Balance Based Literacy: Is it the Best Solution?

Literacy has function an strategic consideration in the field of education. To address literacy problems, educators (Strickland, n. d. Frey et al. , 2004) use the equilibrium found Literacy Program, which specifically stresses the use of varied approaches to acquireing literacy. According to atomic number 20 Department of Education (as cited in Frey et al. , 2004), the term balanced literacy originated in calcium in 1996. This was made into a curriculum in response to mild denotation scores of savants on a national examination. It forces the concept that version and piece must go hand in hand to pull ahead literacy.In contrast to using a specific approach to teaching literacy such as Phonics Approach or Whole Language Approach, offset found Literacy combines these approaches and more than in order to attend meeting the final stage of literacy. guess that every student has the capability to learn how to read and economize, Balance base Literacy gets students to achieve a certain literacy level through a compounding of approaches relevant to their ability. The literacy work established with balance kicks students to plan their own private progress, and attempt refreshful techniques in learning, with the support of teachers and resources. ground on Frey et al. (2004), galore(postnominal) authors believe that combining a balance of teacher-directed breeding and student-centered activities is the most effective authority of teaching literacy. In addition, Asselin, and Pearson (as cited in Frey) believe that Balance Based Literacy must include elements of community, authenticity, integration, optimism, modeling, and student control and connectedness. Activities incorporated in Balance Based Literacy include study and makeup aloud, shargond get aroundment and writing, guided knowledge and writing, and independent reading and writing. According to Mrs.Stewarts Kindergarten Web site, one model of Balance Based Literacy being employe d nowadays is the Literacy cooperative Model. This complete model is designed to provide a school-wide approach to improve reading and writing. This model includes a wide range of individual, small- classify, and large-group reading and writing activities (Literacy Collaborative Web site). One component of Balance Based Literacy is study and piece Aloud. In variation Aloud, students learn the lyric through acquisition. It supports the idea that language is acquired, thus students be communicateed to read aloud a text to new(prenominal) students.By doing such, the read language registers in the mind of the students, making them learn the language. However, beyond the purpose of learning, the goals of Reading Aloud are to promote enjoyment and accentuate the uses of photographic print (Mrs. Stewarts Web site). It exposes the students to the uses of printed materials, and develops discussion skills by motivating them to ask questions during the bodily function. During Readi ng aloud, students do not need to view the read text. The centralise is not on the content of the text, but what the student reads or explains almost the text.The selection for such activities may be fiction or nonfiction, or it can be a narrative, or a picture bulk Another component of Balance Based Literacy is Shared Reading. During Shared Reading, students redevelop ideas from the context. Either the teacher or a proficient student reader reads to the class, while the rest of the students are invited to join in the reading. One important component of shared reading is an enlarged text which is readable by all children. The text apply may contain songs, poems, charts, or lists created by the teacher or developed with the class during shared writing activities.During the reading, the teacher or student reader points to or glides a locator on the reading material to guide the students in reading. This is to draw students attention to the print in order to promote familiarity wi th words in the text. Shared reading activities involve multiple readings of books over several days. During the initial reading, the teacher emphasizes reading for enjoyment while subsequent readings are done to increase participation, and teach vocabulary, ideas, authors style, and intonation patterns.Through repeated readings of a particular text, children sound familiar with word forms and build up recognition of words and phrases used in the text (Bridge, Winograd, & international international ampereere Haley Pikulski & Kellner, as cited in Frey et al. , 2004). The triad reading component of Balance Based Literacy is Guided Reading. In this benignant of practise, students are given more chances to testify their ideas and feelings through inquiry. As such, it requires more student participation. In most cases, students are grouped together accord to their level, and asked to read a text steal to their reading ability.In this case, the teacher take to carefully ident ify each students level to ensure proper assessment. The fourth reading component is Independent Reading. This activity allows the student to choose from a wide variety of texts. It aims to make students become confident, do and enthusiastic intimately their ability to read. Considered as an advanced approach to reading, this activity makes use of skills learned during the Reading Aloud, Shared Reading, and Guided Reading activities. The writing components of Balance Based Literacy also ensure variety in the occupation of approaches and resources.One component is the Shared Writing activity. In this activity, the teacher and the students together square off to write a text in which the teacher acts as the scribe. The activity requires discussion of what they are writing about, and modeling of the teacher on the jury how the text should be written. The students are asked to verbally interact with the teacher before, during, and afterward the activity to help make connections. The second writing component is the interactive Writing activity. In this activity, either the teacher and the class, or students in groups fall in to write a material.The students articulate the words or sounds that they are about to write, and discuss with the teacher or group mates what they are writing about. The third component is the Guided Writing or Writing Workshop. This intends to allow students to spend time daily to write about things that interest them. Students are guided to experiment with a variety of genres. The ultimate goal is for students to develop a style of their own, and apply previous learning. In addition to the writing activity itself, the teacher offers a whole class session, small group lesson, or a conference where students can learn and share their written output.The fourth component is the Independent Writing. This activity allows students to write independently by choosing their own topic and genre. By letting them write freely, students develop the native habit of writing, thereby making them improve along the process. In this gracious of activity, teacher evaluation is set aside in order to promote creativity. The components of Balance Based Literacy are directed toward a common goal to ensure effective strategy in teaching literacy. They support staple literacy theories introduced in the past such as the constructivist, interactive, and experiential theories.Encompassing these theories, Balance Based Literacy may be viewed as a holistic approach to literacy instruction. victorious from the behaviorist theory of B. F. Skinner, the Constructivism theory believes that all knowledge is constructed through a process of reflective abstraction (Huitt, 2003). In the constructivist classroom, the learner is presented with opportunities to construct new knowledge in addition to prior knowledge and experience. In particular, Reading Aloud and Shared Writing support this theory. As students read and write aloud, they learn new soun ds and vocabulary, and benefit from the sharing done by their classmates.Interactive Reading and Writing anchor on the Interactive theory. This theory believes that learning is dress hat attained through interaction with others. As discussed preceding(prenominal), during Interactive Reading and Writing, students are given the opportunity to listen to others ideas. All the components mentioned above support the experiential theory. This theory purports that learning will best guide through individual experience. By asking students to read and write aloud, express ideas in interactive activities, and read and write on their own, teachers promote experiential learning as the very basis of their instruction.Although many educators believe in the effectiveness of Balance Based Literacy Instruction, some authors see disadvantages in its application. For instance, jenny wren (n. d. ) suggests that the needs of the learners must be the first consideration when designing an appropriate c ourse of instruction of instruction. He claims that instruction should be patterned to the needs of the learners and not specific of one approach or a balance of many approaches. Another issue regarding application of Balance Based Literacy is the specific counseling it gives on reading and writing.This tends to neglect other skills such as dissertation and listening, which are also important aspects of literacy. To mitigate problems arising from this neglect, the teacher should incorporate harangue and listening resources as tools for reading and writing instruction. For example, instead of focusing on printed materials, guided writing could use listening resources as motivation activities. Furthermore, expert resources should likewise be used to promote a holistic approach. outcome Balance Based Literacy has been considered by many as an ideal class to teach literacy.Given its whole rounded and comprehensive approach to reading and writing, it purports not just base learning but mastery of skills in the engineer areas. In addition, the activities it introduces provide a way to monitor the progress of students, and allow them to experience learning in various ways. Studies validating the effectiveness of Balance Based Literacy have found its applicability to young learners. However, not more than has been said about its applicability to adult learners who are more in need of a balanced instruction.In this regard, it is highly recommended to conduct research on the applicability of the said program of instruction among adult learners. References Balance overview. (n. d. ) Retrieved butt on 19, 2008, from http//projectcentral. ucf. edu/Past%20Initiatives/BALANCE/index. html Dorothy S. Strickland (n. d. ) Balanced Literacy Teaching the Skills and thrills of reading. http//teacher. scholastic. com/professional/teachstrat/balanced. htm Frey, Bruce B. , Steve W. Lee, Nona Tollefson &Lisa Pass. (2004). Balanced literacy in an urban school district. Retri eved 17 environ 2008, from http//people. ku. edu/bfrey/balancedliteracy.pdf Kolb, David A. , Richard E. Boyatzis & Charalampos Mainemelis. Experiential learning theory Previous research and new directions. Retrieved March 20, 2008, from http//www. learningfromexperience. com/images/uploads/experiential-learning-theory. pdf Literacy collaborative Our purpose. (n. d. ) Retrieved March 19, 2008, from http//www. literacycollaborative. org/about/characteristics/ Martha Manson French, M. (1999). Planning for literacy instruction Guidelines for planning and instruction for literacy. Retrieved March 19, 2008, from http//clercdev. gallaudet. edu/cc/Products/Sharing-Ideas/planning/guidelines.html Root, Cathy (n. d. ) Balanced Reading and writing in the first and second grade classroom an internet-based treasure hunt on balanced literacy. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from http//www. swlauriersb. qc. ca/english/edservices/pedresources/balancedlit/balancedliteracy. htm Thelen, Jeff. (n. d. ). A balanced literacy program for the upper elementary grades. Retrieved March 19, 2008, from http//curriculum. edenpr. org/jthelen/languagearts/a_balanced_literacy_program. htm Wren, Sebastian. (n. d. ) What does a balanced literacy approach think? Retrieved from http//www. sedl. org/reading/topics/balanced. html