Teaching Reading K-2 Workshop

Curriculum Areas: Language Arts, Professional Development, Reading
Grades: Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Adult
Show Length: Eight 1-hour programs
Usage Rights: Unlimited
Production Date: 2003
Distributor: Annenberg Media
Availability: CMSD-TV; Duplication; Streamed on Annenberg website
WVIZ/PBS Broadcast:
Internet Site(s): http://www.learner.org
Teacher Guide: Materials available on website.

CLOSED CAPTIONED: YES
Available for duplication on DVD to WVIZ member educators only for $80 for series. Other orders should go directly to Annenberg Media.

This video workshop addresses critical topics in teaching reading for K-2 teachers. Boston University professor of education Jeanne Paratore moderates the eight sessions with practicing K-2 teachers, reviewing current research on reading instruction and drawing out how it can inform classroom practice. In this workshop, participating teachers can compare their experiences with the onscreen teachers and review the video clips of real reading classes as they discuss the challenges of developing the literacy skills of their diverse students. Using the video programs, Web site, and print guide, K-2 teachers and reading specialists will gain confidence to adopt new strategies and refine their current practices to meet the needs of all their students.

Produced by WGBH Educational Foundation. 2003.

Workshop 1. Creating a Literate Community
A print-rich environment is essential to building emerging literacy skills. Just as important are literacy routines and classroom management. In this session, teachers will look at the big picture of building a learning community where reading and writing are the cornerstones of all learning and communication.

Workshop 2. Supporting the English Language Learner
This session explores how teachers can distinguish among and build upon the range of literacy skills English language learners bring to the classroom. Guest moderator Dr. Mileidis Gort explains how teachers can often address the needs of English language learners using the same instructional strategies and literacy routines used with general education students.

Workshop 3. Word Study and Fluency
This session examines the foundations of early literacy through a review of research-based principles for explicit and effective teaching of word study and fluency. Teachers will critique a word study lesson plan and compare approaches to teaching phonics.

Workshop 4. Comprehension and Response
A solid foundation in reading comprehension is the key to success in all subjects throughout school as well as to the development of a lifelong love of reading. Teachers will review key comprehension skills and match them with explicit teaching strategies, learning how to help students build their own set of strategies to use on increasingly more difficult texts.

Workshop 5. Teaching Writing as a Process
Teaching writing is an important component in a comprehensive literacy program. In this session, teachers will discuss the stages of the writing process — planning, drafting, revising, and editing — and brainstorm ways to inspire their students’ narrative writing.

Workshop 6. Differentiating Instruction
In this session, the effects of common classroom grouping practices on children’s achievement in reading are discussed and scrutinized. Teachers will examine grouping practices in classroom video clips and discuss applications in their own practice.

Workshop 7. Using Assessment To Guide Instruction
This session explores the types of assessment that lead to sound instructional decisions, showing the importance of taking multiple measures of student progress and embedding those assessments within daily instructional routines. Teachers will practice these ideas by creating an instructional plan based on the evaluation of a student’s literacy portfolio.

Workshop 8. Connecting School and Home
In this session, teachers will examine their beliefs on how parents contribute to students’ literacy and their own roles in engaging parents as partners in student motivation and learning. They will discuss their own interactions with parents and explore ways they might build on existing practices.