Guidelines for Conducting a
Comprehensive Balanced Language and Literacy Program
A comprehensive, balanced language and literacy program incorporates reading, writing,
speaking and listening into an instructional program designed to support student learning
through the key components of interactive reading and writing aloud, shared reading,
guided reading and writing and independent reading and writing. The way that each teacher
creates and applies these instructional contexts will vary according to the needs of his/her
students and the demands of his/her schedule. The following table provides suggested time
guidelines for all of the components of your balanced language and literacy program:
Comprehensive Balanced Language and Literacy Framework
Grades K-2
Grades 3-6
Language/Word Study
30-45
minutes
Select from:
 Interactive Read-Aloud
 Modeled/Shared Reading
 Choral Reading or Readers Theatre
 Phonemic Awareness
 Phonics/Word Study or
Spelling/Handwriting
Language/Word Study
30-45
minutes
Reading Workshop
Reading Workshop
 Guided Reading (heart of the
instructional program)
60-90
minutes
 Independent Work
- Reading
- Writing
- Word Study
- Sharing
- Daily 5 Activities
45-60
minutes
Writing Workshop
 Spelling
 Focus Lesson: Explicit instruction (which
(which includes grammar)
30-45
minutes
Writing and Conferring
 Sharing
Select from:
 Modeled/Shared Reading
 Independent Reading and Conferring
 Guided Reading (heart of the instructional
program)
 Literature Study
 Modified Daily 5 Activities
Writing Workshop
 Focus Lesson: Explicit instruction
 Interactive/Guided or Independent
Select from:
 Interactive Read-Aloud
 Readers Theater
 Choral Reading
 Interactive Vocabulary
 Interactive Editing
 Handwriting
 PSSA Coach
 Word Study Lesson/Application
45-60
minutes
includes grammar)
 Independent Writing*
 Guided Writing*
*can be integrated with content areas
Date: 1.10.06
Resource: Leveled Books, K-8 by Fountas and Pinnell (2006)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Do I need to incorporate all of these components daily?
Our daily goal is to ensure that students engage in actual reading and writing. This means that students are engaged in
reading books from a variety of genre and subjects, and writing in a variety of formats and genre for a sustained period of time.
Based upon the needs of your students, you should plan your instruction to reach these goals of literacy authenticity and
independence. It is likely that your instruction will contain aspects from each of the major blocks of language/word study,
reading workshop and writing workshop. In addition, since we know that students grow as readers when they read at their
instructional level, guided reading, particularly in the primary grades, should occur daily. As students become more independent
in their reading, guided reading at the intermediate grades may be balanced with literature circles or independent reading.
2. Why are some of the same components on the chart in two different places, for example,
modeled/shared reading is part of language/word study in primary grades, but part of reading
workshop in intermediate grades?
This framework is based upon the developmental characteristics of students at that grade level. Therefore, some of the
components of balanced literacy serve different purposes depending on the students. For example, shared reading in the primary
grades is often focused not only on word study, but also helping students to utilize a variety of decoding strategies. In the
intermediate grades, however, teachers often utilize a series anthology to model comprehension strategies or engage students in
practicing strategies in a shared reading context.
3. PSSA Coach books are listed under the language/word study block in the intermediate grades.
What is the purpose of these books and how can I use them effectively?
The purpose of PSSA Coach books is to acquaint your students with the “genre” of tests because tests like PSSA may
require students to use language in unexpected ways. Additionally, the PSSA coach book is aligned to PA assessment anchors
and can give teachers good models of questions and tasks. Your task is to lead quick practice sessions in which you help
students solve representative test items and support their work with demonstration and conversation. Some effective uses of the
Coach books include: using questions/passages as a daily warm-up activity; using appropriate selections as homework; utilizing
a think aloud approach to demonstrate how to answer questions; using the Coach book as pre-tests for various skills and
strategies. In summary, test prep is one small component of a balanced, comprehensive literacy program and teachers should
consciously choose those test prep activities that will provide students with the most gain.
4. What is the goal of the spelling words?
The purpose of teaching both spelling and grammar is to develop students as literate, effective writers. Therefore, it
makes sense that spelling (and grammar) is one component of writing or word study. We cannot possibly teach students to spell
every word in the English language nor is it reasonable to expect that students will learn and retain 10-20 new words a week.
This also doesn’t take into account that some of the spelling words at the intermediate level aren’t even a part of students’
speaking vocabulary! So, this brings us back to the question of what is the goal of spelling? We need to teach students how our
language works. We need to engage them in activities like observing the written language, making generalizations about word
patterns, sorting words according to patterns, etc. Teachers can use the weekly spelling lists to help students study how words
work.
5. Based on the answer to question #4, should I continue to give and test a new list of spelling words
each week, including the challenge words?
Yes. At this point in time, our spelling program is the one that comes from Scott-Foresman. Until we work on this
portion of the curriculum, we will continue to follow the tenets of this program. However, we need to recognize that the real goal
of spelling is to create literate writers. Because a student memorizes 10-20 words per week and spells them correctly on a test
does not necessarily mean that these words will transfer into their writing. Teachers should continue to administer spelling lists
and tests focusing on the core words and using the challenge words for students who have demonstrated proficiency on the core
word list during a pre-test.
Date: 1.10.06
Resource: Leveled Books, K-8 by Fountas and Pinnell (2006)