EAL300 Approaches to Literacy 1: A Balanced Approach

Different Approaches to Teaching Literacy Key areas of reading instruction that must occur in literacy classrooms: Phonemic awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Text comprehension The other five pillars (Allington, 2005) that contribute to literacy achievement are: Classroom organisation Matching students and texts Giving students access to interesting texts Writing and reading throughout the curriculum throughout the day Expert tutoring by knowledgeable teachers Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

A Balanced Approach to Literacy For many years, discussions and conflicts over what is the best method to teach reading have continued to swing the pendulum from one side to the other. Perhaps the best approach is one that includes practices from different approaches. The bottom-up approach starts with decoding skills for learning letters and sounds, emphasises vocabulary, combines words into sentences, leads into sentence comprehension, paragraph comprehension and finally into text comprehension. The top-down approach starts with text comprehension and assumes that students learn to read by reading. In this approach there is an assumption that by reading simple, predictable, patterned text in an enjoyable, comfortable shared environment, students will learn that reading is about comprehending text and enjoyment. Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

Essential Elements of a Balanced Literacy Approach 1. Teach reading as a lifelong learning process that promotes higher order thinking, problem solving and reasoning. 2. Create a print-rich environment with many sources of readings (quality literature and authentic materials from the real world) and a comfortable atmosphere that promotes reading. 3. Focus on students understanding what they read, enjoying and relating to their reading. This requires both a top-down and a bottom-up approach. 4. Teach phonemic awareness, phonics instruction and word study to maximise comprehension and enjoyment of reading. 5. Teach comprehension strategies as conscious, active processing of text and as meta-cognitive skills whereby students are aware of how they read and comprehend text. 6. Emphasise a balanced use of the three cueing systems in Literacy instruction: i) semantic (meaning) cues; ii) syntactic (grammar/sentence structure) cues; iii) graphophonic (letter, letter clusters and sounds) cues 7. Take into account different levels for instruction and use flexible groupings. Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

Essential Elements of a Balanced Literacy Approach 8. Balance visual literacy with reading, writing, speaking and listening. Visual literacy can be enhanced through the use of technology e.g. non-textual graphic organisers such as semantic maps, Venn diagrams and story maps 9. Balance the way that students respond to what they read, to demonstrate their comprehension of the text. 10. Reading and writing are complementary processes. Students should write, edit and publish regularly. 11. Value and encourage diversity, through multicultural literature and a multiple perspectives approach to comprehension. 12. Use authentic assessment, through running records, individual reading inventories, checklists, portfolios and frequent and continuous feedback. 13. Promote ongoing family involvement in the students’ literacy development. Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

Q: What resources have you seen in a print-rich environment? Discuss and list what you have seen and observed in a print-rich environment What would you add if it was your print-rich environment?

A balanced literacy classroom is filled with a variety of print resources, which are used in different ways throughout each day Fountas & Pinnell (1996) recommend: 1. Big books in a range of genres 2. Levelled books for guided reading 3. Hardcover or paperback books for independent reading 4. Quality children’s literature for reading aloud 5. Quality children’s informational books 6. Multicultural literature ( and books to which English language learners can relate) 7. Quality children’s software programs 8. Charts of poems and songs, poetry books 9. Dictionaries 10. Stories and text produced by children in the class 11. Menus 12. Magazines of various topics of interest 13. Newspapers, brochures advertising various activities 14. Letters written and received by the class 15. Directions to games, hobbies, activities 16. Posters and children’s work on the wall Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

Q: What does a balanced literacy classroom look like? Large-group area where demonstrations and meetings can take place Small-group areas where students can work at a table together, in pairs or independently Independent work areas where students can work independently without distraction Guided reading area where the teacher can work with a small group of students while also keeping watch on the rest of the class Centres where students can work in groups or independently on specified activities A classroom library in a comfortable setting Storage area for maintaining and storing records of students’ progress Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

Shared (or Modelled Reading): Reading Aloud Purpose Provides a model of phrased, fluent reading Promotes oral language development Develops concepts of print Allows children to enjoy books that are too difficult to read themselves Involves children in an enjoyable reading experience Types of Text Quality literature Books with bright and colourful illustrations Multicultural themes Humorous books Books with dialogue Books with action that hold children’s interest Books that fit into the class theme or topics being studied Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

Components of an interactive read-aloud ( Fisher et al., 2004) 1. Select the text carefully 2. Preview and practice the text before reading 3. Establish a clear purpose for the reading 4. Model fluent reading 5. Read with animation and expression 6. Discuss the text with the students 7. Connect the read-aloud to independent reading or writing Cohen, V. L. & Cowen, J. E. (2008). Literacy for children in an information age. Belmont, CA: Thomson.