ABSTRACT
142 Text matters in learning to read” (Hiebert, 1999, p. 552). This statement is simple and definitive, and it indicates that text selection is an important instructional decision, particularly when a teacher is tailoring reading lessons to meet the needs of every child in the classroom. Nearly any text may be used for small-group reading instruction, as long as it is carefully matched to the strengths and needs (and interests, when possible) of the learners in the group. A well-chosen text can serve as an instructional scaffold to help developing readers (Fountas & Pinnell, 2012a; Hiebert, 2013; Mesmer, 2010) and can provide the teacher with opportunities to differentiate the content and process of a small-group lesson (Tomlinson, 2000).
