List of Strategies to Be Taught in a Reading Workshop

Fluency

• Literary fluency refers to the ability to read text quickly and accurately. Reading workshops include activities for helping students to recognize words automatically, read aloud quickly and smoothly, and comprehend what each word means without difficulty. Activities to encourage fluency include instructors reading aloud to students, as well as students reading aloud on their own, whether in front of the whole class or simply to a partner. Games, such as speed drills, word searches and word bingo, can also help students improve literacy fluency.
  
  

Accuracy

• Accuracy in literacy refers to the ability to understand and remember what is being read. This includes using pictures as clues, organizing key concepts of the story, and skipping and backtracking through the text with an understanding of what the story is about. To assist students in improving their reading accuracy skills, teachers can use strategies such as having students read a book more than once, guessing what the story is about based on pictures in the book, and speed-reading drills.
  
  

Comprehension

• Reading comprehension involves the students' understanding of the story, as well as their ability to retell the story, answer questions about the story and describe character traits. Activities to help students develop their reading comprehension skills include creating pictures of the story's characters, trivia games about the book, puppet shows that retell the story and writing a book report describing the main points of the story. Teachers can also ask questions about the story while reading books aloud, encouraging the students to take turns answering.
  
  

Vocabulary

• Vocabulary involves the ability to read and understand words already learned while learning new words. Activities that reinforce prior vocabulary knowledge includes having students match words to corresponding pictures, make up stories for wordless picture books, and write short stories. Teach new vocabulary words by directing students to memorize word lists, read books containing new words, use flashcards and play word-based board games, like Boggle, Scrabble and Pictionary.