Readers’ Workshop

Q: What is the Readers’ Workshop?

A: New this fall, the Readers’ Workshop is a balanced literacy approach that engages students in the reading process while fostering a passion for reading. The program is student-centered and empowers children to make reading choices from books that are “just right” for them. Reading text from “just right” books supports targeted growth in both decoding (reading the words) and reading comprehension.

Q: Why is it important?

A: First, the Readers’ Workshop curriculum supports differentiated instruction for readers of all skill levels, allowing teachers to modify and adapt instruction to meet the unique educational needs of our students. It also provides an objective and ongoing way for teachers to assess the instructional reading levels of our students. This provides teachers with important benchmark data to inform, guide and support instruction.

Q: How does it improve instruction?

A: A number of our students at The Forum School are emergent pre-readers or early/novice readers and are at a developmental reading stage where they are showing interest in books and are beginning the reading process. This is the optimal time to implement the Readers’ Workshop. The curriculum gives teachers a curricular framework to engage students in meaningful and stimulating instruction while providing data that ensures a child is working with text and materials at his/her instructional level.