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).
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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).