Balanced Literacy is an approach for teaching literacy that is widely used in classrooms across the country. It involves several methods of teaching and learning reading and writing, whole class instruction directed by the teacher with independent work in reading, writing, and oral language. By integrating a variety of approaches, a balance is achieved in which students learning to understand text (from a whole language approach) as well as how to read text (from a phonics approach). Effective phonics instruction focuses children's attention on noticing the letter/sound patterns in initial consonants and consonant clusters and in rimes.
BALANCED LITERACY provides and cultivates the skills of reading, writing, thinking, speaking and listening for all students while recognizing and respecting their cultural, ethnic, and academic diversity. A BALANCED LITERACY Program includes:
· Read Aloud is where someone reads a story, book of fiction, news article, picture book, essay, poem, or trade book to another person.
· Shared Reading is a link in helping students become independent readers. It allows the teacher to model and support students using prediction and confirming skills.
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