“Don’t forget to bring your evidence”
Developing a workshop routine is one way to create a classroom environment that is responsive to students’ academic needs. When I walked into Amber Michel’s kindergarten class students were busy working in small groups throughout the classroom. I witnessed students in the library reading, doing reading comprehension tasks on laptops, playing phonics games, journal writing, and others were cutting words and letters for word study. Amber sat in the back of the classroom leading a small reading group.
As a new visitor to a classroom, I expected students to ask why I was there, or if I could help them, or, why I didn’t have any hair. No one looked in my direction when I entered the classroom and when I knelt down to examine their work, students either glared at me as if I was interrupting them or they completely ignored me. Amber’s students were focused and engaged in their classwork. I was invisible.
Suddenly a timer went off and Amber said, “Time to clean up.” Students quickly and respectfully began to gather materials, each student clearly responsible for the tools. And then I heard Amber say the words that made it absolutely clear why every single student was so focused. She said, “Don’t forget to bring your evidence to the carpet.” The class collectively counted down from 30 and arrived at the carpet, sitting criss-cross applesauce with a journal, a book, a folder, or a worksheet.
When I heard Amber say “Don’t forget to bring your evidence… it was clear why students were so focused. Her simple phrase communicated accountability and her routine of debriefing Workshop with her students supported students’ personal responsibility.
Debrief every time
During the debrief, Amber randomly chose five or six students to bring to the front of the carpet to demonstrate what they had completed. Based on their work product, she might ask students to:
- Read a list of words they had generated and model the phonics skill to decode the word
- Ask students to read a sentence they wrote
- Facilitate a quick editing lesson with the group (grammar, spelling, or word choice).
- Review a few sound spelling patterns connected to the list of sight words students were practicing.
She also prompted students with the following question during the debrief: What was a challenge you faced and how did you solve it? This question suggested that challenges are normal, but she also expected students to explore solutions. If the issue was still a problem when the student arrived on the carpet, the class took a few moments to offer suggestions on how to solve it.
Amber’s workshop has a structure
1) Prebrief: Students meet on the carpet to set the stage for Workshop. She would provide a mini-lesson and remind students of group responsibilities.
2) Work: Students work in their respective groups (however, in the beginning of the year, everyone works on the same activity – then she introduces the next activity three or four days later.
3) Debrief:Students bring their work/evidence to the carpet every time, at the end of the workshop to discuss their learning.
Amber’s Pro Tips:
- Spend the first 6 weeks of school practicing workshop. Teach students how to retrieve materials, how to use them appropriately, and how to clean up.
- Practice what each phase of Workshop should look like and sound like. Make this part of your feedback to the group during the debrief.
- Teach activities to the whole class before they become Workshop activities.
- Use workshop time during the first 6 weeks to do academic assessments, circulate, and clarify activities.
- Identify student leaders for certain workshop activities so that students can go to them later for questions during workshop.
- Observe students who work well together for flexible grouping
- Debrief, debrief, debrief
Developing a classroom community that is cooperative, collaborative, and responsive takes time, planning and practice. Hopefully Amber’s Workshop advice will lend itself to your ability to develop and implement powerful small group work in your classroom. To get a peek inside Amber’s room, check out our Workshop video on our website at conditionsforlearning.org.
