Reading Workshop Survival Kit (J-B Ed:Survival Guides)

Rating:
Summary: A great teaching resource
Review: As a beginning teacher preparing for a summer reading workshop, I found this book to be helpful. It has great ideas for setting up a workshop atmosphere. I also loved the guidelines and responsibilities of both teachers and students that were included. The reading mini-lessons were useful, although I would say most are geared for late elemntary and middle school students.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Place to Start
Review: This a great book for putting together the "mini-lesson" portion of a reading workshop. It provides teachers with reproducible worksheets that focus on reading skills and literary elements. It gives a brief description of student and teacher responsibilities for achieving a successful workshop experience. Although there are many useful tips, and the literary element section of this book is outstanding, it does not provide teachers with activities for incorporating critical thinking and it leaves the reader wanting strategies for establishing student-directed learning. A brief section on integrating different reader responsibilities, and a plan for setting up a workable management system to handle the flow of papers, portfolios, and reading response journals would make this book better.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Place to Start
Review: This a great book for putting together the "mini-lesson" portion of a reading workshop. It provides teachers with reproducible worksheets that focus on reading skills and literary elements. It gives a brief description of student and teacher responsibilities for achieving a successful workshop experience. Although there are many useful tips, and the literary element section of this book is outstanding, it does not provide teachers with activities for incorporating critical thinking and it leaves the reader wanting strategies for establishing student-directed learning. A brief section on integrating different reader responsibilities, and a plan for setting up a workable management system to handle the flow of papers, portfolios, and reading response journals would make this book better.

Rating:
Summary: Is it really "reading workshop"?
Review: While this book may be very useful to teachers looking for reading skill activities, it is not developed in the true style of reading workshop. This book is made up of 300+ pages of copy-ready worksheets, each addressing a particular reading skill. If you're looking for a book addressing the procedures of reading workshop, including developing group dynamics and assisting students in reading choices and developing personal reading goals, then this is not the book for you. I found the title to be misleading.

Rating:
Summary: Is it really "reading workshop"?
Review: While this book may be very useful to teachers looking for reading skill activities, it is not developed in the true style of reading workshop. This book is made up of 300+ pages of copy-ready worksheets, each addressing a particular reading skill. If you're looking for a book addressing the procedures of reading workshop, including developing group dynamics and assisting students in reading choices and developing personal reading goals, then this is not the book for you. I found the title to be misleading.