5 Summer Reads for Professional Growth

Summer is an essential time for educators to relax, recover, reflect, and renew. We hope you are finding time to do the things that bring you joy and peace. You truly deserve it!

As you spend time reflecting and looking for sources of renewal, we wanted to recommend some of our Professional Books designed to help you:

• Reconnect with the values and beliefs about literacy teaching and learning that underpin your instructional practices

• Infuse teaching and literacy learning with inquiry and joy

• Strengthen instructional decision making

• Meet the needs of all literacy learners

• Lead your students and school community forward, whether you are a classroom teacher, administrator, coach, specialist, or interventionist.

Explore the Fountas and Pinnell Professional Books below to discover which texts might inspire you –– or inspire all the teachers within your school. Click on the titles for more information.

Grow your leadership expertise:
Leading for Literacy

If the COVID-19 pandemic has raised important questions for you about how your school system can more effectively meet the needs of all students and teachers, you are certainly not alone. Leading for Literacy: What Every School Leader Needs to Know is an inspiring and practical resource for all school leaders—teacher leaders, literacy coaches, school administrators, and district-level leaders. Filled with useful “look-for” tools for observing literacy teaching and reflecting upon the culture and systems of your school, Leading for Literacy will expand your understanding of key principles of effective literacy teaching and support you in your work to create more equitable communities of learning for all students. Available in print, eBook, and print/eBook bundle.

Grow your responsive teaching expertise:
The Writing Minilessons Books and The Reading Minilessons Books

These professional books contain so much more than a collection of lessons. The Writing Minilessons Books (now available PreK–3) and The Reading Minilessons Books (Grades K-6) give you everything you need to engage students in inquiry that leads to the discovery and understanding of a general principle of literacy from The Literacy Continuum. The rationale and practical guidance for using each resource provided in the first 100+ pages will strengthen your instructional decision making so that you can respond to the specific needs of the students in your classroom year after year. Available in print, eBook, and print/eBook bundle.

Grow your planning expertise:
The Literacy Quick Guide

Sometimes we all need to take a step back to look at the big picture. It is important to remind ourselves of the benefits of creating a coherent design for literacy learning in our classroom and across the grades. The Literacy Quick Guide provides a concise description of an engaging and effective literacy system that reciprocally and joyfully connects reading, writing, talking, and word study. Learn more about this user-friendly resource in the blog post “The Literacy Quick Guide: An Overview”.

Grow your small group instruction expertise:
Guided Reading, Second Edition

If you are hoping to get more from your guided reading lessons this year, spend some time with this groundbreaking classic. This book provides a deep dive into understanding readers and the reading process, change over time in teaching and learning, assessment, text selection, responsive decision making, and building a community of learners.

Grow your observation expertise:
The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum, Second Edition

While it may not be your typical beach read, Summer is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with this indispensable tool for understanding how literacy proficiency builds and expands over time. Inside you will find a grade-by-grade roadmap for literacy acquisition that will improve your ability to observe your students, understand their strengths, and lead their literacy learning forward. Available in print, eBook, and print/eBook bundle, in English and Spanish.