Our classes participate in Reader's Workshop as part of the CMS balanced literacy initiative.
We are following the work of Lucy Calkins Units of Study from The Reading and Writing Project.
Unit 1 focuses on "Agency and Independence." - Students need to take charge of their own reading and make choices that are right for them, set reading goals, and work on being able to read for longer periods of time - Students need to start paying close attention to what they are reading and making inferences about characters and setting. - Students need to start making notes of what is happening in their text and using these notes to write reflections.
Unit 2 focuses on "Following Characters into Meaning." - Students build theories about the characters into their books using character traits, gestures, the way other characters treat the character, and the changes the occur in the character throughout the book. - Students use their notes about characters to create complex theories about the characters and the book and adapt these theories as they continue to read. - Students compare and contrast characters across books using their knowledge of struggles, character roles, and themselves.
Unit 3 focuses on "Nonfiction Reading" - Students identify organizational and text features used in non-fiction texts to determine the main idea and supporting details. - Students determine to ideas that run across paragraphs and provide the "big idea" that runs throughout the book. - Students share what they are learning with others. When sharing they speak as experts on their topic. - Students identify the difference between expository non-fiction and narrative non-fiction, including how the stories are structured.
Unit 4 focuses on "Nonfiction Research Projects" - Students read several books about a topic to determine "the lay of the land." - Students take notes and evaluate information and claims from different sources. - Students add their own thinking to their notes. - Students continue to add to their research by finding additional sources of information.
Unit 5/9 focuses on "Historical Fiction Book Clubs or Fantasy Book Clubs" Historical Fiction - Students pay close attention to setting using timelines, character lists and other graphic organizers to help them keep track of what is happening in their story. - Students make note of how a character's timeline and the historical timeline connect. - Students pay attention to character's thoughts and motivations even though they maybe different from the student's own. - Students use the underlying theme and ideas to create their own ideas and feelings about historical events. - Students question historical events through the "lens of power." - Students make allusions to other characters in other stories.
Fantasy - Students notice the importance of setting on both the physical and emotional life of the characters. - Students pay attention to the outer and inner struggles of their characters by noting what is happening as the story progresses. - Students realize that fantasy stories are often metaphorical. Students are able to identify what these problems represent to the character and for life in general. - Students realized that not all characters are all good or all evil, each has their own motivations and struggles. - Students recognize archetypes and recurring themes and can compare and contrast among books in the same genre.
To see the curricular plan for Unit 5/9 click here:
Unit 6 focuses on "Interpretation Text Sets" - Students learn that stories give us ideas on how to live. - Students notice the critical moments in the story by looking at moments of great emotion or when characters make critical choices. - Students have reading strategies, such as jotting notes and creating charts to track changes, that help them create, develop and revise ideas about their stories' characters and themes. - Students notice the importance of titles, symbols, foreshadowing, perspective and repetition.
Unit 7 focuses on "Test Preparation" - Students ask questions about characters as they read narrative texts. - Students are prepared for predictable questions as they read. - Students learn from the text structure, headings and topic sentences of expository/non-narrative texts. - Students figure out the "big" meaning when reading poetry. - Students actively read and create outlines as the read. - Students use different strategies for different types of questions.
Unit 8 focuses on "Informational Reading: Reading, Research and Writing in the Content Areas" - Students get a broad overview and mark information they think will be useful. - Students develop subtopics, collect information and note patterns. - Students look for a bigger idea or theme about their subject. - Students read from different perspectives and see the topic from different points of view. - Students look for patterns throughout history.