How do I fit it all in? This is a question that I am often asked by the teachers that I coach. It is hard to figure out how to fit in all of the components especially when you’re the one in the trenches trying to fit in everything you know students need to grow as readers.
That’s where I come in. Although it can be a challenge it is actually my favorite thing to help teachers figure out. Below I share some of the ways that I have approached trying to fit in all the things whether in my own classroom or in coaching other upper elementary teachers to create their own reading block schedule.
What is a reading block?
First let’s start by defining our terms. The reading block is a block of time that the teacher uses to teach reading. It is often referred to at the reader’s workshop. The reading block is often broken up into various components:
Mini lesson – a targeted 10 to 15 minute whole group lesson focused on one skill that the teacher models and students practice. Although it can be a challenge, it is important to plan this portion of your block out so that you can ensure that an intentional and succinct lesson is delivered to your students.
You can grab my free guide here if the thought of keeping your mini lessons mini seems daunting. I also offer an eight week coaching program to help you get this down. Get the details here.
Read aloud with accountable talk- a time when the teacher models their thinking while reading aloud a book and gives students an opportunity to practice. This is also a great time to incorporate reading response opportunities. This can be via turn and talk, stop and jots, short answer responses or literary essays.
Independent Reading- An uninterrupted amount of time in which students get to read and get lost in their book or practice a skill they were taught in their mini lesson. This is a skill set that is built over time. In other words don’t do what I did.
Don’t expect students to open their books and read for 20 to 30 minutes at a time without first embedding time to practice and build their stamina. This is a skill set that you have to provide explicit instruction around and build in time to practice daily so that they can build up to that 20 to 30 minute time frame.
Guided Reading/Conferring/Strategy Groups-A time for students to receive targeted instruction from the teacher based on their reading goals and needs. This time is going to be dictated by two factors. Your students’ needs and your skill set.
Although conferring and strategy groups are the ideal for upper elementary students this may not be where you start with your skill set. I definitely did not start here. I started by learning how to conduct guided reading groups and my students grew as readers as they participated in these groups.
Some students used traditional guided reading books while others read chapter books at their approximate reading level. Eventually my practice grew and expanded to be able to conduct strategy groups and conferring with students.
Regardless of where you start your students will grow in their reading skills as you are able to meet with them consistently and they are able to apply what they learned in independent reading.
The One Hour Reading Block-
When I was in the classroom I broke up my reading block in a couple of different ways depending on the amount of time that I had.
If I was given a 1hour block of time I organized my reading block as follows:
15 minute mini lesson
15 minute read aloud
30 minutes for guided reading and /or conferring.
The 1 ½ hour reading Block-
If I was given a 1 ½ hour block of time to teach reading I organized it as follows:
15 minute mini lesson (genre based, word study, grammar)
15 minute read aloud (think aloud, turn and talk opportunities and responding to reading)
60 minutes for guided reading and/conferring/strategy groups
Keep in mind the developmental levels of your students. In other words you may teach third graders who may need you to break the reading block even further.
Check out the example below:
15 min mini lesson
20 minute small group (other students read independently)
15 mini read aloud
20 minute small group (other students read independently)
20 minute small group (other students read independently)
Of course there are different iterations that this could follow. For example when I taught fifth grade I would not conduct a genre based mini lesson on Monday’s and would instead focus that day on introducing that week’s root words to my students.
On Tuesday’s I had students pulled out for their gifted and talented program. I would reread a section of our read aloud, in order to practice a skill with the students that were still in the classroom and not read anything new while those students were out.
If you are also having to fit in writing or responding to reading you will also have to figure out which days to incorporate this as you really can’t do everything every day and even if you can, you can’t do it well.
Here is an example of what these iterations looked like:
The key to making sure that you can get all of the necessary components of your reading block in is to prioritize and plan.
Prioritize the standards that your students need most in order to demonstrate mastery of a particular reading and/or writing unit.
Plan the unit out plugging in those priority standards. Then plug that plan into your general reading block framework.
Planning things out to this level will help you feel less frazzled and less subject to the whims of what is happening in your day to day life in your classroom.
Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by all of the components of the reading block. Use the frameworks listed above to help you get started in planning your reading block. If you are wanting one on one support for this endeavor you can sign up for one on one coaching using this link. You can also grab my Teaching reading 101 course that not only features a module teaching you how to structure your reading block, but walks you through how to roll out each component of your reading block as well. Be sure to sign up for my Mini Lesson Revamp Bootcamp Coaching Program waitlist, you’ll be the first to know when registration opens up again.
