Every teacher needs tools to support their instruction. In shared reading, the following key tools will be helpful to support your lesson as you read and teach from an enlarged text on an easel. You may wish to store these materials nearby for easy access.
- Plain pointer: A thin dowel rod with the tip painted red or with a pencil eraser on the end works well for drawing children’s eyes to the print and features that you are discussing.
- Wikki Stix®: These sticky plastic sticks can be formed into letters or used to underline or circle words or letters. They adhere to the pages of a book, are easily removed, and can be reused.
- Highlighter tape: You may wish to have several colors of tape to help readers identify various elements of print. For example, you may wish to use different colors to draw attention to various spelling patterns or types of punctuation.
- Masking card: Available in Online Resources in various sizes, masking cards bring sharp attention to words within continuous text. The mask places a frame around a word so that children can isolate and concentrate on it.
For a complete list of tools you may wish to have on hand, see page 26 in the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ System Guide (available Fall 2017) or pages 65–66 in Guided Reading: Responsive Teaching Across the Grades.
From Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ System Guide by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Copyright (c) 2018 by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Published by Heinemann.