Literacy Beginnings FAQs

We’re having a party and you’re invited! It’s an online book study blog party where we discuss the book Literacy Beginnings by the gurus of literacy, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell.

literacy beginnings

Today I’m answering your frequently asked questions about the book study blog party.

I teach kindergarten, will this this book be helpful to me?
Matt, a kindergarten teacher and one of the blog party hosts has composed a fantastic response to this question, I encourage you to check out his thoughts.

I just found out about this book study, is it too late to join?
Of course not, that’s the beauty of an on-line book study, you can read the posts at your convenience. Scroll down for more details under “How do I follow the discussions?”

Where can I get the book?
You will probably not find this book in your local bookstore or teacher store. It is a textbook and therefore you will have more luck finding it at online booksellers like Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Laura from The Seeds Network shared the best deal she found on this book. {Iced tea and sunglasses not included}

What is the cost?
The discussion is free 🙂 The price of the book is probably a little more than you are used to paying for a typical teacher resource book because it is not a resource book, it is a textbook. It includes 462 pages of fine print with tabbed dividers, 35 specific language and literacy lessons, and over 50 pages of blackline masters. Literacy Beginnings is written by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, two of the most recognized experts in early literacy in the U.S.; it is a comprehensive early literacy manual.

What’s it about?
It’s not about math, science, open-ended art, or music and movement- it is about best practices in early literacy instruction for the 21st Century. If I have a problem with the plumbing in my house I call a plumber, if I have a problem with the heating or air-conditioning I call in the HVAC experts, I don’t call a general handyman. The same goes for this book, the authors are experts in early literacy teaching and learning so if you are looking for the most current, research based information on early literacy instruction then this is the book for you.

How do I follow the discussions?
The list of chapters and the blogs that will be hosting each discussion can be found here. Simply follow each blog (that means sign up to receive e-mail updates or add them to your reader). Then you can read the posts at your convenience and post comments directly on the blogs or write and post a response on your own blog. If you want to join the linky party I created a tutorial for you explaining how it works. A book study is all about sharing your thoughts and reflections with others, therefore I strongly encourage you to post comments directly on the blogs or write responses on your own blog, this way everybody will benefit.

How do I save the discussions so I can read them later?
There are several ways to do this. One way is to bookmark each blog post using your favorite online bookmarking tool such as Delicious. If you don’t know what that is or how to use it you can find a video I created explaining it here.

Who are the teachers hosting the blog party?
I’ve linked up each blogger’s name below with their About page so you can read more about them. We have teachers from all over the U.S. hosting, some representing private education and some public.

You can also follow the hashtag #literacybeginnings on twitter for the most recent posts and discussions.

I hope these FAQs answer your questions about the Literacy Beginnings book study blog party. Please post other questions about the book study below in the comments section.

pre-k pages book study blog party

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5 thoughts on “Literacy Beginnings FAQs”

  1. AWESOME review of the book study, Vanessa! You also have me wanting to check out Delicious – since I do need a better system of bookmarking and saving ideas.

    As for the book itself – you are right, it is a textbook (with the great yellow tabs!). I plan to introduce the book to the teachers at the preschool I work at in the Fall … so this can be a great resource that maybe schools and child care centers would purchase. So if the cost seems prohibitive to an individual teacher, I would encourage them to ask their principal or director about purchasing it for their staff’s professional development. Or join with another teacher and purchase the book together and share it.

    FYI … for those who would also want the sunglasses and iced tea to go along with the book … both were purchased at Target! (LOL!)

  2. You’re too funny Laura!

    I like Delicious but I hear some folks are finding Tumblr and Pinterest useful these days too.

    I agree, asking your school or center to purchase copies for the teachers for professional development is a great idea.

  3. Sheila Schlesinger

    I had bought this book earlier in the year saving to read it in the summer. The NYC DOE bought one for every pre-k teacher in the system. So I now have two copies.
    I haven’t started reading yet.
    My plan is to start this weekend.

  4. Kathron Griffin

    My book is in the mail Vanessa, but I do want to thank you for all your great work on the book study. I am really enjoying it, and all the great tips and ideas from the various links. I have a StumbleUpon account which I rarely use, but I definitely want to check into using it or Delicious to help manage all the great links from the blog study. The great information on your website and blog helped me transition my Pre-K curriculum from LOTW to a much more effective literacy-based program. No more LOTW or worksheets for my 4 year olds, largely due to your great ideas and resources. Thanks again!

  5. Thanks Kathron! I’m so glad I was able to help! Stay tuned for chapter 19 that discusses LOTW specifically- and the song I wrote about it 🙂

    Vanessa @pre-kpages.com

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