I finally settled on my version of something that works for me, my class, and my students. So here is an idea of my literacy block structure- and as I said before this isn't a rigid schedule- it is fluid and ever changing based on the needs of my students.
- Bell work- Language Standards Review 5 minutes
- Model Reading Skill/ Strategy 5-10 minutes
- Guided Practice 10 -15 minutes
- Independent Practice 10-15 minutes
- Introduce and Model Writing Skills 10 minutes
- Independent Writing 15 minutes
- Share Writing and Reflect on Lesson 5 minutes
Bell Work: Usually during this part of the class the students review the targeted grammar language standard by completing an activity that could be done quickly and without my assistance so I am free to greet students, take attendance, and make sure my materials are ready to go. Once the students complete the bell question, we usually share using a Kagan Structure such as timed-pair-share, round robin, or rally robin.
Model Reading Skill/ Strategy: During this component of the lesson I introduce the learning targets and try to capture the students attention and get them interested in learning. I may use a short video clip, song, or a Kagan Structure to get them thinking about what we will be learning about that day. Once I have them hooked, I always model the strategy first. Some days I will be reading aloud and explaining my thought process. Some days I am working with them on responding to a text by writing. Depending on what I am working on my methods change. I do my best to keep my talking time short in order to keep the students' attention. Now, I'm also realistic and some days I take over the ten minutes. I try to stop once I notice the kids are having trouble focus and provide them a chance to process their new knowledge and get them up and moving by using a Kagan structure. A structure I commonly use for this is standup-handup-pairup. Then we quickly review and I try to wrap up the mini-lesson (that turned out not to be so mini) shortly.
Guided Practice- This is the part where students are working cooperatively using their new skills. Some days the guided practice is reading a class book and discussing the targeted skill or practice. Other times the students work using task cards or another test prep resource. I try to always use a Kagan strucure during this time too. I love the quiz-quiz-trade Kagan Structure for this part of my lesson.
Independent Practice- Students will spend this section of class working independently on the targeted skill or standard. This may look like the students reading a self-selected text and respond by writing in their reading response books, or it may look like the students reading a short passage and answering a few questions similar to what I will expect them to be able to do on the end of unit mastery test.
Introduce and Model Writing Skills- During this portion of the class we switch our brains to start "reading as a writer" we reflect back on the text we were analyzing earlier and discuss elements the author used to craft it. I then model using these skills to my class.
Independent Writing Time- During this time I ask that all students be quiet and let their pencils do the talking. I let my students select their topic to write about, but they must write the entire time. If they finish writing- they have to start on a new piece or revise and edit a piece of writing. Now I'm not going to lie, towards the beginning of the year my fifth graders ALWAYS try to raise their hand and ask, "Well can I write about this..?" It always takes a couple of days, maybe even weeks, but this turns out to be a favorite time of the day for my students. When they are finally able to write without needing my assistance, I am able to pull students over to the side to conference with them on their writing.
Share Writing and Reflect on Lesson- The students share their writing with a partner using a cooperative learning structure. Then I transition the students back to thinking about the class as a whole and the grammar, reading, and writing skills we addressed and we do something to help the students process that information. Some days it is just writing about what they have learned and pair up to share. Other days, I ask the students to come up with Kinesthetic movements to help them remember the skills and strategies.
So there you have it, my structure that isn't really all that structured, but that's ok! In the end, the biggest part that I want to get across is there is no one size fits all approach to structures for a literacy block. If you are the confused new teacher, like I once was, the first step is to reflect and decide what components are important to you and your students. Then arrange them in a way that makes your class flow smoothly. Lastly, don't stress when you have to deviate from your literacy structure.
Chasity
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