1. Growing Readers
By Kathy Collins
Presentation by
Meagan Kalchbrenner, Elisse Battle, Ashley Brown

2. Introduction
“I believe that we primary-grade teachers have an
important dual challenge. We need to teach children
how to read, but we also need to teach them how to
fall in love with reading. We need to teach children
the skills and strategies that good readers use, but
we also need to teach them the reading habits they
will keep long after they leave our classrooms.”
“The independent reading workshop makes it possible to teach children the
reading skills and strategies to get through texts, while also guiding them
toward independence, intention, and joy as readers.”

3. Chapter 1
Creating Classrooms for Learners, Thinkers, & Talkers
Kathy Collins’ beliefs about teaching and learning that are most
important in making the independent reading workshop
effective for all learners:
 The ongoing pursuit of knowledge
 The importance of safety & consistency
 The importance of providing opportunities for independence
 The power of a print-rich, talk-rich, inviting classroom
 The value of clear & high expectations

4. Chapter 2
Experiences in Literacy Throughout the Day
What is an independent
reading workshop?
In an independent reading
workshop, the teacher
provides whole class,
individual, and small group,
direct, explicit reading
instruction to her students.
When children read
independently during IRW,
they read just-right books
that match their
independent reading level.

5. Guiding Principles of the
Independent Reading Workshop
 Readers have time to read independently every day.
 Readers select their own appropriate books.
 Readers take care of books.
 Readers respect each other’s reading time & reading lives.
 Readers have daily opportunities to talk about their books in
genuine ways.
 Readers don’t just read the words, but also understand the
story.
 Readers’ work in the independent reading workshop is
replicable outside the classroom.

6. Structure of an Independent Reading Workshop
 Mini lesson (10 minutes or less)
 Independent work time with instruction
Children are engaged in private reading time. Teacher
provides instruction during reading conferences and small
group work.
 Mid-workshop teaching
Children are engaged in partner reading time. Teacher
provides instruction during reading conferences and small
group work.
 Teaching share time

7. Architecture of a Mini-Lesson
 Connection
Connect today’s lesson with yesterday’s lesson
Connect today’s lesson with ongoing unit of study
Connect today’s lesson with students’ work
Connect today’s lesson with and experience outside school
 Teaching Point
Present Verbally
Demonstrate or Model
 Active Engagement
Children try out a new strategy or skill with a text
Children act like researchers as they watch a demonstration
Children plan work out loud
Children imagine trying a skill or strategy
 Link to ongoing work

8. A Balanced Literacy Framework also includes the
following components as a part of the daily approach
to teaching reading and writing:
 Independent Reading Workshop
 Writing Workshop
 Shared Reading
 Interactive Read-Aloud
with accountable talk
 Story time
 Small group work (guided reading, strategy lessons)
 Word study (phonics, spelling)
 Interactive writing

9. Sample Schedule for a Literacy Day
8:30 am Arrival, morning jobs, library time
8:45 Morning Meeting
9:00 Shared Reading
9:15 Independent Reading Workshop
10:05 Word Study
10:15 Writing Workshop
11:10 Interactive Read-Aloud with Accountable Talk
11:30 Lunch/recess
12:15 pm Quiet time/free reading
12:20 Math Workshop
1:15 Social Studies, Science, Art, Choice Time
1:45 Preparation
2:35 Story Time
2:50 Homework/pack up
3:00 Dismissal

10. Chapter 3
Units of Study in a Primary Reading Workshop
In all other content areas we teach in units. So then, in
independent reading workshop, we should spend a few weeks
of whole class instruction focused on one thing rather than
flitting from one teaching point to another.
Having units of study in the independent reading workshop will
help us plan for our teaching in a way that moves the group
along while supporting individual learners.
Each unit of study lays the groundwork for the next. They carry a
sense of continuity & consistency, and bring everyone to the
ending we all hope for: a classroom full of strong readers who
love to read, children who are ready for the work of the next
school year & beyond.

11. Units of Study Across the School Year
September: Readers Build Good Habits
Late September-October: Readers Use Strategies to Figure Out
Words
November-December: Readers Think and Talk about Books to
Grow Ideas
January: Readers Use Word Power to Read &
Understand Their Books
February-May: Readers Pursue Their Interests in
Books & Other Texts
June: Readers Make Plans for Their Reading
Lives

12. Teaching Topics Within Units of Study
• September: Readers Build Good Habits
• Management and procedural expectations
• Reading identities
• Taking care of books
• Understanding workshop procedures
• How to stay focused on our reading
• How to work with reading partners
• How to have a good talk with our partners
• Late September-October: Readers Use Strategies to Figure Out Words
• Getting our minds ready to read
• Acquisition of print strategies
• Flexibility with print strategies
• Reading with fluency
• Choosing just-right books
• November-December: Readers Think and Talk About Books to Grow Ideas
• Book talks with partners
• Retelling
• Envisioning, predicting, making connections, having thoughts
• Strategies for monitoring comprehension
• Strategies to fix comprehension challenges
• February-May: Readers Pursue Their Interests in Books and Other Texts
• Genre studies and author studies
• Character studies
• Reading projects
• Determining importance, synthesizing text, inferring
• June: Readers Make Plans for Their Reading Lives
• Reflecting on how we’ve grown as readers
• Making reading plans for the summer (and for life)
• Setting goals as readers
• Determining our new reading identities

13. Planning for the Units of Study
Backwards Planning (goal setting)
Brainstorming teaching Ideas
Drafting a teaching plan
Revising when necessary
End each unit with a celebration!

14. Getting Ready:
Setting the Tone & the Bottom Line
Because independent reading workshop is every day,
invest time in the first couple of weeks to teach
students about the management and procedures of
reading workshop. Get to know students as readers
& people, and by making clear the expectations for
tone, work ethic, and behavior in the classroom.
Teach students how to make transitions from mini-
lessons to independent work time and how to work
with and talk with reading partners.

15. Bottom Line Habits
These four habits are essential for reading and working together:
Strong readers read every day.
Strong readers talk about and think about
books with other people.
Strong readers read everything in sight.
Strong readers take care of books & protect
their reading time.