EDUC 640 Balanced Literacy

Reflection and Artifact

My artifact for EDUC 640 Balanced Literacy is my philosophy of balanced literacy.  This literacy statement reflects the knowledge that I gained from the course combined with what I have learned during my twenty-two years of teaching young children.

Philosophy of Balanced Literacy

As the name states, balanced literacy would be a balance of the four main areas of literacy instruction: reading, writing, word work, and speaking/listening.  In order for students to become proficient readers and writers, they would need to have quality instruction and practice in all four of those areas.

Reading instruction would incorporate a variety of approaches.  The main approach would be children reading independently.  This may occur during a reading workshop, a book club, or a reading work station.  In order to make independent reading time beneficial, students need to have choice in the books that they read and need to have access to plenty of books at their reading levels.  They also need to have a large, uninterrupted chunk of time in order to build reading stamina.  In addition to independent reading, there would be time for the teacher to read to the students.  These read alouds would be interactive with the teacher modeling fluency and reading strategies.  A third component of the reading instruction would be the teacher reading with students. This might occur in a guided reading group or during a shared reading. When a teacher reads with children, it provides time for the teacher to explicitly teach strategies and coach children as they try the new strategies in their own books.  In order for students to make reading growth, they need explicit instruction, teacher models, a variety of texts at their appropriate levels, and plenty of time to practice.

A second component of the balanced literacy model is writing.  One of the most effective ways that children learn how to write is by being a part of a writers’ workshop.  During a writers’ workshop, the teacher begins the lesson by making a connection.  The connection might be to something the children have previously learned or to an analogy that will set the purpose for the day.  After the connection, the teacher will share the teaching point.  This is followed by the teacher modeling that type of writing.  As the teacher models, the children watch carefully and then they are asked to join in the process. They may share ideas with a partner or with the teacher.  The heart of the writing workshop comes next: time for students to write.  During this time the teacher conferences with children.  The workshop ends with time to share.  The children may share with a partner or a few may share their writing with the whole group.

Another component of balanced literacy is word work.  During word work, children are working on gaining skills in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and spelling.  Word work can take many forms.  Children may be engaged in sorting words, making words, practicing the word wall, or playing a phonics game.  The goals for word work follow a scope and sequence so that the children are always building on what they already know.

A final area of balanced literacy is speaking and listening.  Children need time each day to share information and to engage in active listening with their teacher and peers.  These skills may be practiced when a teacher asks the children to turn and talk with a partner or during a workshop sharing time.  Inquiry studies, presentations, and performing arts (plays, choral readings, etc.) are also times when children gain experience with speaking and listening.

In addition to the four areas, frequent assessment would be an important part of a balanced literacy program.  The assessments would be used to guide the teacher’s instruction making sure that children are being taught at a level that will help move them forward.  Including the four areas of a balanced literacy block along with using assessment to guide best practice will allow a teacher to differentiate instruction in order to meet the needs of all students.

Professional Growth

          The Balanced Literacy course helped me grow as an educator by increasing my knowledge on many current topics in education.  One area would be the importance of oral language acquisition for young children.  Research shared in this course stated that children from high-income families experience about 30 million more words than children from low-income families by the age of four.  The research went on to say that effective responsiveness by teachers and parents can help overcome this socioeconomic gap ensuring children’s growth in receptive and expressive vocabulary.  Knowing about the gap and about the importance of effective instruction in order to narrow the gap is something that I will be an advocate for in my school district.  My district has already established a day at the beginning of the school year for oral language acquisition training for our kindergarten and special education teachers.  My district is also planning to host its first literacy night for parents.  I am on the committee for planning the evening, and I will be sure to incorporate strategies from the training so that parents can also reinforce vocabulary acquisition at home.

            A second topic that I learned about during the course is the importance of multi-sensory learning.  The research shared states that when strategies using movement, singing, and humor are used that it enhances repetition which is needed in order for the brain to remember what has been learned.  This knowledge will impact how I instruct my students.  I will provide time for brain breaks when students have been engaged for long periods of time.  The brain breaks often include singing and dancing which will allow their brains to function in a different way.  This will promote student engagement and time for the brain to process new information.  I will also encourage students to move while working.  Examples might be cheering a word family rather than just chanting it and tracing a letter in the sand.

            Oral language acquisition and multi-sensory learning are two areas that I have gained knowledge in because of this course.  This new information will allow me to better meet the needs of all my students.

Student Learning

          The knowledge that I have gained in this course will positively impact my students’ learning.  When working with struggling readers, I will choose my words wisely and encourage them to interact with new language. This will help increase their vocabulary which in turn will improve their reading.  The students will also benefit at home because their parents will be trained in the same language acquisition strategies that I am using at school.  This will reinforce the students' learning.

            Students will also benefit from multi-sensory learning.  When children cheer word wall words or practice writing letters in the sand, it provides the repetition or meaning needed to begin to move the information into long-term memory. When students are given brain breaks, it provides the brain to process what has just been taught and it energizes the children so they have more energy to learn what is coming next.  When multi-sensory approaches are used, students benefit because they gain information more quickly and are more engaged in their learning which ultimately leads to more learning.

Connection to Standards

Standard #2:  The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.  This standard is apparent in my philosophy of a balanced literacy program.  For both the reading and writing instruction, I support a workshop model which is a gradual release model.  The gradual release model supports students’ development through modeling, guided practice, and supported independent practice.  In addition, the use of brain breaks and a multi-sensory approach will also foster students’ intellectual, social, and personal growth by allowing the students’ brains time to process and reenergize.  The brain breaks and multi-sensory approach will also give students an opportunity to sing and move with their peers which will promote social interaction and personal growth.

Standard #6:  The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communications techniques to foster inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.  For both the reading and writing instruction portion of the balanced literacy block, I support a workshop model which is a gradual release model.  The gradual release model is a supportive interaction because it fosters students’ development through modeling, guided practice, and supported independent practice.  This supported structure provides an opportunity for the teacher to explicitly explain and model a specific strategy.  It also allows students to practice the strategy, often with a peer which would promote collaboration.  There is also time for independent practice which incorporates nonverbal communication.  In addition to the workshop model, incorporating multi-sensory approaches to instruction will foster active inquiry and collaboration.  This is evident when students are asked to identify letters through touch, work with peers to chant word families, or act out a story that they read.