Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a myriad of authentic examples that illustrate how teachers apply apprenticeship theories to their instructional interactions with their students. It emphasizes the importance of early reading success, including recent research on the relationship of third-grade reading proficiency to high school graduation, as well as other social and economic advantages. The book includes new examples that illustrate how teachers are using a balanced literacy curriculum and incorporating informational texts in an apprenticeship approach. It focuses on the implementation of a guided reading program within a balanced literacy framework. The book describes two types of assisted writing: interactive writing and writing aloud. It shares significant revisions and additions, including more details for assessing students’ orthographic and phonological knowledge with implications for planning word study lessons.