BALANCED LITERACY
INSTRUCTIONAL
PLANNER
Cobb County School District
Elementary Language Arts
Department
2006-2007
Kindergarten
BALANCED LITERACY IN THE
ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM
KINDERGARTEN
SUGGESTED DAILY LITERACY INSTRUCTION WITHIN THE
BALANCED LITERACY FRAMEWORK
Daily schedules should include a 2 ½ hour to 3 hour literacy block of
time (uninterrupted time when possible – not to be broken into more
than two segments). Reading and writing strategies are directly taught
during the literacy block and are applied during content area
instruction. Therefore, they are being utilized throughout the
instructional day.
Balanced Literacy Framework
(Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Viewing)
TO CHILDREN
WITH CHILDREN
BY CHILDREN
30 – 40 minutes
90 – 100 minutes
30 – 40 minutes
 Read Aloud
 Shared Reading
 Independent
Reading
 Model
 Guided Reading
Reading and
 Independent
 Shared Writing
Writing
Writing
 Interactive
strategies in
 Literacy
Writing
miniCenters or
 Guided
lessons/direct
Stations
Writing/Writing
teaching
Workshop
Phonics and/or Word Work should be incorporated into all three areas
The Cobb Performance Standards can be found on PICASSO and should be
used in conjunction with the Balanced Literacy Framework. The classroom
environment should support balanced literacy. See the suggested classroom
organization map.
PHILOSOPHY AND PRINCIPLES
OF THE LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM
OF COBB COUNTY ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Literacy is fundamental to the development of learning. Ideas and messages are
conveyed through listening, speaking, observing, reading, writing, and thinking.
Therefore, we believe that a language arts program must:
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challenge and motivate students to become proficient readers, writers, listeners,
speakers, observers, and thinkers provide an in-depth,
research-based curriculum that explores and connects to our diverse world
through the rigorous application of knowledge
prepare students to enjoy and appreciate the richness and power of language.
We agree to the following principles to guide decisions regarding language arts
instruction.
1. The primary focus of the K-2 grades is learning to read. Therefore, the system’s
energies and resources must be maximized for the K-2 grades.
2. The primary focus of the 3-8 grades is reading to learn. Therefore, reading must be
utilized as a tool for learning in all 3-8 content areas.
3. Schools must provide a balanced literacy program that promotes student engagement.
4. Instruction and assessment must reflect the literacy competencies expected in society,
needed in the workplace, and necessary for personal fulfillment.
5. Teachers must provide rigorous instruction based on diagnostic assessments of
student strengths and weaknesses as readers and writers.
6. Schools must provide immediate intervention for non-readers, struggling readers, and
readers whose first language is not English.
7. Students must have access to a variety of instructional materials and
technological/information resources.
8. Schools must encourage learning by offering a relevant curriculum to a culturally
diverse population while developing understanding of and respect for all people.
9. An effective literacy program is contingent upon extensive, continuous teacher
training with opportunities for collaboration and reflection.
10. The community, home, and school must communicate and interact in creating a
literate America.
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
READ ALOUD
Definition: The teacher reads aloud to the whole class or small groups. A carefully
selected body of children’s literature is used; the collection contains a variety of
genres and represents our diverse society.
Values: Involves children in reading for enjoyment; demonstrates reading for a purpose;
provides an adult demonstration of phased, fluent reading; develops a sense of story;
develops knowledge of written language syntax and how texts are structured; increases
vocabulary and expands linguistic repertoire; supports text to text ties; creates community
of readers through enjoyment and shared knowledge; makes complex ideas available to
children; promotes oral language development; establishes known texts to use as a basis
for writing and other activities through rereading.
Teacher Responsibilities
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Reads daily
Helps build a community of
readers
Creates an environment which
fosters active listening
Selects a variety of appropriate
texts for audience
Establishes a purpose for reading
Activates background knowledge
Engages students prior to and
during the reading
Models appropriate reading
behaviors
Models appropriate language use
Develops vocabulary
Encourages predictions and
connections
Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Teacher observation/anecdotal notes
Teacher-student conversations
Reading logs
Student Responsibilities
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Listens effectively
Responds to literature
Enjoys literature
Cobb County Standards
ELAKR1.1 (Concepts of Print)
ELAKLSV3.1 (Listening, Speaking
, Viewing)
ELAKR1.5 (Vocabulary)
ELAKR1.6 (Comprehension)
RESOURCES:
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Kindergarten Read Aloud Library
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Core/Supplemental Libraries that are above your students’ guided reading levels
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Media Center
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
SHARED READING
Definition: Using text that all children can see, the teacher involves children in
reading together following a pointer. Multiple copies, overheads, poems, songs
charts and big books are all possible sources of text for shared reading.
Values: Explicitly demonstrates early strategies, such as word-by-word matching; builds
sense of story and ability to predict; demonstrates the processes of reading embedded
text; involves children in an enjoyable and purposeful way; provides social support from
the group; provides opportunity to participate and behave like a reader; creates body of
known texts that children can use for independent reading and as resources for writing
and word study.
Teacher Responsibilities
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Decides on the focus (skills and
strategies)
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Selects an appropriate text and/or media
(supports the focus or teaching point)
Sets the scene (Introduction)
Introduces organizational features of texts
(title, contents page, author, illustrator)
Reads the text
o Provide all students visual access
o Read lively with few stops
o Elicit predictions
Models comprehension strategies:
predicting, imagery, self-questioning,
monitoring, seeking clarification,
summarization, reflection
Guides students response to the text to:
o Extend experience
o Enrich learning
o Provide opportunities for students
to share
Generates discussion to include new
vocabulary and principles of grammar
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Student participation
Teacher observation/anecdotal notes
Teacher-student conversations
GKAP-R
RESOURCES:
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Core Library Big Books
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Media Center
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Text lifted from books
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Songs and Poems on chart paper
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Student Responsibilities
Actively participates in reading and
discussion
Follows the text
Participates in finding story elements
Makes connections
Participates in reciting repetitive
language chorally
Listens actively
Cobb County Standards
ELAKR1.1 (Concepts of Print)
ELAKR1.6 (Comprehension)
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL
PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
GUIDED READING
Definition: The teacher works with a small, flexible group of students who have
similar reading processes. The teacher selects and introduces new books and
supports children reading the whole text to themselves, making teaching points
during and after the reading.
Values: Provides the opportunity to read many texts and a wide variety of texts; provides
opportunity to problem-solve while reading for meaning; provides opportunity to use
strategies on extended text; challenges the reader and creates context for successful
processing on novel texts; provides opportunity to attend to words in text; teacher
selection of text, guidance, demonstration, and explanation is available to the reader.
Teacher Responsibilities
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Assesses and groups students
Utilizes assessment for direct
instruction
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Selects appropriate texts
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Introduces text with varying levels of
support
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Teaches and supports reading
strategies; i.e. monitoring, searching,
self-correcting, chunking
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Guides students while they read the
text independently; i.e. questioning,
predicting
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Facilitates a conversation about the
book
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Conducts ongoing observation of
students’ reading behaviors
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Continuously assesses and regroups
students according to running records
Not a daily requirement, but use when
appropriate:
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Extends meaning (story maps, reading
response journals)
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Word Work (as part of guided reading
lesson)
Student Responsibilities
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Teacher observation/anecdotal notes
Running records
Leveled book graph
Teacher-led student conversations and
discussions
GKAP-R
DRA (Spring)-Students reading on
level C
RESOURCES:
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Core and Supplemental Libraries
Uses early reading strategies
o Picture clues
o Decoding
o Word chunking
o Skip it and read on
Reads the whole text or a unified part of
the text to themselves (softly or silently)
Makes meaning from text
Problem solves or requests help in
problem solving unknown words when
needed
Read simple text containing high
frequency words and familiar lettersound connections
Cobb County Standards
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ELAKR1.1 (Concepts of Print)
ELAKR1.4 (Fluency)
ELAKR1.5 (Vocabulary)
ELAKR1.6 (Comprehension)
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Leveled book rooms
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
INDEPENDENT READING
Definition: Children read on their own or with partners from a wide range of
materials. Some reading is from a special collection at their reading level.
Values: Provides opportunity to apply reading strategies independently; provides time to
sustain reading behavior; challenges the reader to work on his/her own and to use
strategies on a variety of texts; challenges the reader to solve words independently while
reading texts well within his/her control; promotes fluency through rereading; builds
confidence through sustained successful reading; provides the opportunity for children to
support each other while reading.
Teacher Responsibilities
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Promotes/encourages conversations of
what they are reading
Provides the time and opportunity for
independent reading daily
Provides a variety of materials on
children’s reading levels
Teaches self-selection
Models the practice of independent
reading
Student Responsibilities
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Selects text for reading
Reads a variety of genres
Utilizes reading strategies
independently
Utilizes comprehension strategies
independently
Reads for a variety of purposes
Applies decoding strategies
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ELAKR1.4 (Fluency)
ELAKR1.5 (Vocabulary)
ELAKR1.6 (Comprehension)
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Teacher observation
Teacher/student conversations
Response Journals/logs (optional)
Cobb County Standards
RESOURCES:
 Leveled book room
 Classroom Libraries
 Core or Supplemental books that are on the student’s independent reading level,
but will not be used with the student in guided reading.
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
SHARED WRITING
Definition: Teacher and children work together to compose messages and stories;
teacher supports process as scribe.
Values: Demonstrates how writing works; provides opportunities to draw attention to
letters, words, and sounds; enables children’s ideas to be recorded; creates written
language resources for the classroom.
Teacher Responsibilities
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Writes large enough for all to see
Sets purpose for writing
Provides background knowledge
Determines a lesson focus
Models conventions of print and
letter formation
Models concepts of print
Models appropriate capitalization
and punctuation
Models meaningful connections of
phonemic awareness and phonics by
using names, word families, etc.
Models rereading for meaning
Reinforces high-frequency words
Models a variety of genres
Encourages all students to
participate
Shows reading/writing connection
Acts as a scribe/Thinks aloud when
writing
Student Responsibilities
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Teacher observation
Samples of composed pieces
Anecdotal records
GKAP-R
Participates in composing a message
Recognizes and uses high frequency
words
Hears sounds in words
Demonstrates knowledge of concepts
of print (left to right, spacing)
Incorporates the use of upper and
lower case letters
Uses appropriate capitalization and
punctuation
Cobb County Standards
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RESOURCES:
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Visual Organizer
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Kindergarten Read Aloud Library
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Media Center
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Sentence Strips/Chart paper/Note cards/Overhead
ELAKR1.1 (Concepts of Print)
ELAKR1.2 (Phonemic Awareness)
ELAKR1.5 (Vocabulary)
ELAKR1.6 (Comprehension)
ELAKLSV3.1 (Listening, Speaking,
Viewing)
ELAKW2.1 (Writing)
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
INTERACTIVE WRITING
Definition: Teacher and children compose messages and stories that are written
using a “shared pen” technique that involves children in the writing.
Values: Demonstrates concepts of print, early strategies, and how words work; provides
opportunities to hear sounds in words and connect with letters; helps children understand
“building up” and “breaking down” processes in reading and writing; provides
opportunities to plan and construct texts; increases spelling knowledge; provides texts
that children can read independently; provides written language resources in the
classroom.
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Teacher Responsibilities
Demonstrates concepts of print,
early strategies and how words work
Encourages inventive spelling
Models how to generate topics
Builds background knowledge
Provides opportunities to record a
variety of written expressions (card,
list, poem)
Models good writing strategies
Provides environmental print in the
classroom
Guides process to develop
meaningful lesson focus
Rereads for meaning
Connects reading and writing
Shares pen with students
Models correct letter and number
formation
Encourages students to implement
strategies learned in their own
writing
Student Responsibilities
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Teacher observation
Student’s written response
Anecdotal records
Portfolio writing sample
Cobb County Standards
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RESOURCES:
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Open Court
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Big Books
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Charts/Sentence Strips/Overhead
Actively participates in composing
and responding to text by
contributing parts of words or
punctuation as text develops.
Hears sounds in words
Hears and records first and last
consonants
Uses the concepts of print
Uses capital letters
Rereads text while constructing it
Takes turns sharing the pen with the
teacher
ELAKR1.1 (Concepts of Print)
ELAKR1.2 (Phonemic Awareness)
ELAKR1.5 (Vocabulary)
ELAKR1.6 (Comprehension)
ELAKLSV3.1 (Listening, Speaking,
Viewing)
ELAKW2.1 (Writing)
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
WRITING WORKSHOP (including guided and independent writing)
Definition: Children engage in writing a variety of texts. Teacher guides the process
and provides instruction through mini-lessons and conferences.
Values: Helps writers develop their voice; provides opportunities for children to learn to
be writers; provides chance to use writing for different purposes across the curriculum;
increases writers’ abilities to use different forms; builds ability to write words and use
punctuation; fosters creativity and the ability to compose.
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Teacher Responsibilities
Shows own work as a writer
Models specific practices, concepts of
print and the writing process
Assesses student progress to plan
mini-lessons
Conferences with students on specific
teaching points (1-2) based on
individual needs
Models the use of appropriate
technology on the student’s
instructional level
Provides daily opportunity for
practicing skills demonstrated in
mini-lessons
Facilitates/monitors student writing
Models reading/writing connection
Student Responsibilities
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Teacher observation
Student work samples
Student/teacher conferences
Portfolio writing samples
RESOURCES:
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Read Aloud Library
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Kindergarten Writing Proficiency Chart
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Chart Paper
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Open Court Wall cards
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Word Wall
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Authentic writing examples
Begins to understand the principals
of writing
Write or dictates to describe
familiar persons, places, objects or
experiences
Uses drawings letters and
phonemically spelled words to
create meaning
Prints letters and words
Use left to right pattern of writing
Begins to use capitalization and
punctuation
Cobb County Standards
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ELAKW2.1 (Writing)
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KNIDERGARTEN
INDEPENDENT WRITING
Definition: Children write their own pieces, including (in addition to stories and
informational pieces) retellings, labeling, speech balloons, lists, etc.
Values: Provides opportunity for the independent productions of written text; provides
chance to use writing for different purposes across the curriculum; increases writers’
abilities to use different forms; builds ability to write words and use punctuation; fosters
creativity and the ability to compose.
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Teacher Responsibilities
Provides opportunities for
independent writing
Encourages students to develop
different forms of writing
Monitors writing
Assists students upon request
Provides the opportunity to use
technology to assist in writing
Provides time for student sharing
Student Responsibilities
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Student work samples
Teacher observation
Portfolio samples
Chooses own topics
Experiments with different genres
Begins to use spacing, capitalization,
and punctuation
Chooses appropriate technology to
assist in writing
Cobb County Standards
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ELAKR1.1 (Concepts of Print)
ELAKR1.5 (Phonemic Awareness)
ELAKR1.6 (Comprehension)
ELAKLSV3.1 (Listening, Speaking,
Viewing)
ELAKW2.1 (Writing)
RESOURCES:
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Word wall
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Variety of writing resources (paper, cards, pencils, markers, pens, sentences
strips)
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Word rings
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Writing folder
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Graphic Organizers
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Hot topics list
BALANCED LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNER
KINDERGARTEN
PHONICS AND PHONEMIC AWARENESS (WORD WORK)
Definition: Phonics is instruction that focuses on teaching the alphabetic principle
and the sound-symbol correspondence. Phonemic awareness is demonstrated by the
ability to orally identify and manipulate the sounds within spoken words. Woven
through the activities throughout the planner teachers have the opportunity to help
children notice and use letters and words; knowledge is further fostered through the
use of alphabet centers and word walls.
Values: Helps children become familiar with letter forms; helps children learn to use
visual aspects of print; provides opportunities to notice and use letters and words that are
embedded in text; provides opportunities to manipulate letters and make words; provides
a growing inventory of known letters and words; helps children link sounds with letters
and letter clusters; helps children use what they know about words to solve new words.
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Teacher Responsibilities
Provides students the opportunity to
become familiar with letters and sounds
Help students learn that print relates to
pictures
Provides students the opportunity to notice
letters and words embedded in text
Provides a growing inventory of known
letters and words (word wall)
Helps children link sounds with letters and
letter clusters
Provides students the opportunity to
manipulate letters and make words
Demonstrates to children how to use what
they know about words to solve new words
(decoding strategies)
Student Responsibilities
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Authentic/Informal Assessments
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Letter identification assessment
Writing samples
Running record samples
Teacher observation
GKAP-R
Open Court
RESOURCES:
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Open Court Phonics Program
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Making Words Activities
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ABC/Word Work Center
Rhyming Activities
Participates in teacher facilitated
instruction of letters and letter sounds
Orally manipulates sounds and words
(rhymes)
Applies phonics skills in reading and
writing
Uses what is known about words to solve
new words
Cobb County Standards
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ELAKR1.2 (Phonological Awareness)
ELAKR1.3 (Phonics)