Fountas & Pinnell Blog

Brainstorm with the child as an interactive or shared writing exercise to create a list of vocabulary describing how they feel about their home.

Remind the child of a familiar song that requires an accompanying dance or movements. Ask the child to create new lyrics and movements to go with the new words or phrases.

Every learner is different, and every learner takes a unique path to becoming literate.

Have a conversation with the child about what it means to stand up for yourself, including books that depict this scenario. Role play situations where they stand up for themselves.

Brainstorm all the ways we use numbers to count. Have the child write a list of the examples, and continue to add to the list all week long.

Brainstorm a list of ways that you can get to know someone better and go from being strangers to being friends. Then have the child role play what they can say and do to be a good friend to someone.

Have the child bring in three objects from nature. Have the child sort the objects and label them by color. Invite the child to add other objects of the same color over time.

Ask the child to write down something kind or helpful that a teacher or a classmate has done to make them feel good, and then ask them to present it to you and to explain their thinking.

The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ systems and resources are grounded in comprehensive, systematic, and sequential lessons.

Have the child write a list of important people in the school community (for example, teacher, school nurse, custodian) and then have the child write why each person is important.

Have the child choose a color, and brainstorm words that describe the color. Help the child create a poem that follows the formula: color, two descriptive words, a phrase, color.

Read a descriptive poem or short story. Using art supplies, ask the child to create the scene that you have just described in your reading.

Provide the child with art supplies to create a self portrait. On an another piece of paper, have the child write an answer to the question, "How are you a good friend to others?"

Choose a food to share with the child that will appeal to all of the senses. Have the child write down as many words as they can think of to describe the food.

Research shows that teachers are the single most important factor in a child’s learning achievement.

Ask the child to describe a time when they stood up for themselves, and how it felt. Share your own experience from childhood. Talk through the feelings that come up.

At the end of an art project, talk about what needs to be cleaned up and how helping to take care of a shared space is a way that everyone can contribute to their community.

Eager students, inspired teachers, and state test performance improvements at double the average rate.