A workshop model is responsive.When teachers are able to sit with students, confer with them about what they are reading, and then decide what skills those students need, that is the heart of responsive teaching. A workshop model allows teachers to formatively assess their students through conferences and guided practice, and then they are able to determine their students' needs and address them through mini-lessons, teaching them strategies along the way to make them better readers.
When school districts mandate that teachers use a basal reader, or textbook, to teach reading skills, those skills are being taught without regard to the individual readers in the classroom. A basal reader includes grade level stories and articles along with teaching resources. If followed with fidelity, most programs tell teachers the exact order in which they have to teach the stories and the skills. Unfortunately, individual student needs are not taken into account with this prescriptive method.
It is interesting to me that the dictionary definition of basal is "forming or belonging to a bottom or base." What happens when students are expected to read the basal, yet they don't have the basic skills needed to be able to access the text? The reality is that so many of our students are reading below grade level, yet they are continually being given materials that are on grade level through programs from educational publishers. Where is the "base" for these students who keep getting pushed along as their grade level rises but their reading level does not?
Pernille Ripp, an educator and author that I respect and follow on social media, just posted a quote on Instagram from Richard Allington's "What Really Matters When Working with Struggling Readers." It is, "...no research existed then, or exists now, to suggest that maintaining fidelity to a core reading program will provide effective reading lessons." Teachers have told me that they have been told that they have to use a textbook because they "don't have a core reading program." Since when are our students not at the core of everything we do? Reading workshop IS a core reading program, and it takes into account all readers at all levels every minute of the class period.
In a reading workshop model, students are able to work on their vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency in materials that they can read and that they want to read. Teachers are then able to meet students where they are and nudge them forward with one-on-one conferences. When teachers notice that students are missing particular skills or need extra practice with a previously taught concept, they are able to respond to those needs by teaching them strategies they can carry with them throughout their reading lives.
Giving kids time to read and books they want to read is one of the most important things we can do for them. Every day they should be having authentic reading experiences in which they use strategies to tackle whatever text they are reading, and we should be there beside them, ready to support them when they need it most. We should be having rich conversations with them about what they are reading. Reading workshop includes a great deal of on-the-spot teaching, which I would argue, can have more impact on individual readers than anything else. Workshop allows teachers to respond immediately to readers' needs instead of waiting for those skills to appear somewhere in a textbook. Yes, it takes work; yes, it is easier for someone to tell us what to teach. But shouldn't we focus on what is best for our students?
