While reading Teaching Reading in Middle School by Laura Robb, we liked the idea of having students write on a graffiti wall to share their thinking. We have woven the idea of a graffiti wall into our launching unit for reading workshop. A graffiti wall is created in the classroom to encourage students to share their thoughts during independent reading. For school which are departmentalized, you might choose to have students respond to a prompt as they enter the classroom as a warm up activity. Post a sign on a blackboard, white board or chart paper and have students respond. If you don’t have a board to use, put the prompt on a wall and supply the students with post-it notes. This collection of prompts is designed specifically for the beginning of the year.
Who is your favorite character from a book?
If I was a character in a book…
What did you read this summer?
Do you like to read alone or with a friend?
Looking for more ideas? Try Laura Robb’s book…
shelly
Tuesday 23rd of July 2013
I love the Graffiti signs
Ms. Third Grade
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
I love this freebie. Can't wait to use this in my classroom. I'm glad I found your blog through Maniac Mondays!
Launching Your Readers Workshop
Friday 28th of June 2013
[...] WARM UP – Most true reading workshops begin with a 10 to 15 minute mini-lesson. However, in intermediate grades some teachers may choose to start with a 5 to 10 minute “warm up” during the transition between subjects (or as students enter the room, if your school has students switching teachers for subjects or if you are departmentalized). Some ideas we like include responding to a prompt in a reading journal (for some to share during the mini-lesson or reading “rap” up/sharing) and responding to a prompt on a graffiti wall. We’ve created graffiti wall signs to accompany our launching unit. You will find these here: Graffiti Signs for Launching Reader’s Workshop. [...]