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Mrs. Robinson's Literacy Workshop
email: lrobins3@houstonisd.org
Dear Students and Parents,
I have really enjoyed our first few weeks together in our 7th Grade Language Arts classes, and I hope you have too! Despite the many challenges provided by Hurricane Ike, it promises to be an exciting and productive year at Pershing as we embark upon a new classroom framework for discovering and developing expertise in the Language Arts through Reader/Writer Workshop.
While this structure for Language Arts teaching and learning is new to Pershing, it is not new to the educational world. It was first developed over 20 years ago at
Since this program is so different from what is usually offered in the traditional Language Arts classroom, we spent the first three weeks of class becoming familiar with the structure and expectations for Reader/Writer Workshop and getting to know each other as Readers and Writers. We have talked about the unique structure of our time together including our mini-lessons, work time and conference time; the benefits and responsibilities of having comfortable seating areas for our work; and the role of the classroom library. Thank you for completing all the surveys and the initial writing project. All of these materials are invaluable to me as I plan our mini-lessons for the year and help each of you fulfill your potential as Readers and Writers.
The Work of Reading/Writing Workshop:
In Reading Workshop, you are learning how to choose the best books for you, build stamina for reading, increase your reading level, make inferences, apply the major literary elements to the books you are reading, and keep a Literacy Notebook.
Some Expectations:
- You will choose books that are interesting to you and that you understand.
- You will read daily at school and at home and keep an up-to date reading log in your Literacy Notebook.
- You will enhance and challenge your reading life by reading books, short stories and articles from a variety of genres and at increasing reading levels.
- You will write daily about things that are important and interesting to you.
- You will enhance and challenge your writing life by studying and practicing the process of writing through different genres including non-fiction, poetry, research papers and persuasive essays. Throughout these studies you will review and practice conventions of writing. All of this work will be located in your Writer’s Notebook, and a final, published piece will be produced by you for every unit of study.
- You will participate in conferences with me to assess your progress on a regular basis.
- You will take pride in your work.
Student Responsibilities:
- Follow the classroom library check out policy.
- Take good care of the books you borrow; treat them gently so that they will last a lot longer.
- If a book is lost or damaged, you must either pay a $5 flat fee or replace it; otherwise, you lose checkout privileges.
- Take care of the furnishings in the room. Failure to do so will result in loss of the privilege of using those furnishings or other school consequences as appropriate.
Grading:
You will be assessed on your Writer’s Notebook, Literacy Notebook, conferences, reading logs, drafting packets and writing projects. All assessments will be based on rubrics.
AR points are not required this year. However, if you do read an AR book, please take the test! There will be an incentive for you based on the number of AR points you earn. The list of AR books is available on the Pershing library website.
Supplies:
Please bring any missing supplies as soon as possible because they are critical to each student’s success in Reader/Writer Workshop and are used every single day, both at home and at school!
- 1 three subject spiral (Literacy Notebook)
- 1 Composition Book or single subject spiral (Writer’s Notebook)
- Blue or black pens
- Post-its (different sizes; they will be left with me)
- You will likely need additional notebooks during the year
Wish List for the Classroom:
Any of the following items would be greatly appreciated.
- Extra Post-its for all students to use (especially small and medium sizes)
- Books for classroom library (all genres and reading levels including nonfiction, young adult books, middle grade books, picture books, early readers and classic fiction)
- Educational magazines (all genres)
