Pillars of Literacy 3-5
Instructional Routines
Instruction and practice of the different pillars of literacy can be embedded in the instructional routines below.
Click on the link for each routine to find a support document with:
- examples from classrooms
- explanations
- ideas for building explicit instruction and practice of the pillar components into each routine
Reading Conferences – click here
What: Teachers read one on one with each student to provide feedback, support their development as readers and collect assessment information to inform planning. These conferences are short: 1-2 minutes per student.
When: Daily
Writing Conferences – click here
What: Teachers meet one on one with each student to provide feedback, support their writing development and collect assessment information to inform planning. These conferences are short: 1-2 minutes per student.
When: Daily
Read Alouds – click here
What: Students should have lots of opportunities to listen to adults read fluently. Read alouds are a time for experiencing joy in books and reading, thinking and talking about diverse texts, and modelling and practicing the components of the pillars of literacy
When: Daily
Literature Circles – click here
What: Students self-select a text, read at their own pace and engage in deep thinking and meaningful dialogue with others about their reading. This routine provides opportunities for students to make choices and find joy in reading, to explore a variety of texts (genres, forms, perspectives and worldviews) and to connect with peers about reading.
When: 2-3 times per week
Literacy Talks (Cloze reading with missing words) – click here
What: This shared reading routine provides opportunities for differentiation, explicit instruction and practice of the different components of the pillars of literacy.
When: 1-2 times per week
Thinking Routines – click here
What: A thinking routine is a set of questions or steps used to scaffold and support student thinking about a text, experience, concept or big idea. These thinking routines can be used across a variety of learning experiences in our Gr. 3-5 classrooms.
When: Daily – Can be used in all areas of learning
Independent Reading – click here
What: Students should have opportunities to read texts of their choice that match their interests. They should also have opportunities to read a variety of forms and genres of text with a variety of perspectives and worldviews. This is a time when teachers can be having one-to-one reading conferences with students to support their reading development.
When: Daily
Novel Study – click here
What: This routine can be used to have a shared experience with a text, to introduce students to diverse genres and perspectives, and to provide opportunities for students to engage in thinking and talking about their reading.
When: 2-3 times per week – no more than 3 weeks at a time
Writing – click here
What: Opportunities for writing can occur throughout a day and across curricular areas. Writing opportunities should include teacher modeling, co-constructed criteria, time for students to talk and generate ideas, and time for teachers to have 1:1 writing conferences with students to support writing
When: Daily
Working With Non-Fiction Texts – click here
What: As students are engaging in learning about big ideas and concepts across the curriculum there are often opportunities for students to read and write non-fiction texts. Students can learn about the features of non-fiction texts, and can engage in deep thinking to grow their understandings and knowledge.
When: Daily – often connected to learning across curricular areas
Reader’s Theatre – click here
What: This routine helps build fluency, supports decoding and provides opportunities for students to practice reading with expression and intonation.
When: Every couple of weeks
Oral Language Games and Routines – click here
What: Oral language and vocabulary building are foundational to reading and writing. Opportunities to build vocabulary and to practice oral language should be a part of all learning experiences in our Gr. 3-5 classrooms.
When: Embedded in all learning experiences
Social Emotional Learning and Literacy – click here
What: Teachers can find opportunities to embed social emotional learning into literacy learning throughout a day or week.
When: Embedded