Balance Approach to Teaching Reading

Summary of chapters: Tompkins, E Gail. (2014). Literacy for the 21st Century A Balanced Approach

The first goal is to “engage in writing as a process that includes planning, revision, and editing based on feedback from peers and instructors.” The

Beginning my career at Western Carolina University, I had no idea the impact writing has on future educators. It is extremely important to have an effective writing strategy in all aspects of teaching. You will be required to write lesson plans, referrals, and letters home to the parents. Each of these have different strategies, and all of these are used simultaneously throughout the school year. Throughout the essay I will explain how to do each of these writings, and also give step by step instructions on an effective way to make sure it is done correctly.

For this reason, careful research and understanding of what the standards are asking educators to teach is required. Houck (2008) informs balanced literacy is a combination of teaching methods and strategies involving both whole language and skill development. Used correctly, balanced literacy has the potential to meet the needs of all students at their own individual level. All components of reading, including phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, speaking and listening, and writing are taught using this framework. Balanced literacy provides instruction by various methods. The use of read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, word study, and writing are all used to provide students with a release of responsibility model in which they go from guided to independent work (Frey, 2005). The need for all components of reading to work together in order for comprehension to take place makes balanced literacy an instructional reform plan worth implementing (Beringer & Abbott, 2010).

This entails working on the Seven Steps to Writing Success will be taught twice a week and writing tasks will also be included during literacy groups. Sizzling Starts and recounts will be the focus text in term one. Narrative and creative writing will be taught too and in both cases the emphasis will be on creating strong sentences with good structure. The lesson format for sizzling starts and narrative/creative writing will be explicit teaching to the whole class. My role as a teacher will be to identify the student’s level and provide appropriate feedback to support to move students toward the next level.

In chapter 9, Writing Across the Curriculum, the process of reading and writing was investigated and explained in comparison to one another. The reading-writing connection focuses on drawing from students’ prior knowledge and cognitive processes in order to build learning. The authors mentioned that the writing process is a strong tool for exploring and clarifying meaning and the two major instructional components used are writing to learn (WTL) and writing in disciplines (WID). The chapter also focused on the subareas of academic journals and writing disciplines.

According to the article, the balanced literacy allows children to choose their own books to study and work in groups, where the combination of approaches to reading and writing will be provided by a teacher. The idea is that students are “ natural readers and writers; teachers needed only to create the conditions to unleash their talents.” On another side, we have Common Core Standards call for to read books on and above the grade level with more challenging texts, where students will focus on what the text says, while balanced literacy will focus on personal response to the book.

Students are instructed on how to develop and organize their writing by developing a plan or out line to follow. Teachers should discuss with their students how to effectively plan out their writing strategy. Students need to be taught to question themselves about the purpose of their writing. Questions like; “Who am I writing for?” or “How will I organize my thoughts?” are two general examples. Gersten mentions the importance and purpose of the first draft and how it provides a concrete reminder for where the writing is going. The plan and its draft provide a common language for teacher and students to share making communication easier. He also speaks of the strengths of the revision process. Gersten illustrates how peer-editing can be a useful tool to employ during writing.

With its tremendous benefits, the Balanced Literacy Approach that has been adopted by the Houston Independent School District and many others may have possibly overlooked a key component to the implementation and success of the program: the need for explicit (direct) reading instruction in decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension for reading growth. This is especially true of at-risk students who may be one or more grade levels behind in reading. To better understand the impact of direct instruction its effectiveness in improving the reading achievement of at-risk students, an action research was conducted at one of HISD’s elementary campuses.

The author Calkins explained about Donald Murray’s process which consists on rehearsal, drafting, revision and editing. According to Calkins, most of the writers follow this cycle. Calkins interviewed many writers and each of them explained that none of them sit and immediately start writing. The stage of rehearsal is a state of readiness out which one writes Calkins explains. As teachers, it is important we write often to pass this habit to our students. Writing can be done in a personal notebook, often called journals. Calkins explains that teaching students to write often in a journal is important because it is a place of rehearsal and these ideas are seeds of great writing. Sadly, many students are not encouraged to write, therefore, they do not have the eye of a writer. An important goal for teachers is to “fill their students with a sense of so much to say and life of full possible stories.” For example, Calkins wrote about a teacher who had a ritual in her class. This ritual consisted of writing in their own personalized notebooks. By doing this, students were encouraged to write whatever they thought was important for

Even then, the collaboration did not go beyond identifying spelling errors to begin to develop a sense of reflective writing and cognitive processes during the writing process. The instructor would address the entire class with the “day’s lesson,” and students were asked to comply with the assigned tasks regardless of their individual skill sets. Providing differentiated instruction through a minilesson, then following up with a one-on-one conference would seldom happen unless the student did not follow directions. Teacher comments and feedback was retroactive, and often times, not in a timely manner that would allow the student to learn during the process.

As technology evolves, the traditional style writing classrooms should do so as well. Students are used to the typical routine, in which an instructor lecture and hands out assignments. However, is that really the most effective way of teaching for all students? Teachers neglect the fact that not all students learn the same way. In learning this, I propose some changes that could be made in order to increase learning effectively such as; the choice of physical work verses online work, communications and feedback to students, and essays.

Balanced Literacy provides the foundational structure and scheduling for delivering the North Carolina English Language Arts curriculum in kindergarten through eighth grades. Balanced literacy along with our scope and sequence defined in our pacing guides enhance vertical and horizontal

Balanced literacy instruction is a comprehensive program of language arts achievement. It is comprehending all of the components that is necessary for students to become a master in writing and oral communication. Balance literacy begins with creating a genuine gratitude for good literature. And it balanced by knowing students individually, direct and indirect instruction and activates that emphasize meaning for students. The strongest elements of each are combined into a literacy program that aims to guide students toward proficient and lifelong reading. There are numerous components of balanced literacy, but the most important components of balanced of literacy are: The read aloud, guided reading, shared reading, independent reading, word study, interactive writing, shared writing, guided writing workshop, independent writing also include phonic and grammar skills. literacy plan is most effective for children when the teacher is given direct instructional to support, and a variety of everyday reading and writing experiences. That are needed in the multifaceted process of becoming independent good reader and writers. This experience is providing to students to become more proficient toward their learning journey and apply as they move upper level in education.

Literacy is the cornerstone to all learning; it is imperative to future academic success. (Tracey and Morrow, 2012). Due to the significance of literacy instruction, there are a myriad of ways to teach literacy. Literacy is a complex subject, honing in on balancing reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As a result of the complexity of literacy instruction, we arrive at the age-old debate of what is the best literacy instruction. My philosophy of literacy instruction centralizes around the Whole Language Theory and Balanced Literacy; however, I also blend in additional theories/approaches to teach effective literacy.