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Professional Readings includes reviews of recent publications and highlights of reports on current issues that affect schools. Your contributions are welcome. Send them to principal@osu.edu. Please indicate if we may use your name in the “contributor” credits.
Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6
Fountas, Irene C., & Pinnell, Gay Su. (2000). Guiding readers and writers, grades 3-6. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. http://books.heinemann.com/ products/E00310.aspx
When Springfield City Schools made a commitment to literacy education, it did so with the knowledge that teachers and principals were being asked to take on a huge responsibility. It would call for full-scale staff development, appropriate materials, and the best teaching resources available.
No wonder Springfield curriculum leaders chose books by Fountas and Pinnell, themselves expert teachers and researchers in literacy education.
Diverse Learner Needs
The authors recognize that “the range and diversity of students widens in the upper elementary grades,” and at the end of each section “offer specific suggestions for efficiently and effectively teaching readers and writers who need extra help.” (p. vii)
Student-Centered Instruction
Rather than begin with theory, the authors use an opening titled “Erica’s Day,” where we look at Balanced Literacy through the lens of student learning.
Even if you plan to dip into the book as a reference guide, “Erica’s Day” is a must-read to understand the perspective from which effective teaching occurs.
Essential Components of a Literacy Framework
Section 1: Breakthrough to Literacy
The authors present a comprehensive language and literacy framework, guides for scheduling and integrating the framework components, and suggestions for managing time and resources.
Sections 2, 3, and 4: Independent Reading, Guided, Guided Reading, and Literature Study
Teachers can use these practical guides to implement the three main components of a reading workshop. Through twenty mini-lessons, the authors give teaching routines, book talks, leveled texts, and methods for literary analysis and discussion.
These and all other sections include sample classroom conversations to help teachers know what to listen for when students talk about reading and writing.
Section 5: Comprehension and Word Analysis
Here you’ll explore what thinking strategies we use when we read, how reading comprehension works, and how to support the process of reading for meaning. Also included is the role of phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction in the literacy framework.
Section 6: The Reading and Writing Connection
Appropriate genres for connecting reading and writing, tools to recognize how text is structured, and suggestions for embedding test-reading and writing skills into daily instruction.
For teachers struggling with the perceived disconnect between testing and quality classroom teaching, Chapter 27 is a lifesaver. “Understanding the ‘Testing Genre’: Preparing Students for High-Quality Performance” presents suggestions that will help students perform on tests and build their skills as readers and writers.
Here’s a sample:
- Consistently require students to provide evidence from the text to support their thinking.
- Teach students to distinguish when information comes directly from the text or requires thinking beyond the text.
- Teach students how to use highlighters for key words and phrases in questions, directions, and reading selections.
- Make sure students write several times daily in all curriculum areas.
- Teach students how to revise and edit in short daily interactive sessions.
- Teach students how to use the scoring rubric for writing and use it regularly.
Big Bonus
For busy educators, Guiding Readers and Writers ends with a big bonus. There you’ll find a comprehensive book list, sorted two ways: alphabetically by title and by reading level. Also included are genre, author, and publisher information.
