What Does the Student Work Time Look Like?

Student work time is a major component of my Reader’s Workshop. It is a time where students are actively engaged in their own learning and the teacher is engaged in differentiating instruction for each student via guided reading groups and assessments.

My “Daily 6” reading activities are designed to improve student reading and writing. These activities are largely based on reading research and practice done by two nationally known reading instruction experts, Gail Boushey and Jane Moser (The Sisters). They use a reading management system called The Daily 5. You can find more information on Daily 5 and the extensive work of “The Sisters” at http://www.thedailycafe.com/. I also add a sixth activity called CAFÉ Strategies. This activity is also based on the work by Boushey and Moser. The combination of these two is what I call My Daily 6. It is organized with both teacher choice and student choice learning activities. Students practice and improve their reading by completing these six daily activities on a daily basis:

1.       Read to Self

2.       Work on Writing

3.       Read to Someone

4.       Listen to Reading

5.       Word Work

6.       CAFÉ Strategies Work

I differentiate instruction (intervention and enrichment) mainly through guided reading groups but I also make use of mini-lessons if the particular reading skill for intervention or enrichment applies to a majority of the class. The guided reading groups are flexible groups based on both assessments and data I collect from conferencing with students.