Introduction to
Balanced Literacy
Office of
Curriculum and
Instruction
Components of a
Balanced Literacy Block
Read Aloud
Whole Group Shared Reading
Small Group Guided Reading
Independent Reading
Writing
Word
Study
I Do – We Do- You Do
Fisher and Frey, 2007
Read Aloud
• Teacher
reads and models
comprehension
skills while
students listen.
• 10-15 minutes
Read Aloud Research
• To build knowledge for students’ eventual success,
the single most important activity is reading
aloud to them.
• Reading aloud to children increases language and
literacy development when teachers are intentional and
purposeful about
– WHY they read,
– WHAT they read, and
– HOW they read.
• Teachers can make a large difference in children’s
vocabulary development when they explain and
discuss important new words during read alouds.
• Reading aloud interactively builds comprehension.
It has maximum learning potential when children
participate actively and respond.
Read Aloud Research, continued
• Children whose parents have not read
to them often enough will not
develop the same knowledge of
written language and how it differs
from oral language.
• Teachers can develop this
knowledge in students by reading
aloud to them in the classroom.
Read Aloud Advantages
•
•
•
•
develop positive attitudes toward reading
increase enjoyment of reading
strengthen cognitive development
instill a sense of story structure and
organization
Discussion Notes:
How does purposeful pre-planning
of your Read Aloud
improve student learning?
Whole Group
Shared Reading
• Teacher
guides a wholegroup reading of
the text.
• 20-30 minutes
Whole Group Shared
Reading: The Focus
•
•
•
•
Build book and print awareness
Activate background knowledge
Provide direct instruction of vocabulary
Provide direct instruction of comprehension
strategies with grade-level text
• Provide instruction and repeated practice in
decoding
• Increase reading accuracy and fluency
• Engage students in choral reading, echo
reading, and reader’s theater
Small Group
Guided Reading
• Teacher
guides small-group
reading of the text
while other
students engage in
meaningful practice
of literacy skills.
• 40-60 minutes
Small Group Guided Reading: Framework
• Students practice comprehension strategies and
decoding with instructional-level text (text they can
read at 90-94% accuracy).
• Groups are flexible and needs-based (data)
– Book and print awareness
– Phonics skills
– Reading accuracy and fluency
– Reading comprehension
• Other students work independently or with partners on
literacy tasks to practice and consolidate skills previously
taught.
– How will the practice propel students forward as readers?
– On which task does each student need to work to become more prof
– Are students able to do the activity independently?
“When an adult and a child or group of children
spend unhurried and uninterrupted
time viewing, reading and sharing a book together,
the unspoken messages about
reading and about books are as important, and
perhaps longer lasting, than any part
of the actual content.”
Margaret Mooney, Shared Reading: Making it Work for You and Your
Children (1994)
Discussion Notes:
How are Whole Group Shared Reading
and
Small Group Guided Reading different?
Independent
Reading
• Students engage
in independent
reading while the
teacher monitors
and conferences
with students.
• 15-20 minutes
Independent Reading Research
• The amount of time students spend reading
independently is the best predictor of
• reading achievement
• the amount of gain made by students
between second and fifth grades.
• Students who begin reading a book in
school are more likely to continue reading
outside of school.
Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding
(1988)
Independent Reading Structure
•
While reading independent-level texts (>95%
accuracy), students apply their decoding and
comprehension skills without teacher guidance.
book and print awareness
phonics
accuracy
fluency
comprehension
•
Students in upper elementary grades benefit from
tracking their thinking and monitoring comprehension
through writing.
•
Teachers can identify students’ needs by
conferencing with students and administering
assessments.
Correlation Between
Time Spent Reading and
Standardized Test Results
Percentile Rank
98
90
70
50
20
10
Minutes Read per Day Estimated Words
Read per Year
90.7
40.4
21.7
12.9
3.1
1.6
4,733,000
2,357,000
1,168,000
601,000
134,000
51,00
Dr. David Bennett, Chicago Rush Universit
Word Study
• Teacher
leads instruction
in word patterns.
• 20 minutes
Word Study: The Focus
• Must be explicit and systematic
• Focus on phonological awareness
– Rhymes, syllables, onsets/rimes
• Focus on phonics
– Letter-sound correspondence, patterns, and
decoding skills
• Include analysis of word structures
– Contractions, inflected endings
– Homophones, syllable types
– Prefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots
Discussion Notes:
How does Word Study compare
to traditional spelling instruction?
Writing
• Teacher
guides students
through a focused
writing process.
• 30-60 minutes
Writing Research
• Although handwriting and correct spelling are skills
children must eventually master, these are not the
focus when we engage children in writing.
• Instead, we should focus on writing as a form of
communication.
Neuman, Roskos, Wright, and Lenhart
(2007)
Writing: The Structure
Components:
Mini-lessons
Shared Writing
Independent
Writing
Conferencing
Focused Process
Writing:
-Provides explicit
instruction for specific
genres of writing
-Includes pre-writing,
drafting, revising,
editing,
Use the writing process for two purposes:
publishing
• Mechanics (sound-symbol relationships
and English language conventions)
• Content (communicating ideas, messages,
and stories)
Contact Information
If you have additional questions about the
balanced literacy overview you may contact:
wicklo@tulsaschools.org
Natalie Hutto: huttona@tulsaschools.org
Ayn Grubb: grubbay@tulsaschools.org