Throughout the school year, your classroom instruction will ebb and flow from genre, author, and integrated units of study. Most units of study last anywhere from 2-4 weeks. During that time, students are immersed in a well-chosen text set and take an inquiry stance as a reader and writer. The learning is intensified when we allow students to think ACROSS books and THROUGHOUT the Comprehensive Literacy Framework (see orange in graphic below). By thinking across books, children expand their ability to notice patterns, discuss similarities and differences, make connections to their own lives, and synthesize evidence from several sources. A consistent set of steps guides children through an inquiry-based study of a particular genre, or author/illustrator. Through this procedure, children actively construct a deep understanding of a genre or author/illustrator that they can carry forward into experiences with other texts.

STEPS IN A GENRE STUDY

1. Collect the books in the genre text set.

2. Immerse. Read aloud each book using the lesson guidelines.

3. Study. After you have read these mentor texts, have children analyze characteristics or "noticings" that are common to the texts, and list the characteristics on chart paper.

4. Define. Use the list of characteristics to create a short working definition of the genre.

5. Teach specific minilessons on the important characteristics of the genre.

6. Read and Revise. Expand the children's understanding by encouraging them to talk about the genre in appropriate instructional contexts (book clubs, independent reading conferences, guided reading lessons, and shared reading lessons).

STEPS IN AN AUTHOR OR ILLUSTRATOR STUDY

1. Gather and Read the books in this text set aloud with the class, and follow each lesson in your FPC Interactive Read Aloud set.

2. Reexamine. Take children on a quick tour of all the books in the set. As you reexamine each book, you might want to have children do a brief turn and talk with a partner about what they notice.

3. Chart Noticings. Have children analyze the characteristics of the author or illustrator's work, and record the characteristics they notice all of the time, and the characteristics that they notice often.

As children talk about the characteristics of a genre or of an author or illustrator's craft that they have noticed, they refine and extend their thinking. Children collaborate to create a working definition of a genre or description of a trait exhibited through the work of an author or illustrator. Through this inquiry-based process, children experience a strong sense of agency as they take ownership of their understanding.

At the end of independent reading and writing, gather children together for the opportunity to share their learning with the entire group. Reader's and Writer's Workshop begin in a whole group setting and end in a whole group setting. During group share, you can revisit, expand, and deepen understanding of the minilesson's goal as well as assess the learning. Often, children are invited to bring their drawing and writing to share with the class and to explain how they tried out the minilesson principle. As you observe and talk to children during independent writing, plan how to share by assessing how many children tried the new learning in their writing. If only a few children were able to apply the minilesson principle to their writing, you might ask those children to share with the whole group. However, if you observe most of the class applying the principle, you might have them share in pairs or small groups.

You might also consider inviting children to choose what to share about their writing instead of connecting back to the minilesson principle. For example, one child might share a detail added to make a drawing clearer. Another might share a letter she is writing to her family. Another might read his story to the class. Pictured below you will see some different ways you can have students share!

Share time is a wonderful way to bring the community of learners back together to expand their understandings of writing and of each other as well as to celebrate their new attempts at writing. There are some particular accommodations to support English learners during the time for sharing:

• Ask them to share in pairs before sharing with the group.
• While conferring, help them rehearse the language structure they might use to share their drawing and writing with the class.

Teach the entire class respectful ways to listen to peers and model how to give their peers time to express their thoughts. Many of the minilessons in the Management section will be useful for developing a peaceful, safe, supportive community of writers.

MISINFORMATION: Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ teaches kids to “guess” at words, not decode.

FACT: Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ resources teach children to decode, using letters and sounds to read words. Fountas & Pinnell’s approach to foundational literacy includes explicit and systematic phonics, alongside a strong focus on comprehension, vocabulary, language skills, and fluency. Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) has demonstrated statistically significant positive effects on students’ general reading achievement and fluency, as well as decoding skills, as measured by the DIBELS nonsense word fluency subtest.

MISINFORMATION: Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ teaches phonics only in an incidental way.

FACT: Phonics has always been essential for teaching a child to read in Fountas & Pinnell Literacy.™ In fact, the first curriculum resource Fountas and Pinnell published was explicitly focused on phonics. Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ teaches phonics through a series of systematic lessons that address critical areas of learning, including phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, letter-sound relationships, and spelling patterns. Daily lessons support children in applying their knowledge of phonics to support accurate reading in relation to specific texts.

Read more FACTS by clicking on the link below...

Literacy Collaborative Coach

https://lc.osu.edu/

Email: ganelltremont@ircsd.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/ircsd.org/literacycollaborativek-2/home
Location: Evans Mills Primary School, Leray Street, Evans Mills, NY, USA