Contexts: Balanced Literacy
[Please note that clicking of the title above will take you to the corresponding page in the eBook]
A Balanced Literacy approach recognizes that students need to use a variety of strategies to become proficient readers and writers.
It encourages the development of skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening in particular, for all students. A Balanced Literacy Program includes:
- Modeled Reading (Reading Aloud) and Modeled Writing
- Shared (and interactive) Reading and Shared (and interactive) Writing
- Guided Reading and Guided Writing
- Independent Reading and Independent Writing
Weeks 1 & 2 : Contexts of Language Arts
Discuss why it is important for students to engage in a variety of balanced literacy activities each day.
Discuss your experiences with balanced literacy. What kinds of balanced literacy activities did you observe during your field placement?
Wiki Groups for 2009/2010
UOIT Balanced Literacy 2009
Wiki Groups for 2008/2009
UOIT_Balanced_Literacy
UWindsor_Balanced_Literacy
UOIT 2007/08
Comments (4)
Anonymous said
at 8:44 pm on Sep 5, 2007
Being in practicum this week really helps me to see to importance of setting up proper classroom routines. Of course Literacy is a part of this structure. Literacy sets the foundation of all other learning. I am fortunate to be in a classroom where my AT supports a Balanced Literacy Program. She has shared some very valuable resources regarding guided reading, independent reading and DRA's. I love the quote in week one' reading "What Do We Mean By Literacy Now? "thinking about literacy as a social practice can be revolutionary". The purpose of Literacy is to get students to feel and connect. Our role as Teachers is to incorporate every ounce of creativity we have and bring Literacy to life. I truly believe Literacy is something we can feel. If we set strong foundations for our students we can help them to feel Math, Science and every other subject.
Sorry Guys I can go on and on. Happy Practicums.
See You Monday!
Warmest Regards,
Urmilla
Anonymous said
at 8:35 am on Sep 6, 2007
Thanks for being the first person in to the wiki to post. If you like, you can copy and paste your comment into one of group pages that I'm creating.
You've selected a really important quote to share -- "literacy as social practice" assumes that literacy is not something we have or don't have but something that is fluid and shaped by culture, time, space, gender, etc. I'm glad you've had a positive first experience with Balanced Literacy!
Anonymous said
at 12:19 pm on Sep 9, 2007
I agree with Urmilla, Literacy is definatley an important part of setting up proper classroom routines. Ensuring a literate classroom, follows with the classroom as a community, a partner of "social practice"(Harste 9). The classroom's structure is dependent upon the student's literacy and ability to incorproate the rules, codes and mores of the classroom. All subjects are dependent upon the student's level of literacy. Each student comes with their own literacy history (ie gender, socio-economic status, religion etc) that effects their literacy development. It is up to the teacher to analyse and modify the program in a manner that draws upon the student's strenghts and fosters the growth of their lieracy development. As Haste points out "a good language arts program for the 21st century continues to be comprised of three components- meaning making, language study, and inquiry-based learning but the emphasis is different"(Haste 9). I agree with Haste that it is the teacher's duty to ensure the program they create fosters an understanding of what it is to be "critically literate, and knowing how language works and is used to make meaning in a democratically thoughtful and equitable manner"(Haste 12). This ensures students will develop the necessary skills to function as effect citizens in the 21st century. Literacy goes beyond simple phonetic construction and analysis, it is the building block of the educational system and it is fundamental to ensure that a Literacy program is developed from the base up and done now.
Anonymous said
at 12:53 pm on Sep 10, 2007
The article entitled "What Do We Mean By Literacy Now?" contained several interesting points regarding balanced literacy. However, the idea that each student creates their own meanings based on their own individual histories was of particular interest to me as I come from a background in Sociology, where this is a primary concept. I enjoyed what the author had to say about creating 'grand conversations' about literature and using multi-cultural texts within the classroom to create a dialogue with the class and ensure that all students can identify with the literature. While in practicum I was able to observe this technique in practice, as my teacher allowed the students to respond to the read aloud book in a variety ways. The class could use writing, drawing and an oral presentation to respond to her question. The teacher created a dialogue about the text using multiple literary techniques and helped the students to identify with what they were reading. To my surprise the students all chose different modes for their response, and each student used their different medium to explain what the story meant to them, which of course, was different for each student.
I feel that implementing a balanced literacy approach will allow for the students to use their personal histories and meanings to connect with literature and hopefully afford them with an opportunity to become passionate about literacy. I was fortunate enough to see the teacher creating a balanced literacy program through integrating read aloud, journal writing, group brainstorm, modeled writing and group reading activities into math, science and social studies. This experience helped me to better understand balanced literacy and its effect on students. I left the week feeling confident in the program, but anxious over how to implement this concept into my own classroom.
Lindsay T.
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