Are you a new or experienced teacher? Do you teach elementary or middle level reading? This presentation will help you take the guess work out of structuring your reading block so that you can help your students grow as readers. It is research based!

1. Billie Rengo
Literacy Coach
Grantsburg School District

2. What we learn with pleasure we
never forget.
Alfred Mercier
PURPOSE

3. HOW MUCH TIME IS ENOUGH?
90 minutes a day
Actual reading vs. activities about reading
Reading volume linked to achievement
Struggling readers don’t read enough

4. WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?
Fountas & Pinnell, Debbie Miller, Regie Routman,
Gail Boushey & Joan Moser all agree…
It’s not about keeping students busy.

5. Structuring your reading
block
The 5 literacy activities that
promote reading growth:
Independent reading
Read with Someone
Work on Writing
Word Work
Listening to Reading
THE BIG PICTURE
Fountas and Pinnell, Baer, Routman,Boushey & Moser

6. Books worth reading are worth re-reading.
Holbrook Jackson
LOVE OF READING

7. READ TO SELF
(Independent Reading)
30 minutes lower grades
45 minutes grades 3-6
The biggest factor in
reading growth and
achievement!
Fountas and Pinnell, Routman,Boushey & Moser

8. What a student has to say about independent reading

9. Supports reading
comprehension
Promotes higher order
thinking skills
Allows for independent
practice
Provides insight into each
child’s thinking
WORK ON
WRITING

10. COMPLIMENTS OUR CURRICULUM

11. Left: teacher example/modeling
Above: student reading response
letter
The gradual release process…

12. What a student has to say about their reading response journal

13. READ WITH SOMEONE
Helps students “become
more self sufficient and
less reliant on the teacher
for assistance”
Students taught to support
each other’s decoding
strategies and
comprehension
Helps fluency
Fountas and Pinnell, Routman,Boushey & Moser

14. What’s key?
Word families
Vocabulary
Sorting
(recommended for Guided Reading
levels A-V)
WORD WORK (SPELLING)
Fountas and Pinnell, Baer, Routman,Boushey & Moser

15. Helps with fluency
Predictor of reading comprehension
Aids vocabulary development
(more essential in earlier grades)
LISTENING TO READING
Fountas and Pinnell, Routman,Boushey & Moser

16. What literacy
activities do you
currently have your
students do?
What is the
purpose?
REFLECTION
Miller

17. Introduce one activity at
a time
Small, repeated amounts
of practice
Explicit description of
behaviors
I-charts
Every student receives
recognition and praise for
doing the right thing.
INGREDIENTS FOR
INDEPENDENCE
Fountas and Pinnell, Routman,Boushey & Moser 1st
grade

18. COMMONALITIES AMONGST
GRADE LEVELS
2nd
grade 3rd
grade

19. CHARTS
5th
grade class 6th
grade class

20. Involve students
To become a better reader/writer
Emphasize stamina and urgency
PURPOSE
Fountas and Pinnell, Routman,Boushey & Moser

21. WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN
DIFFERENT GRADES?

22. WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR
YOU?
Structure of reading
block doesn’t change
Allows you to do
running records,
conference with
students, or work
with small groups

23. ANALYZING RUNNING RECORDS
Powerful
Information
Struggling Readers
Identify instructional
needs
Design instruction

24. IN A GIVEN DAY…
I did running records to:
Measure growth
See if a student had chosen a
good fit book
See if a student was working
towards their goal
See what strategies a student
was applying
Identify future goals for
students

25. IN ADDITION
Running records also:
Prepare you for discussions with
parents
Help you monitor meaning
Plan developmentally
appropriate word work
Give students
grades/proficiency scores on
report cards
Individualize instruction

26. DISTRICT USE
Big picture of student
needs
Title I School Wide School
Shared responsibility
Data turned in quarterly
Weekly running records
done on students below
benchmark
RTI

27. REFLECTION
How do you currently use running
records?
How would you like to use them
further?

28. QUESTIONS?
bsimo@grantsburg.k12.wi.us

29. REFERENCES
Bear, Donald R., Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston. Words Their Way Word
Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction . 4th ed. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007.
Print.
Fountas, Irene, and Gay Su Pinnell. Guiding Readers and Writers Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content
Literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000. Print.
Fountas, Irene, and Gay Su Pinnell. Guided Reading Good First Teaching for All Children. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 1996. Print.
Fountas, Irene, and Gay Su Pinnell. When Readers Struggle Teaching that Works. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 2008. Print.
Fountas, Irene, and Gay Su Pinnell. Word Matters Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading/Writing
Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998. Print.
Boushey, Gail, and Joan Moser. The Daily 5. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2005. Print.
Miller, Debbie. Teaching with Intention Defining Beliefs, Aligning Practice, Taking Action. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers, 2008. Print.
Routman, Regie. Reading Essentials The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 2002. Print.