According to Fountas and Pinnell, "Successful language and literacy learning is built on your understanding of how students develop as readers, writers and language users". The Workshop Model supports literacy. It minimizes the amount of lecturing you do, but still allows you to guide the discussion and flow of learning. It has three components: a mini-lesson, a workshop, and a debrief. In the mini-lesson, you briefly introduce a new concept or skill through direct instruction or a more open-ended activity. The workshop component involves students working independently or in small groups to explore or practice the new concept. Finally, after the workshop, you bring the class back together to debrief about what they learned and the challenges they faced.
- “Learn by doing”: When introducing a new topic—especially a complex one—teachers are often tempted to provide rigorous direct instruction to make sure students are prepared to engage with it. However, in reality, students often learn and retain better when they explore the boundaries of a new topic for themselves, even if that means making mistakes along the way.
- Receive differentiated and targeted instruction: The workshop component of this model allows you to integrate differentiated activities seamlessly into your lessons. The mini-lesson and debrief might be the same for the whole class, but for the workshop, you can assign different work based on students’ abilities, learning styles, or interests.
- Develop accountability: The workshop model inherently demands student participation and engagement. Students are responsible for driving the learning and activities forward, whether they’re working individually or in small groups.