[mrszemog]

Hello,
I will be teaching 4th and 5th grade, after teaching 4th self contained for the past five years. I need input on 5th grade reading. Our school does not have a set reading program. Last year I used novels and Reading A-Z, which was good. However, I am curious as to how experienced 5th grade teachers, teach reading. What does your reading block look like?
Thanks!

[owl98]

Our school supports the workshop model.
In the simplest explanation I can give it looks like this:

1. Teacher gives a whole class workshop lesson. Students are usually pulled up close on the carpet.
2. Independent work time. Students choose their own book to read or it is "choice within choice." The teacher conducts small group work and individual conferences.
3. Share time- the students report out how they used the strategy.

I have taught using this model for years.
Last year, our district adopted Lucy Calkins' Units of Study for reading which uses the workshop model, too, and I really like it a lot.

[mrszemog]

Thank you! I have been reading about the workshop, and do like it.

[greenapples]

I love following the philosophy of Notice and Noteby Kylene Beers and Robert Probst. After using the sample text to teach the road signs, we continue to practice with a read aloud. Students use a response journal to share their observations of road signs and implications during independent reading. I hold conferences to discuss and monitor their work.
I also use literature circles.
My language arts block is 90 minutes. I use interactive notebook lessons to teach a specific reading skill and grammar. I use 4 Square Method to teach writing. I try to teach the meat of these 3 lessons on a Monday and Tuesday; these last between 30-40 minutes (depends on content/objective) On Wed through Friday I conduct centers. Students are grouped homogeneously and work on activities that address nonfiction reading, grammar/spelling, writing, targeted literature skills, and silent reading. A center will last 30 minutes and we do one center per day. This is the time I have individual conferences for reading and writing. By the end of the week, every student has experienced each activity. I try to save the last 15 minutes of each period to do read aloud.
I hope this helps. I feel this type of plan would help manage the 2 grade levels simultaneously. Good luck.