Balanced Literacy: A Framework for Closing the Reading Gap

1. BalancedLiteracy: A Framework for Closing the Reading Gap

2. WHY BALANCED LITERACY?

3. WHY BALANCED LITERACY?

4. BALANCED LITERACYDEFINITION A classroom environment that offers opportunities and space for whole-class, small-group, and independent work. The classroom environment supports students at their instructional level and includes activities that allow them to take risks.

6. It matches the research on effective reading instruction… Research shows the following factors are attributed to reading motivation and/or achievement: • Access to high-interest texts. • Giving students choice in reading. • Texts available at different levels of difficulty. • Providing more time for students to read at home and school. WHY BALANCED LITERACY? Calkins, L., Ehrenworth, M., & Lehman, C. (2012). Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

7. Phonemic Awareness Hearing and identifying individual sounds In words. Comprehension Constructing meaning from text. Phonics Understanding and using letter-sound relationships. FIVE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE READING INSTRUCTION Vocabulary Words and their meanings Fluency Reading with accuracy, momentum, phrasing, and intonation.

8. It provides students with the necessary support to meet the high expectations of Common Core… “…pedagogy focused only on higher-order or critical thinking was insufficient to ensure that students were ready for college and careers: what students could, read, in terms of its complexity, was at least as important as what they could do with what they read.” Because the complexity of texts increase, the explicit instruction of Foundational Reading Skills – phonics, fluency, literal comprehension - cannot stop at first or second grade. WHY BALANCED LITERACY? Calkins, L., Ehrenworth, M., & Lehman, C. (2012). Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

9. It matches the new instructional expectations of RTI2… Tier 1 Instruction: • 120-150 minutes of ELA instruction, this includes language/writing. • Approximately 30 minutes of whole group instruction, which includes close reading, shared reading, read alouds, mini-lessons. • Approximately 60 minutes of small group instruction. Teachers should meet w/ 3-4 groups daily for 15-20 minutes each. Each student should meet with the teacher a minimum of every other day, but struggling students should meet with the teacher everyday. • Small group instruction focused on reading/discussing text, rereading text, skill work, and word work. • When not meeting with a teacher, students should be engaged in purposeful practice, such as learning stations, skill practice, word sorts, reader response, novel studies, writing activities, and independent reading. • Includes content area texts. • Strong emphasis should be placed on the Reading Foundational Skills found in Common Core. • Reading units should include close reading, speaking/listening about text, text-dependent questioning, vocabulary development, and writing-to-sources. WHY BALANCED LITERACY?

10. Reading Writing • Read Aloud • Shared Reading • Guided Reading • Independent Reading • Modeled/Shared Writing • Interactive Writing • Guided Writing • Independent Writing I Do We Do You Do I Do We Do You Do Word Study BALANCED LITERACY FRAMEWORK

11. READING INSTRUCTION Students need to be reading: • At least 45 minutes during school and more time at home. • Materials they can manage with 95% accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Calkins, L., Ehrenworth, M., & Lehman, C. (2012). Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

12. FIVE FORMATS FOR READING INSTRUCTION Read Aloud Shared Reading Guided Reading Literacy Workstations Independent Reading

13. Read Aloud

14. Purpose: • Provide enjoyment. • Motivate students to read. • Model proficient reading. • Build background knowledge. • Help students internalize sentence and story structure. • Develop vocabulary. • Build comprehension skills. • Introduce genres and writing styles. • Increase attention span. • Help ELLs become familiar with the sounds of English. READ ALOUD

15. Quality read alouds include: • Purposeful book selection that is on or above grade level. • Interaction between students and text. • Modeling and Think Alouds • Cross-curricular integration • A text that has been previewed by the teacher. • A purpose for reading stated ahead of time. READ ALOUD

16. Shared Reading

17. Purpose: • Create a natural teaching of skills/strategies within the context of reading. • Reinforce concepts of print. • Build fluency and oral expression. • Enhance meaning and comprehension. SHARED READING

18. Things to keep in mind: • Use a variety of texts at or above grade level. This can be stand alone texts and/or textbooks. • Whole group reading/instruction, but this can be accomplished through partners and small groups. The important part is everyone is interacting with the same text. • Everyone should have a copy of the text. • Shared reading can pair well with Real Aloud for modeling/instruction. • It is appropriate to work with the same text(s) for multiple days, but not always necessary. • Shared reading will probably need to spill over into your Science/SS time. • 50-60% of the texts should be nonfiction. • A full-length text is not always necessary. Sometimes an excerpt is appropriate. SHARED READING

19. Teachers and students are reading/experiencing a text together. This can be done through: • Fluency modeling and practice. • Choral reading. • Reader’s Theater • Follow-up activity from a read aloud. • Close Reading • Text annotation/discussion • Socratic Seminar SHARED READING

20. SHARED READING

21. SHARED READING

22. SHARED READING

23. SHARED READING

24. SHARED READING

25. Guided Reading

26. Purpose: • Students use and develop strategies while they are reading to facilitate independence. • Provides opportunities to observe reading behaviors and scaffold instruction. • Students read, while teachers provide individualized and group feedback during and after reading. GUIDED READING

27. Things to remember: • Groups should be small. No more than six students. • The lowest group should be the smallest group. • Students are grouped according to their instructional reading level, which is determined with a Leveled Reading Assessment. • Groups should change as needs change. • Students should be reading for the bulk of the group time. • If a lone student’s reading level is too far below/above the other students, don’t be afraid to find a group match with another a teacher. • Teachers need to preview the text ahead of time. GUIDED READING

28. Selecting an Appropriate Reading Level Based on accuracy, but fluency should also be taken into account. • Independent = 95-100% • Instructional = 90-94% • Hard = below 90% LEVELED READING ASSESSMENT

29. GUIDED READING

30. GUIDED READING

31. Sight Word Practice 20 Box Grids: Fry’s Phrases: flashcards, apps, Powerpoint slides Fry Word App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/frywords/id470926345?mt=8 GUIDED READING

32. Working with Words Word Chains: hat, bat, but, bus, us, use. Student write each new word after teacher gives instruction, such as, “change /h/ to /b/.” Making Words: Give letters (a, e, n, k, s, s). Students list all words can make – a, an, as, ask, Ken, sea, seas, etc. Work until discover “mystery word” that uses each letter. Roll a Word: Use dice with beginning word parts and a dice with ending word parts. Roll one of each and write the word. Sort the words into real and nonsense. Sentence Dictation: Select a sentence from the book that would allow students to practice sight words and/or phonics skills. Read the sentence twice. Have students write the sentence on their own. GUIDED READING

33. Working with Words Sound/Spelling Mapping (Elkonin Boxes): Sound/Spelling Picture Cards: GUIDED READING

34. Working with Words Letter/Sound Chips: Sound/spelling mapping using color chips. Students use Elkonin boxes and colored chips to represent sounds in a word. For example: blue = consonants, red = vowels, yellow=vowel teams. The letters for each sound may be written on the chips, to facilitate phonics or phonemic awareness instruction. GUIDED READING

35. Mini-Lessons and Scaffolding Decoding Words • Cover prefix/suffix – read the root • Point out vowel teams, digraphs, etc – reference picture sound card • Remember phonics rules (closed syllable = short vowel, silent e, etc.) • Check the picture, look at first letter • Rhymes with ______ • Reread and think about what makes sense – context clues Fluency Speed, Accuracy, Smoothness, Expression, Punctuation • Choral Read • Whisper Read (Whisper Phones) • Echo Read • Repeat, Repeat, Repeat • Practice expression, character voices, appropriate pauses GUIDED READING

36. Mini-Lessons and Scaffolding Vocabulary • Context Clues • Roots, prefixes, suffixes • Background knowledge/connections (pictures, videos, virtual field trips) • Use illustration • Know words that are similar • Revisit time after time Comprehension • Use text features • Make connections – Self, World, Text • Question • Summarize – Main ideas • Predict/confirm • Compare/contrast • Stop-Think-Paraphrase • Visualize • Determine Importance GUIDED READING

37. Mini-Lessons and Scaffolding Writing • Spinner w/ 6 colors • Yellow – I already knew this • Purple – I learned this • Red – I like this part • Blue – This did not make sense • Green – AHA! The BIG IDEA – Main Idea/Theme • Write 3 facts about______________ • Describe the difference between _______ and __________. • Use the vocabulary words in sentence - context GUIDED READING

38. GUIDED READING

39. GUIDED READING

40. GUIDED READING

42. P = Prediction I predict that… Q = Questions I wonder… S = Summarizing I learned that… M = Monitoring I don’t understand… W = Words I was able to figure out what the word meant, because… C = Connections This reminds me of another text… V = Visualize When I read this, I visualized…

43. SAMPLE WEEKLY GROUP SCHEDULE GUIDED READING Groups A/B – below grade level Group C – on grade level Group D – above grade level Groups C and D should work with their guided reading materials independently on the days their group doesn’t meet.

44. Literacy Workstations

45. Purpose: • Gives the teacher time to meet with guided reading groups. • Reinforces skills taught. • Allows students to work at their own rate and on their own level. LITERACY STATIONS

46. Different models: • Whole class – All students are doing the same activity while teacher meets with groups. • Station-a-Day – There are five literacy stations each week. Each student does a different station each day. • Multiple Rotations – Each day, students rotate between a literacy workstation, guided reading, and independent seatwork/reading. (Matches RTI the best.) • Menu – Students are given a menu at the beginning of the week. They have to complete an assigned number of activities by the end of the week. Example: http://www.lauracandler.com/filecabinet/literacy/PDFRead/menusamples.pdf LITERACY STATIONS

47. Questions to ask when planning stations: • Is this activity strengthening reading and/or writing? • Are students spending most of their time reading/writing or cutting/gluing/assembling? • Writing that involves responding to a text should be text-dependent instead of reader-dependent. • Is it an activity that students can practice independently with success? LITERACY STATIONS

48. Key to Success: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT • Organize materials well. • Plan routines and procedures. • Clearly communicate and post expectations. • Model, model, model. • Practice, practice, practice. • Have we mentioned practice? • Introduce new stations through guided or shared reading. • Practice volume expectations. Remember: the louder you talk, the louder the students will talk. • Pay attention to interruption patterns. If students are continually interrupting your groups for the same reasons, time may need to be spent retraining on routines or a particular station. • Use a timer. LITERACY STATIONS

49. Organizing Groups Possibilities: • Set up a chart - http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy_centers/management.html • Chart on the Promethean board – http://www.lauracandler.com/filecabinet/literacy/PDFRead/rotations.pdf LITERACY STATIONS

50. Accountability: • Folders – can be used for works in progress or as a log. • Weekly/Daily log • Journal • Reader response questions • Fluency charts • Artifacts from the Literacy Stations LITERACY STATIONS