Planning Frameworks for Literacy Programs

Flexible, Multi-Level Frameworks

Several authors have described helpful frameworks to guide classroom or team program development. Referencing a framework to plan instruction and routines can help to ensure balanced, comprehensive literacy learning opportunities for all students-- all day, all week long. Two examples of such literacy program frameworks are well articulated by Cunningham, Hall and Defee (1991) and Fountas and Pinnell (2001). Both of these examples emphasize coordinated opportunities for all learners to learn and practice many kinds of reading, writing, and language/word study throughout the daily and weekly schedule. The literacy routines reflect reading and writing for authentic purposes, and are by nature, flexible and multi-level. Below is an overview of literacy routines and features organized according to Cunningham's comprehensive, four blocks framework.

 FOUR BLOCKS LITERACY FRAMEWORK (Cunningham, Hall and Defee, 1991).

SELF SELECTED READING

• Teacher read aloud
• Mini lessons on self selected reading
• Students choose and read independently (or with support)
• Individual Student-teacher conferences about reading

GUIDED READING (including Shared Reading)

• Teachers select and match texts to groups of readers
• Teacher support before reading
• Teacher support during reading
• Flexible groups with teacher as coach
• Supporting the reading process
• Opportunities for response after reading

WRITING

• Writing Workshop format
• Mini lessons
• Students plan, develop and revise pieces of writing (for real purposes)
• Individual Student-teacher conferences about writing
• Author's chair

WORKING WITH WORDS

• Learn high frequency words
• Learn to decode and spell words needed for reading and writing
• Understand how words work
• Varied interactive activities (e.g., word walls, making words, using words you know)

 This type of flexible framework makes it possible to support the participation and literacy learning of a very wide range of students (including those with significant disabilities) within inclusive classes/ teams. Such frameworks can also be very useful for organizing your literacy program within your current special education context, even if you are not yet teaming with some or all of your general education partners for literacy (and some of your students with IEPs receive most literacy instruction in a special education classroom).