Balanced Literacy Training Handouts: Balanced Literacy Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools

Balanced Literacy – An Overview Respects and addresses the needs of all learners Teachers are informed decision-makers Flexible Research based Provides daily opportunities to engage in various reading and writing activities

Five Components of Reading Phonemic Awareness: Phonemic awareness as defined by National Reading Panel (NPR) as the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. Phonics: Phonics is the relationship between letters of written language and the individual sounds of the spoken language. Fluency: Fluency is defined as reading text with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Vocabulary: Stored information about the meanings and pronunciation of words, prefixes, and suffixes needed for communication. Comprehension: Readers can read the words and understand what they are reading.

K-5th Grade Minimum Recommended Instructional Times:

Read Aloud

Read Aloud “The teacher reads aloud to the whole class or small groups. A carefully selected body of children’s literature is used; the collection contains a variety of genres and represents our diverse society. Favorite texts, selected for special features, are reread many times.”m.” --Fountas & Pinnell, Guided Reading, 1996 Definition: A read aloud is a planned oral reading of a book or print excerpt, usually related to a theme or topic of study. strategies that aid in comprehension.

Value of Read Aloud The read aloud can be used to engage the student listener while developing background knowledge, increasing comprehension skills, and fostering critical thinking. A read aloud can be used to model the use of reading strategies that aid in comprehension.

Read Aloud Roles Teacher: Student: Model appropriate reading behavior Read a variety of genres and other materials Engage students in thinking and talking about text Student: Enjoy listening and discussing literature read aloud Retell Use descriptive language to explain and explore ideas in the literature they hear Understand that print carries the message

Shared Reading HMH book- see five day planner

Shared Reading When the teacher and students read together in unison from a shared text (big book, enlarged text on chart or screen, individual books). “The teacher leads the group, pointing to words or phrases. Reading is usually in unison, although there are adaptations, such as groups may read alternating lines or individuals reading some lines.” Fountas & Pinnell, The Continuum of Literacy Learning, 2011 Shared reading is an instructional approach in which the teacher explicitly models the strategies and skills of proficient readers. Holloway 1979).  

Comprehension Strategies Create Visual Images Ask Questions Make Inferences/Prediction Summarize & Synthesize Determine Importance Make Connections Explain that while the strategies should ultimately be used simultaneously, they can be explicitly taught and practiced. Different authors and publishers list the strategies in different ways, but these are the major ones. These can be found in the reference guide on page 21. In addition to the ideas found in the 5 Elements packet, discuss the following ideas for these strategies: Activate Prior Knowledge: Discuss the idea of schema. McGregor has some good ideas about how to address this with kids. Using an anticipation guide is one good way to activate prior knowledge. Discuss the importance of making connections: text to self, text to text, text to world. Create Visual Images: Ask Questions: Talk about Question/Answer Relationships (“Where will you find the answer to the Question” handout, also “3 Kinds of Questions about Books” –p. 5/6 of the Reading handout.) Make Inferences: In the tub – Use the trash bag of stuff to demonstrate trash bag inferences. Tell participants that you had some new neigbors to move in next door, but you don’t know anything about them, so you took their trash to get clues. Pull items out of the “trash” one at a time, and discuss what they might tell us about the people who live in the house. Summarize and Synthesize: There is a foam GO-chart included in the tub for demo. Students touch the corners of the green triangle as they tell the characters, setting, and problem. They touch the corners of the yellow square to tell 3 to 4 events. They hold the yellow circle to tell the conclusion. Self-Monitor: Discuss the importance of teaching readers to stop at certain points in the reading to check on comprehension. Determine Importance: Use the poem “Reading Orphans” (p. 1 of the Reading packet), to take readers through McGregor’s “Pointed Reading” strategy: Read the poem aloud to everyone, then instruct them to mark or highlight the three lines they think are most important (these don’t have to be together). Read it aloud again, this time with each participant joining in only if the line was one they had marked. Certain lines will really stand out as having many readers, and you can have a discussion about why many people chose those as important. Make Predictions: Analyze Text Structure: Nonfiction text features scavenger hunt

Quality Shared Reading Involves… Large group setting Access to text (big books, charts, chunks of text from content area textbooks, small books for each student) Variety of genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry) Text selections are at or above grade level Note: After discussing this slide, refer to the handout on the stages of shared reading. Handouts: Stages of Shared Reading pg. 3 in the Reading packet Shared Reading can be Essential Literature, Basal, Social Studies text, etc….. Shared Reading Lesson Plan Template (in additional handout) Use e-books for shared reading!

Value of Shared Reading Increase enjoyment of literature Foster a literacy community in the class Create a natural teaching of skills within the context of reading Reinforce concepts of print Build fluency and oral expression Enhance meaning and comprehension

Shared Reading Roles Teacher: Student: Read interesting and concept-rich materials with the students Help students build sight vocabulary Provide opportunities for students to explore and identify sound-letter relationships in meaningful contexts. Student: Read along with the teacher Make predictions about the reading Match spoken words to written text Discussing the text with each other and teacher

Guided Reading

Guided Reading Small group reading instruction-Homogeneous Same level (3-6 students in a group) Demonstrate same reading behaviors Share same instructional needs Groups are temporary-fluid Guided Group has a structure How does it look?

Structure of a Guided Reading Lesson Selection of the text- “just right books” Introduction to the text- leave some problem solving Reading the text-teach, prompt, and reinforce strategy use Discussion of the text-guiding questions that lift the students’ comprehension Teaching points-grounded in the text, directed toward expanding the students’ strategic actions Word work-explicit teaching Extending Understanding- through writing and drawing

Elements of Successful Lessons Use both informal and formal assessment to form guided reading groups. Rely on a template to guide instruction Determine at one or two teaching points Determine a primary purpose for each lesson based on comprehension strategies. Choose a variety of books and other printed matter to ensure that your students learn how to read different genres. A successful guided reading lesson should include 3 parts: before, during and after reading activities. As with any lesson, students need to have the before, during, after format because we know from research that learning is enhanced by skilled teaching which understands the learning process. It is so important to determine one teaching point. In order for the time to be most effectively utilized, teachers have to determine one focal point to impart to their students. Since the lesson usually lasts about _____ minutes, a teacher has to keep in mind that besides modeling and/or discussing the focal point, students need time to practice the strategy or skill. Thus, one focal point is necessary in order for this to happen within that time period. Too many focal points may lead to confusion and also the students would have less time to practice reading. Comprehension Strategies: (connecting to your Core Tier 1 instruction) Making Connections: text-self, text-text, text-world 2.Summarizing: identifying main ideas; using lists and making generalizations 3. Questioning: asking who, what, when, where, why, and how 4. Predicting: activating prior knowledge (preview the text) 5.Text Structure: organizational structure of text to guide thinking (compare/contrast, time sequence) 6.Visualizing: mental images and graphic charts from text 7.Inferring: make inferences and draw conclusions (interpret ideas not stated) 8.Metacognition: monitoring comprehension and determining appropriate strategies to comprehend 9 Analyzing: breaking the text into parts (story mapping, character analysis) 10.Synthesizing: putting together ideas to form a new conclusion/opinion 11.Critiquing: looking for point of view, bias, stereotyping, author’s intent, etc. 12. Determining Importance in Text: pulling out important and new information from text It is so important to vary the materials used during guided reading. Sometimes teachers may over utilize fiction materials (narratives). We have to remember that students need to experience reading varied materials because the strategy to comprehend these texts may also vary. Thus, students should be exposed to different genres to become well-rounded readers.

Independent Reading

Independent Reading Students read individually or in pairs from a variety of materials. Some independent reading is from a collection of materials at the student’s reading level. “Primarily, the learners are using what they have already learned and practiced to problem solve successfully on their own.” - Routman Reading Essentials, 2003

Independent Reading Roles Teacher: Match texts to students’ ability Support students in choosing text Provide opportunities for independent reading Read and discuss a range of different genres Student: Use reading for various purposes Practice reading strategies Recognize and discuss elements of different genres

Writing

Value of Writing   Provides opportunities for students to try the skill of writing Provides daily practice that literacy learners need to become successful, self-monitoring writers, who take ownership of their learning Fosters creativity, confidence, and enthusiasm for writing   

Six Traits Shared vocabulary for teacher & students 6 Traits: Ideas Organization Word Choice Sentence Fluency Voice Conventions

Six Traits Students learn by reading aloud and discussing samples of writing Students learn from seeing writing modeled Writing frequently is important 6 Traits helps students discuss specific features

Writer’s Workshop Mini-Lesson: Mentor Text, Student/Teacher Example, Structured Lesson Craft Convention Writing/Conferencing Share Time (Audience) All Few Students

Writing Modeled Writing – Teacher does the writing Shared Writing – Teacher & Students share the composing process Interactive Writing - Teacher & Students compose with the teacher “sharing the pen” Guided Writing – Teacher works with a small group with similar needs Independent Writing

Word Study

Word Study Instruction used by the teacher to introduce, teacher, and provide students with opportunities to practice using their knowledge of phonemic awareness, letter recognition, letter-sound relationships, phonics, spelling pattern, and words. “Such information enables the teachers to design instructional experiences that build systematically on what students know.” - Ganske, Word Journeys, 2000

Word Study Roles Teacher: Student: Monitor students’ progress consistently and to provide early intervention Provide opportunities for students to use phonetic spelling as conventional spelling develops Use activities such as word walls, word sorts, and making words to promote students’ word recognition, decoding, and spelling. Student: Use knowledge of sounds and letters to decode, read, and spell words Use spelling patterns of known words to decode, read, and spell new words

Vocabulary Strategies Introduce vocabulary in context Explicit routine to introduce new vocabulary Pictorial representation Dramatize words Mystery word of the week Vocabulary parade Discuss these, and refer participants to additional strategies found in the packet. Click on the graphic to watch a slide show of Tulip Grove’s Vocabulary Hat Parade.