Foster joyful writing with minilessons that spark creativity, imagination, and learning.
The Writing Minilessons Books provide brief, focused, explicit lessons that help children understand and apply the characteristics of effective writing and nurture their ability to write with purpose, imagination, and voice.
Develop children’s deep knowledge of literacy concepts with these must-have interactive writing and writing minilessons – concise, explicit, whole-group lessons with a purposeful application in building children’s literacy power.
With the Writing Minilessons Books at your fingertips…
share the pen to scaffold emergent writing
focus learning on a single idea so children can apply the learning and build on it daily
foster community through the development of shared language
use an inquiry approach to support active, constructive learning
make connections using mentor texts from interactive read-aloud and shared reading
create relevance by linking to earlier learning experiences
expand students writing competencies and link them to reading
generate anchor charts for student reference
nurture student independence with opportunities to extend learning
Writing Minilessons provide children with rich opportunities to learn about and engage in the writing process.
To help children connect ideas and develop deep knowledge and broad application of principles, related minilessons are grouped under “umbrella” concepts or types. An umbrella is a group of lessons, all of which are directed at various aspects of the same big idea, and one umbrella can serve as the focus across several days.
In grades PreK through 1, Interactive Writing lessons are also included, allowing teachers to share the pen with students to collaboratively compose a piece of writing together as a class.
The Writing Minilessons are used during whole-group instruction. During a minilesson, the teacher presents specific, explicit instruction to help children become confident, engaged writers.
The FPC Interactive Read-Aloud and Shared Reading books serve as mentor texts and as examples for generalizing the principle. This context also pairs well with the Reading Minilessons Books. Children practice and apply the principle during independent reading.
Turning a vision into action requires a carefully laid out plan. You may be asking yourself, “Where do I start?” With a pen in hand, start here, in this action plan, thinking together with colleagues. The 4 steps in this Interactive Action Plan are designed to put you, your students, and your school on the path to literacy success.
For detailed guidance on unpacking your system, setting up your resources, and organizing your classroom, download the FPC Interactive Unpacking and Implementation Plan.
Explore the Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum
Proficient readers and writers display recognizable behaviors at every stage of literacy learning. When teachers notice, teach, and support these behaviors, they link assessment to responsive teaching. This indispensable literacy tool identifies the behaviors that demonstrate thinking and understanding within, beyond, and about a text. These behaviors are described as continua of learning across eight instructional contexts.
Explore what the Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum is, what’s included, how it’s implemented, and gain access to samplers, research, webinars, and more.
