Walker's Worskshop Vocabulary!

L.A.= Language Arts. Traditionally, this means writing class.
Lit.= Literature. This refers to Reading class.
Workshop day= This is a day where students have the class period to work on major assignments such as essays or projects. I am available to students to meet and discuss their work with.
Meeting Area= This is the area of our room where the couches are located. The point of the meeting area is to create a comfortable place where our class meets daily to read and discuss books.
R.A.= Read Aloud. This is when I read to the students in our meeting area.
Booktalk= This is where students will recommend a book to their classmates by giving a brief summary of the book and explaining why they enjoyed it. Students are required to complete one booktalk this quarter.
I.R.= Independent Student Reading.
Literature Book Response-Essay= Every 3 weeks students complete this assignment about their Independent Book. This is a thorough response generated after students complete their reading so that they can think critically and analytically about what they've read.
H.o.T= The Hierarchy of Talk. This is a discussion framework our class uses to assess our conversational level in class.
Elaboration=Tell me More! Every time I say this word in class students are to scream "Tell me more!" so that they will remember the #1 key to success in writing is to give the reader enough information.
Show writing or Show vs. Tell= Show writing is a style of descritive writing where the author uses emotion and imagery through use of the 5 senses. We are currently working on using show writing every day in out writer's workshop.
Author's Analysis= Learning to think critically about the writing of an author, discussing and writing why they wrote a book the way that they did.
Document camera= This is a projector where the teacher can place a paper under the lamp and project the image onto a screen for students to see. This is used in nearly every classroom at HMS.