READER’S WORKSHOP MINI-LESSONS

Workshop introduction
Rules/expectations
Book nook voices
Listening skills
Choosing book nooks and behavior
Seeking help
Book choice
Reading conferences
Keeping records
Giving book talks
Taking care of books/work
Reading with partner/groups
Discussing with partner/groups
Responding to the text
Abandoning a book
Homework
Respecting workshop and other readers

READING STRATEGIES

Looking ahead: preview, set a purpose, use BK and experiences
Fix-Up strategies:

rereading to clarify

skipping ahead

using context and syntax

identifying confusing parts/vocabulary

Connections: text to self, text to text, text to world
Questioning
Visualizing
Inferring
Summarizing/Synthesizing
Reflection
Determining Importance
Self-monitoring
Making, Evaluating, and Revising Predictions
Pause to recall details
Drawing Conclusions
Finding Evidence to Support Thinking
Thinking Aloud

READING SKILLS

Identifying the main idea
Identifying supporting detais
Retelling a story
Sequencing
Determining cause-effect relationships
Comparing and contrasting: books, authors, characters, setting, relationships, events
Recognizing and using text format and organization
Taking notes
Using pictures, diagrams, and charts
Paraphrasing information found in nonfiction material
Locating information to answer questions
Adjusting reading rate
Oral reading: fluency, expression, and intonation
Reading dialogue
Discussing with peers
Skimming and scanning a text
Writing a personal response in journal
Responding to a reading prompt
Using sticky notes to help with journal response
Decoding skills:
oLetter-sound relationships
oRelating new vocabulary to known words
oUsing meaning to understand new words
oUsing structure to understand new words
oFinding chunks in words
Finding words within words
Using a word that makes senesee
Identifying B-M-E sounds
Using base words
Using affixes
Using syllable
LITERARY ELEMENTS

Author’s choice of a book title
Characters:
oRelating the character(s) to the setting
oCharacter’s development and change over time
oDetermining the main character and secondary characters
Setting:
oTime and place
oImportance of the setting to the story
Theme of the book
Mood or tone
Passage of time in the book
Change over time:
oEffect on the setting
oEffect on the characters
Identifying story language
Story patterns:
oIdentifying the beginning, middle, and ending
oIdentifying the problem, central idea, events, and resolution
oIdentifying story shape: linear, circular
oUse of thinking maps
Recognizing the lead
Recognizing the conclusion
Parts of the book: function/terminology
Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Different roles of illustrations
Narration of the story/POV-how it affects the reader
Genre—identification/characteristics
Author’s purpose
Use of dialogue: Is it realistic?
Author/Illustrator studies

LITERARY TECHNIQUES

Character description
Setting description
Using details
Use of language to generate images
Voice
Leads
Endings
Organization of work
Time transitions
oPassage of time
oAuthor’s perspective/POV
oFlashback
oForeshadowing
Rhyme, Rhythm, and Repetition
Use of dialogue
Exact nouns and verbs
Sensory Images
Figurative Language
oIdioms
oSimiles/metaphors
oPersonification
oExaggeration
Parallel story
Text format
Title
Focus
Varied sentence length
Conflict
oPeople vs. people
oPeople vs. nature
oPeople vs. themselves
Irony
Symbolism

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READER’S WORKSHOP MINI-LESSONS, Submitted by Mentor Alumni,Chris Wilson, UCLA Lab School, Winter 2009