The Reading Workshop for High School
Directions
Watch the videos and read the information on this page. After you have watched the videos and read the informational sections, complete the reflection questions in your Zombie Survival Guide.
Workshops for High School Students
Please click the above link to watch a video explaining this common problem. Are these issues you are facing in your classroom? What changes do we need to make as educators to help combat this problem?
Why should I use the reading workshop in high school?
Student engagement in novels that will inspire them to read! Students need choice, and they need to opportunity to discuss what they are reading in an authentic way. Why do you read? What makes you want to continue to read a book? Students are motivated in the same ways that we as adults are motivated. How can we use a reading workshop to motivate the students to becoming life long readers?
Students need to read to practice the skills and build stamina for engaging with printed text. One of our goals is to prepare students to be college and career ready. Students are going to need to be able to engage with printed text for longer periods of time. We cannot just allow students to pretend their way through our classes. We need to ensure that they are truely engaging with the text in our classrooms and outside of the classroom. If we are allowing them to not read, we are setting them up for failure in the workplace and also in higher education.
Students need an opportunity to practice the critical thinking skills that they are going to use throughout their lives. The reading workshop allows students to have a high quality literature discussion. Students need to be able to have these discussions about text to practice the skills that they are going to use in the workforce and as they move to higher academic levels.
High School reading Workshop Framework
High school reading groups need to follow a framework to help the teacher plan and implement a lesson that has been intentionally created for that group of students. There are many variations to the framework used by different teachers to provide small group instruction. The model to the left is just one example that can be used by teachers.
The Literature Circle for High School
The literature circle in secondary ela
What does a literature circle look like in secondary ELA? Watch this vidoe to see how this teacher uses this strategy to enhance her classroom.
Secondary Literature circle student view
What do high school students think about literature circles? Listen to these students as they share their thoughts about literature circles in high school.
Secondary literature circle group Work
What would a literature circle look like in the high school classroom? This video shows a group of high school students working in a literature circle.
Remember that one of the most powerful aspects of the small group is the teacher station. This requires intentional planning to support students with a skill or strategy that will help them to better comprehend the text. Teachers need to conference and provide this deep level of instruction to see the full benefits of a literacy-based small group.
Visible Learning: The Sequel
A Synthesis of Over 2,100 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement
Reciprocal teaching and Literature circles
In a literature circle, students question and work together to make meaning of a given text. John Hattie's research confirmed that this practice has a positive impact on the achievement of students. The use of literature circles in the secondary classroom provides an opportunity for students to interact with a text in a meaningful way.
Zombie Survival Guide
Locate the Reading Workshop section in your Zombie Survival Guide and answer the following questions.
How could a Reading Workshop enhance the instruction in your classroom? How could a literature circle help to engage readers in your classes?