THE BALANCED LITERACY APPROACH:

Presentation by: Beth Asbury

• Is Grounded In Sound Theory
• Utilizes What Works In The Class In Teaching Children To Become Proficient Readers & Writers
• Is Not Another "Method" Of How To Teach Kids How To Read

• Have A Solid, Theoretically Sound Concept Of The Reading Process
• Have Knowledge Of And Become Facile With An Array Of Teaching Strategies
• Know How To Assess Children In Order To Make Sound Decisions Concerning Tiie Ki0s Of Instruction To Employ In The Classroom

A demonstration of instructional strategies while reading aloud can help students who are having difficulty, make sense of print.

The teacher will read aloud and demonstrate as she reads the strategies that are being used to B meaning from the text. The teacher thinks aloud about how s/he is processing text and constructing meaning.

The teacher will do such read-think alouds at first as whole group instruction. The teacher will demonstrate first and then encourage student input and discussion. This should be done year round and the teacher should slowly release responsibility to the learners. Those who continue to have difficulty should be addressed in small group or one on one instruction.

1. Materials: Use books that are of interest to children and relevant to background experiences. Big books would be especially helpful.
2. Time: Set aside time each day for reading and teaching strategies. The book should be read and discussed for as long as is appropriate for the grade level at which you are teaching. 

The teacher should:

1. Demonstrate how to use background knowledge. For example "Oh, I've ridden a horse before and I know what the author means."
2. Demonstrate how to create visual images in your mind. Close your eyes, see what the author is talking about. Describe the scene.
3. Make and check predictions as you read.
4. Make analogies as you readthis is like the other….
5. Determine what is important to the story and discuss.
6. Use easier material, but later demonstrate using harder material
7. Use other sources besides books.
8. Reread if you do not understand and discuss this strategy.
9. As you read on and do not understand say "I hope the author explains more.

• Allow the children to use invented spelling. You write underneath using "book writing" . Include a page called "Critics Say,'. Children take turns taking the book home. Parents comment on the critics page.

• The child and teacher write together. The child writes using a pencil or blue marker. He writes the letters he hears. The teacher writes in black ink, and fills in the letters that the child does not know. This is a great assessment tool, as progress over a period of time is readily seen.

 Offer Children Different Ways To Share Their Finished Writing.

• Providing your students with an opportunity to look at each other's work helps them to use different strategies themselves.
• Author's Chair; a section of the Book Nook that contains children's books they have written; a time set aside for reading aloud the kid's authored books

• When your class puts on a play or puppet show, have the children write invitations to another class to come watch. They can make tickets, programs to pass out at the door, and posters announcing the show.

 Take Advantage Of The Home-School Connection

• Encourage the children to write their own announcements about school events to their parents. You can include some child's work in your parent newsletter or attach the children's work onto your flyer that goes home.

 Promote Writing Across The Curriculum

• Keep record in the science center of pet growth, experiment progress, etc. Children may keep daily logs of the activities they did each day. Stones can be written to go along with art projects.

 Set Up A Pen Pal Program

• Trucker Buddies number is in the 800 directory (1-800-555-1212)
• Continental Airlines has a program where bears fly around the world and writes to the class
• Any parents in your class travel frequently? Ask them to correspond with the class by sending postcards when they go out of town.
• Write to children's authors through their publishers. You may get a response!
• Share roll movies and class books with pen pals.

 Adopt A Peanut

• Children write autobiographies, make houses, create baby books, etc..