/CA

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