Don't you just love a good Donalyn Miller thought? This one reminds me of something I learned years ago in my Reading Recovery training. It's managed to help shape much of how I teach reading. It's that whole-part-whole concept. The parts don't necessarily drive instruction as much as the whole does. This concept determines how I use my daily shared reading of big books. It all starts with engaging and quality literature. There's the whole, which we read daily and enjoy first and foremost. The parts come from right off the pages of the book. I find myself asking, "What parts does this big book offer that fit the needs of my students and the curriculum?" We take the parts out. We investigate and work with them and very importantly put them right back into the context of the whole as Donalyn has suggested. It's all about real reading experiences, which seems to allude to the fact that there's such a thing as fake reading experiences. Hmmm. Before you go, pretty please take a few minutes to visit some special Saturday Sayings' guests of mine. I'm really excited that three very sweet ladies are sharing quotes and thoughts this morning too. I, for one, can't wait to read them. Ready, set, go! Kerri Jenny Meghan