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Reading is one of the three components of our  Responsive Literacy Framework and the Workshop Model.  Our framework offers support for generating a literacy program by highlighting promising practices,  assessment and planning tools to support the diverse needs of our learners and includes a balance of instructional approaches through ongoing, formative assessments that respond to individual needs.  The Workshop model encourages teachers to use the stages of Modelling, Sharing, Guiding and Independent.  As we model for our students, teachers offer lots of support where student voice and choice is low. In contrast as we slowly release responsibility, we see our students moving toward independent writing and the support from teachers lowers and students have much more choice and voice.   

Reading is a highly complex process that combines student knowledge and text.  When students read, they use comprehension strategies to process and construct meaning as they think within, about and beyond the text.  Individual readers build different paths as they generate their own processing systems.  Readers are diverse, thus the personalization of their learning is the foundation to teaching fluency, decoding and comprehension. 
A read aloud is an instructional practice where we read texts aloud to our students.  We incorporate variations in pitch, tone, pace, volume, pauses etc and stop do discuss our thinking processes. 
Shared reading is an interactive reading experience that occurs when students join or share the reading of a text while guided and supported by us.  We explicitly model the skills of proficient readers, including reading with fluency and expression and pausing to discuss thinking processes. 
Guided reading is a small group instructional context in which a teacher supports each readers development of individual systems of strategic actions for processing new texts at increasingly challenging levels.
  Independent reading is the independent reading of text.  Students choose reading material and build learned habits as they develop their comprehension and fluency skills.  We confer with our independent readers to extend their thinking and the conversations can inform our instruction and monitor student growth.
Comprehension is at the centre of what it means to read.  Reading is thinking and understanding as we try to make meaning within, between and beyond visual, oral and written texts. This page will offers tools and strategies to further your understanding of teaching our readers to comprehend.