Balanced Literacy Overview By Erin Lynch

Interactive Read Aloud  An interactive experience in which readers are engaged in discussing a text throughout the reading  Develops high-level thinking and discourse Adapted from: The Components of Comprehensive Literacy Instruction Greenwich Public Schools Balanced Literacy

Read Aloud  The read aloud is an opportunity to deepen comprehension through discourse and active thinking.  Using cognitive resources that actively engage students in thinking about the text, such as the DOK & Bloom's levels will increase rigor and raise the caliber of conversation.

Shared Reading  Students are reading a common text with teacher support  The text is re-read over the course of several days with various teaching points in mind  Fluency is a key goal of this component ultimately leading to higher levels of comprehension Adapted from: The Components of Comprehensive Literacy Instruction Greenwich Public Schools Balanced Literacy

Mini-Lesson  Direct and explicit instruction  About 10 minutes in length  Clear and consistent structure -Connection -Teach -Try/Active Engagement -Link  Drawn from a unit of study or a class need  Refers to a text for instructional clarity such as a read aloud or shared reading Adapted from the Greenwich Public Schools: Basic Workshop Structure Balanced Literacy

Independent Reading  Students are reading a “just right book” of their choice  Students are practicing reading strategies taught in the mini-lesson Adapted from the Greenwich Public Schools: Basic Workshop Structure Balanced Literacy

Conferring  The teacher is meeting with students individually to discuss and document specific needs and the progress of the individual reader  The teacher may review a skill or strategy from a previous conference or set a new goal with the student  Format: research  decide  teach Ad apted from the Greenwich Public Schools: Basic Workshop Structure Balanced Literacy

Conferring  Conferences with students can be based on formal (pre & post assessments) and informal (observations & reader's response journal) data. -questions during a conference can be focused on the data collected or can be used as a means to decide what levels the individual still needs work on -goals around the levels can be set with the student

Small Group Work  Guided Reading - one type of small group differentiated instruction designed to help individual students learn how to process a variety of increasingly challenging texts with understanding and fluency -This small group of students is at the same or similar instructional reading level based on a variety of informal and formal assessments Adapted from: The Components of Comprehensive Literacy Instruction Greenwich Public Schools Balanced Literacy

Small Group Work  Strategy Instruction - another type of small group differentiated instruction that brings readers together who are not necessarily on the same instructional level yet these children have demonstrated a common “strategy” need, which is identified by the teacher Adapted from: The Components of Comprehensive Literacy Instruction Greenwich Public Schools DOK: Instruction and Assessments

Assessment  Formative assessments are assessments FOR learning -Journaling, conferring, observation, self-assessment, portfolios, etc.  Summative assessments are assessments OF learning -Unit assessments, standardized assessments, portfolios, etc. Balanced Literacy