What School Leaders Need to Know About Balanced Literacy to Promote Reading Practice in Grades K-5

1. What School Leaders Need to Know About Balanced Literacy to Promote Reading Practice in Grades K-5 Becca Bell Director, General Education Services ESC Region 12 Waco, Texas

2. “Nothing is more important to us than helping you inspire your students to want to read and to keep reading.” – Alan Boyko President, Scholastic Book Fairs

3. Sentence stems are short phrases that provide models for how to use academic vocabulary and correct grammar in context. Sentence stem talk…What is a sentence stem? They help English language learners and ALL students have a starting place for communicating their ideas orally and in writing.

4. Talking with Sentence Stems Something I have heard about balanced literacy is ________________________ . Something I think I know about balanced literacy is _________________________.

5. Whole Language Phonics

6. Focus on teaching the skills • Prescribed order/pace • Decodable books/workbooks • Isolated lessons • BUT we had word callers, not readers! • AND children can read before they know a set of 20 phonics rules. Whole Language Phonics

7. Thematic teaching • Read, read, read! • Print-rich environment • Lots of access to RICH text • BUT children don’t learn to read through osmosis and a “peace, love, and harmony” approach. Whole Language Phonics

8. So what is BALANCED LITERACY? What would balanced literacy take from each of these methods? Whole Language Phonics

9. We need to teach SKILLS BUT… We need to do it in the CONTEXT of real reading and writing! We need a MEANINGFUL print-rich environment and lots of reading and writing daily BUT… Students need powerful demonstrations! Whole Language Phonics

10. What is balanced literacy? It is organized around observations of the ways children learn to read. What do good readers do? Children learn to read by seeing others read, having others read aloud to them, reading with others, and reading by themselves and to others. Thus, a regular part of the daily student experience in a balanced literacy classroom should include reading tochildren, reading withchildren and reading by children.

11. A Guiding Element of Balanced Literacy… The goal of balanced literacy is for students to become independent readers! TO… leads to WITH… and WITH leads to BY

12. What is BALANCED LITERACY? Balanced literacy is a FRAMEWORK!

13. Balanced Literacy Components Shared Reading Word Study Guided Reading and Purposeful Practice Independent Reading Writer’s Workshop

14. Think About It… “Any activity that does not involve reading, writing about reading, or discussing reading may be an ‘extra’ that takes away from students’ development as readers, writers, and thinkers.” - Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer

15. School Leaders What should school leaders look for in promoting independent reading?

16. Dr. Stephen KrashenResearch Books at Home Classroom Library Access to BOOKS!!! School Library Public Library

17. Three Components of PovertyDr. Krashen • Food Deprivation • Limited Access to Health Care • Limited Access to Books

18. What About the Classroom? Reading TO students Reading WITH students Reading BY students We will focus on TO and BY

19. Reading TO • Rick Kleine: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/theories-of-character

20. “Reading is an interactive process in which good readers engage in a constant internal dialogue with the text. The ongoing dialogue helps them understand and elaborate on what they read.” - Susan Zimmermann

21. Anchor Charts… An anchor chart is a way to make students’ thinking permanent and visible. It is used over a period of time and is a living document that is created with students. Students refer to these anchor charts throughout the unit or year.

22. Anchor Charts…

23. Anchor Charts…

24. Anchor Charts…

25. Research shows… Independent reading is beneficial for all learners only when: • There is a careful match between the reader’s ability and the text demands. • Explicit goals and purposes are established for the independent reading activity. • There is a link between the content of the reading activity and other parts of the curriculum. – National Reading Panel Report

26. Reflect as a Reader… Turn and talk about what you do when you finish a great book.

27. I’m pretty sure you DID not say… Call up a friend so we can round-robin read parts of it together! Complete a cut-and-paste of vocabulary words. Make a graphic organizer of the story sequence.

28. Independent reading is the of our reading work because it’s the time in the day when children have the opportunity to orchestrate all that they know about reading in order to read their own just-right books. – Calkins, 2001

29. Independent Reading… • Readers have time to read just-right books independently every day. • Readers select their own appropriate books. • Readers take care of books. • Readers respect each other’s reading time and reading lives. • Readers have daily opportunities to talk about their books in genuine ways. • Readers don’t just read the words but also understand the story. • Readers’ work in independent reading is replicable outside the classroom.

30. Think About It… “When we plan to spend six weeks teaching Island of the Blue Dolphins, we plan to limit children’s reading and fill class time with other activities.” • Dr. Richard Allington, What Really Matters for Struggling Readers

31. Balanced Literacy Components Shared Reading Word Study Guided Reading and Purposeful Practice Independent Reading Writer’s Workshop

32. Access, Choice, and Reading Practice As a school leader, you have the power to connect kids with books they want to read. www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/principals/resources.asp