Secret Ways : Character Building

In the first weeks of our reading workshops we take careful and intentional steps to set the tone and develop routines for the work we will do as readers.  As readers, students will need time to read, think, and grow.  As teachers, we will need time to confer with our readers and work in small groups.  How do we build time for independence when the books students read can often be completed in less than five minutes?  As a teacher of readers, I value time, choice, genuine conversation, and opportunities to extend reading beyond the text.  Here are a few ways I find useful in stretching our time we spend with books and learning in reader's workshop:

Teach with Intention:  The focus lesson should set readers up for the work they will be doing.  The focus lesson starts our workshop and helps students to know what they will be thinking about as they go off to read.  Whether it is a new reading strategy or a way to think about the text, readers consider a plan of action that will help them to learn during this time.  Making time to share at the end reinforces this focus and celebrates the discoveries made during learning time.  Considering this focus and language to support new learning in conference conversations and small group work helps readers to make sense of new learning.

Develop Story:  Listen to students talk about the stories they are reading.  Do they point to pictures and discuss each page as a separate event or do they weave them together as a story?  Build story language in focus lessons, small groups, and peer conversations.  Help students learn to take the time they need to talk through the pictures when a book is too challenging, preview before reading, or to retell books they've read using story language.

Place Books Everywhere:  The less movement in a workshop the easier it is to work with readers.  Young readers haven't developed the stamina of their older peers and books take much less time.  Having baskets students can take with them for workshop and placing books all around the room will make it easy for students to find a place to nestle in to read.

Grow Book Conversations:  Help students learn to talk with peers about the stories they are reading.  Retelling, making connections, questioning, thinking about characters, comparing books, and learning to consider the author's message are all ways to build our understanding and engage in book conversations with our peers.

Value Thinking:  Allow flexible (optional) response.  The addition of digital tools has really grown the way we can respond to our reading.  Yes, we can use post-its, paper, or a notebook to draw and write about our thinking, but we can also share our thinking using digital tools that can be shared to expand the reach of our voice.  Blogs, creation tools (sketch noting, Educreations, Explain Everything, Pixie, etc.), and other digital spaces can help students expand their thinking beyond the text.  

Teach Balance:  We can't expect students to spend all of their time with leveled readers, but we also need them to be making smart choices.  If students understand balancing reading choices, they can not only spend time engaging as readers, but can begin to make intentional learning decisions.  I read books of a variety of challenge.  I spend the least amount of time with challenging books as I find I need time to think about them so I read in short bursts and spend much time thinking later.

Grow Possibilities:  Keep in mind the power of read aloud and shared reading for growing possibilities for young readers.  Choose books to read with students they will be able to return to and read independently after the whole class experience.

Keep Workshop Conversations about Learning:  If we're not careful, it can be easy to find ourselves talking about behavior over learning in our workshops.  When students are having a hard time engaging as readers we need to ask ourselves why and what we can do to help.  Is the task too challenging?  Are books available that match the reader's interest and ability?  Are students focused on learning and developing plans to grow as readers?  Does the classroom library need a lift?  Are students focused on new learning and thinking about books?  What do students need in order to be successful?


You Might Also Like:

• Getting Started with Reader's Workshop
• Tools for Reader Response
• Planning for Independence
• Real Reading
• Growing Our Community:  Learning from Older Readers (talking about books)

As I work with primary students it seems most of the digital tools they use independently are for creation.  Where would we be without tools like Padlet, Pixie, Educreations, Voicethread or Kidblog?   Among other things, these tools allow students to share their thinking in reading, publish their writing in ways we can share with the world, and build thinking around topics.  Digital composing is a part of our literacy workshops.

Finding sites for primary digital readers is something of greater challenge.  Many of the sites we use work well for shared reading.  Some of these sites students can return to, but for emergent and early readers many digital reading sites are too challenging.  Just as in reading print books, I do work to find digital texts that students will be able to engage in independently.  This is a much greater challenge when we are talking about our youngest readers.  Since participating in the #cyberPD conversation around Digital Reading:  What's Essential by Franki Sibberson and Bill Bass, I've been working to build the possibilities for the young readers I support to experience digital texts.  Here are a few of my favorites sites for emergent and early readers:

Tumble Books:  Tumble Books is a "read to me" site.  I have been a fan of this site for beginning readers for years as it has a wide variety of books available.  Many digital sites have books created specifically by developers for their sites, but Tumble Books has many of the popular picture books and early chapter books students might check out at their library available.  The only challenge of Tumble Books is that it is a paid site, but it can be accessed through many libraries including our local Columbus Metropolitan Library Tumblebooks site.

National Geographic Kids Young Explorer Magazine  Looking for informational text for young readers?  National Geographic has really kept up with needs of student readers.  No matter their product, print or digital, students enjoy finding out more with National Geographic.  The Young Explorer digital site allows readers to view and/or listen to past National Geographic magazines.  There are two versions available for reading:  Scout and Voyager.  Of course, a stop by the National Geographic Kids website can always provide additional digital material for students.

The Poem Farm with Amy Ludwig VanDerwater  It's true, I'm a bit of a poetry fan so I like to make sure digital readers have the opportunity to experience poetry.  Amy LV's site is the perfect stop for teachers as she shares so much about her writing process.  Honestly, Amy's site is one of my favorite stops for digital writing mentor texts.  You'll find her site to be helpful in planning for poetry mini lessons.  You can look up poems by topic and technique making it a great stop for shared reading as well.  However, this post is about digital reading for kids so I digress.  The reason I like this site for our youngest readers is that Amy always includes a SoundCloud version of her poem.  Students can revisit poetry and listen to her read it!  There's nothing quite like hearing a poet read her own poetry.

Storyline Online Beginning readers need to hear the sounds of books.  There's something about those wondrous words whispering in their ears through read aloud.  Storyline Online has many titles available to listen to as they are read by readers you just might know.

Unite for Literacy  This website is a must see for young readers.  Displayed as a digital bookshelf, readers may click on a title of choice.  Students can read the book independently or have a narrated voice read for them.  Words are not highlighted and the narration is a bit choppy, but this is an excellent stop for finding digital books.  Additionally, you can adjust the language to have different different languages read.  When I switched the narration I was still viewing the English text, but with the other language narration.

eBooks with Narration  Recently I noticed in my library's Overdrive site that digital titles are becoming available "with narration."  In a recent stop to Overdrive, I discovered that books are becoming available with narration.  This allows readers to view the text WHILE listening to the story being read to them.  Game changer for younger readers!  I've tried to find out more about this, but haven't been able to really get to the heart of what is available and if it will be sustainable shift in children's books.  Anyone know anything more?  Check out your library's digital reading section to see if titles are available.

Digital books with narration. Columbus Metropolitan Library

You can see how I have been able to locate titles available with narration.

I'm hoping to grow the list of sites available for my youngest readers.  I'd love your recommendations.

Here are some other favorite digital sites (not all are for beginning readers):

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