Fountas & Pinnell Blog

Teachers can help to ensure the right of every student to lead a literate life.

Close observation of reading behaviors enables teachers to teach the child, not the book or program.

When teachers systematically observe the literacy strengths and needs of all students, it can inform instruction and teaching can be powerful and responsive.

Observation of literacy behaviors should drive your next teaching moves.

Skilled observers note the precise language/literacy behaviors students reveal and understand how it reflects the students' literacy processing system.

With observation and strong teaching, students will develop and build their reading power and capacity to process and deeply understand new texts.

Observation enables teachers to honor the development and range of strengths in students.

Individual teaching increases your knowledge of each student’s progress and the impact of your instruction.

Our ultimate goal as teachers is to help each student in our schools become a reader who loves books and all they have to offer.

Every teacher has the right to be a part of a learning community in which people help each other and believe that the progress of children relies on everyone working together.

Classroom libraries should resemble a library or a bookstore where books are categorized by author, by topic, by genre, anything that would interest readers.

The gradient of text and the book levels are a tool that assist the teacher in basically one task. That is to select books carefully that will offer a challenge and opportunity to learn as they work with students in guided reading instruction.

A noticing teacher is someone who is a very sharp observer of the nuances of what the reader's behavior is telling you, and the writer as well.

Responsive teaching brings the teaching to the child. It's not about fitting the children into a preconceived slot or sequence, but finding out what that student is interested in, what motivates them, what their hopes and desires are.

Common teacher language creates a thread of coherence for students' literacy learning. Use language to emphasize the importance of reinforcing newly emerging literacy behaviors.

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

School districts seeking to close the achievement gap must consider good classroom teaching, meaningful assessment, multiple layers of intervention, and the ongoing development of highly qualified teachers.

The better you know the students in your class, the more effective you will be as a teacher of reading.