1	Forks Middle School Reading Task Force Improving Reading Comprehension through Reader’s Workshop
2	Reader’s Workshop What is Reader’s Workshop? Management is the Key Strategy Instruction (Less is More) Assessment The FMS Plan
3	What is Reader’s Workshop? Readers Workshop is a model developed by the Denver-based Public Education and Business Coalition It is designed to improve reading comprehension, but most importantly to create readers (those who think about their reading and read for a lifetime). It is literature rich. It is modeling. It is meta-cognitive.
4	Management is the Key The first two to three weeks must be spent establishing the management of the Reader’s workshop. There must be a clear routine. There must be clear expectations for students.
5	Strategy Instruction Each strategy is taught and cemented over a period of time; sometimes up to 8 weeks for a single strategy. Each strategy follows the same routine: Modeling Students engage in discussion (Teacher/Student, Student/Student, Small Group) Independent reading time Students write about their reading The environment is student rich and student driven
6	Assessment Assessment? This is always an issue and a BIG question when beginning something new. Reader’s Workshop is assessed on a number of different levels. Student and Teacher rubrics for strategy and comprehension skills Student/Teacher Conferences Teacher observation Student Reading Journals and Response (FQR)
7	The FMS Plan
8	Resources Thinking Strategies for Learners: A guide to PEBC's professional development in reading, writing, mathematics, and information literacy. Expeditions- Grants for Teacher Development: Complete information and application materials for this grant program. I Read It, but I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers is a practical, engaging account of how teachers can help adolescents develop new reading comprehension skills. You will be taken step-by-step through practical, theory-based reading instruction that can be adapted for use in any subject area. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding focuses on instruction that is responsive to kids' interests and learning needs. When readers use these strategies while reading, they enjoy a more complete, thoughtful reading experience. Engagement is the goal. When kids are engaged in their reading they enhance their understanding, acquire information, and remember what they read. Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop chronicles ten years of work through the PEBC Reading Project to show haw reading can be successfully taught in dynamic, workshop-oriented classrooms. "Teachers will enjoy this friendly, personal book that takes the best of reading comprehension research and shows us how to actively apply it to our own reading and how to help children to the same." -- Donald H. Graves Nonfiction Matters: Reading, Writing, and Research in Grades 3-8 offers teachers the tools to help students explore nonfiction and dig deep to reach more complete understanding of the real world and report these insights in a compelling manner. Author Stephanie Harvey shows how students can read expository text, engage in research, and write authentic nonfiction that is captivating, visual, and full of voice. INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT AND SUSTAIN A COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL-TO-CAREER SYSTEM: A Local Partnership Self-Review provides a lens through which partnerships may view their school-to-career efforts. It is presented in a matrix format, with individual descriptors which are broad in nature to fit into local structures. This tool is useful in determining partnership priorities and approaching evaluation. Teaching Reading in the Middle School by Laura Robb A masterful presentation of the ingredients middle school teachers need to help students become “real readers”. Available in FMS Library. All of the resources above are available at the following web site: http://www.pebc.org