English Language Arts (ELA) Department
Balanced Literacy Components
-
In a balanced literacy approach, students engage in meaningful literacy activities through which they develop literacy habits from grade to grade and from classroom to classroom. The components of a balanced literacy approach remain the same and include:
-
Comprehension
The Five Reading Powers
The Power to Connect
While reading, we are reminded of something that happened to us (text to self), or something that happened in the world (text to world), or something that happened in another story (text to text).
The Power to Question
While reading, we ask ourselves questions to understand the story better. (The questions can be literal or deep-thinking).
The Power to Visualize
While reading, we create mental images or "movies in our minds."
The Power to Infer
While reading, we look for clues about the story and we try to figure out what the author is trying to say.
The Power to Transform
The understanding that books have the capability to change the way we view ourselves or our world.
Gear, Adrienne. Reading Power: Teaching Students to Think While They Read. Pembroke Publishers Limited. 2006.
-
Fluency
Why is fluency important?
The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), 2001, found that fluent readers are able to focus their attention on understanding text because non-fluent readers focus much of their attention on figuring out words, so they have less attention to devote to comprehension.
Reading fluency refers to the ability of readers to read the words in text effortlessly and efficiently (automaticity) with meaningful expression that enhances the meaning of the text (prosody). Fluency takes phonics or word recognition to the next level. While many readers can decode words accurately, they may not be fluent or automatic in their word recognition. These readers tend to expend too much of their limited mental energy on figuring out the pronunciation and meaning of words, energy that is taken away from that more important task in reading comprehension — getting to the text’s overall meaning. Thus, the lack of fluency often results in poor comprehension.
Fluent readers, on the other hand, are able to read words accurately and effortlessly. They recognize words and phrases instantly on sight. A minimal amount of cognitive energy is expended in decoding the words. This means, then, that the maximum amount of a reader’s cognitive energy can be directed to the all-important task of making sense of the text. You are the best example of automaticity in word recognition as you read this book. I suspect that as a fluent reader you are having little trouble automatically recognizing the words I have written. Your instant recognition allows you to construct meaning as you move through the text.
There is also, however, a second component to fluency, one that is often forgotten by some programs for teaching fluency. That is prosody, or reading with expression. A key characteristic of fluent oral reading (or speech, for that matter) is the ability to embed appropriate expression into the reading.
Fluent readers raise and lower the volume and pitch of their voices, they speed up and slow down at appropriate places in the text, they read words in meaningful groups or phrases, they pause at appropriate places within the text. All these are elements of expression, or what linguists have termed prosody. Prosody is essentially the melody of language as it is read or spoken. By embedding prosody in our oral language (read or spoken), we are adding meaning to the text.
Brain researcher James Zull (2002) calls prosody “the other side of language.” Zull argues that language comprehension generally occurs in the left hemisphere of the brain. “But there is another language function . . . in the other hemisphere, which may be equally important. This area understands the meaning of language that comes through emphasis on particular syllables—the rhythm, the pitch, the tone, and the inflection. These aspects of language together are called prosody, and they are of immense importance for meaning” (p. 171). Thus, even brain science is providing evidence that to work on prosody (an element of fluency) means to work on meaning (comprehension). Zull adds that approaches to integrating the cognitive aspects of language with prosody include reading aloud and having others read to us.
To be able to read with appropriate expression requires a reader to attend to meaning as he or she reads the text. So, when we work with a student on reading with expression (even when reading silently we tend to hear ourselves read), we are at the same time drawing that student’s attention to meaning.
Fluency has often been called the bridge from phonics to comprehension. The link to phonics occurs when readers develop automaticity in their word recognition. The link to comprehension occurs when readers embed meaningful expression in their reading.
I often think of fluency as the gateway to comprehension. It may not be comprehension itself, but readers have to have some degree of fluency to comprehend what they read.
-
Independent Reading
What is Independent Reading?
Independent reading is the practice of reading by students.
Students who read widely and voraciously in (and outside of) school become confident, motivated and enthusiastic lifelong readers. To promote a love of reading, students are given time to read independently each day. The more students read, the more successful they become. Critical components of independent reading include:
- access to a wide range of high-interest reading material
- student choice in what they read
- time to read independently
The materials students read during independent reading are those they select from the classroom library. The self-selection process of independent reading places the responsibility for choosing books in the hands of the student. Children are taught how to choose books based on interest and how to monitor whether these are "just right books" (i.e., texts that are at their independent reading level).
Teachers use a variety of informal and formal methods to assess students' independent reading levels. The independent reading level of a student is the level that he/she reads with 96% to 100% accuracy as well as with fluency (appropriate rate and expression) and comprehension (e.g., literal, inferential, interpretive). By matching students with texts that are appropriate, students are able to read with volume (i.e., many texts), stamina (i.e., longer periods of time) and fluency - the habits of proficient readers.
-
Independent Writing
What is Independent Writing?
Independent writing is the practice of writing by students.
Since students learn to write by repeated writing, independent writing is a crucial aspect of a balanced literacy program. In a balanced literacy classroom, students participate in a daily writing workshop during which students have opportunities to have long, uninterrupted blocks of time to write. The daily writing workshop provides students with the opportunities to build their writing fluency and stamina as well as to practice writing in a variety of structures and genres (e.g., personal and fictional narrative, persuasive and informational nonfiction). In writing workshop, students write for authentic purposes using the writing process. The writing process includes brainstorming/rehearsing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing.
Independent writing practice each day is typically matched to the instructional focus of the lesson or the unit of study, and teachers monitor their students writing progress by conferring with student writers during independent writing. These one-on-one conversations allow the teacher and student to explore a shared love of writing, while providing student writers with new tools and techniques that will allow them to achieve their writing goals. The goal of independent writing is for students to develop the skills and habits of lifelong writers, as well as the passion and joy for writing.
References:
Anderson, C. (2005). Assessing Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Anderson, C. (2000). How's It Going? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Calkins, L. (1986). The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth
-
Interactive Writing
What is Interactive Writing?
Interactive writing allows children to use literacy and language. Children develop their competency with oral language, reading and writing as they participate in interesting experiences, express their ideas, and build a shared set of understandings. The process is carefully guided by a teacher who is aware that students are learning in many ways at the same time (McCarrier, Pinnell, Fountas, 2000).
Interactive writing is the instructional practice of writing with students. Interactive writing is a key component of a balanced literacy program because it allows students to attend to print while using their knowledge of oral language. It also affords the teacher the opportunity to model strategies for problem solving as an independent writer.
During interactive writing, the teacher works with the class or small group to create a written text. What distinguishes interactive writing from shared writing, is that during an interactive writing session, the teacher and students "share the pen," both literally and figuratively.
The instructional focus of an interactive writing session reflects the ongoing needs of students. During an interactive writing session, the teacher will demonstrate a specific writing strategy and provide students with the necessary guidance and feedback as they "try-out" the designated strategy. The texts created during interactive writing, just as in shared writing, are ones that model the craft, structure and conventions of our language.
In the primary grades, teachers often use interactive writing to teach the concepts of directionality, one to one match between the spoken and the written word as well as the conventions of capitalization, punctuation, spelling and spacing. An interactive writing session in a primary classroom may be used, for example, to teach students to listen for the beginning and ending sounds of words. The session would begin with the group negotiating and agreeing on what to write (e.g., usually one or two sentences in length). The teacher would repeat the sentence and then proceed word by word, prompting students to articulate the sounds they hear at the beginning and ending of each word and write the corresponding letter. As each word is studied it would be recorded by the teacher on chart paper while the students would write on individual dry erase boards. Another option would to have students alternate with the teacher composing the text on the chart paper visible to all students.
Although interactive writing is often thought of as a primary instructional practice research has shown that like shared writing, it is a highly effective practice to use with students in grades 3-5. The purpose of interactive writing sessions for students in the upper grades could include teaching the conventions of grammar, craft, paragraphing, spelling and text structure.
References:
Collom, S. & Tompkins, G. E. (2003). Interactive Writing With Young Children. Upper Saddle River: NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dorn, L., French, C. & Jones, T. (1998). Apprenticeship in Literacy. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Fountas, I. , McCarrier, A., & Pinnell, G.S. (2000). Interactive Writing. Portsmouth , NH: Heinemann.
Swartz, S. (2001). Interactive Writing and Interactive Editing. Carlsbad, CA: Dominie Press.
-
Literacy Grades K-6
What We Understand about Literacy Instruction
Literacy is the ability to read and write. The contemporary 21st century definition of literacy has grown to also include the ability to gain information, understand that information, and communicate that understanding effectively.
The most effective literacy learning in elementary school is the result of essential, simultaneous instruction in three key areas in the elementary curricula: reading, writing, and word study, all fueled by collaboration and conversation.
Each day students engage in literacy learning within and across these three integral areas of learning. This inter-relationship underlies our fundamental interconnectedness to instruction. When all three areas of this instructional triangle hold equal weight, and teachers demonstrate for students how learning in one instructional area supports their learning in the other instructional area, students emerge from elementary school prepared to lead literate lives.
How We Teach Literacy
We use a balanced literacy approach to instruction. This approach uses a workshop methodology, that integrates the literacy instructional practices which include:
- Reading Workshop includes opportunities for read aloud, shared reading, guided reading and independent reading.
- Writing Workshop includes opportunities for shared writing, interactive writing, guided writing and independent writing.
- Word Study instruction focuses on helping students become fluent readers and writers.
All three components provide students with explicit instruction modeled by the teacher, opportunities for rehearsal and checks for understanding, and then independent practice. These effective practices include ongoing assessment and evaluation to monitor student progress and to inform planning and differentiated instruction through whole class, small group and individualized teaching. In a balanced literacy curriculum, reading, writing and word study are not compartmentalized but rather combined to support student learning. The goal for all students is to develop the essential skills and habits of lifelong readers and writers.
-
Phonics
Phonics
The National Reading Panel determined that the research indicates that phonics is an essential ingredient in beginning reading instruction and found that:
- Systematic and explicit phonics instruction--phonics instruction that is direct and follows a particular sequence--is more effective than phonics instruction that is not systematic or no phonics instruction at all.
- Systematic, explicit phonics instruction is most effective when it begins in kindergarten or first grade.
- Systematic, explicit phonics instruction improves children's word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension skills.
- Systematic, explicit phonics instruction benefits all children, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
- Systematic, explicit phonics instruction most benefits children who are having difficulty learning to read.
- Phonics instruction is only one part of a complete reading program for beginning readers. Effective beginning reading programs should also emphasize reading fluency, vocabulary development, and text comprehension.
-
Read Aloud
What are read alouds?
Read aloud is the practice of reading to students.
Why are read alouds a key component in a balanced literacy program?
Reading aloud to students is a key component in any balanced literacy program. During the read aloud the teacher is responsible for the actual reading -- leaving time and energy for students to focus on their own comprehension. A daily read aloud allows teachers and students to enjoy great literature together. Reading aloud, from both fiction and nonfiction texts, helps readers develop an appreciation of literature and the rhythm of language. It is also an instructional practice that teachers use to model both decoding and comprehension strategies.
During a read aloud, teachers will stop at the end of a chapter or at some other natural stopping point and give students time to reflect and share their thinking. Sometimes, students will be asked to talk with the classmate next to them, and at other times students will be asked to jot down their thinking.
Instruction during read aloud time models and promotes focused conversation. Richard Allington (2002), a highly respected author of professional texts on literacy, has noted that classroom talk is critical to reading instruction. He writes, "The classroom talk… is more often conversational than interrogational. Teachers and students discuss ideas, concepts, hypotheses, strategies, and responses with one another."
As a way to promote and initiate conversation during a read aloud, teachers prompt students to think deeply about texts and ask questions such as:
- What are you picturing in your mind as you read? (Visualizing)
- What does this remind you of from your own life? How might that help you understand the book better? (Making connections)
- Does this remind you of anything else you've read? How might that help you when you are reading this book? (Making literature connections)
- What did you learn about the character during this reading? How do you know? How is the character changing? (Recognizing character development)
- What questions do you have? (Questioning)
- What do you notice about the way the author wrote the book? What makes it effective?(Noticing literary elements)
- What are the powerful words or phrases that the author use? What makes them powerful? (Recognizing powerful language)
Listening and responding to stories read aloud is critical because it affords students the necessary support and practice for transferring these targeted thinking and conversational skills to the work of their book clubs, reading partnerships and independent reading.
References:
Fisher, B. & Medvic, E. (2000). For Reading Out Loud. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Nichols, M. (2006). Comprehension Through Conversation. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Keene, E. (2008). To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Keene, E. & Zimmerman, S. (1997). Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Instruction (2nd edition). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Laminack, L. & Wadsworth, R. (2006). Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Wilhelm, J. (2001). Improving Comprehension With Think-Aloud Strategies. New York, NY: Scholastic.
-
Reading
What We Understand About Reading
The power of reading opens doors for every child. But a love of reading doesn’t happen naturally for everyone. It needs to be nurtured and guided by caring teachers and dedicated parents. To do this we must make a wide range of high interest books available to children matched to their interests and capabilities, and give them plenty of time to read independently and voluminously. We must teach them what they need to know to make meaning in the increasingly complex books they read each year. And we must support them as they read, creating safe spaces that inspire risk taking and goal setting. Our goal is to prepare students for any reading task they will face or set for themselves, and this in turn, will create confident, lifelong readers.
How We Teach Reading
Reading instruction is multi-faceted. Throughout the elementary grades, students learn to construct meaning from print by decoding words, reading sentences fluently and expressively, and monitoring their comprehension. In this way, reading and thinking go hand in hand. Each year, the texts grow in complexity, and readers acquire the tools they need to meet these challenges. Instruction is comprehensive and sequential, responsive to individual student needs, and aligned to the foundational and comprehension standards for New York State.
In the earliest grades, students are sorting out the concepts related to reading (books are read from left to right, printed words and spoken words match, and words are made up of letters with corresponding sounds, which can be blended together). Even in the simplest of these books, students are using the illustrations to help them follow and understand a storyline, think about characters and do complex thinking.
As students move through the grades, these reading and decoding behaviors become internalized, and students begin to read more automatically and fluently, following a complex sentence across several lines of text. While reading, students continue to make meaning, and engage in more sophisticated thinking about the text. They learn to set and follow their own reading paths, navigate different genres, hold onto longer texts, and even compare and contrast multiple texts.
Teachers use read aloud, shared reading, and small group instruction in order to model important reading and thinking behaviors for their students. In this way, students have the opportunity to see these new skills used, and then to rehearse these skills with the support of the teacher. The reading workshop structure then allows students to independently practice these new understandings in books that match their interests and capabilities.
How We Measure Reading Progress
Learning to read is a fascinating developmental process. Each child is unique; therefore not everyone progresses at the same rate and in the same way. Our primary goal is for every child to grow as a reader every year. The district has established independent reading level benchmarks to guide goal setting and progress monitoring. Teachers monitor students’ growth through a range of formal and informal assessments.
For example, the district uses the Developmental Reading Assessment, a research-based and field-tested reading assessment tool. This measures a child’s ability to read a text accurately and to understand that text on several levels (events within the text, conclusions reached about the text, and connections made beyond the text). If concerns are identified for select students, additional district assessment measures and tools may be used to more specifically pinpoint student challenges and instructional needs.
Teachers regularly confer with student readers throughout the school year. In these one-on-one conversations, a teacher notes and names a student’s progress, identifies new challenges, and teaches into these new skills and understandings. The reading conference is a flexible assessment tool that allows teachers to promote a love of reading, differentiate instruction for individual students, and revise instruction for her class.
-
Shared Reading
What is Shared Reading
Shared reading is the instructional practice of reading with students.
Shared reading can be described as an interactive reading experience that occurs when children join in the reading of a big book, chart, poem, song, or other enlarged or projected text.
Why do we teach shared reading?
Shared reading is an invaluable component of the literacy block because it invites students of varying abilities to participate in the reading experience. The reading process and the use of reading strategies are demonstrated by the teacher explicitly through shared reading. Shared reading, for example, provides excellent opportunities to demonstrate concepts about print and features of books, reinforce language and word study, teach high frequency words and conventions in context, create a body of known texts children can reread, and model think aloud and comprehension strategies. A key reason for conducting shared reading is that children learn to perceive themselves as readers in a risk-free environment and to enjoy the reading experience.
References:
Allen, J. (2002). On the Same Page. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Fischer, B. & E. (2000). Perspectives on Shared Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Parkes, B. (2000). Read It Again! Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
-
Shared Writing
What is Shared Writing?
Shared writing is the instructional practice of writing with students.
Shared writing is an interactive writing experience in which the teacher and students work together to compose texts such as letters, lists, messages and stories. During a shared writing session, the students provide the ideas while the teacher supports the process as the scribe. The pen, in other words, remains in the hands of the teacher, which is the key difference between shared writing and interactive writing.
Specifically, the teacher's role in shared writing is to provide full support, modeling and demonstrating the process of putting ideas shared by students into written language. Shared writing is a key component of a balanced literacy curriculum because it allows the teacher to model and demonstrate what a proficient writer does when composing text.
Each shared writing session has a particular instructional focus selected by the teacher based on the ongoing assessment of the needs of students. Sessions may be used, for example, to teach the conventions of print, grammar, spelling, punctuation or capitalization. Shared writing is also an effective instructional practice to model genres, stages of the writing process (e.g., rehearsal, revising, editing) as well as craft and elaboration strategies.
Before beginning a narrative unit in writing workshop, for example, the teacher and students may compose several shared writing narrative texts. (A shared experience, such as a recount of a field trip could be used as the idea for the narrative. Writing about a shared experience is strategic because it allows for all students to have the chance to contribute ideas about the event.) Through these types of experiences, students will become familiar with the structure and features of the genre they will be expected to practice independently during the writing workshop. These texts also serve as excellent mentor texts to use during the writing workshop lessons. Finished shared writing pieces often remain on display throughout the room and are often used for future shared reading experiences as well as texts for students to read independently.
-
Sight Words - FRY Word Lists
- The Fry 1000 Instant Words are a list of the most common words used for teaching reading, writing, and spelling.
- These high frequency words should be recognized instantly by readers.
- Edward B. Fry's Instant Words (which are often referred to as the "Fry Words") are the most common words used in English ranked in order of frequency.
- In 1996, Dr. Fry expanded on Dolch's sight word lists and research and published a book titled "Fry 1000 Instant Words." In his research, Fry found the following results:
- 25 words make up approximately 1/3 of all items published.
- 100 words comprise approximately 1/2 of all of the words found in publications.
- 300 words make up approximately 65% of all written material.
- Over half of every newspaper article, textbook, children's story, and novel is composed of these 300 words. It is difficult to write a sentence without using several of the first 300 words in the Fry 1000 Instant Words List. Consequently, students need to be able to read the first 300 Instant Words without a moment's hesitation.
-
Small Group Literacy Instruction
What is Small Group Literacy Instruction?
Small group literacy instruction allows a teacher to work with a targeted group of students with similar needs, opportunities or challenges. These groups are fluid and flexible throughout the year since they are based on students' ever-changing needs. Teachers continually assess and observe students in small group work, one on one conferences, and independent work. Using these informal and formal assessments, teachers are able to group together students with similar abilities or needs. As students' performance changes over time, the teacher regroups students and provides the necessary instruction based on their identified needs.
While all small group work allows the teacher to differentiate instruction, this work will take different forms, depending upon student need:
The teacher may conduct reading strategy groups, where the focus is on helping students master a key reading strategy. This choice is often made when a teacher has identified a common skill or strategy that a group of students needs. In this type of instructional group, students may be reading at different levels, and may be asked to bring their own books to the table. But the teacher has selected a common strategy they all need. For example, a more proficient reader could be grouped together with a more struggling reader for a fluency strategy group that targets their similar need for reading expressively.
The teacher choose instead to conduct guided reading groups, where the focus is on helping students understand the challenges in reading material they cannot read independently. Guided reading helps students to progress to the next reading level by bridging the gap between their independent and instructional reading level. In a guided reading group, students will all be reading from a shared text, and the teacher will work with them to help them navigate this challenging text.
Both of these examples of small group instruction happen inside of reading workshop. But this small group structure allows teachers to differentiate their instruction in other areas of the elementary curriculum as well.
A teacher might pull students with a common writing need for a writing strategy group or pull students who need to learn about an aspect of grammar or spelling within a word work group. Regardless of literacy topic, all small group work is designed to meet the learner at the point of need. The goal of small group instruction is for students to transfer and independently apply the strategies learned to their reading and writing lives.
References:
Fountas, I, & Pinnell, G. S. (2006). Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Goudvis, A. & Harvey S. (2005). The Comprehension Toolkit. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Goudvis, A. & Harvey, S. (2008). Primary Comprehension Toolkit. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Keene, E. & Zimmerman, S. (2007). Mosaic of Thought (2nd Edition). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Taberski, S. (2009). It's All About Comprehension. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
-
Vocabulary
What do we understand about vocabulary?
When students do not understand an author's vocabulary, they cannot fully understand the text. Good vocabulary instruction emphasizes useful words (words that students see frequently), important words (key words that help students understand the text), and difficult words (idiomatic words, words with more than one meaning, etc.).
Why do we teach vocabulary?
In providing vocabulary instruction teachers can help students by:
- Activating their prior knowledge
- Defining words in multiple contexts
- Helping them see context clues
- Helping them understand the structure of words, e.g., prefixes, roots, and suffixes
- Teaching them how to use a dictionary and showing them the range of information it provides
- Encouraging deep processing. Students need to integrate new words into their working vocabularies.
- Giving them multiple exposures
- Focusing on a small number of important words. Ideally, the words should be related so that the depth of concept development can be increased.
-
Word Study
What We Understand About Word Study
Effective literacy learning results from a balance of reading and writing instruction, as well as explicit instruction in word study and language use.
Word study in the elementary grades focuses student attention on word parts, words and sentences in order to help students become strong readers and writers. Word study is comprehensive in its scope: including decoding, spelling, vocabulary, grammar and mechanics. This instruction is systematic and sequential, and is based on what we know about a child’s cognitive development as well as the language use standards for New York State. At each grade level, students practice and apply their growing understanding of language use to real world reading and writing.
How We Teach Word Study
Word study builds a thorough understanding of words and sentences through inquiry and a purposeful application to their lives as readers and writers. In the early grades, students develop their phonological awareness. Children learn to recognize rhyme, break words into syllables, and identify the individual sounds heard in words. At the same time, they learn that letters represent sounds. This understanding of the letter-sound relationship is what helps students begin to write and read.
As students move through first grade, phonics instruction builds in order to help students read simple words and basic syllables. Additional syllable types are introduced in first and second grade, which then allow students to read and write longer and more challenging words. By third grade, word study broadens from a phonics focus to include explicit instruction in grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. Students leave elementary grades and head to the middle school with a solid foundation in decoding and spelling multisyllabic words, as well as the ability to read and write complex sentences.
How We Measure Word Study Progress
Students in the primary grades are assessed at the end of each unit of instruction in their K-2 word study program. Teachers also monitor the transfer of understanding and application within their reading and writing conferences with individual students. Students in the upper grades complete an initial writing and spelling assessment that is then re-administered across the year in order to measure student growth and progress in spelling, grammar and mechanics. Regular reading and writing conferences are also used to assess and teach into student understanding and application.
-
English Language Arts Department
Carmelina Persico
Assistant Superintendent of Educational OperationsCarol Bush
Director of ELA, World Languages & ENLDr. Holly Quinn
Facilitator of Literacy Grades Pre-K - 3Kim McCartan
Facilitator of Grades 4-8 ELAJason Winnicki
Facilitator of Grades 9-12 ELA
