When I switched from a district-created Reader's Workshop to Calkins Reading Units two years ago, I felt relieved that we had a planned-out curriculum, aligned with CCSS, to complement the Writing Units of Study I had started using a couple of years before the reading. The progression was an "aha' for me - the lessons made sense, and helped to guide my readers to think more deeply. I enjoy the accompanying mentor texts for each unit, and my students are generally engaged.
My "really??" moments come more often than I'd like. I alternate between teaching the reading and writing units, and I wish there were more opportunities to integrate the two. Units 3 of each meld together seamlessly, and I would love for the others to do so more easily, as well.
I also find myself asking "really?" when I look at the learning progressions and rubrics. Sometimes I feel that the expectations are really high (which is good, of course), but that there isn't adequate support or lessons to help the students get there. At times it seems that the lessons in the units don't totally align with what students are expected to know or be able to do by the end of the unit.
Liz, I agree. Before I taught both reading and writing. This year I am only teaching writing. I am now wondering how I could better connect the two. I know right now, my students are reading non-fiction and I am teaching NF writing, but I wish all of the reading and writing units connected better, and now that I have taken both classes, if I could do a better job meshing the two for my students.
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