The complete first unit of Reading Workshop for the Secondary Classroom. Lessons, handouts, and activities provide you with everything you need to teach the unit. All lessons apply to any book your students may choose to read. All lessons are CCSS-aligned.

Unit 1: I Belong Here

This unit introduces students to reading as a lifelong skill to be nurtured and enjoyed—both inside and outside of school. During this unit, students reflect on the attitudes, habits, and behaviors that have shaped their reading lives up to this point. As the unit progresses, the focus subtly shifts to the skills that form the foundation of reading, including the building blocks to improve reading skills, grow confidence, and encourage a love of reading. Throughout the unit, teachers serve as encouragers, guides, and fellow readers—inviting students on a journey that leads to learning, joy, and a lifetime of reading.

Lesson Sequence

1. You Belong—Setting the Stage for Successful Reading
2. Setting Personal Reading Goals
3. The Perfect Pick—Learning How to Choose Appropriate Texts
4. You Can’t Fake It—What It Means to Be Mindful While Reading
5. Introduction to Comprehension Strategies—Inference
6. Taking Part in the Conversation—Questioning and Predicting
7. Personal Pictures—Visualizing
8. Me Making Meaning—Connecting Books to Self, World, and Other Texts
9. Getting Short and Snappy—Learning the Art of Summarizing
10. Speaking the Language—Using Context Clues to Bring Meaning to Unknown Words
11. What I Bring—Reflecting on Reading Attitudes
12. Leaving My Mark—Evaluating and Creating a Book Talk

©2019. Middle school, high school. Reproducible. PDF download, 80 pages. Adobe® Reader® required to view.

About the Author

Leslie Spurrier holds a bachelor's degree in English from Wake Forest University and a master's degree in Reading and Language Arts from Millersville University. She taught middle school English and reading for over seven years and lived to tell the tale. Her favorite literary character of all time is Anne Shirley, which made giving birth to a red-headed little girl all the more glorious. Leslie currently resides in Lititz, PA, with her husband and two children. When she's not voraciously devouring books of all sorts, she creates educational materials for her online business, Story Trekker, and desperately tries to keep her cat Shadow from scratching up her favorite chair.