LITERACY+WORKSHOPS

Overview of KDPS Literacy Workshops 2009

The purpose of the literacy workshop is to provide students with a ‘knowledge of language’ to improve reading and comprehension abilities.

‘//students should engage with and construct a wide range of texts, understanding how they differ depending on their **purpose**, the nature of the// **//audience//**//, their **subject-matter** and the **mode and medium** in use’ (National Curriculum, Framing Paper, Page 11)//

The literacy workshop is a daily session of 45min to 1 hour. Half the time is spent reading and the other half is spent discussing meaning and concepts read. Tribes decide what books they will read during their library sessions. This main book is usually a narrative novel style book, the teacher may use workshop sessions to read photocopied texts in line with the writing genre being studied to encompass a ‘wide range of texts’.

Students are placed in tribes, the tribe then takes ownership by working together on a Tribe name, the only stipulation being that the name must reflect something about reading or literacy. Students are told about the relevance of forming tribes rather than groups; tribes work together towards the some common goal, in this case improved reading knowledge and interest. Students are to support each other through the text. Students are given the knowledge of how to pose questions to eachother to clarify meaning and understanding of what is being read.

Reading options