Balanced LiteracyCathy Mrla

Jen Mahan-Deitte

Why the emphasis on Reading Well?

Reading is the cornerstone of all learning.

In every subject area, the ability to read and comprehend written material is of the highest importance.

Supporting the development of capable readers at every level is our goal as educators, parents, and as a community.

Why the emphasis on Reading Well?

Early intervention is critical to ensuring all students are developing successfully as readers. Beyond 3rd grade, it becomes increasingly more difficult to ‘catch-up’ with their peers.

Literacy refers to the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about the written word.

Literacy defined

Balanced Literacy

Read Aloud / Modeled Reading

Write Aloud /

Modeled Writing

Shared Writing

Guided Writing

Independent Writing

Shared Reading

Guided Reading

Independent Reading

Read Aloud(you do/they watch)

TEACHERS…

• read aloud to children – allowing them to hear and discuss complex vocabulary and story structure in literature and non-fiction

• explicitly model strategies

STUDENTS…

listen actively to stories, strategies, and skills presented/modeled

discuss elements of the story using vocabulary from the text

pose questions to teacher when confused or curious

Shared Reading(you do/they do)

TEACHERS…

read to students aloud and students follow with eyes and join in with voice at appropriate places

STUDENTS…

listen actively to stories and skills presented/modeled

read aloud portions of the text, either along with the teacher or independently

Identify, orally, main elements of the story (character, plot, setting, conflict, and resolution)

discuss elements of the story using vocabulary from the text

pose questions to teacher when confused or curious

Guided Reading(they do/you help)

TEACHERS…

listen to children read a book independently within a small group, after teacher gives a supportive book introduction. Teacher moves among the children to coach as they read – instructional level text

STUDENTS…

read aloud leveled text at his/her instructional level independently while teacher coaches student at appropriate times

identify, orally or in writing, main elements of the story (character, plot, setting, conflict, and resolution)

discuss elements of the story using vocabulary from the text

pose questions to teacher when confused or curious

respond, orally or in writing, to prompts from the teacher – demonstrating comprehension of the strategy or skill being taught

Independent Reading(they do/you watch)

TEACHERS…

observe children reading at their independent level for sustained amounts of time

STUDENTS…

read in whisper voice, or silently, for sustained amounts of time – books that are either familiar or cold reads that are at their independent level

Balanced Reading Approaches and

Reading Block

HANDOUTS

Writing Aloud(you do/they watch)

Teachers… Students…

Explicit Instruction – show students how to write

Be metacognitive – thinking aloud – as you model writing for students every stage of the writing process◦ Prewrite/brainstorming ◦ Draft◦ Revise◦ Edit ◦ Publish

Listen in as you explain your thinking and planning before you write and while you write

Get ideas for writing and composing

Shared Writing(you do/they do)

Teachers… Students…

Compose collaboratively

Demonstrate, guide, and negotiate the creation of meaningful text, focusing on the craft of writing as well as the conventions.

transcribe

Focus on meaningful message making

Offer ideas without the pressure of having to write them down

Hear your and peers’ thinking and ideas

Observe the parts of the whole

Reinforce and rethink content or concepts

Receive needed support

Guided Writing(they do/you help)

Teachers… Students…

Meet with table groups, rotate to tables as students work

Meet with targeted skill groups (i.e. lead sentence or summarizing)

Explore and try out ideas with support

Receive coaching and appropriate materials to ensure success

Independent Writing(they do/you watch)

Teachers… Students…

ObserveConfer with

individual students

Write independently in a particular form or genre

Have the skills and confidence to be successful

Writing requires a Daily Commitment

Strong research link between reading and writing

At least 45 min/4 days a weekDouble the amount of writing time at every

grade level – some at home

Scaffolded Instruction

Scaffolding is the gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to the student…sometimes teachers make the mistake of not spending enough time on a concept so the students truly understand and move from describing the content to asking students to independently use the information.

Marzano cited 24 as the number of times students must be meaningfully exposed to information before they can move to a level of independent mastery. Independent mastery is understanding 80% of the text being read.

Core Elements of Curriculum

Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency,

Vocabulary, and Comprehension

Phonemic awareness

Can help students learn to read and spellThe relationship between phonemic

awareness and learning to read and spell is reciprocal

The most important forms of phonemic awareness to teach are blending and segmentation

Phonics

Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is more effective

Phonics instruction significantly improves kindergarten and first grade student’s word recognition, spelling, and comprehension

“The best way to get children to refine and extend their knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is through repeated opportunities to read.” – Becoming a Nation of Readers

fluency

Fluency rates depend on decoding strategies, text structure, difficulty of text, and reader’s attentiveness to the text

Fluency is more than reading fastMore fluent readers focus their attention

on making connections among the ideas in the text and between these ideas and their background knowledge

vocabulary

Children use words in their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print

Students need to have 80,000 words in their vocabulary by the time they graduate from high school

Vocabulary is important in reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading unless they know what most of the words mean.

comprehension

The reason for readingIf readers can read the words but do not

understand, they are not really readingInstruction in comprehension can help

students understand what they read, remember what they read, and communicate with others about what they read

What is reading?Reading doesn’t occur

until there is comprehension.

BALANCED LITERACY

Involves the use of observation and assessment to make instructional decisions

Conducted in an environment that is productive and organized – well managed classroom!

Includes a belief that all students can learn to read and write

Has clearly aligned instructional goals and assessments

Uses a variety of instructional tools, resources, and strategies

POSSIBLE SUPPORT NEEDED:

Parent EngagementPeer CoachingSmall Group InstructionData Analysis & ApplicationAssessmentUnpacking the StandardsLiteracy BlockTechnology IntegrationStudent EngagementGrade-Level CollaborationOther

Next Meeting

Day 2: October 26 (Marshall Coop)‘Quality Core Instruction’