Launching the Kindergarten Reading Workshop

For the past couple of weeks my students have been learning how to engage in reading workshop.  We began by learning the treasure reading can provide us with and the value there is in learning to read.  On the first day of reading workshop, we read "Reading Makes You Feel Good" by Todd Parr.  I love this book because it is a simple way to teach children how fun reading can really be!  We also made an anchor chart of all the things we see people read.

This week the children have been learning how reading time is URGENT!  Readers cannot waste any time when reading and have to get started right away!  They use every minute to increase their STAMINA!  I like to compare reading urgently to the way firefighters act when there is a fire or when we have a fire drill.  We made the following anchor chart:

This week we also discussed read to self.  I modeled what real reading looks like and what fake reading looks like.  The kids always love when I fake read...I make it really dramatic!  Then, I had a few children model both ways to read so they get a good idea of what real reading looks like!  We made this read to self anchor chart.  We will refer back to it often.

The children also got their "bag of books" this week!  Each child got 5 books that are at their reading level. (They love having their own books to read!) They read these during read to self.  When they learn how to pick "just right books" on their own, then they will choose their own books to read.

I teach a new reading workshop lesson every day to teach my students the expectations of reading workshop and how to silently read on their own.  Throughout the lessons I will also teach them how to engage in 10 other centers.  This will teach my students how to engage in activities independently giving me the ability to work with guided reading groups.  You can check out the lessons here: Launching the Kindergarten Reading Workshop.

I will continue to post how my students are learning to become independent during reading workshop.  I hope to help you create a similar environment in your own classroom!