I was blown away by so many things! I immediately noticed how caring and loving the teacher was with her students. Whether it was for behavioral or academic reasons, this teacher took the time to sit and have a conversation with students individually and spoke to them in a respectful manner. You could see how the students really took to her.
Something else that really stood out to me was how students were able to work effectively both collaboratively and independently. When I began observing in her classroom, students were wrapping up a game of math jeopardy. For this, they worked with their table groups to discuss answers to questions before giving a final answer to earn a point for their team. Students were turning and talking with each other and discussing the question. I also observed collaboration when students were on the carpet and were asked to turn and talk with their neighbor regarding a question she had asked about the text she was reading aloud to them. All students quickly knew what to do and again were having great discussion about the book. I believe so strongly in the power of collaboration, so this was so exciting to see!
During both writer’s workshop and reading workshop, I observed students working independently at times as well. In writing, students were asked to look through their writings from throughout the year and reflect on what they do well as a writer and what goals they would like to set to help them keep improving in their writing. Students were flipping through pages and pages of writing that they had down throughout the year, and I even noticed one student’s comment when they said, “Oh! I remember this from the beginning of the year. My hand writing was horrible.” Most students were able to identify more strengths than needs for improvement, but they were all able to identify parts for both columns, showing me that her students are confident writers, yet aware of what needed to be improved. This also showed me that students understood what to look for in their writing as a writer. They were able to point out so many different areas from punctuation and capitalization to brainstorming to popping out words and details. It showed how knowledgable these students were about writing. Being able to do this independently at first grade was really cool and inspiring to see.
The teacher began the reading workshop with a read aloud. The book was part of a series they have read previously, so before she began to read, they discussed what they may already know about the book based off of previous books. She made the read aloud interactive in several ways. At times, she would pause to ask a question about the book and have students turn and talk to discuss their ideas. At other times, she had students act out parts while she read them, like when one of the characters was up at bat and getting ready to swing. This kept students engaged and thinking about the story.
After the read aloud, the teacher did a mini lesson about summer reading. They talked about places they could read this summer, and students had very creative ideas of places where they might read. They also discussed what they do well as readers and what types of books they've read. Some good reader behaviors that students recalled were stopping and jotting, thinking about the characters, visualizing, changing their voice, and gesturing. Just like in the previous writing lesson, students were able to identify these on their own.
Students were then independent during reading where they had 30 minutes to find a cozy spot around the room and curl up with a good book. Students were reading so many kinds of books! Story books and chapter books, fiction and non fiction, various authors, etc. I loved seeing how students really had that free choice to read whatever it was that interests them and that they were being exposed to so many books. They were ALL reading and you could see that they were happy. After independent reading, students have time for buddy reading where they will often to reader's theatre.
What I really liked about this writing and reading workshop that stood out to me was that it gave students a chance to work both collaboratively and independently, allowed the teacher to work with students in a variety of ways from whole group to individually, and students were learning in a stress and pressure free environment. THIS is what I would love to see reading and writing look like in my classroom.
Today I am going back to observe a second grade classroom and I am so excited to see this workshop done again!