Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Reading Workshop Day

Hello everyone. It is a good day for a teacher when she or he is able to implement an activity that is engaging, useful, and fun. Very soon my students and I will partake in something I like to call the "Five Stops in the Three Little Pigs Workshop." What this entails is during class there will be five stations involving the classic story that builds on the students comprehension, reading skills, and creativity. The students will be divided into small groups of five and be at each area for 10-15 minutes. These stations are:

In Their Own Words with a TWIST- This station has each student tell the story of the Three Little Pigs. However there will be a number of variables that the students have to pick out of a bag and interject into their story. The variables may be having the wolf be a pirate, or have the pig's mother join the story in some way. This activity introduces improvisation, and build comprehension. Since the story is in their own words there will be no wrong way to tell it. An actual version of this story will be read the previous day to have this story fresh in the student's memory.


Interview with a Character- This station will call upon each student to "step in the shoes" of each pig and the wolf. They will be asked a series of question and have to answer them in the way they would think that character would answer them. Example question to the second pig- Why would you pick sticks instead of straw and bricks?


Video discussion- At this station they will watch a version of the Three Little Pigs and discuss it. They will be able to say if they liked this version, why/why not, if the chimney the best way to get into the third house. This will be a starting point for the students to think critically.  Reference- Kid's Story Corner at www.education.com


Different Versions- The students in their groups and the helper will take turns reading The True Story of 
the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas. This is the station were the students practice their reading skills and experience two retellings of a classic story.  Reference- www.amazon.com


Illustrating- Here the students will have to draw and illustrate the story of the Three Little Pigs. There will be paper, markers, stamps, stickers, pipe cleaners, glue, and more to use.

This activity came to mind because I wanted to teach reading and comprehension in a different way and I could not choose just one activity. I think doing activities like this every now and then will hopefully keep the students invested and attain knowledge in memorable ways.

4 comments:

  1. I thought that your idea for the "interview with a character" was so cool. I think that it would be great for the kids to really feel like they are getting to know who everyone is in the story. I think that you laid out a lot of really great ideas!

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  2. I really like how you incorporated interactive stations that deal with the book. Here children are exploring literature in new ways that will be really fun. I like the station that adds a twist to the story. Children have a chance to create their own stories and get to be the author. This can inspire children to pursue a career in writing.

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  3. I think it is a great idea to totally integrate the story into all areas of the classroom. Having so many options will definitely ensure that they have a more interactive experience with the story. It would also be a great idea to have a sensory table filled with sticks, blocks and straw for them to build their own houses! This would also tap into the properties of each item and why exactly they did or didn't work for building the house in the story!

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  4. This blog was extremely informative with various techniques and tips. I especially liked the video discussion. After our trip to Studio 6 today, I know accept that "screen" media can, in fact, be helpful in moderation and if applied appropriately. Using the Three Pigs story as a basis is a sure way to follow closely with this notion of appropriate media usage.

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