Experiences with writing workshops, reading workshops, literature focus units, etc...

What are your experiences with WW, Readers Workshop, Literature Focus Units, Thematic Units or Literature Circles? Discuss your likes, dislikes, pros, cons, etc. to using these types of strategies for LA instruction.

I have had experiences with writing workshops and reading workshops in two classrooms I have observed at Powell Elementary this semester. Mrs. Smith's classroom usally typically participates in a writing workshop when I am observing them. Mrs. Smith does a writing minilesson with the students and then they have free time to write. The students are all in different places in their writing, which I thought was kind of chaotic at first but am now seeing the point of it. Some students conference with Mrs. Smith. I really like the fact that students have more independent time to write what they like to write about. Students are able to have more of an influence on their education. I belive students are also able to be more creative, because they are able to choose what they write about and are not confined or limited to what the teacher asks them to write about.

I have also had the experience of observing a reading workshop at Powell Elementary in a fourth grade classroom I observed. I really enjoyed this experience as well. In the reading workshop I witnessed the teacher giving students a very brief minilesson and then students read and some students read with her through guided reading. I really enjoyed observing the reading workshop because I knew the students were happy reading what they wanted independently. It made me happy to see one student so lost in her book that she didn't even look up once. I remember being in elementary and middle school, being told what to read and not having as much time to read what I wanted to. I really liked the fact that students were able to read what they wanted to and were given this time during the day to do so. The only problem I could see with the reading workshop would be if students did not like reading and did not want to take the free time to read. Some students are just not motivated to read on their own. In Mrs. Smith's class when they were participating in the writing workshop, I saw some students not working as well as others and easily being distracted and not wanting to do their work. This is the only possible problem I could see with these workshops.

I have not had any experience with a literature focus unit, but I know that a literature focus unit is when teachers and students read and respond to one text together as a whole class or in a small group. Teachers choose the text that will be read in these groups, it should be from a high-quality literature selection. This text can coincide with the lesson or unit that the students are learning about. Students can then do projects for better understanding of the unit. I hope that I will eventually have some experience with a Literature focus unit. I believe a literature focus unit could help students better understand the unit they are studying about through literature.

I have had experience with literature circles in my Education 255 class in college. In this class, we have participated in one literature circle where I read The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963, this was a very good book. I really enjoyed participating in this discussion group and I realized that my understanding of the book was so much stronger from having been in this discussion group. I was able to see different aspects of the book that I had not considered. I was also able to gain more knowlege about the parts in the book that I had forgotten or not read as carefully. By having the different tasks to do, everyone in the group has a role they must fufill. Because their are different roles students have to read, it is easy to see who hasn't read because they would not be able to do fully complete their role. One negative thing is students might depend on other students to gain knowlege about the book.

Overall, I believe these strategies for language arts instruction are more beneficial then detrimental. I think it is great that students have more say in their education now. Students are learning more independently and are learning about stuff they are interested in. I believe it is important for educators to continue this type of education because I belive it is making students more interested in language arts instruction and this is being shown in their test scores.