Book Study: A Guide to the Reading Workshop, Chapter 1

For those that want to follow along with our current book study, but are not able to attend...

A Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary Grades by Lucy Calkins

What are the BIG ideas in Chapter 1: First Things First?

“You cannot create what you cannot imagine.”

• Too many children are not learning to love to read. The longer kids stay in school, the less they like to read!

• What are the conditions that make reading bad for you?  What makes reading good?  It's the same for kids!

• Large, for-profit companies with core reading programs are not the answer.  We have 50 years of research saying packaged programs do NOT work.

• The most important thing we can do to lift student achievement is to support the professional development and retention of good teachers.

• Students need to spend most of their time reading in books that are just right.  We will not close the reading gap by having students read grade level text that is beyond their reach.

• We must model the professional learning as adults that we want in our classrooms.

Next assignment for 11-19-15: Chapter 2 - Follow the rest of this book study on Live from the Creek, Chets Creek's professional development blog.  A synopsis of each chapter will be posted that reflects the text and the conversation.