It's called Balance!
Balanced Literacy for Reading and Writing
What is Balanced Literacy?
Balanced literacy is comprised of many components and instructional methods. Each component or method leads to success in becoming a skilled reader. It is a balance between everything a teacher needs to focus on to access students' learning needs. Some of the components of balanced literacy require more teacher support while others require independent student work. A number of the balanced literacy components will be discussed throughout this blog.
What is Balanced Literacy?
Corwin Fisher & Frey
Three MAJOR components:
1: I do - the teacher models for the students
2. WE do - the teacher supports learning as they practice together
3. YOU do - the children work independently on the skill
READING
Read Aloud {I DO}
The teacher reads aloud many genres for enjoyment. During a read aloud, the teacher should be focusing on developing a positive reading experience as well as building community.
Interactive Read Aloud {WE DO}
The teacher should be modeling specific skills using a think aloud and the students should help in thinking and discussing the text. It is crucial that the teacher use strong mentor texts in a variety of categories. During interactive read aloud, there is required teacher scaffolding.
Shared Reading {WE DO}
This is where the teacher and students read a text aloud at the same time. Some important supplies to have for shared readings might include big books, charts, poems, and songs.
** Incorporating a Promethean Board or SmartBoard is great for this activity. It displays the book, lyrics, poem, etc. large enough for all the students to see as well as allows the teacher to annotate right on the words.
** Incorporating a Promethean Board or SmartBoard is great for this activity. It displays the book, lyrics, poem, etc. large enough for all the students to see as well as allows the teacher to annotate right on the words.
Small Group (Guided) Reading/Conferring
Strategic lessons are taught to groups of about 6 students. These groups depend on students with similar reading development or close reading levels. At the same time, the teacher scaffolds what is being taught and keeps notes in order to alter instruction. Conferring is when the teacher and student are reading on a one-to-one basis. Small group and conferring can happen during the reading period or at various times throughout the day. (see video for example of small group)
Independent Reading {YOU DO}
Allowing students the time to apply the skills practiced with the teacher, they should be given the chance to read independently throughout the school day. This can happen during a big block in the literacy block; a time that in uninterrupted where children can delve into the book.
WRITING
Shared Writing {I DO}
Shared Writing is where the teacher and students work with each other to write a text. During this activity, the teacher is the one writing and focuses mainly on the process of writing the teacher should reread the composed text multiple times while working so the students become familiar with it and can refer to it when necessary.
**The interactive boards are great for this as well. Teacher and students can interactively write, make edits and revise writing making students aware of specific skills.
Interactive Writing {WE DO}
This activity is extremely similar to shared writing except the teacher allows for the student to come up and add writing of their own This allows practice in those specific skills including conventions (capitalization, punctuation, spacing, etc.)
Small Group Writing/Conferring
Strategic lessons are taught to groups of about 5 students. These groups depend on students with similar writing development and needs. At this time, the teacher scaffolds what is being taught and keeps notes in order to alter instruction.
Independent Writing {YOU DO}
Students apply the skills learned during whole group and small group teacher modeling on specific areas of study. This creates practiced, proficient writers that produce writing for different reasons and different audiences.
**Google Doc is a great resources for older students (2nd grade and over) to practice writing. Once expectations and guidelines are established for usage, the teacher can comment and interact with the student virtually after they have produced their story. Working on edits and revisions to ensure the students applied the skills taught.
Word Study {I DO or WE DO}
Word study covers many area of learning on letters and words. This activity should be anywhere between 15-20 minutes. It includes a mini lesson, active engagement, and practice, practice, practice!
**Kahoot!, Quizlet, and interactive Google Slide are great resources for Word Work activities.
- Kahoot! - this is a free learning platform that is game-based! It is user-generated which means YOU create the content OR you can share and duplicate others Kahoot!. Teacher access can be through the web browser by typing kahoot.com or by downloading the app. Students access the "play a game" through the app as well or typing in kahoot.it All they have to do it type in a pin, create a nickname and they are off! They can work individually, in pairs or in groups to complete the game quizzes. Perfect for student engagement and motivation. I use it all the time in my classroom for reviews, check-ins, quizzes, vocabulary, etc. (see tutorial below)
- Quizlet - virtual flashcards! This resource is user generated as well and can be shared among other users. Students can use this in the classroom as well as at home to work on the topics of your choosing using activities and games. Go to Quizlet website by typing quizlet.com in your web browser! (see tutorial below)
This is a short video that shows a glimpse of different Balanced Literacy activities for both Reading and Writing.
Links!
Kahoot! tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsQ10VdR9DA
Quizlet tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCbfNNOEWoY
Resources:
- This is Balanced Literacy by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey and Nancy Akhavan
Additional reasources:
- The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo
- The Writing Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo
Hi Eleanne, I loved your post! I worked a lot with teachers at my school this year to learn about different types of reading and writing workshop models and this explains everything so well! I really liked how you broke down the different parts you can do for both reading and writing. I love the image you found to explain the balance of I do, we do, you do. I believe that a combination of all of these practices is the best way to reach every learner. Students benefit so much from seeing you model to them and then being guided into working on their own. I also like that you can include time to monitor and work with students in smaller groups. Your post was very helpful for anyone who might be struggling with planning out their reading and writing times. You also included many great resources. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post, Eleanne! I love the way in which you organized your information as well as your inclusion of many examples of what balanced literacy looks like in both reading and writing. Your presentation of balanced literacy in the reading example stood out to me; I had never considered these different types of activities to be balanced literacy. This example and the concept of "I do, we do, you do," reminds me of scaffolding and the gradual release of responsibility. The teacher first models a concept and then helps guide the students into accomplishing that skill on their own. The end product is always independent practice. I also loved the videos you provided and thought they enhanced your post! Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteHi Eleanne! I loved reading your blog. It was informative and organized. I liked how you broke down what balanced literacy looks like for reading, writing, and word study. The visual of the scale was great picture of what it can look like in the classroom. I really like the I do, wed do, and you do model. I have found using this method in my classroom has really helped my students become independent for what is asked and taught. I love the Kahoot idea! I am going to have to try this with my class. Great Job Ell :)
ReplyDeleteElleane - wonderful job incorporating a wealth of knowledge into you blog! I really liked the visual that you included. It is a very clear depiction of what is involved in balanced literacy. I also liked how you clearly gave suggestions for tasks that would fall into the 3 man components both with reading and with writing. In addition your video selections brought more clarity to a subject that has many layers and components. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteEleanne- This was such a well thought out and written post! I also really like how you organized the post because it made it so easy to read and follow. In other news, I love the balanced literacy model! I find that its the easiest for me to plan lessons around... I think the majority of my reading lessons during student teaching were based around "I do, we do, you do" principles! I'm really interested in your idea about using Kahoot or Quizlet for word study. I've seen a few teachers use Google Slides or a shared PowerPoint but I think that a platform thats more interactive would work really well to keep kids more engaged in the learning.
ReplyDeleteHi Elleane! This is such an interesting blog post! Ive heard of balanced literacy before, but did not realize what it entailed. I love how you added in the video to help support and further explain your blog. It's a great way to alternate between reading and watching. I also loved the photo you posted all about balanced literacy as it breaks it down not only into sections of reading and writing, but also what the teacher does to support the students. For me, this helps tremendously in understanding more about balanced literacy. You added a surplus of examples for reading and writing, even with videos. Students benefit more when teachers model for them before being scaffolded into working independently. This is so organized and well thought out. Thanks for sharing this awesome post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! This was a real pleasure to read as well as being highly informative. I will start by saying the structure of this post is creative and beneficial to the reader. I really enjoyed the topic you chose and it's relevance to digital literacy. The balanced effort put in towards reading and writing is not always the first thing that pops into my head but after reading this it is clear how important this approach is and the benefits it has students and the classroom. It was easy to follow how you first labeled what the reading or writing activity could be, how it is completed, I do or we do, then a description of what will be done and in many cases an example of what specific activity or tool can be used. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Eleanne! I really enjoyed your blog and how you were incorporated a video explaining what balance literacy was. The way that you set up your blog was easy to navigate through and enabled me to get a better understanding of how to use balanced literacy in the classroom. Specifically, I like how you gave examples of how to utilize I do, we do, and you do. I can definitely see myself using this tactic in my classroom and think that it is important to be able to use it not only in reading but in writing as well. Something that also stood out to me in your blog was how you incorporated great resources for word work such as Kahoot, Quizlet, and Google slides. Especially now, these online outlets would be highly beneficial for teachers to incorporate considering we cannot be face-to-face with our students.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job, Eleanne! I love how you gave specific examples pertaining to each subject. (I do, you do, we do). And I love the chart, it is a great visual! I definitely agree with the importance of modeling for students, then have them try it out on their own, and end with a whole class activity. I love Kahoot, I've used quizlet for myself, but never in the classroom. I will have to try it. Thank you for this informative blog post!
ReplyDeleteHi Eleanne! Great work on your blog post about balanced literacy for reading and writing. I actually haven’t really heard of the term balanced literacy that often, so I was excited to read what you had to say about it! The video you included in the beginning was a great introduction to find out a little more about what balanced literacy is. I feel like the “I do, we do, you do” is a common concept seen in many classrooms. It is important for teachers to model to their students, then do the work together, and then finally have the students do the work on their own. I really liked that chart you included, where it was divided by reading and writing and you were able to see what activities and lessons fall under each category. I actually decided to save that photo because I thought it would be a really useful tool to have on my computer. I really like the ideas behind the interactive read alouds; I see them happen a lot at my internship and they are really beneficial with getting the students involved with the lesson. Thanks for all the resources on balanced reading – I will definitely look back on your blog in the future for the links to the websites you mentioned!
ReplyDeleteHi Eleanne! I love the picture that you put to start this blog at the top so much. Balance is so important in everything in life, especially the classroom. I think you chose such a strong topic that can sometimes be forgotten. I also like how you broke down all the activities into their categories such as (WE DO) and then highlighted it with a color. This made it very easy to follow and so useful, this is great!
ReplyDeleteHey Eleanne! Great work on your blog. Your title really engaged me and made me excited to continue reading. I totally agree that a balance is very important to students. We as teachers need to assess their needs and make sure they are reaching their fullest potential. I really liked how you separated each reading and writing into different I do, We do, You do, scenarios. It was so clearly laid out. This is such an important tool to use in the classroom because it is helpful for students to work this way. I feel like when I see this in a classroom, the students are better off. If a teacher simply just throws concepts at students without thoroughly explaining it and practicing it with them, the students are not going to get the desired outcome. I also loved the balanced picture you chose to show the differences between reading and writing. Overall, awesome work and thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Eleanne! I knew very little about balanced literacy going into your blog, so I was very excited to learn more. I quickly realized while reading your blog that this is a multifaceted topic. However, you did a fantastic job breaking it down and making it very easy to understand while still being very informative. I loved the visual of the three major components and how you broke these down. The concept of, “I do, we do, you do,” reminds me of other ideas we have gone over in graduate classes so far such as scaffolding. Showing students how to do something first, doing it with them, and then them being able to do it independently, is not a foreign concept; which made this much easier to grasp! I also loved how you included the examples of using Kahoot or Quizlet because these could also be used during remote learning. Great job overall!
ReplyDeleteHi Elle,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I really enjoyed learning more about shared writing. I know we did a lot with shared reading in our other classes and I found it so very effective in the classroom. I do not use shared writing enough and look forward to using this more in the classroom. The things that stood out the most were all the technology ideas that can be used and incorporated within the classroom. You gave many examples of balanced literacy and I think it is crucial to have a balance in order to become a skilled readers. You incorporated many great resources. I loved your post