Fountas & Pinnell Blog

Work with colleagues in your school to establish a set of core values that will form the backbone for every decision you make. A set of values is not the same as a comprehensive curriculum. It’s a known set of statements that gives you a touchstone against which to measure your decisions.

We favor embracing the open door and becoming part of a learning community of colleagues—all of whom share common goals, take risks, and find the rewards of continuous professional growth. This takes time and problem solving but if achieved, it will have big payoff for students.

When teachers with a common vision work together over time and have the lift of excellent professional learning, they develop a common knowledge about the nature of learning.

Materials themselves will help teachers grow professionally, but alongside that teachers need good professional development. Professional development makes the work come alive.

Through regular and planned professional development opportunities, you and your fellow teachers can further develop your craft, strengthen your instructional decision-making, and confidently deliver high-impact literacy instruction that enhances the learning experience of each student.

Poems provide children with an authentic opportunity to apply their knowledge of letter/sound relationships and word patterns and parts.

Shared reading of poetry helps children become aware of the phonological system of language, which is basic to providing a foundation for matching sounds with letters, letter clusters, and word parts.

The 2019 FPC Institute is right around the corner! If you are attending, here is what you can expect in this interactive four-day institute.

You want your students to become flexible in their understanding of words. They need to realize that words can have shades of meaning – they need to understand slightly different meanings in different texts.

Try using tongue twister poems in your classroom!

The combination of discovery and direct teaching makes learning efficient and memorable; teaching prompts discovery.

Q: How do I get a book's Fountas & Pinnell level?

This month, Meli answers questions from students in New York, Virginia, Illinois, and Missouri!

The ideas and images that students meet in texts shape their lives and values.

Students need access to a wide range of topics, themes, genres, and forms, as they participate in each instructional context.

Try this tip out out with a first grade poem.

Through high-quality, exciting books, learning extend beyond the classroom.

A: The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum, from which all of the lessons in FPC are derived, has been aligned to the following state standards: