Reading Workshop and Accelerated Reader

Maribeth Carmichael

[Reading Workshop] [Accelerated Reader] [Reading Workshop WWW Links]

What is a Reading Workshop?

In college I was exposed to Nancie Atwell's idea of a reading workshop from her book, In the Middle, Boynton/Cook, 1987. In the workshop, the students read a book of their choice. While they are reading, they write letters to the teacher about the book and the teacher responds. In the letters, the students communicate about the books they are reading. They can express their thoughts about authors, plots, different genres and other topics. If you are interested in Readers Workshop, you might want to read Atwell's In the Middle; New Understandings about Writing, Reading, and Learning, Boynton/Cook, 1998.

The major benefit of using a reading workshop is that it personalizes the English class for each student. What is interesting to one student may not be interesting to another. Reading workshop allows students a choice in what they read and provides time for independent reading.

Libraries also reap the benefits of Reading Workshop. First, it gets students into the library. Once students get there, they may discover they like it and go back on their own. By giving students the freedom to choose a book that is interesting to them, the teacher encourages students' reading for pleasure, a goal of all libraries.

What are the characteristics of a successful workshop?

A Reading Workshop should include the following:

*Allow students to read a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles.

*Start off with a mini-lesson that focuses on a skill or concept important to the class. See the links below for sample topics. See link, "What on Earth Is Reading Workshop?" below.

Give students time to read without distractions.

Encourage students to respond to what they have read in a reading journal or through letters to the teacher.

Include time for students to talk to each other about the books they are reading.

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Accelerated Reader

Accelerated Reader is a computerized reading program. [Note: link is to commercial site. Other commerical suppliers sell the software.] Accelerated Reader and Reading Workshop are very compatible. There are two benefits to incorporating Accelerated Reader with Reading Workshop. First, students' book selections are limited in a "good way." Books included in the Accelerated Reader are selected from "best books" lists. The booklist is broad in scope, from good adolescent literature to classic titles. A list of Accelerated Reader Books is available. Thanks to Hancock [KY] Middle School for making the titles available, including readability level. Second, students must complete a short multiple choice test after they have completed the book. This forces students to read the book instead of trying the old "first, middle, last chapter" trick. As a teacher, it gives me some peace of mind about whether the book was read. Accelerated Reader is flexible in that teachers can add other titles to the provided bibliography.

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Reading Workshop WWW Links

Abita's Reading/Writing Workshop Stuff

Main page by Sam Ambrose. Some individual links below.

What on Earth is Reading Workshop?

By Sean Ambrose. Explains the workshop model used by a middle school teacher in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A typical workshop class included the mini-lesson, reading time without distraction, small group discussions about books and journal responses.

Jim Thorpe Junior High School Reading Workshop Page

By Mary Dobosh and Bobbie Pfingstler. Main page, includes philosophy, book lists, authors, lesson plans. Some specific links below.

Reading Workshop Mini-Lessons

By Mary Dobosh and Bobbie Pfingstler. A list of lessons used by teachers at Jim Thorpe Junior High School. As a teacher who uses the Reading Workshop and is always struggling to come up with topics, I found this list to be extremely useful.

The Philosophy of Reading Workshop

By Mary Dobosh and Bobbie Pfingstler. A statement of philosophy from the teachers at Jim Thorpe Junior High School

Middle Grades Reading Network

Main page. Devoted to promoting voluntary reading. Includes bibliography of adolescent books; Blueprint for becomine a community of readers. Selected links below.

They Read! Here's Why They Read

By Patricia Faught, an eighth grade teacher from Farmersburg Middle School. How Reading Workshop influenced her students to read. From Middle Grades Reading Network

Reading Bill of Rights

From Middle Grades Reading Network site.

The Reading Workshop

By Amy Goucher. Summary of article in Reading Teacher on impact of Reading Workshop, used in conjunction with basal readers, with a sixth grade class.

LS Language Arts

Informative list of the elements of the reading/writing workshop. Objectives, many of which match Virginia's Standards of Lerning Objectives.

Reading and Writing Mini-Lessons

Discusses Atwell's In the Middle. Provides some interesting and useful reading and writing tips.

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Maribeth Carmichael is a ninth grade English teacher and a graduate student in school library media services at James Madison University.

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