Leading Balanced Literacy: A Plan for Impacting Literacy Growth

with Dr. Kimberly Tyson @tysonkimberly

Sylvan Union School District February 2018

website: .com

Resources:learningunlimitedllc.com/balancedliteracy-sylvan-admin

questions…contact information

Framework of Presentation:

  • California’s ELA/ELD Framework / Balanced Literacy Framework
  • The Role of a Literacy-Rich Environment
  • Literacy Walk-Throughs

Balanced Literacy

What is it?

  • Balanced literacy focuses on reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking and includes a range of literacy-rich activities. In balanced literacy classrooms, teachers combine explicit text-based teaching of skills and strategies with literature and language-rich activities. As part of a balanced literacy approach to reading, the teacher must use many different instructional approaches: direct instruction, student-centered instruction, individualization, whole class instruction, small heterogeneous grouping, and small homogeneous grouping to meet each student where he is and move him forward in the manner and time best suited to the student.

Balanced Literacy Framework: What It Is & Why It’s Important

  • refers to an overall framework for literacy instruction
  • based upon literacy research
  • does not imply adherence to specific publisher materials, programs, or assessments

Characteristics:

  • addresses reading within
  • includes… listening, speaking
  • includes… primary instruction based on the 5 pillars of effective reading instruction
  • Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension
  • includes a common set of research-based instructional literacy strategies
  • Reading: modeled reading, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading
  • Writing:

Why It’s Important

  • builds common language of literacy
  • lays groundwork for strategy instruction

Characteristics of a Literacy-Rich Environment

  • What is it?
  • A literacy-rich classroom is one where students are surrounded by print-rich environment and have multiple opportunities to engage with authentic texts for a variety of purposes throughout the day.
  • A setting that encourages and supports listening, speaking, reading and writing in a variety of authentic ways – through both print and digital media.
  • Literacy-Rich Environments – images from classrooms
  • Why Is It Important?
  • Diverse and accessible classroom libraries increase independent reading
  • Use of literature by teachersincreases
  • Planned literature activities & “book talks”increase
  • Frequent exposure to wordsincreases
  • Kids in classrooms with experiences with reports, narrative, and other forms of writing showed more substantial gains in vocabulary and word recognition.
  • Rich literacy environments, teaching instructional strategies. and using materials that go beyond the basics of reading can compensate for less than ideal home environments.
  • Independent Reading
  • The Matthew Effect…Kids Who Read Succeed
  • Ways to Build Accountability

Literacy Walk Throughs

  • Literacy Environment
  • Students
  • How are students working & interacting (with one another & the teacher)?
  • In class work … writing & reading
  • level of
  • level of
  • Who’s doing the work?
  • Instruction
  • teacher-driven or student-directed learning
  • grouping for instruction
  • Next Steps
  • professional development
  • resource allocation