As you may have noticed, recently we haven't been able to update our blog as much as we'd like to. This with good reason - we have been busy preparing for our first trip to Australia to promote our Continuum of Literacy Learning, Benchmark Assessment System, and Leveled Literacy Intervention programs.

Right now we are on our way to Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney to work with teachers and administrators on the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System. It is a grueling plane trip but exciting to meet teachers who are using the system down under! We will keep you posted.

A wonderful group of teachers from Tasmania will be coming over to the mainland for our workshop. First stop - Melbourne!

Best wishes,

Irene and Gay

It's back-to-school season, and many teachers will be teaching guided reading in their classrooms for the first time. Whether you work with just one guided reading group per day or have several that cycle through your classroom, these helpful classroom management tips from our Leveled Books Website will help you and your students stay organized and focused so that you can teach more effectively and help more students achieve the results that guided reading lessons are capable of producing.

Classroom management tips for teaching guided reading:

Managing Reading Lists:
Students in grade 2 and above are very capable of listing books they have read independently or with their guided reading group. Consider placing a form for listing books read in each student's reader's notebook so each student can keep track of his or her reading independently. Over the course of a year, your students will be able to see concrete evidence of their accomplishments. You will also have a good record of reading for assessment purposes.

Choosing Texts:
Select two or three texts at an appropriate level for each group. As you look through them, think about the strengths of your students and opportunities for learning. From the possible choices, you may decide to use one or more of the titles. This will help you think of the next few days of teaching and the sequence of texts you might want to use. Organize your possible choices on a cart with wheels that you can keep next to the table you use for your guided reading lessons.

Select Books at Least One Week in Advance:
Think about each of your groups. Review your observational notes and reading records to anticipate the text level that will be appropriate for the next few days. Review several titles at that level and select those that will provide the right amount of support and challenge—remember, the titles within a level have subtle differences. Place a rubber band around your selections for each group, or place them in sealable bags. Confirm your selections the day before you're going to use them.

Create an Attractive Classroom Library:
Think about how to organize the books in colorful baskets or bins. Place a label that clearly identifies books for the students. Use category titles such as Friendship or Survival. Consider organizing books by author such as Paulsen or genre such as folktales, short story collections, and historical fiction. Also think about creating baskets of series or award-winning books.

Organized Your Leveled Books in Boxes or Baskets:
Your collection of guided reading books needs to be arranged for easy access close to the table you use for lessons. Teach the students not to select books from your collection for independent reading, but to select from the section of the room that features the classroom library.

Making Your Word Work More Efficient:
Keep your letters in small sealable bags or individual trays so you can simply hand them to the children. This will save time finding letters. you may want to jot the words you want to use in Word Work on a sticky notes so you know precisely what words you want to use as examples.

Prepare Efficient Text Introductions:
You must be ready to present thoughtful introductions to the texts you use. To prepare, read the text, keeping the particular group of readers in mind. On a sticky note, make brief notes, with accompanying page numbers, of the key words, phrases, or text characteristics you want to be sure to talk about and affix it to the front cover. These notes will guide your introductory conversation with the guided reading group and help you give an efficient, well-paced introduction.

Reading Longer Texts:
When students are reading longer texts, often teachers sample oral reading from several or all students and then move away from the table to confer with individuals or even begin another group. If you introduce the text and then ask students to go to their desks to read, you risk interruption of concentration. Letting them continue to read at the table helps them focus on the text and make the most of your introduction. Also, you may want to have them do some writing to help them remember what they want to discuss later. So, students may stay at the table as long as 30 minutes, but your teaching time is distributed among more children.

Managing Time in the Reading Workshop:
Teach students how to meet you at the table quickly for their guided reading lesson. Teach them to think about all the materials they'll need and to arrive at the table promptly and ready to start the lesson. Waiting for individuals to arrive or to return to their seats for materials wastes valuable time and will make it difficult for you to get to multiple groups during the reading workshop.

Managing Groups Efficiently:
You can manage several groups in a day. Think about introducing a text to one group and leaving them at the table to read silently. While they are reading, move to a second table at another corner of the room to work with another group. Return to your first group for the discussion and teaching points while your second group is reading. After finishing up with your second group, you may have time to meet with one more group for a lesson. When you plan the order of your lessons, consider the length of time students will need to read the book or section of the book.

Also see these helpful video clips on creating and organizing a guided reading classroom:

Dear Colleagues,

Hot in Boston and hot in Columbus, but summer brings its own change of pace. Many of you have been asking about our development work on the new levels of Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) for upper grade students. The next colors will be red and gold, taking students from guided reading levels J through T, and are targeted for grades three and four. We hope to release these in about two years. The next two colors, purple and teal, will be for grades five and six through eight, though they will also be useful for high school students reading below grade level. The purple and teal colors will take students through level Z. The book authors are sending us wonderful, engaging fiction and nonfiction manuscripts to which we respond and suggest any revisions, and we get to select the illustrators for every book which is also very exciting! Our goal is to select books and art that interests students at upper grades who are reading at lower levels - which can be tricky.

Summary of Leveled Literacy Intervention for grades 3-8:
Red/Gold: Levels J-T, grades 3-4
Purple/Teal: Levels U-Z, grades 5-8 (and high school intervention)

It always takes a long time to go from original manuscripts instead of just using existing books, but we believe you will think it was well worth the effort and the wait! In the meantime, many of you have been using the LLI framework and selecting books beyond level N, and we hope that is working well for you.

We will keep you posted on our ongoing development of these programs. In the meantime we wish a very happy back-to-school season to each and every one of you!

Best regards,

Gay and Irene

We are often asked why all books can't simply be leveled for teaching using the guided reading instructional method. The answer is both simple and complicated because: A- not all books are appropriate for delivering guided reading instruction  B- When taken outside of the context of classroom instruction (i.e. used for independent reading or read-alouds), guided reading text levels lose their impact and meaning.

Here is some helpful information from our guided reading leveled books website (http://www.fountasandpinnellleveledbooks.com) to help you understand what guided reading is and how guided reading instruction is delivered in the classroom.

Guided Reading Basics

What is guided reading?
Guided reading is a teaching approach designed to help individual readers build an effective system for processing a variety of increasingly challenging texts over time. Using benchmark assessments or other systematic observation, the teacher has determined the approximate instructional reading level of each of the students. The teacher forms a temporary group of students that are alike enough in their development of a reading process that it makes sense to teach them together for a period of time. In selecting a text for the group, the teacher uses the level designation; thinks about the strengths, needs, and background knowledge of the group; and analyzes the individual text for opportunities to support students' successful engagement with the meaning, language, and print of the text. The teacher uses the text to help the children expand what they know how to do as readers.

To learn more about guided reading and benchmark assessments, see the following:

• Fountas, I. C., and G. S. Pinnell. 1996. Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Fountas, I. C., and G. S. Pinnell. 2000. Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Fountas, I. C., and G. S. Pinnell. 2009. The Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Book List, K-8+ 2009-2011 Edition, Print Version. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Fountas, I. C., and G. S. Pinnell. 2005. Leveled Books: Matching Texts to Readers for Effective Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

What are the elements of a guided reading lesson?
Although the conversation, text, and teaching points will vary from level to level and group to group, the basic structure of a guided reading lesson is essentially the same:

• You introduce the text to the students in a brief conversation about the meaning, language, and features of the text. During this conversation you clarify some of the language or provide other vital information students will need to process the text with understanding, explain a few difficult words or concepts, and help the children notice a few important words. You then turn the text over to the students to read for themselves.
• Each student reads the text (or a unified part of the text) softly or silently to himself or herself. You "listen in" to individuals and sometimes interact to support reading. After reading, you and the students discuss the meaning of the text and revisit the text as necessary. You may have explicit teaching points based on what you observed as students processed the text.
• (Optional) You may wish to extend students' understanding of the text through writing, drawing, diagrams (graphic organizers), extended discussion, partner discussion, readers theater, etc.
• (Optional) You may want to engage children in one or two minutes of preplanned "word work" using magnetic letters, individual whiteboards, writing paper, a chart, or other ways of displaying and illustrating principles. This work builds automaticity and flexibility in solving words and word parts.

For more basic information about what the guided reading instructional method is and how guided reading lessons are taught, see the following websites:

- Guided Reading on Wikipedia
- Definition of Guided Reading (Instructional Strategies Online)
- What is guided reading? (Scholastic article)
- Guided reading overview (TeachersNetwork.org)
- Guided Reading (WikEd)
- Introduction to leveled [guided] reading (Reading A-Z)
- What is Guided Oral Reading? (Reading Rockets)

Hello to everyone,

We are so excited about the response to the Fountas and Pinnell concept of community. Thank you all for contributing.  (We never thought that we would be on Facebook, but here we are! )

We've heard from so many people that we have met at conferences and meetings and we have met new teachers and administrators through this wonderful communication tool. 

We love hearing about your successes with children and also your honest reports of frustration.  It would be great to get conversations going so that you can talk with each other about the critically important work you do.  We hope that this will truly become a virtual community of educators who care and who support each other in providing the best.

We recently met with a group of adminstrators and literacy coaches (facilitators, staff developers, etc.) who shared their hopes and dreams in these days of economic challenges.  There was consensus among the group that the most important goal is teacher development.  It's through skilled teaching that students succeed--not materials or programs. (Yes, teachers do need good choices among materials, but it's the moment to moment decision making and the powerful teaching interactions that make the difference.) 

So, we are so grateful that you are communicating with us and joining the community.  We hope you are having a wonderful summer and looking hopefully--as we are-- towards the new beginning of a new school year. 

Our best,

Gay and Irene

Fountas & Pinnell's Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and the Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) have been cited as essential reading and literacy intervention components of an initiative to improve student reading proficiency in Springfield, MA. The Turing The Page: Refocusing Massachusetts for Reading Success initiative, which is led by the Cherish Every Child initiative of the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, is defined in "Reading Success by 4th Grade: A Blueprint for Springfield" (.pdf). The Springfield school district activities are just a part of a statewide initiative to improve children's language and literacy development in Massachusetts.

Beginning in the fall of 2009, the Benchmark Assessment System was implemented for students in grades K-5. Springfield Public Schools utilize the system because it "provides teachers with detailed, quantifiable assessment of reading comprehension so they can differentiate instruction in small guided reading groups."

While BAS will be used to help evaluate the reading proficiency and comprehension ability of all students, the LLI program will be used primarily with under-performing readers in grades K-2.

During the summer of 2009, Springfield Public Schools [SPS] received a Title One Redesign and Restructuring Grant: Innovation Through Summer Semester Program from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. SPS used the grant resources to pilot the Leveled Literacy Intervention strategy for under-performing children who were entering the first and second grades at the Frederick Harris School. After participating in jjst one half-hour per day of LLI for five weeks, 37% of students made gains of one reading level, 41% made gains of two or more reading levels and 19% maintained their reading level. As a result of these gains over a short period of time, the district added LLI as a Tier 2 intervention. Beginning in fall 2010, every elementary school will have one of each of the three leveles of LLI kits and a minimum of one staff member per building will have LLI training.

The Turing The Page initiative aims to "Increase the quality of children's language and reading environments across the many settings in which they are growing up, from birth to age 9." Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention and Benchmark Assessment System are sure to be an integral part of this important literacy education initiative for many years to come.

As back-to-school season approaches we thought it would be helpful to share some information for teachers who are just starting to use Leveled Literacy Intervention. There are, of course, many different options for evaluating and assessing student reading levels and proficiency, but using guided reading running/reading records is essential for placing students at the correct instructional level within LLI.  In order to identify the appropriate placement level for students in the Leveled Literacy Intervention system, you will need to use a text reading assessment. We recommend the Benchmark Assessment System as it directly correlates with Leveled Literacy Intervention; however, you may also use other leveled books to conduct running/reading records. The criteria below can serve as a guideline in determining students' reading levels and ultimately their placement in LLI.

Fountas & Pinnell Criteria for Instructional Level Reading
At levels A-K:
90-94% accuracy with excellent or satisfactory comprehension or 95-100% accuracy with limited comprehension.
At levels L-Z:
95-97% accuracy with excellent or satisfactory comprehension or 98-100% accuracy with limited comprehension.

Fountas & Pinnell Criteria for Independent Level Reading
At levels A-K:
95-100% accuracy with excellent or satisfactory comprehension.
At levels L-Z:
98-100% accuracy with excellent or satisfactory comprehension.

Fountas & Pinnell Criteria for Hard Level Reading
At levels A-K:
Below 90% accuracy with any comprehension score.
At levels L-Z:
Below 95% accuracy with any comprehension score.

While our Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) are quickly becoming well-known in the elementary teaching world for the outstanding results they produce, sometimes educators are looking for a structured program to meet the developmental needs of their youngest students. We understand that to some extent children follow their own idiosyncratic paths, but we also recognize that developmental patterns provide a foundation upon which to build the smartest instruction possible. Our Word Study Continuum plots a course along the developmental pathway children traverse as they become expert word solvers and effective readers. It is with this in mind that we developed our Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons.

To address young readers' developmental needs, Phonics Lessons, Kindergarten includes four essential areas of language knowledge: phonemic awareness, letters and sounds, reading words, and early reading concepts. Phonics Lessons, Grade 1 expands into more sophisticated concepts and includes six areas of knowledge: phonemic awareness, letters and sounds, reading words, writing words, processing strategies in reading, and processing strategies in writing. Students in grade 2 will move into more sophisticated reading and writing concepts within these six areas, and students in grade 3 will focus on even more advanced areas of language with the addition of vocabulary, fluency in reading and writing, and word meaning. Please refer to the Phonics Lessons Research Base document (.pdf) for more information about the research and educational theory behind these programs.

In these videos Gay answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons. A wealth of additional information about these programs is available on http://www.phonicsminilessons.com.

Overview of Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons

What makes a good phonics minilesson?
A good minilesson is quick, efficient, and effective, and Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons are designed to be just that. They are short, focused on a single principle, use consistent language and clear examples, engage children in active learning, and follow a regular lesson structure that quickly becomes familiar to children.

Using Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons as a spelling program
A systematic, five-day lesson procedure for learning specific spelling principles is built into grades 1, 2, and 3. The five days include choosing and writing words from a given word list, a "look- say-cover-write-check" technique, a buddy check, making connections with other words, and finally, assessment.

Using poetry for early language development in Phonics Lessons
Poetry provides many powerful learning opportunities by surrounding children with the sounds, words, and expressions of poetic language. Classrooms in which enjoying and reciting poetry is part of the culture help children absorb basic knowledge of how sounds and words work.

Supporting English Language Learners in Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons
Through the lessons, speakers of languages other than English learn the basic building blocks of oral and written English. Two tools in the minilesson books directly support these learners. First, the front matter at the beginning of each book contains general recommendations for working with English language learners. Second, "Working with English Language Learners" at the beginning of every lesson provides specific ways to adjust the lesson for these learners.

Research base for Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons
Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons are grounded in a wide base of academic research, including all the areas examined by The National Reading Panel, and reflect its recommendations for phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. A complete research paper, entitled “Phonics Lessons: The Research Base” is available. In addition, the lessons reflect practical, classroom-based research in how children learn, practices that have been reconfirmed by many teachers as they have field-tested Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons.

For more answers to frequently asked questions about our Phonics Lessons and Word Study Lessons, visit http://www.phonicsminilessons.com/classroomsupport/faq.html

We are often asked to describe the differences and similarities between Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and Guided Reading. While guided reading is an essential element of the instruction presented in LLI, the program itself is not a "Guided Reading program" because of the instructional contexts it is used in. Both Guided Reading and Leveled Literacy Intervention provide reading instruction with an emphasis on language learning, but they differ in the following ways:

General Context: Instruction with emphasis on language learning
Guided reading: Guided reading is one component of a comprehensive language and literacy framework for instruction. Across many contexts, students receive instruction in reading comprehension, phonics/word study, and writing. Guided reading specifically helps students develop proficient systems for strategic actions for reading.

LLI: Leveled Literacy Intervention is a systematically designed, sequenced, short, supplementary lesson that builds on high-quality classroom instruction. It includes reading, phonics, and writing about reading. LLI offers intensive instruction to help struggling readers develop proficient systems of strategic actions for reading.

Instructional purpose:
Guided reading: Differentiated classroom instruction

LLI: Supplementary literacy intervention

Students served:
Guided reading: All students

LLI: Readers who are having difficulty and are reading below grade level

Student grouping:
Guided reading: Small group instruction - usually 4 to 8 students. Students are placed in groups because they have similar instructional levels.

LLI: Small group instruction - 3 to a maximum of 4 students per group for upper grades. Students are placed in groups because they have similar instructional levels.

Duration of instruction:
Guided reading: Ongoing across elementary school years

LLI: Temporary, short-term intervention (10 to 20 weeks, with possibility of more if needed)

Instructional materials:
Guided reading: Leveled books selected by the teacher for the group

LLI: Leveled books that are designed for Leveled Literacy Intervention lessons and placed in a preplanned sequence

Assessment:
Guided reading: Benchmark assessment to determine instructional level for each student. Beginning of the year, interval, and end-of-year data recorded. Interval assessment varies.

LLI: Benchmark assessment to determine instructional level for each student. Entry, interval assessments, and exit data recorded. Interval assessment data collected every other day (1 reading record every 6 days for reach student)

Time required:
Guided reading: 15 to 20 minutes varying from 3-5 times per week (more for students who are having difficulty)

LLI: 30 minutes daily (stretching to 45 minutes for upper elementary grades)

Instructional framework:
Guided reading: Guided reading lessons include:

• Text selection
• Text introduction
• Reading with teacher support and interaction
• Discussion of the meaning
• Teaching point
• Word work (optional)
• Extending the meaning (optional)

LLI: Even-numbered lessons include:

• Preparation (text analysis; goals)
• Rereading and assessment
• Phonics/word work
• Writing about reading (instructional text from yesterday)
• Reading a new text (independent level)
• Classroom and Home Connection

LLI: Odd-numbered lessons include:

• Preparation (text analysis; goals)
• Rereading text
• Phonics/word work
• Reading a new text (instructional level introduction, reading, discussion, teaching point)
• Word work
• Classroom and Home Connection

Instructional elements:
Guided reading:

• Books matched to readers to support efficient processing and good comprehension
• Comprehension supported by introduction, discussion, and specific teaching
• Fluency explicitly taught and prompted
• Writing about reading used as an option to extend comprehending
• Phonics/word study demonstrated, taught, and reinforced during reading and taught in specific teaching points after reading - word work at the end of the lesson is optional
• Vocabulary build through encountering new words in texts
• Motivation fostered by selecting engaging texts and matching books to students' current reading levels

LLI:

• Books matched to readers and carefully sequenced to support efficient processing and good comprehension
• Comprehension supported by introduction, discussion, and specific teaching
• Fluency explicitly taught and prompted; rereading assists fluency; reading a new book at independent level also supports fluency
• Writing about reading used every other day to extend comprehension
• Phonics/word study is preplanned, sequenced, and explicitly taught twice in every 30 minute lesson
• Vocabulary built through encountering new words in texts
• Motivation fostered by selecting engaging texts and matching books to students' current reading levels; series books (fiction and nonfiction) build engagement; books not in classroom use

Teacher materials:
Guided reading: Professional books (see Fountas & Pinnell at Heinemann.com), Fountas & Pinnell Prompting Guide 1

LLI: When Readers Struggle, Fountas & Pinnell Prompting Guide 1, Lesson Guides

Professional development:
Guided reading: Professional books, professional development sessions, literacy coaching in classrooms where available

LLI: Specific 6-day training at The Ohio State University and Lesley University, built-in professional development lessons and guides, DVDs demonstrating lessons and routines, tutorial on reading records

Teacher:
Guided reading: Classroom teacher

LLI: Intervention, reading specialist, or classroom teacher

Dear Educators,

As you may have noticed, lately we've making a lot of efforts to reach out to our community of fellow educators via the Web. We've been busy on Facebook, we're adding new blog posts regularly, and we've been Tweeting to our hearts' content. We've also setup an online form that you can use to submit questions to our team directly: http://www.fpblog.heinemann.com/contact.aspx

Later this summer keep an eye out for the Fountas & Pinnell Community - an online gathering place where everyone can come to learn, share, network, and benefit from the collective knowledge of all Fountas & Pinnell educators.

We are thrilled whenever get great feedback from the educational community, and we'd like to share some of it with you. This comment just came in through our blog contact form:

"I cannot thank your team enough for all the tools you have put out since my training as an LC coordinator. The benchmarks, continuum, LLI etc etc are amazing!!!! They are really helping to improve reading instruction across our country and even other parts of the world. And now the blog.... With personal responses to my troubling questions?!
Genuis!

Thank you thank you thank you.... Which doesn't seem to even be enough.

Keep up the great work!"

We just want to thank you—the educators who put our good work to great use—for letting us know how our work is impacting yours, and, more importantly, how the children are benefiting from it. Thank you all!


Sincerely,
~ Gay and Irene