Contributions of the Works of Marie Clay to Guided Reading Instruction

Celebrating 30 Years

Journal of Reading Recovery Spring 201524

Contributions of the Works of Marie

Clay to Guided Reading Instruction

Gay Su Pinnell, The Ohio State University

Irene C. Fountas, Lesley University

Guided reading is an instructional

setting that allows teachers to help

individual children learn how to

use strategic actions to process texts

successfully. Our interest in guided

reading was propelled by our work

with Don Holdaway, an Australian

writer and educator, who published

The Foundations of Literacy in 1979.

Holdaway promoted storybook

reading with enlarged texts along

with guided reading of little books

and drew upon Clay’s complex theory

of reading to support engagement

and effective processing of texts.

We found further description of

guided reading in Reading in Junior

Classes with guidelines to the revised

Ready to Read series, published by

the Department of Education in

Wellington, New Zealand, in 1985.

This volume defined guided reading

as “an approach which enables a

teacher and a group of children

to talk, read, and think their way

purposefully through a text, mak-

ing possible an early introduction to

reading silently” (p. 69). The practice

of guided reading in New Zealand

dates back at least to 1972, when the

Department of Education published

Reading: Suggestions for Teaching

Reading in Primary and Secondary

Schools which reported “mainstream”

thinking on the teaching of reading.

The basic structure of guided reading

is presented in both Holdaway’s 1979

book and Reading in Junior Classes,

along with suggestions for expanding

children language through talk about

texts. Both present guided reading as

an important instructional context

within a comprehensive set of literacy

practices including reading aloud

to children, independent reading,

shared reading, writing, and exten-

sion through art and other media.

Both cite works by Marie Clay,

including Reading: The Patterning of

Complex Behavior (1979), the first

edition of which was published in

1972. Holdaway also cites an earlier

article by Clay titled, “The Reading

Behavior of Five Year Old Children:

A Research Report,” which appeared

in the New Zealand Journal of Edu-

cational Studies in 1967. All of this

points to the conclusion that across

New Zealand, a powerful constella-

tion of researchers and practitioners,

working together, laid the foundation

for an instructional design that built

on children’s language knowledge and

lively curiosity and presented read-

ing as a meaningful and rewarding

experience from the time of school

entry. It was an approach built on

every child’s right to have rich experi-

ences with many different kinds of

texts and the support of a “noticing”

teacher whose keen observation lead

to skilled teaching.

Of course, small-group reading

instruction had been around for a

long time. In a review of the research

on grouping students for reading

instruction, Barr and Dreeben

(1991) describe between-class and

within-class grouping, both of which

emerged early in the 20th Century.

In the 1950s and 1960s, studies

showed that grouping for reading

instruction was prevalent across the

United States and in many other

parts of the world (Barr & Dreeben).

In this same review, Barr and

Dreeben draw no definitive conclu-

sions as to the effectiveness of any

kind of grouping; however, they men-

tion several criticisms that have been

leveled at the then-current practice

of teaching reading in small groups,

including

• basing grouping on insuffi-

cient evidence (often including

prejudicial observations such as

race or economic status),

• creating static groups that do

not change over time and so

result in a kind of tracking, and

• differential treatment of low

and high groups so that chil-

dren in the lower groups have

less true reading experience and

more worksheets and tasks.

To these cautions we would add

• basing instruction on a theory

of reading that focused almost

solely on letter-sound analysis

or word recognition (rather

than a theory of constructive

learning that incorporates all

systems of strategic actions),

and

• a concept of teaching that

involves standardized group

delivery rather than the use of

Spring 2015 Journal of Reading Recovery 25

Celebrating 30 Years

facilitative language and con-

versation to allow individuals

to build self-extending systems.

It makes sense to teachers that chil-

dren need skilled guidance to build

on their strengths, the opportunity

to learn in social groups with others,

and texts that meet their current

abilities and simultaneously offer

opportunities to learn more. Small-

group instruction provides a context

within which we as teachers can

accomplish those goals. When we

studied the implementation of guided

reading in New Zealand, we knew

we were looking at something that

was quite different from current

small-group instruction we had expe-

rienced; and we knew also that Marie

Clay’s theory contributed hugely to

those differences.

Next, we comment on Marie’s contri-

butions to the instructional practice

of guided reading in three categories:

(a) readers and the reading processs,

(b) texts, and (c) teaching.

Readers and the Reading

Process

Throughout her long career, Clay as a

scholar conceptualized and developed

a theory of literacy learning that

conceived of reading as “a message-

gaining, problem-solving activity,

which increases in power and

flexibility the more it is practiced”

(Clay, 1979, p. 6). From the first

experiences with print, learners build

“working systems” that enable them

to problem solve written texts. Her

theory leads teachers to view children

as constructive in that they are con-

stantly putting together information

from different sources—including

meaning, language syntax or struc-

ture, and the visual features of

print—in pursuit of processing a

meaningful text. This view is quite

different from a theory that suggests

children learn the smallest items first

(letters and sounds) and then progress

to large items (words) and finally to

sentences and meaning of a whole

text.

Clay recognized the role of partially

correct responding as an indication

not of deficit but as evidence of

problem-solving behavior. In An

Observation Survey of Early Literacy

Achievement (2002), she presented a

powerful set of assessment measures

that enabled teachers to draw a por-

trait of a child’s current strengths in

precise detail. Assessment provides

teachers with a sound basis for group-

ing and for precise selection of texts

that are suited to current strengths.

The running record—the most-

powerful of the observational tech-

niques—allows teachers to capture

reading behavior “on the run” in a

way that enables them to respond to

and support learners with facilitative

language. Use of assessment, observa-

tion, and the running record are

integral to the implementation of

guided reading.

Clay’s intense focus on the individual

child and her continuous observation

of the reading and writing behavior of

individual learners led to the exposi-

tion, refinement, and more elaborated

explanation of her theoretical point

of view of the years; but the essence

of her thinking was there in her first

works. “What I end up with is not

a theory of instruction, but a theory

of the construction of an inner con-

trol of literacy acts” (Clay, 2001, p.

46). The more we understand Clay’s

theory, the more we believe that lit-

eracy learning is not simply additive.

It consists of transformations in an

ever-increasing complexity as we have

described in The Continuum of Lit-

eracy Learning: A Guide to Teaching

(Pinnell & Fountas, 2011). Reading

instruction, therefore, must support

the child in the process. The goal of

instruction is to support and guide

children in the development of a

self-extending system of literacy

behaviors, with which they can learn

more about reading from every text

they process. This is the goal of

guided reading in the early grades;

and, even when children have the

beginnings of such a system, guided

reading supports them in further

growth as literate people.

Texts

The close study of children’s reading

behaviors inevitably shines a light

on the texts they are given to read.

Whether they are fast progress literacy learners or

those who need intervention to make fast progress,

all children should be viewed as active constructors of

learning who deserve the best of texts and instruction

we can give them in schools. Without fanfare, that is

the principle that Clay stood for throughout her pro-

fessional career, and so her impact is without measure.

Celebrating 30 Years

Journal of Reading Recovery Spring 201526

Through Clay, we learned just how

important text selection is. It is a

sobering thought that

the texts which a teacher chooses

for a child can facilitate or

constrain the opportunities

that a child gets to process text

information, and the difficulty

level of those texts relative to a

child’s current skills will create

or constrain the opportunities

for the child to use what he or

she knows in the service of inde-

pendently learning more through

reading, making errors, and self-

correcting. (2001, p. 207)

Clay used a very powerful tool—a

gradient of text—to help teachers

select texts that would support rather

than constrain children’s reading

progress. This means that the ‘just

right’ text is one the child can process

with proficiency with the support of a

skilled teacher and one that offers the

opportunity to learn more. The idea

is that the text must not be so hard

that the reader struggles through it,

comprehending little, but it must

be challenging enough to engender

problem-solving behavior. In answer

to the question, “Can a gradient of

text difficulty induce change?” Clay

says this:

Children can use their control

of oral language and knowledge

of the world, and as-yet-limited

literacy knowledge to move up

through a gradient of difficulty

in texts. They are aided by teach-

ers who arrange their opportuni-

ties and support their efforts.

As texts are read and written

different kinds of learning are

drawn together, coupled, inte-

grated or changed. New items of

vocabulary are added, frequently

constructed from familiar bits,

roots, prefixes, patterns, clusters,

chunks and analogies. In the

short time it takes a budding

reader to read through many

texts on an increasing gradient

of difficulty…the network of

strategic activity gets massive use,

expands in range of experience,

and increases in efficiency.

This happens providing the

reader is not struggling.

(2001, pp. 132–133)

This quote captures an essential prin-

ciple of guided reading: Teachers select

books with readers in mind. Based

on close observation and systematic

assessment, teachers select from a rich

collection organized by level of dif-

ficulty, those that will best support

their readers at this point in time. As

Clay says, “richer texts themselves

provide supporting structures” (2001,

p. 105).

Teaching

Though she did not specifically set

out to define methods or processes of

instruction, Clay’s theory reveals the

dynamic interactions through which

teachers can support children in

developing the self-extending systems.

In Change Over Time in Children’s

Literacy Development, Clay summa-

rizes necessary features of instruction

for learners to be successful:

• Teachers work to make

maximum use of each child’s

strengths.

• Teachers select appropriate

tasks, share them with children,

and engage in conversation that

supports their efforts.

• Teachers expect and support

active problem solving on the

part of the child.

• Teachers set the level of

difficulty to ensure both high

rates of correct responding

and appropriate challenge.

(2001, p. 225)

These principles are the foundation of

teaching in guided reading. Adding

to this, Clay helps teachers see how

the careful and thoughtful use of

language supports children’s think-

ing. She describes an “economy of

language” with prompts and ques-

tions that respond precisely to the

child’s actions. As Clay says, “teach-

ing . . . can be likened to a conver-

sation in which you listen to the

speaker carefully before you reply”

(1985, p. 6). Teachers of guided

reading select and use questions and

prompts that evoke thinking on the

part of their students.

In an unusual move for the time,

Clay applied these principles to indi-

vidual tutoring in early intervention,

with the remarkable achievement of

Reading Recovery. Thus, we can see

that underlying principles of learning

apply to the support of all children.

We do not teach them all in the same

precise way. We see them as indi-

viduals. And whether they are fast

progress literacy learners or those who

need intervention to make fast prog-

ress, all should be viewed as active

constructors of learning who deserve

the best of texts and instruction we

can give them in schools. Without

fanfare, that is the principle that Clay

stood for throughout her professional

career, and so her impact is without

measure.

Not armies, not nations have advanced

the race; but here and there, in the

course of ages, an individual has stood

up and cast his shadow over the world.

– E. H. Chapin

Spring 2015 Journal of Reading Recovery 27

Celebrating 30 Years

References

Barr, R., & Dreeben, R. (1991).

Grouping students for reading instruc-

tion. In R. Barr, M. L. Kamil, P. B.

Mosenthal, & P. D. Pearson (Eds.),

Handbook of reading research: vol. II

(pp. 885–910). New York: Longman.

Clay, M. M. (1967). The reading behav-

ior of five year old children: A research

report. New Zealand Journal of

Educational Studies, (2)1, 11–31.

Clay, M. M. (1972). Reading: The

patterning of complex behaviour.

Auckland, New Zealand: Heinemann.

Clay, M. M. (1975). What did I write?

Auckland, New Zealand: Heinemann.

Clay, M. M. (1979). Reading: The pat-

terning of complex behavior (2nd ed.).

Auckland, New Zealand: Heinemann.

Clay, M. M. (1985). The early detec-

tion of reading difficulties (2nd ed.).

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

(Originally published in 1972, The

early detection of reading difficulties: A

diagnostic survey with Reading Recovery

procedures. Auckland, New Zealand:

Heinemann.)

Clay, M. M. (2001). Change over time

in children’s literacy development.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Clay, M. M. (2002). An observation survey

of early literacy achievement (2nd ed.).

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Department of Education. (1972).

Reading: Suggestions for teaching read-

ing in primary and secondary schools.

Wellington, New Zealand.

Department of Education. (1985).

Reading in junior classes. Wellington,

New Zealand.

Holdaway, D. (1979). The foundations

of literacy. Sydney, Australia: Ashton

Scholastic.

Holdaway, D. (1984). Stability and

change in literacy learning. Exeter, NH:

Heinemann.

Pinnell, G. S., & Fountas, I. C. (2011).

The continuum of literacy learning,

grades preK–8: A guide to teaching (2nd

ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

About the Authors

Irene C. Fountas is a professor in

the School of Education at Lesley

University in Cambridge, MA.

She has been a classroom teacher,

language arts specialist, and con-

sultant in school districts across the

nation and abroad. She has been

involved in extensive field based

literacy projects and has received

several awards for her contributions

to literacy. She works extensively

in the literacy education field and

directs the Literacy Collaborative in

the School of Education at Lesley.

Gay Su Pinnell is professor emerita

in the School of Teaching and Learn-

ing at The Ohio State University. She

has extensive experience in classroom

teaching and field-based research,

and in developing comprehensive

approaches to literacy education. She

received the International Reading

Association’s Albert J. Harris Award

for research in reading difficulties,

the Ohio Governor’s Award and the

Charles A. Dana Foundation Award

for her contributions to the field of

literacy education. She is a member

of the Reading Hall of Fame.

About the Cover

In addition to helping the lowest-achieving students make progress in read-

ing and writing, Reading Recovery-trained teachers also share their expertise

by providing extra support in literacy learning during the other part of their

day. Alora Stafford, who began first grade reading at Text Level 3, now reads

fluently and has good comprehension. In addition to her

classroom literacy instruction, Alora and three other

students met for daily half-hour sessions with Marcia

Scales. “I remember that Alora always showed an

eagerness to read and reread her books,” Marcia said.

“She also enjoyed writing stories about

the holidays and things she did with

her brother (who was a Reading

Recovery student) and with her

family.” Now a successful second

grader, Alora is active in karate and

enjoys art class — when she’s not

reading, of course!