Irene C. Fountas

Among the many changes to sweep American literacy education has been a move toward whole class instruction. Nonetheless, children still bring to literacy a wide range of experiences and competencies. How, then, might teachers best support a literate community yet still meet the needs of individual readers? For Fountas and Pinnell, the answer lies in guided reading, which allows children to develop as individual readers within the context of a small group. Their new book is the richest, most show more comprehensive guided reading resource available today and the first systematic offering of instructional support for guided reading adherents.

Guided Reading was written for K-3 classroom teachers, reading resource teachers, teacher educators, preservice teachers, researchers, administrators, and staff developers. Based on the authors' nine years of research and development, it explains how to create a balanced literacy program based on guided reading and supported by read aloud, shared reading, interactive writing, and other approaches. While there is an entire chapter devoted solely to the process by which children become literate, every chapter clearly presents the theoretical underpinnings of the practices it suggests. Also included are guidelines for:

observation and assessment
dynamic grouping of readers
creating sets of leveled books
selecting and introducing books
teaching for strategies
classroom management.
Best of all, there are well over 2,500 leveled books in the Appendixes, along with many other reproducible resources that teachers will use for years to come.

"Good first teaching is the foundation of education and the right of every child," assert the authors. With the publication of this book, educators themselves will find the foundation in reading skills instruction they so rightly deserve. show less

If you're interested in learning more about implementing an effective phonics and spelling program, this follow-up to Word Matters provides all the information. This edited collection is a rich extension of Fountas and Pinnell's instructional system for word study, featuring chapters by the field's most important scholars and practitioners. These educators explore letter and word learning in a variety of reading, writing, and language contexts-with articles that range from detailed show more observations of individual readers and writers to full-scale analyses of classroom processes and student work. The book includes practical information on how to engage in interactive writing and shared reading, how to use a word wall and word sorting, and how to use effective assessment tools.

Special guest authors include: Billie J. Askew - David Booth - Diane E. DeFord - Dorothy P. Hall and Patricia M. Cunningham - Justina Henry - Susan Hundley and Diane Powell - Carol B. Jenkins - Carol A. Lyons - Andrea McCarrier and Ida Patacca - William Stokes - Sandra Wilde - Barbara Joan Wiley - Jerry Zutell.

Voices on Word Matters will extend your learning as it takes you into rich literacy classrooms, provides you with concrete learning activities, and expands your understanding of Fountas and Pinnell's instructional framework. There are also reproducible sheets and lists for classroom application as well as end-of-chapter professional development activities to support you in your work and in your collegiality. show less

While tutoring a student this past summer who struggled with comprehension, I found this book to be a valuable asset to my library. Full of lessons and helps for teachers, this book is user friendly and broadly graded making it useful for all K-8 teachers.

Brand new from the gurus of Guided Reading. What I liked about it was that I look at Kindergarten and see how what is taught there is necessary for first and second grade. Being a new teacher the information is valuable for planning clear goals for learning and making sure that lessons are specific across many instructional contexts.