Readers’ Workshop Unit of Study Year-long Planner: Grade One
Month
September
October
Unit of Study
Launching Readers’ Workshop
Retelling
November
Monitoring for Meaning /
Being a Word Solver
December
Creating Sensory Images
January
February
March
Making Connections
Asking Questions
Inferring
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April
Genre Study: Nonfiction
May
Author Study
June
Review of Strategies through a
genre study such as fairy tales
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Key Focus Lessons
What is Readers’ Workshop?
Procedures & routines for RW
Introduce classroom library
Turn & talk
Telling stories about our lives
Retelling simple stories
Story structure
Story elements
Stop and think while reading
Readers ask M, S, V questions
Use fix-up strategies at the word
and passage level
Making mind movies
Using 5 senses
Use sensory image to understand
Our sensory images are different
What is schema?
What is your schema?
Using schema to understand
Making meaningful connections
Questioning before, during, &
after reading
Purposes of asking questions
Some questions have answers
Using schema, text, & picture cues
Making predictions and looking
for evidence in text
Some questions aren’t explicitly
answered – readers infer
What is nonfiction?
Characteristics of nonfiction
Differences between fiction & NF
Using nonfiction conventions
Building schema for an author
Making text to text connections
Review grade 1 comprehension
strategies as needed
Review grade 1 comprehension
strategies as needed
Launching Readers’ Workshop Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
What is Readers’
Workshop?
What is an anchor chart? We are all readers.
Getting to know our
classroom library
How to take care of
books
What kind of reader are
you?
How to turn and talk
about a favorite book
How do we listen?
Respecting other readers
What is a book bag?
Choosing a just right
book
Choosing a reading spot
Day 1
Choosing a reading spot
Day 2
Why do readers leave
their spot?
How do we swap books?
What is an independent
reading conference?
Growing a conversation
How to partner read
Building stamina
Readers think as they
read.
Retelling Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
What is retelling?
Retelling helps you
understand
Readers retell stories
from their own lives.
Good readers stop,
think, and remember
elements of a story.
Good readers retell
familiar stories and
nursery rhymes with
pictures.
Good readers retell
familiar stories and
nursery rhymes without
pictures.
Good readers can retell
another person’s story.
Good readers use the
names of characters in
their retelling.
Good readers can
identify the setting in a
story.
Good readers can name
the problem and solution
of a story.
Day 1
Good readers can name
the problem and solution
of a story.
Day 2
Good readers can
identify the structure of
a familiar story
(beginning, middle, &
end) using pictures.
Good readers can
identify the structure of
a familiar story
(beginning, middle, &
end) without pictures.
Good readers can retell a Good readers can retell a
story in the correct
story in the correct
sequence with pictures.
sequence without
pictures.
Good readers use
language that helps them
describe the sequence of
the story (first, next,
then, last).
Good readers find and
use important language
from the text in their
retelling. Day 1
Good readers find and
use important language
from the text in their
retelling. Day 2
Good readers practice
retelling with partners.
Good readers practice
retelling by illustrating
story elements.
Monitoring for Meaning Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Good readers are
thinkers.
Good readers listen to
their inner voice.
Good readers leave
tracks of their thinking.
Good readers make
mental pictures to
increase understanding.
Good readers stop when
they no longer have a
mental picture of the
text.
Good readers stop
reading when they are
unfocused.
Good readers stop
reading when they are
confused.
Good readers notice
when something doesn’t
make sense.
Good readers stop,
think, and react to
nonfiction.
DAY 1
Good readers stop,
think, and react to
nonfiction.
DAY 2
Good readers stop when
a word doesn’t make
sense.
Good readers ask
themselves three
questions. Does it look
right? Sound right?
Make sense?
Good readers use
pictures to make
meaning of text.
Good readers sometimes
skip and unknown word,
read on to the end of the
sentence, and then go
back to figure out the
unknown word.
Good readers use sounds
and chunks to figure out
unknown words
Good readers use word
families (word patterns)
to figure out unknown
words.
Good readers reread
when their reading
doesn’t make sense.
DAY 1
Good readers reread
when their reading
doesn’t make sense.
DAY 2
Creating Sensory Images Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
What are sensory
images?
Sensory images help us
to better understand and
remember the story.
Readers see pictures in
their minds based on
words and pictures from
the text.
Readers hear sounds in
their minds based on
words and pictures from
the text.
Readers smell things in
their minds based on
words and pictures from
the text.
Readers imagine the feel
of things in their minds
based on words and
pictures from the text.
Readers imagine the
taste of things in their
minds based on words
and pictures from the
text.
Good readers create
sensory images to feel
like a participant in the
story which makes
reading more fun.
Add to anchor chart.
Good readers create
sensory images to clear
up confusion.
Add to anchor chart.
Good readers create
sensory images to help
them with retellings.
Add to anchor chart.
Good readers create
sensory images that are
full of detail.
DAY 1
Readers create sensory
images to help them
understand and
remember what they are
reading. Begin anchor
chart “Why Readers
Create Sensory Images”
Good readers create
sensory images that are
full of detail.
DAY 2
Recording our sensory
images using
illustrations
Everyone creates
different sensory images
based on their schema.
DAY 1
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller, pg. 93
Everyone creates
different sensory images
based on their schema.
DAY 2
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller, pg. 93
Readers show evidence
to support their sensory
images based on the text
and/or their own
schema. DAY 1
Readers show evidence
to support their sensory
images based on the text
and/or their own
schema. DAY 2
Readers change their
sensory images as they
read based on the text.
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller, pg. 93
Readers change their
sensory images based on
the conversations they
have with others.
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller, pg. 89
Making Connections Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
What is making
connections?
What is schema?
Readers have different
schema. Day 2
Wednesday
What is your schema?
Thursday
Friday
Good readers use their
schema to better
understand a story.
Readers have different
schema. Day 1
Readers use their
Readers use their
schema before they read. schema while they read.
Readers use their
schema after they read.
Readers make text-toself connections.
Day 1
Readers make text-toself connections.
Day 2
Readers make text-totext connections.
Day 1
Readers make text-totext connections.
Day 2
Readers make text-toworld connections.
Day 1
Readers make text-toworld connections.
Day 2
Making meaningful
connections
Day 1
Making meaningful
connections
Day 2
Schema changes as
we’re reading
Day 1
Schema changes as
we’re reading
Day 2
See Debbie Miller chart,
page 68
Asking Questions Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Readers ask questions.
Readers look for
answers to their
questions in the text.
Day 1
Readers look for
answers to their
questions in the text.
Day 2
Good readers ask
questions to predict
what will happen next.
Day 1
Good readers ask
questions to predict
what will happen next.
Day 2
Good readers ask
questions to revise their
predictions based on
evidence from the text.
Good readers ask
questions to clarify
meaning at the word
level. Day 3
Good readers ask
questions to clarify
meaning at the passage
level. Day 1
Good readers ask
questions to clarify
meaning at the passage
level. Day 2
During and after reading
text, good readers talk
about their questions
and answers with others.
Day 3
Some questions cannot
be answered in the text.
Good readers can ask
Good readers can ask
questions before, during, questions before, during,
and after reading
and after reading poetry.
nonfiction.
Friday
Why do readers ask
Good readers ask
questions before, during, questions while taking a
and after their reading?
picture walk to become
familiar with the format
Start anchor chart
of the book.
Good readers ask
Good readers ask
questions to clarify
questions to clarify
meaning at the word
meaning at the word
level. Day 1
level. Day 2
During and after reading
text, good readers talk
about their questions
and answers with others.
Day 1
During and after reading
text, good readers talk
about their questions
and answers with others.
Day 2
Inferring Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
What is inferring?
Make anchor chart
BK+TC=I
Strategies That Work,
pg 141
Predicting what will
happen in the text
(inferring) by using
background knowledge
(BK) and text clues (TC)
Reading with Meaning,
Debbie Miller, pg 112
Word level inferring
using rereading
Inferring through oral
games and/or riddles
DAY 1
Inferring through oral
games and/or riddles
DAY 2
Inferring using the cover
of a book
Inferring using
illustrations during a
picture walk
Inferring using wordless
picture books DAY 1
Inferring using wordless
picture books DAY 2
Word level inferring
using our background
knowledge (schema)
Word level inferring
using picture clues and
text clues
See
www.readinga-z.com
for wordless books
Word level inferring by
talking about the text
with others
See
www.readinga-z.com
for wordless books
Recalling our questions
and inferring the
answers
DAY 1
Reading with Meaning,
Debbie Miller,
pg 109-110
Recalling our questions
and inferring the
answers
DAY 2
Inferring theme, moral,
and/or author’s message
Using poetry to infer
Using poetry to infer
Inferring theme, moral,
and/or author’s message
Nonfiction Genre Study Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
What is nonfiction?
Show several NF books.
Review anchor chart.
Sort fiction and
nonfiction books and
discuss how we decided.
Readers know the
difference between
nonfiction and fiction.
Create anchor chart.
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller,
Pg 144-147
Introduce conventions
notebook (optional)
Begin anchor chart
“What do we notice about
nonfiction?”
DAY 1
Thursday
Readers notice and
remember information
when they learn
something new in
nonfiction.
Readers learn new
vocabulary about the
topic when they read
NF.
Nonfiction conventions:
Using types of print
(bold, italics) to
determine what is
important in NF text
Nonfiction conventions:
Using the table of
contents to preview and
locate information in NF
text
Readers ask questions
before and while they
read NF.
DAY 2
Nonfiction conventions:
Using photographs and
illustrations to find new
information
Nonfiction conventions:
Using captions and
labels to find new
information
Nonfiction conventions:
Using the index and
glossary to locate
information in NF text
Readers think about
what they already know
(schema) about the topic
before they begin to
read.
DAY 1
Readers think about
what they already know
(schema) about the topic
before they begin to
read.
DAY 2
Readers ask questions
before and while they
read NF.
DAY 1
Readers locate specific
information in NF text.
DAY 1
Readers locate specific
information in NF text.
DAY 2
Readers share their new
knowledge with others.
DAY 1
Readers share their new
knowledge with others.
DAY 2
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller, Pg 150-
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller, Pg 150-
151
151
Reading With Meaning,
Debbie Miller,
Pg 148-150
Friday
Author Study Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Introduce author
Examine multiple books
by the author
Review making text to
self connections
Review making text to
text connections
Day 1
Review making text to
text connections
Day 2
Review creating sensory
images as we read
Day 1
Examine multiple books
by the author and create
anchor chart
“Characteristics of
books by ___”
Review creating sensory
images as we read
Day 2
Review retelling
Day 1
Review retelling
Day 2
Inferring how characters
can change in text
Celebrating and/or
sharing our favorite
authors
Day 1
Celebrating and/or
sharing our favorite
authors
Day 2
Review asking questions Review inferring the
author’s theme and/or
message
Thursday
Friday
Strategy Review Through Fairy Tale Genre Study Unit Calendar: Grade One
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Introduce genre of fairy
tales
Characteristics of fairy
tales: there are both
good and evil characters
Characteristics of fairy
tales: good character has
a problem because of
evil character
Characteristics of fairy
tales: setting – long ago,
far away land, living
happily ever after
Characteristics of fairy
tales: magical elements
& special numbers 3, 7
Review retelling using
vocabulary, language,
and/or quotes from a
fairy tale
Review monitoring for
meaning at the word
level
Review monitoring for
meaning at the passage
level
Review asking questions
before, during, and after
reading
Review retelling using
important details from
the fairy tale
Begin anchor chart
Review retelling in the
correct sequence
Review making text-totext connections using
two different versions of
the same fairy tale.
Day 1
Review making text-totext connections using
two different versions of
the same fairy tale.
Compare/Contrast
Day 2
Review creating sensory
images
Day 1
Review creating sensory
images
Day 2
Review asking and
answering questions
from a fairy tale
Review how readers
must infer answers to
questions asked
Day 1
Review how readers
must infer answers to
questions asked
Day 2
Celebrating and sharing
our favorite fairy tales
Friday