By now, you know what Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ (FPC) is—a first-of-its-kind cohesive system for high-quality, classroom-based literacy instruction. We know what it’s made of—authentic or carefully selected engaging books, and the highest quality instructional material. But what truly sets FPC apart? As a system, FPC stands apart from "reading programs" in its commitment and fidelity to the following principles.
1. Instructional Coherence
FPC is designed as a coherent system. The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum serves as the instructional anchor for every lesson, goal, and book in each of the seven instructional contexts that comprise the system. But while there are separate instructional contexts that can be purchased separately, the real power of FPC comes when each part is used as a whole. Each instructional context in FPC is reciprocally connected to the others, improving student outcomes and creating equitable opportunities for all students.
2. Responsive Teaching
In FPC, you teach individual readers, not a program. FPC honors and supports those moment-to-moment instructional decisions that teachers make based on their observations and analysis of student’s learning behaviors. It is not a script. Consider each lesson a blueprint for instruction that best supports the learners in the classroom.
3. Multi-text Approach
Books are at the heart of FPC. Books that excite children and stir their imaginations. Books that challenge and lift every reader. Diverse books that expand readers’ knowledge of the words. Every book in FPC is carefully written or selected to support an instructional context.
4. Student Inquiry
Children are curious. FPC allows children’s curiosity to propel authentic learning and discovery. As children think across texts, they pursue lines of inquiry that intersect and engage them as learners, and build knowledge of different topics and themes across a range of disciplines.
5. Language-Based
Reading is thinking grounded in text. Students talk reflects their thinking. FPC is rich with robust opportunities for varied talk structures within each instructional context.
6. Teacher Expertise
Your knowledge of your students informs responsive teaching. The extensive professional learning tools woven into the system help educators develop their craft, strengthen instructional decision-making, and deliver high-impact literacy instruction.
Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ is centered on one powerful principle: what we teach, we value; and what we value, we teach. It is built on a set of foundational core values that together reflect a vision of what literacy education can be: a shared commitment to meaningful, effective, responsive teaching that ensures the right of every student to lead a literate life.
~The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ Team
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