Your Approach to Literacy Assignment
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Dec 6, 2023
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Your Approach to Literacy Assignment
Amanda Evans
Eastern Gateway Community College
EDU203: Literacy, Language, & Phonics
Sharon Dunn
October 29, 2023
1
Your Approach to Literacy Assignment
I believe that the balanced approach is the ideal method of literacy instruction. Balanced
literacy is an instructional strategy for English Language Arts learning standards that is
integrated across curriculums. It blends the entire language and phonics-based education
philosophies. Balanced literacy is teacher-directed with independent practice and has a literacy-
rich classroom atmosphere with great teaching (
A Balanced Approach to Literacy Instruction
,
n.d.). The reason I believe in the balanced approach is because it acknowledges that literacy
development is a complex process that includes decoding, fluency, comprehension, and
vocabulary development.
Balanced literacy focuses on the development of learning skills in all children by utilizing
a variety of resources and strategies that integrate all curriculum areas. It emphasizes the
importance of oral language, thinking, and collaboration as the foundation of literacy learning.
This type of evaluation is used to guide instruction and determine levels of support to meet
individual reading and learning requirements, allowing students to acquire and master curricular
competencies (
A Balanced Approach to Literacy Instruction
, n.d.). The approach emphasizes
problem-solving, strategic thinking, and creativity skills while highlighting the connections
between oral language, reading, and writing.
Additionally, the balanced approach to literacy instruction recognizes the importance of
both phonics-based instruction and whole-language instruction. This approach provides students
with phonics instruction, while also emphasizing the importance of reading. This approach
encourages students to interact with text in a meaningful way, while also providing them with the
foundational skills needed to read. A study by the National Institute for Literacy (2008) found
that the balanced approach was more effective than either whole-language or phonics-based
2
instruction alone. Students in the balanced approach group outperformed students in the other
two groups on measures of word recognition, reading comprehension, and spelling.
I like this approach is founded on Universal Design for Learning principles, which means
that students can acquire knowledge, demonstrate what they know, and become engaged in
several ways (
A Balanced Approach to Literacy Instruction
, n.d.). Because the instructional
materials are unique, multi-level, and cross-curricular, this allows students to improve their skills
in a wide range of settings. The balanced literacy approach shifts learning responsibility from the
teacher to the student, encouraging students to take ownership of their learning. It also
incorporates strategies for whole-group, small-group, and individual instruction, ensuring
students learn from grade to grade.
This approach can be implemented in a variety of ways in the classroom. Reading
Workshop, Writing Workshop, and Word Work, for example. Teachers can use these tactics to
explicitly teach problem-solving, strategic thinking, and creativity skills while also highlighting
the connections between oral language, reading, and writing (
Balanced Literacy and Support for
Independent Practice | Learning A-Z
, n.d.). Teachers can also use evaluations of their students to
guide instruction and determine the levels of support needed to accomplish each student’s
reading and learning needs.
In conclusion, I believe the balanced literacy approach is an effective and comprehensive
method for literacy instruction that encompasses all aspects of literacy development. It
recognizes the importance of phonics-based instruction and whole-language instruction and
provides students with the foundational skills needed to read while emphasizing the importance
of reading for meaning. It also encourages problem-solving, strategic thinking, and creativity
skills while highlighting the connections between oral language, reading, and writing. By
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implementing strategies such as Reading Workshop, Writing Workshop, and Word Work,
teachers can explicitly teach these skills while also providing students with opportunities for
independent practice. The balanced literacy approach is grounded in Universal Design for
Learning principles and shifts learning responsibility from the teacher to the student, allowing
students to take ownership of their learning.
References
4
A Balanced Approach to Literacy Instruction
. (n.d.).
https://yukon.ca/sites/yukon.ca/files/edu-
balanced-literacy-booklet.pdf
Balanced literacy and support for independent practice | Learning A-Z
. (n.d.).
https://www.learninga-z.com/site/company/what-we-do/balanced-literacy
National Institute for Literacy. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early
Literacy Panel. Jessup, MD: National Institute for Literacy.