Teachers College Reading & Writing Project

We have continued to expand and deepen our work with the Teachers College Reading & Writing Project at Columbia University. The Project provides our teachers with a powerful framework for the teaching of reading and writing at all grade levels. It is not a program but rather a methodology, very closely linked to the thinking strategies, for the teaching of writing at all grade levels. All of our teachers have been trained in the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.  Through the funding from Lafayette Partners in Education, we have sent over 60 teachers to Teachers College for training. We have seen outstanding results in student progress.

Routines and procedures for classroom instruction are the instructional components of the Workshop Model. Useful in any content area, the model includes:

MINI-LESSON:

Typically around 10 minutes, this whole-class direct instruction is delivered by the teacher in one of these ways:

• conduct a shared reading
• read and think aloud for a specific purpose
• teach a key concept
• demonstrate a writing strategy
• direct students in a hands-on activity

INDEPENDENT WORK TIME:

Students work on their own, in pairs, or small groups. The teacher circulates to be sure all students are on task, then moves to:

• confer with individuals, taking anecdotal notes
• work with small groups in direct instruction

SHARE SESSION:

Teacher brings class back together at meeting area to:

• recap day's learning
• check for understanding
• focus on work of 1-2 students who use what was taught in lesson
• allow students to share their work in pairs or whole class