Reader's Workshop Materials: 6 Classroom Must-Haves

So I keep staring at my laptop, thinking I will have ideas… but I don’t. I’m completely preoccupied with wedding stuff and have spent the last three days driving from one end of town to the other, trying to find the items we need to rent for our October wedding.

I have it in my head that, once school starts, I will not have a spare minute to spend on wedding. This is happening around August 1 – we have a reading camp and grade levels are coming in to plan for the year. This is exciting and a great idea, but I know that the more time I spend at school, the less time I spend on the wedding and the more likely I become a BRIDEZILLA!

I’m not one yet, I’ve been told… but it could happen at any moment.

Anyway, I thought that, as people are getting their rooms ready for school, Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop are great blogging topics. And the best part is…

I already blogged about it, back on August 25, 2012. So here’s my Throwback Thursday Post: Must-Have Materials for Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop!

Throwback Thursday linky party button from The First Grade Parade

As soon as I saw Lindsay’s Linky Party, I knew I had to link up. The problem was I have been a little braindead when I get home. It’s like the hamster in there is so exhausted from running all day that he just keels over and zonks out for hours at at time. Don’t ask me questions after 6:00. My answers don’t make any sense.

But I definitely had to link up with Lindsay’s Linky Party, and I just needed to wait until my brain worked well enough to do it

Must Have Materials for Reading and Writing Workshop linky party button with chevron background

Why These Reader’s Workshop Materials Became My Essentials

I Looooooooooove Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop. To be honest, my Writer’s Workshop is a modified version – I find that students need smaller chunks of independence and so I spend more time on a ping-pong instructional method than WW allows for, but I love the ideals.

Now, be prepared. This next section is a teacher’s nightmare.

One year, my whole campus was contaminated with mold. Seriously. Mold. The swamp coolers (lame excuses for air conditioners) stopped working and it rained. A lot. Considering we live in a desert. The library, full of lovely books, became a swamp, and we lost everything in that library. Everything.

They had to throw out all the books.

Isn’t that awful? ALL THE BOOKS! IN THE LIBRARY! HAD TO BE THROWN AWAY BECAUSE OF MOLD!!!

Holy cow, right?!

Because our campus was full of old, and therefore, uninhabitable, we were displaced. Without our stuff. Three weeks before school started, they said, “Guess what! You’re going to be shipped across the city. Every day your kids will ride the bus for half an hour – all of them – and sometimes, you will ride the bus, too, to monitor the kids!

AAAACCCKKK!

Also, you won’t have access to your stuff! All your classrooms are being sifted through and we are throwing away things we think are contaminated with mold!

HEART ATTACK

But you better meet accountability.

So we started the year in an old building no longer used as a school. We rode the bus for a week out of every four weeks. And that was pretty awful.

The word essentials took on a new meaning for me, because that was all I could afford to buy. Again. And pray they didn’t throw our stuff out. Which they sometimes did.

This is what I considered to be essential:

6 Must-Have Reader’s Workshop Materials

Classroom Library for Independent Reading

A well-stocked and engaging classroom library is necessary for kids to make good book choices and learn to read independently. I tried to have books at a variety of levels to match my readers at a variety of levels. Series books always seem like a good addition to the classroom library because the kids can get hooked and then you’ve got a reader. Nonfiction is always great (and necessary) too.

Classroom library with leveled book bins on shelves and a colorful reading rug

New model mini-library in my new room.

Nonfiction bookshelf with a book display on top in a classroom library

Nonfiction shelf with book display on top.

Cozy nonfiction reading nook with book bins, shelves and floor pillows

This was a nonfiction nook I had several years ago. Loved it.

Chart Paper for Reading and Writing Anchor Charts

I use a lot of chart paper. I chart everything. Once my hunny came into my classroom and was asking about things on the walls. “They look useful,” he said. I said, “They’re supposed to be.” He thought it was interesting that everything was in my handwriting – I don’t use pre-made posters very often because I think that kids look at them, say, “Oh, that’s nice,” and then forget. I chart everything out with the kids during my lessons and then very occasionally I’d use a nicer version, if I thought it could do the same job.

These are some reading and writing charts through the years. Oh, how things change but how they don’t, too.

Handwritten reading and writing anchor charts hanging on a classroom wall

Reader's workshop materials: anchor charts and student work displayed on a bulletin board above a book display

Word parts anchor chart showing prefixes, base words and suffixes

Comprehension strategies anchor chart for reading workshop

Responses to text anchor chart with sentence stems for explaining reading thinking

Literacy coach room with sample reader's workshop anchor charts above classroom library book bins

These are the sample charts I have in my room now as a literacy coach. Exciting to share with teachers!

Guided Reading Binder, Table, and Tools

I did a whole post a while back on guided reading and how important this structure is to me. My guided reading binder documents all of the work I’ve done with students and is a great source for a number of things. You can check that post out here.

Planning future instruction
Demonstrating to students and parents how their child has grown
Supporting the RtI process
Asking for help from support staff by showing evidence

Open guided reading binder with tabs and sticky notes for tracking student progress

Last year’s guided reading setup

Kidney-shaped guided reading table with a laptop and materials in a classroom

This year’s guided reading setup

Guided reading table in front of a word wall and reading materials

Mentor Texts for Reading and Writing

I use mentor texts for both reading and writing instruction. Our mentor texts become our buddies in reading and writing, and we try to connect everything we do back to the texts.

These are some of my favorites.

The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola book cover, a favorite mentor text

Click here and here for a post about Tomie DePaola’s books.

One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies book cover, a nonfiction mentor text

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco book cover

In November by Cynthia Rylant book cover, a mentor text for reading and writing

Click here for a post about using In November.

Reader’s and Writer’s Notebooks

Students have to write about their thinking and they have to try things in writing. We use our notebooks constantly and I’ve had students fill up one spiral and need another.