PAK Forum: Literacy Lake Windward Elementary December 5, 2013

What is Balanced Literacy? Balanced Literacy is a K-5 literacy instructional approach that creates a gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to the student. A balanced literacy approach will be used to ensure that each student may progress at his or her own optimum pace and depth to maximize each student’s academic achievement.

Balanced Literacy: Reading Components Guided Reading: A small, flexible group of 4-6 students organized according to instructional text level Modeled Reading: Teacher reads aloud with a specific skill focus for think aloud and discussion. Shared Reading: Both teacher and students read a shared text, with a clearly defined strategy. Independent Reading: Students read alone and apply learned skills and strategies.

Balanced Literacy: Writing Components Modeled Writing: Teacher actively writes in front of students, demonstrating a writing skill or strategy. Shared Writing: Both the teacher and students "share the pen'' in writing content. Son1etin1es referred to as "interactive Writing". Guided Writing: Scaffolded writing. often in a small group. Can also be done in the setting of a writing conference. Independent Writing: Student applies writing skills and strategies to their own writing.

Word Study, Read Aloud, & Oral Language Read Aloud is used in both Reading and Writing components-daily. Word Study: Phonics. Vocabulary and Spelling instruction The foundation: Oral Language: speaking. viewing and listening

What are Lexile Levels? A Lexile measure is a valuable piece of information about either an individual's reading ability or the difficulty of a text, like a book or magazine article. The Lexile measure is shown as a number with an "L" after it — 880L is 880 Lexile. A student gets his or her Lexile reader measure from a reading test or program.- SRA or CRCT

What do we know?  Present day: There is a 350L gap between the difficulty of end-of-high school and college texts. This is more than the Lexile difference between what we expect of a 4 th grader as compared to that of an 8 th grader (Gary Williamson, 2006)  The reading demands of college and workforce training have held steady or increased over the past 50 years  Students’ ability to read complex text does not always develop in a linear fashion. Unlike math, no hierarchy of reading skills exist.  Students need opportunities to stretch their reading abilities, but they also need to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of easy, fluent reading, both of which the Standards allow. 8 English/Language Arts Department, Fulton County Schools

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Why Consider More Than the Lexile Measure? Quantitative Measures: 630L, grades 2-3 text complexity band Qualitative Measures: Text structure is simple and conventional, but levels of meaning are implicit; Dialect can be challenging; Theme is sophisticated Final Placement: Sophistication in theme and content more suitable for grades 9-10

How Can I Help My Child Select “Just Right Books”?

How to Help Your Child Select “Just Right Books” 1.Five Finger Rule- open to the middle of the book and put a finger up for each word you do not know.

How to Help Your Child Select “Just Right Books” 2. Know the Goal of Independent Reading Reading the words (decode) Understand what they have read (comprehend) “Look Fors” after reading: 1. Retell the beginning, middle, and end of the story. 2. Answer questions (who, what, where, when, why, how) about what has happened in the book. 3. Make a connect between the text and themselves, another book, or the world.

How to Help Your Child Select “Just Right Books” 3. Look at the Size of the Print and the Illustrations As a general rule books, with larger print and more pictures are easier. If a book passes the Five Finger test, but your child is having trouble talking about what is happening in the story try a book with larger text! 4. Choose a Picture Book Kids head toward the chapter book section of the library, but it’s important to still check out some picture books too! Written at a higher reading level than most kids think which can be good practice for kids who are great decoders. Provide a less overwhelming way to read challenging text. Have beautiful illustrations that help aid in both comprehension and decoding Can be read in a short sitting for those who may not have the patience to read an entire chapter book on their own

How to Help Your Child Select “Just Right Books” 5. Try a Series Series can be a great motivator for reading and are a good way to find “just right” Usually get more challenging as you get further into a series. 6. Don’t Be Afraid to Break the Rules If there is a book your child is begging you to read let them try it! Motivation and background knowledge play a huge role in comprehension If your child puts up 6 fingers but really wants to read it, let them. Encourage them to go back and reread sections that aren’t clear. Read the text with your child Being able to figure that out that a book is too hard is an important skill

What Can Parents Do?

Increase Academic Vocabulary

Parent Resources Looking Up Book Levels or Lexiles How to Pick “Just Write Books” ooks.cfm ooks.cfm Common Core ELA