Reading Workshop Strategies

Reading Workshop is a powerful way to structure your reading class. Using this model involves encouraging your students to choose their own books as well as providing significant amounts of time for them to read independently. By allowing your students to choose their own books, you can foster a love of reading that will last a lifetime. Research shows that when children spend more time reading, they become better readers. With a little guidance and encouragement from a teacher who loves to read, students can learn to select appropriate books and discover joy in reading.

To find out more about this approach, select one of the topics below or scroll through the items on this page. ~ Laura Candler

Reading Workshop Works Webinar Recording
Laura Candler's Power Reading Workshop: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to Create Reading Response Journals (Laura's YouTube Video)
What might a Reading Workshop look like?
How might reading progress be evaluated?
Is Reading Workshop effective for all students?
Online Resources for Reading Workshop
Reading Workshop Printables

Reading Workshop Works Webinar

Last summer, I held a public webinar to share information about the reading workshop approach and over 185 people attended! The session was recorded and it's available in two formats as described below. You can also download and read the chat transcript.

Note: To save time and bypass the introductory material on each recording below, start playing the recording about 12 1/2 minutes into the session.

Reading Workshop Works full recording - Elluminate Live session This is the best way to watch the recording because you can watch the chat area and experience the webinar as if you were there. However, it requires a Java application to download and can't be watched on a mobile device.
Reading Workshop Works Chat Transcript - The rich text file shows everything that was typed into the chat box during the session.
Reading Workshop Works MP4 Recording - View online below - Click the play button on the image below to watch the webinar right from this webpage. Click the arrows on the lower right to open the image full screen. You will not be able to download it, and it requires a good internet connection. Also, you will not be able to follow the comments in the chat area.
Reading Workshop Works MP4 Recording File - Downloadable - You can download this version if you want to watch it later offline, but it's a large file (over 40 MB) and may take a long time to download. Furthermore, if your mobile device is limited in space, you may not be able to download it at all.

Power Reading Workshop: A Step-by-Step Guide

I've had such great success with the Reading Workshop model that I decided to write a book about the strategies I used. I wanted to create a step-by-step guide for upper elementary and middle school teachers that included all of the printables and resources needed to implement the program. My new book book is called Laura Candler's Power Reading Workshop, and you can preview it online from the Power Reading Workshop page to see if the strategies are right for your students and teaching situation. You can also watch a great book trailer that the publishers created to share information about the book.

What might a Reading Workshop look like?

Note: Printing or viewing the printables at the bottom of this page would be helpful before reading the information below.

My Reading Workshop consists of a 10-15 minute mini-lesson on a particular strategy, followed by independent reading time. Students read books or magazines of their choice. Each day I meet with 5 or 6 different students and hold individual reading conferences. I have them quietly read a part of their book to me and I talk with them about the strategy we are working on for the week. I record my impressions on a Reading Conference Record form I designed for this purpose. These strategies and many more are explained in great detail in Laura Candler's Power Reading Workshop: A Step-by-Step Guide.

How might reading progress be evaluated?

When I was using the Accelerated Reader program I used a Reading Rubric as part of my evaluation system. I used the AR program very flexibly, and if a student had a strong aversion to AR, we worked out another plan for accountability. I didn't require them to read books on a certain level, but I did encourage them to challenge themselves. I no longer use AR as a part of reading workshop, but I include this as an option for those who are required to use it.

Whether or not you use AR, you'll find there are a variety of ways you can assess reading progress. In the past I have had students write letters to me about what they were reading, make journal entries, and create graphic organizers. These items can serve as informal assessments of student progress. You'll be holding individual reading conferences with students as well as some small guided reading sessions, so you can evaluate their progress through their participation in those activities. Many school systems require students to take regular formative assessments such as quarterly benchmark tests, and that data can be very helpful in monitoring progress.

Is Reading Workshop effective for all students?

Reading Workshop has proven to be very effective, especially with moderately-proficient to advanced readers. Last year when I implemented the Reading Workshop fully, my class had a 95% passing rate on our End-of-Grade Reading test, and students overall made significant gains. More importantly, they learned to love reading for its own sake. As they became voracious readers, I noticed that they improved in other areas as well. Our class became a community of readers who loved to learn and learners who loved to read1

I believe that Reading Workshop is extremely effective for students who are at least marginally proficient readers, especially students who CAN read but don't enjoy reading. However, students who are unable to read at all will probably need more explicit reading instruction before they are ready for this model. Because of this limitation, some teachers use Reading Workshop with their proficient readers while continuing to provide more support and direct instruction with their non-readers.

Online Resources for Reading Workshop

1. Beth Newinghams's Resources - Scholastic "top teacher" Beth Newingham shares some great resources for the reading workshop approach:

Check out Beth's video, Reading Workshop: An Inside Look, to see an actual reading workshop demonstrated and explained.
Read Beth's article, Classroom Management in a Reading Workshop, for specific strategies that will enhance your reading workshop.

2. Reading Lessons Wiki - The Reading Lesson Wiki is a great collection of reading lessons started by Nathania Vanderham of the Empowering Readers Learning Community.

3. Reading Resources from the Mosaic Email Group - This Reading Resource page is a huge collection of reading rubrics, lesson plans, power points, and more. Definitely worth a look!

4. Mini Lessons for Launching Reading Workshop - Wachusett Regional School District provides a wonderful set of Launch Focus Lessons for starting reading workshop. The lessons are differentiated for grades K-2, 3, and 4-5.

5. Reading Mini Lesson Videos - Angela Maiers, author of The Passion-Driven Classroom, shares a collection of reading mini lesson videos on her blog. In particular, take a look at the videos at the top of the page called "Classroom Examples." In these videos, she's teaching mini lessons to real kids in real classrooms. It's helpful to watch how she structures her mini lessons and involves the students.

6. Reading Mini Lesson template (Word) - This Reading Mini Lesson Template was designed to help the teacher create short, focused mini lessons.