Lucy Calkins Reading Workshop Follow-up Professional Learning

Today's Lucy Calkins Reading Workshop professional development for teachers of third through sixth grades was magical.  There is no doubt that our students are excelling because our TEACHERS are growing and learning SO much!  Our reading coaches and teacher leaders have done a stellar job of sharing their new learning from their experience at Teachers College in New York this summer.

What I heard today:

• Seventy-five percent of the reading block should be spent on student READING, not listening to the teacher, not writing.  
• We are still teaching Open Court Phonics and foundational skills.
• All students should have access to high quality books.  (TCS spent $90,000 on quality books for students during the last 6 months.)
• All students should read nightly.
• Teachers should model their love of reading.  Every teacher should read aloud daily for 15-20 minutes.  Use various genres like poetry and nonfiction.
• All students should keep a reading log.  Students may want to log the number of minutes they read each week.  
• Every reading skill is a life skill.  
• Students should be assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of the year.
• The TCS Pacing Guide should be adhered to and followed.  Collaboration MUST occur among teachers. 
• If Mentor Sentences are taking more than 15 minutes, we MUST stop that.  That takes away the time students read.