Components of a Balanced Literacy Program

All of the following contribute to producing literate citizens of the 21st Century.

Reading Aloud: Teacher reads selection aloud to students

• Provides adult model of fluent reading
• Develops sense of story/text
• Develops vocabulary
• Encourages prediction
• Builds a community of readers
• Develops active listening*

Shared Reading: Teacher and students read text together

• Demonstrates awareness of text
• Develops sense of story or content
• Promotes reading strategies
• Develops fluency and phrasing
• Increases comprehension
• Encourages politeness and respect *

Guided Reading: Teacher introduces a selection at student's instructional level

• Promotes reading strategies
• Increases comprehension
• Encourages independent reading
• Expands belief in own ability *  

Independent Reading: Students read independently

• Encourages strategic reading
• Increases comprehension
• Supports writing development
• Extends experiences with a variety of written texts
• Promotes reading for enjoyment and information
• Develops fluency
• Fosters self-confidence by reading familiar and new text
• Provides opportunities to use mistakes as learning opportunities *

Modeled/Shared Writing: Teacher and students collaborate to write text; teacher acts as scribe

• Develops concepts of print
• Develops writing strategies
• Supports reading development
• Provides model for a variety of writing styles
• Models the connection among and between sounds, letters, and words
• Produces text that students can read independently
• Necessitates communicating in a clear and specific manner*

Interactive Writing: Teacher and students compose together using a "shared pen" technique in which students do some of the writing

• Provides opportunities to plan and construct texts
• Increases spelling knowledge
• Produces written language resources in the classroom
• Creates opportunities to apply what has been learned* 

Independent Writing: Students write independently

• Strengthens text sequence
• Develops understanding of multiple uses of writing
• Supports reading development
• Develops writing strategies
• Develops active independence* 

*Personal Qualities: Collaborative Worker, Problem Solver, Quality Producer, Self Directed Learner, Responsible Citizen

Recognizable Characteristics of ReadersK-12

EMERGENT

• Inconsistently use early strategies:
• one-on-one matching
• Monitoring (repeating; self-correcting)
• cross-checking
• Read easy patterned text with picture support with fluency
• Practice skills acquired on easy materials
• Link known initial and final sound symbols to new words
• Get "mouth ready" for an unknown word
• Have limited sight vocabularies
• Retell text with simple/interchangeable storyline
• Respond to text at a literal level 

EARLY/DEVELOPING

• Search for and use cues with increasing independence
• Self-monitor and self-correct when prompted
• Read familiar text fluently
• Lack stamina needed for chapter books/novels
• Read longer text with smaller print
• Read with good phrasing and expression
• Hear/use some medial sounds to identify new words
• Identify "chunks" and analyze longer words on their own or with support
• Increase sight vocabulary
• Retell text with story structure to capture story elements
• Respond to reading content with inconsistent comprehension 

FLUENT

• Use cues flexibly and effectively
• Integrate use of cues/strategies
• Self-monitor
• Problem-solve independently
• Read smoothly using appropriate speeds
• Able to scan ahead/predict
• Transfer known information to unknown words independently
• Able to visually analyze words in text "on the run"
• Have control of multi-syllable words
• Read longer books with more complex written style
• Have an extensive sight vocabulary
• Retell complex storyline to include plot and some detail
• Respond to a variety of reading genre with comprehension

 Assessment

Documentation of Progress: Teacher monitors student'sprogress in reading and writing through systematic observation.

• Provides basis for instruction
• Provides information for forming guided reading groups 
• Provides information for appropriate text selection

Formal Assessment Provides a Snapshot View 

• Stanford Nine and other norm referenced tests
• LAPA Scores
• District Assessment based on CORE Curriculum
• Informal Reading Comprehension Placement Test, Middle School Computer Assessment
• Informal Reading Inventory, Elementary Textbook Adoption

Ongoing Assessment Records Evolving Progress

• Talking and listening to students (formal/informal conferences)
• Talking with parents or other teachers (formal/informal conferences, explanation of formal and informal assessment procedures, sharing student word samples) 
• Observational Notes (anecdotal records, checklists) 
• Samples of student work (portfolios, writing samples, journals, cloze tests)
• Listen to student read (informal/formal running records, miscue analysis

Assessing Students for Grouping and Instruction

The most useful source of information about students'instructional levels is observations teachers make on a daily basis.The following types of informal assessments are appropriate fordocumenting students' literacy performance and academic growth:

• Observation checklists
• Anecdotal notes
• Running records
• Student portfolios
• Teacher/student conference notes
• Student learning logs

Assessment provides documentation about what students know and cando. The primary purpose of assessment is to gather data to informliteracy instruction. If assessment does not result in improvedteaching, its educational student learning value diminishes.Assessment allows teachers to see the results of their instructionand to make judgments about students' literacy development.

Observation by teachers provides the following:

• Valid information about what students know and can do
• Reliable systematic observations about students' progress and development
• Evaluation of student progress as a basis for flexible grouping
• Validation of progress for parents and students
• Authentic feedback that drives the instructional program and connects with the CORE Curriculum

When teachers review their observations and other informallycollected data about students' literacy development, it is importantto have an organized system in order to document academic growth. Arubric is one method of organizing informal assessment data.

• Design rubrics that have guidelines for observation, assessment, and evaluation
• Create rubrics that are both process and product based
• Assess and/or evaluate students' literacy performance and progress based on the picture of each student's progress and achievement that emerges

Guide for Observing Reading Behavior

Student(s):

• Directional movement/return sweep
• One to one matching
• Uses meaning cues
• Uses structure cues
• Uses initial letters/sounds
• Uses final letters/sounds
• Uses chunks of words
• Integrates cues
• Rereads
• Recognizes basic vocabulary
• Self-monitors
• Self-corrects
• Cross checks
• Searches
• Uses fluency, phrasing, expression
• Views self as a reader
• Indicates comprehension
• Participates in discussion
• Looks for main ideas
• Looks for details
• Connects to personal experience
• Thinks about what will happen
• Self- questions
• Summarizes during reading
• Summarizes after reading
• Asks self whether he/she likes the selection
• Asks self whether he/she agrees with ideas or characters
• Compares and contrasts selection with others he/she has read

An Overview of Guided Reading

• Based on careful observation of students, the teacher selects books that are supportive, predictable, and closely matched to the students' needs, abilities, and interests. The chosen texts should support the objective, but be readable enough for students to proceed with minimal assistance. (Approximately 90-94% accuracy)
• The guided reading lesson provides the opportunity for the teacher to interact with small groups of students as they read books that present a successful challenge for them.
• The assessment provides information for the homogeneous groupings which are necessary for guided reading. This allows the teacher to tailor instruction to suit students' changing instructional needs.
• The teacher acts as a facilitator who sets the scene, arouses interest, and engages students in discussion that will enable them to unfold the story line and feel confident and capable of reading the text themselves.
• Guided reading is reading by students. The students are responsible for the first reading of the text.
• Approximations and predictions are encouraged and praised. The teacher closely observes, monitors, and evaluates ways in which individual students process print utilizing reading strategies such as checking meaning and self-correcting.

Instructional Model for Guided Reading

 Assessment drives instruction and precedes planning.

1. Teacher Plans the Lesson

• Identifies CORE Curriculum components
• Plans for Guided Reading lessons of 20 - 30 minutes daily
• Defines purpose of the lesson
• Selects appropriate reading strategies
• Gathers materials needed for this lesson
• Previews text prior to instruction

2. Teacher Sets The Scene

• States the expectations for the students
• Identifies the reading strategy on which the lesson is focused
• Introduces the book, author, illustrator, theme, genre
• Asks students for predictions
• Discusses students' prior knowledge
• Uses visual aids to elicit student response

3. Students Read Independently

It is important that the students understand the purpose for reading. During independent reading, students

• Use meaning, structure, and knowledge of letter-sound relationships
• Make a meaningful guess and check to see if it makes sense (sounds right and looks right)
• Read on to the end of the sentence or reread
• Ask for help if an unknown word is essential to meaning
• Note any problem words for later discussion

4. Teacher Provides Individual Feedback

As the students read independently, the teacher moves from student to student and closely observes and monitors the ways in which individual students process print. The teacher also checks reading strategies that are being used, praises appropriate strategies and suggests new ones.

5. Students Confer for Deeper Meaning

To improve comprehension, students need opportunities to return to the text. The ideal way to return to the text is in the context of a group conference. This is a time set aside to discuss a book that has been read independently by a small group of students and their teacher. This part of the guided reading lesson:

• Extends understanding of text
• May focus on students' responses to text
• May focus on literacy merits of selection
• Follows a conversational pattern
• Encourages student to interact concerning text

6. Students Are Involved In Creative Response Activities

Responding to the text activities builds on the understanding developed when students participate in group conferences. Students' responses include, but are not limited to the following options:

• Written responses
• Oral responses, including drama
• Arts and crafts
• Reading related literature

7. Students Share Response Activities

Students enjoy opportunities to share their responses during a Guided Reading lesson. The ultimate reward for working hard on a response is sharing with peers. Sharing provides opportunities for students to develop oral language skills, practice presentation techniques, and be active participants in classroom activities.

STORY, BOOK, and UNIT Introductions

Introducing a new story, book, or unit is vital to the students' success with the material. This is an opportunity to draw out prior knowledge, make predictions, preview the story, book, or unit, and introduce or review challenging vocabulary. Introducing new material does not mean that the teacher will "give away " too much, nor does it mean that the teacher will read aloud to the students because the goal is to produce independent readers. Introductions are the teacher's method of encouraging the students to read.

Introductions:

• Draw on students' experience and knowledge.
• Explain important or new ideas and concepts.
• Suggest ideas about the meaning of the whole story.
• Incorporate some of the new and challenging vocabulary.
• Connect selection to students' lives.

Text Selection

The following criteria may help you with your selection of text for Guided Reading.

Emergent Readers

A book that is appropriate for the emergent level will have:

• A familiar subject
• A simple language pattern
• Many short, high-frequency words
• Many concrete words
• Illustrations that correspond exactly to the text on the page
• Large print with distinct word spacing
• About two lines per page
• Consistent placement of print

Early Readers

A book that is appropriate for the early level will have:

• Less predictable language patterns
• Sentences that extend beyond a single line or continue on the next page
• Some simple dialogue
• A story with a beginning, middle, and end
• Illustrations depicting more or less what the text says on that page

Fluent Readers

A book that is appropriate for the fluent level will have:

• A subject or topic that may extend beyond students' range of knowledge
• Fairly long and complex sentences
• Text that requires students to make inferences
• Illustrations that complement the text on the page rather than match it
• More pages than books for early and emergent readers

Classroom Management Strategies
that Support a Literate Classroom

Classroom management involves the organizational and decision-making skills teachers use to create a climate that encourages learning. Teachers exhibit strong management skills when they assess students learning and plan instruction based on their needs.

All class members must be engaged in meaningful literacy activities.

To facilitate a literate classroom with guided reading groups, the first challenge for teachers is organizing the classroom. Students must be able to work in a focused way in small clusters. A question teachers often ask is, "What do I do with the rest of the children while I'm teaching the small group lesson?"

While the teacher focuses on small guided reading groups, the other students are working in reading and writing centers. Create an environment that is clear and uncluttered, set up centers and consider

• Ease of traffic flow
• Use of materials
• Display space
• Storage space

Management during guided reading is critical. The teacher must establish an organized, predictable environment and teach children to use it. The following steps are suggested as one method of creating a management plan that supports a balanced literacy program.

Organizing Centers

Looking at your class list, construct three or four workgroups.

• All students in the class are included in a work group.
• Students in each group can work well together.
• Groups are diverse.
• Groups are heterogeneous in terms of reading and writing ability.
• Groups are not too large to begin their work in one center or area.  

Grouping for Centers

Design an organizational chart that accounts for groups and activities. At first you may start with only two activities. Be sure to consider the following:

• Groups are working on different activities.
• All activities involve some kind of literacy.
• Activities do not disrupt guided reading groups.
• There is some opportunity for students to make choices.
• There is a balance of reading and writing tasks. ·

Implementing Centers

Implement your plan over a three-week period. During the first week, teach the routines. During the next two weeks, begin meeting with the guided reading groups. 

Setting Up Your Classroom

Classroom setup can dramatically affect students' attitudes toward and habits of learning. Students need an environment that is organized, stimulating, and comfortable in order to learn effectively. Creating such an environment entails arranging a practical physical layout, supplying diverse materials and supplies, and encouraging students to have a sense of belonging and ownership.

Tips for Getting Started:

• Ask students where they think the different learning centers should go.
• Let students help to define what behavior is appropriate for each learning center.
• Help students learn how to behave appropriately by role-playing and practicing with them.
• Post procedures for learning centers where students can refer to them.

Arranging the Learning Centers

Take the physical features of your classroom into account when planning. As the year progresses, you can add different kinds of learning centers to fit the evolving needs of your class.

• Keep computers facing away from windows to keep glare from sunlight off the screens.
• Use bookshelves to isolate different areas.
• Provide comfortable seating.
• Save space by using walls for posters, display shelves, books, and supplies.
• Build a loft to save space while creating a private spot for independent reading.
• Separate learning centers of high activity, such as the cross-curricular center, from areas like the reading center, where students need quiet.
• Set aside an area to meet with small groups. Allow enough seating for about eight students. 

Arranging the Whole-Group Area

• Make sure that all students will have an unrestricted view of the chalkboard.
• Consider using a rug to mark off the area if you have primary-grade classroom.
• Consider the whole-group activities that are required to determine how to arrange students’ desks. Keep in mind that arranging desks in a circle promotes discussions and small clusters of desks can double as small-group meeting areas.
• Your desk should be out of the way, but in an area where you can view the entire classroom. Set aside an off-limits zone for your records and supplies.

LEARNING AREAS

Whole-Group Area

For whole-class lessons-this includes informal discussion, direct instruction, and student presentations. This is a good place for an Author's Chair from which students can read their writing to the class.

Small-Group Area

Here you can give small-group instruction or allow groups of students to gather for peer-led discussions.

Reading Area

This is a place for students to read independently or quietly with a partner. It should provide comfortable seating, a variety of books, and a quiet, secluded atmosphere.

Writing Center

Here students write independently and collaboratively. The area should contain comfortable space for writing and a variety of supplies. 

Cross-Curricular Center

This is an active center where students explore relationships across different curricula, including literature, science, social studies, art, and math.

Computer Station

This area is for computer use in writing, math, reading, keyboard practice, research, telecommunications, and creative games.

Creative Arts Center

This area is where students can get involved in visual art and dramatic play. It should have a variety of art supplies, costumes, and props.

Communication Area/Post Office

This area has mail slots for students and teacher to exchange written messages and suggestions.

Listening Station

Here students listen to tapes of books, stories, songs, and poems. 

Language Activities and CenterIdeas

Many of the following activities require the guidance of ateaching assistant, other adult, or an older student. In order to usesome of these activities in literacy centers, be sure appropriatesupport is available.

WORD ANALYSIS

Pick a Word

Write the new words for a story on the chalkboard. Print the samewords on flash cards and turn them over so the words cannot be seenby the children. Place them in any order against the chalkboard. Giveeach child in the group a chance to pick one of the cards. Before theword card is picked, however, the student looks over the words on theboard and tells which word she thinks she will pick. She choose acard, pronounces the word, tells how many syllables it has, and usesit correctly in a sentence. If the flash card picked contains theword she thought she would pick, she gets another turn.

This activity can be varied by placing the flash cards on thechalk ledge so they can be seen by the group. Provide students withthe meaning of one of the words. Ask a student to come up and pickout that word, pronounce it, and use it correctly in a sentence. Or,make up a short riddle for each word in a group of words, from theclues supplied, let a student pick the correct word card and then usethe word in a sentence. This can also be a team activity, with pointsbeing given for correct answers.

Enter The Castle

Group together those children who need special help recognizingcertain elements in words, such as words ending with edor words containing ir and ar. On thechalkboard, draw a castle with several steps leading to it. On eachstep, write one of the words. Tell the children that those who canread all of the words without a mistake may enter the castle. When achild reads the list correctly, draw a stick figure, representing thechild inside the castle and add his initials under it. When a childmisses a word, he remains on the step, and another child gets achance to read the words. Near the end of the game, give any childrenstill on a step another chance to enter the castle. This activity maybe varied by substituting a rocket, haunted house, or similar placefor the castle.

MAIN IDEAS

"That Reminds Me..."

Most children enjoy discussing stories they have read. Have onepupil initiate a conversation about a favorite story by telling aboutan exciting part or by discussing the main characters. Someone elsewho has read the story might add to these comments. If what is saidabout the first story reminds another student of a different story,that student may chime in and say "That reminds me of...," and tellthe people, incidents or experiences from still another story.Encourage as many children as possible to join in theconversation.

Facial Expressions

Let the children discuss the facial expressions of a characterillustrated in their book or story. Have them think about thecharacter and tell what they think this person is saying or thinking.After several children have portrayed a character in this way, havethe group follow the same procedure for other pictures illustratingthe same story. Students may be surprised to discover how often suchpictures depict the main ideas of a story.

Author's Request

Tell the children to imagine that the author of one of theirstories has asked them to make illustrations for the story. Limit thenumber of pictures to be drawn so that only the main incidents orideas of the story will be illustrated. The children may show theirpictures when they are completed and tell why they chose particularscenes to illustrate.

Contents Page

After the group reads a unit of stories, help the children make acontents page for that unit. Tell them to write the name of the unitat the top of the paper and to list the stories contained in the unitbelow the unit title. Direct the children to write the page numbers(i.e., 22-25) after each story title, as well as a descriptivesentence about each of the storieslisted.

Amusing Captions

Ask students to plan charts displaying information about variousanimals in which they are interested. Next, they research the habitsof these animals and add this information to their charts. Childrenmight also have fun writing some interesting or amusing captions oneach chart.

Underline It

Make duplicate copies of a paragraph or several sentences to beread by the group. Direct pupils to underline several words in theselection which should be emphasized or stressed. Ask the children toread the selection aloud, making effective use of voice andexpression by stressing the underlined words. Discuss the fact thatthere may be variations in the ways that pupils choose to stress thesame material.

Example:

The fisherman caught five beautiful fish.

The fisherman caught five beautiful fish.

Emphasize that there is no right or wrong way to read the materialaloud. Different words may be underlined by different children, sincethis is a matter of interpretation.

Find the Part

After the group has read a particular story, write on thechalkboard such incomplete ideas as why Jimmy felt unhappy orhow Janie felt when she got on the plane. Direct pupils toread orally the parts of the story which supply details about theseincomplete ideas. Another variation is to use sentences directly fromthe story, such as the following: Billy watched the silvery jettaxi down the long runway and then take off, or As Martha andJeff walked down the street, they saw old Mr. Putnam coming towardthem. Ask pupils to read aloud the paragraph in which thesentence appears.

Magic Eraser

Put some phrases similar to the following on the chalkboard: anunforgettable afternoon; into the deep, swirling water; heard a high,screeching voice; with a grin on her face, and so on. Haveavailable an eraser, calling it the "Magic Eraser." Ask students toread the phrases aloud and tell them that the eraser will erase eachphrase that is read smoothly. If a phrase is not read smoothly, theMagic Eraser will not erase it. One child might read several phrases,with a new list or additional phrases being given the next child.

SEQUENCE OF IDEAS

Sequence Box

Children with artistic talent may enjoy drawing the sequence ofevents for a story on pieces of cardboard, such as tablet backs. Putthese pieces into a box in mixed order. Other pupils then put thestory in correct sequence. They also tell the name of the story, listthe main characters, and write a brief summary of the story.

Mixed Sentences

For practice in recognizing story sequence, cut some short storiesinto single sentences. Paste each sentence on a separate piece ofcardboard, and then number the sentences on the back for propersequence. Put the sentences for each story into an envelope. Writethe following instructions on the outside of each envelope: Thesesentences are mixed up. Put them in the proper order to make a story.When you have finished, turn the sentences over, keeping them in thesame order. On the back you will find the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 andso on. If these number are in the proper order, you have arranged thesentences correctly.

A number of these envelopes may be placed in a Literacy Center. Ifso, file the envelopes in a small box, and attach the directions tothe box. Another variation is to divide stories into individualparagraphs and then proceed.

CRITICAL READING

Draw a Picture

Distribute sheets of drawing paper to the group. Ask the childrento draw a picture of a character about whom they have all read. Next,students write a short sentence that tells about the character.Pupils might use such descriptive sentences as the following: Thisperson decided he wanted to be a baseball hero so he asked hisfriends for advice; or This boy became lost in an undergroundcave and had to be rescued.

This activity may be varied by having children draw facialexpressions on pictures of characters to show the characters'feelings. The written sentences can describe thosefeelings.

Which is accurate?

Write two sentences about each page in a story read by the group.One sentence should be an accurate statement and the other sentenceshould be inaccurate. Have the students identify the sentence that isan accurate statement relating to the story. They can add a few moresentences that describe the events on the remaining pages of thestory.

STUDY SKILLS

Major Headings

Provide three or four major headings for the plot of a story suchas:

I.	Billy Leaves Home
II.	Billy Finds a Friend
III.	Billy Returns

Ask the students to list under each heading one or two detailsfrom that section of the story. Point out that these details shouldinclude specific actions, conversations, orevents.

Guide Words

Provide practice in using a dictionary or glossary by listingseveral words from a story or book being read by the group. Instructstudents to locate the two guide words from the glossary ordictionary page on which each of the words appear. Students can alsowrite the spelling and meaning of each word. Finally, students canexplain how the words are connected to the story or book they arereading.

BONUS IDEAS

Rymie-Stymies

Let the children make up and try to guess "Rymie-Stymies." Directpupils to write brief riddles which can be answered by two rhymingwords. Let other children read the riddles and try to answerthem.

Examples:

What is a cat that weighs too much? (Fat Cat)

What would you call a fly that is very quiet? (Shy Fly)

What would you call a place where a skunk keeps his clothes? (Skunk's Trunk)

Add to the Story

Many students will enjoy working together to write and illustratea story about funny situations such as what happens to two kangaroosin a city. This story might be started by writing the followingsentence on the chalkboard: One day two kangaroos decided to takea bus downtown.

One pupil copies the sentence from the board and continues thestory by adding a sentence. Each pupil in turn reads the previoussentences and adds one or more sentences to the story. The completedstory may then be illustrated and made available for everyone toread.

If desired, write other beginning sentences on the board, and haveother children start stories. In this way, several stories can becirculating and "growing" at the same time.

These activities are based on the followingbook:

Criscuolo, Dr. Nicholas P. 137 Activities forReading Enrichment. New York: The Instructor Publications, Inc.,1975.

Shared Reading: An Effective Instructional Model

Basis for Shared Reading Model

The shared reading model was developed by Holdaway (1979). It builds from the research that indicates that storybook reading is a critically important factor in young children's reading development (Wells, 1986). The storybook reading done by parents in a home setting is particularly effective (Strickland & Taylor, 1989). However, in school, in most cases, a teacher reads to a group of children rather than to a single child. The shared reading model allows a group of children to experience many of the benefits that are part of storybook reading done for one or two children at home (Ferreiro & Teberosky, 1982; Schickendanz, 1978).

The shared reading model often uses oversized books (referred to as big books) with enlarged print and illustrations. As the teacher reads the book aloud, all of the children can see and appreciate the print and illustrations. 

Repeated Readings

In the shared reading model there are multiple reading of the books over several days. Throughout, children are actively involved in the reading (Yaden, 1988). The teacher may pause in the reading and ask for predictions as to what will happen next. Because many of the books include predictable text, the children often chime in with a word or phrase. Groups of children or individual children might volunteer or be invited to read parts of the story. Through repeated readings and the predictable text, children become familiar with word forms and begin to recognize words and phrases (Bridge, Winograd, & Haley; Pikulski & Kellner, 1992).

Purposes for Rereading

The repeated readings of the same story serve various purposes. The first reading is for enjoyment; the second may focus on building and extending comprehension of the selection; a third might focus attention on the interesting language and vocabulary; a fourth might focus on decoding, using the words in the selection as a starting point for teaching word identifications skills (Yaden, 1989).

Benefits of Shared Reading:

• Rich, authentic, interesting literature can be used, even in the earliest phases of a reading program, with children whose word-identification skills would not otherwise allow them access to this quality literature.
• Each reading of a selection provides opportunities for the teacher to model reading for the children.
• Opportunities for concept and language expansion exist that would not be possible if instruction relied only on selections that students could read independently.
• Awareness of the functions of print, familiarity with language patterns, and word-recognition skills grow as children interact several times with the same selection.
• Individual needs of students can be more adequately met. Accelerated readers are challenged by the interesting, natural language of selections. Because of the support offered by the teacher, students who are more slowly acquiring reading skills experience success.

Comparison of Traditional and GuidedReading Groups

Traditional Reading Groups	Guided Reading Groups
Groups remain stable in composition.	Groups are dynamic, flexible, and change on a regular basis.
Students progress through a specific sequence of stories and skills.	Stories are chosen at appropriate level for each group; there is no prescribed sequence.
Introductions focus on new vocabulary.	Introductions focus on meaning with some attention to new and interesting vocabulary.
Skills practice follows reading.	Skills practice is embedded in shared reading.
Focus is on the lesson, not the student.	Focus is on the student, not the lesson.
Teacher follows prepared "script" from the teacher's guide.	Teacher and students actively interact with text.
Questions are generally limited to factual recall.	Questions develop higher order thinking skills and strategic reading.
Teacher is interpreter and checker of meaning.	Teacher and students interact with text to construct meaning.
Students take turn reading orally.	Students read entire text silently or with a partner.
Students take turn reading orally.	Focus is on understanding meaning.
Students respond to story in workbooks or on prepared worksheets.	Students respond to story through personal and authentic activities.
Readers are dependent on teacher direction and support.	Students read independently and confidently.
Students are tested on skills and literal recall at the end of each story/unit.	Assessment is ongoing and embedded in instruction.

Teaching for Strategies at Emergent/EarlyDeveloping Level

Strategy	Teacher Talk to Facilitate the Strategy
One-to-One Matching Readers at emergent level use one-to-one matching to help control visual attention to print.	"Point and read." "Did it match?"
Meaning Reading is supported to make sense. This is the semantic cue system.	"Are you thinking about what's happening in the story while you're reading?" "You said _____. Does that make sense?" "Where can you look?"
Structure Structure is the knowledge of how language works. This is the syntactic cue system.	"You said _____. Does that sound right?" "Do we say it that way?"
Graphophonic This is the understanding and using the sound/symbol relationship of language.	"What would you expect to see at the beginning? At the end?" "Do we say it that way?"
Self-correcting Self-correcting is the process of going back and accurately rereading text when it is not making sense. Self-correction does not take place unless there is an error.	"I like the way you fixed that." "You made a mistake. Can you fix it?"
Cross-Checking Cross-checking is checking one cue system against another.	"It could be ____ but look at ____." (For example, it could be Cyclops but look at the "m".) "Check it! See if what you read looks right (or looks right and makes sense or sounds right and makes sense)." "Could it be _____?" (Teacher inserts two possible words that need to be confirmed using meaning and structure first, then checks on graphophonics.)
Searching Searching is integrating all cue systems.	"There is something wrong. Can you find it?" "What's wrong?" "How did you know? Is there any other way we could know?" "Where else can you look?"
Self-Monitoring Self-monitoring is the student's ability to monitor his/her own reading by rereading.	"Why did you stop?" (when student hesitates) "What did you notice?" "I like the way you did that, but can you find the hard part?" "Are you right: (after correct or incorrect words) How did you know?" "Try that again."
Stopping at a New Word This strategy allows the student to problem solve.	"What could you try?" "Do you know a word that starts like that?" "Is there a part of the word that can help you?" "What are you going to do?" "Go back and reread, think about the story and start to say the word."
Fluency and Phrasing Reading is like talking. Encourage students to read text naturally, pausing appropriately with intonation.	"Can you read this quickly?" "Put them all together so that is sounds like talking." "Read the punctuation."

Word learning activities are used to helpchildren
become very familiar with print

Reading new texts and rereading familiar texts ensure thatstudents in these programs engage in meaningful, connected reading.These programs also include activities that help students focus onand become familiar with printed words. For example, theWinston-Salem Project uses a procedure called "Making Words"(Cunningham, 1991; Cunningham & Cunningham, 1992). Students arepresented with the letters that form a word from a selection theyread. Words are selected because of their interest and because theycontain word identification elements that will be useful to thestudents. For example, students might be presented with the lettersa c e e h r t. (Students delight in trying to guess the"long" word, a word that uses all the letters and is from a recentlyread story.) Progressively longer words are built from the letters. Ateacher might begin by asking students to take two letters and formthe word at. Next, they might be asked to add a letter to form rat,to change a letter to form cat, to rearrange the letters to form act.Using similar directions they might move through eat, ate, tea,tear, rate, crate, create,to teacher. (See Cunningham& Cunningham, 1992, for further details and more examples.)

A C E E H R T

E A T

A T E

T E A

T E A R

R A T E

C R A T E

C R E A T E

T E A C H ER

High-Frequency Words andVocabulary

High-Frequency Words

High-frequency words are the words that appear most often inprinted material. According to Robert Hillerich, "Just three wordsI, and, the account for ten percent of all words in printedEnglish."

"High-frequency words are hard for my students to remember becausethey tend to be abstract," says first grade teacher Kathy Chen. Theycan't use a picture clue to figure out the word with. And phonicsclues don't always work either."

Learning to recognize high-frequency words by sight is critical todeveloping fluency in reading. Kathy explains, "Recognizing thesewords gives students a basic context for figuring out other words.Once they recognize the, they can predict with amazingaccuracy what the next word will be." 

Teacher Tip

Word Walls, lists of words that follow a particular pattern, arean effective tool for teaching high-frequency words and vocabulary.Here are some ideas:

• With your students, choose words that have similar beginning sounds, vowel sounds, endings, or words on a particular subject.
• When students find an appropriate word, have them add it to the list.
• Encourage students to use these words in their writing and as a reference.

Ideas for Teaching High-Frequency Words

• Have students create rebus sentences, using high-frequency words such as the, is, and in.
• Write high-frequency words on cards. Have students form sentences using a pocket chart.
• Have students keep lists of words they can read and write. When they have trouble with a word, they can refer to their notebooks.
• Point out similarities between new words and those students can already decode.

Teaching Vocabulary

Julia Carriosa asks her fourth grade students to reread thefollowing passage:

When ocean particles contain bits of soil, especially clay, theparticles of earth stick to oil droplets. The more sediments that aremixed in the water, the more oil is eventually deposited on the oceanbottom.

"Now, let's suppose you don't know what sediments means,"says Julia. "What do you do?"

Lisa raises her hand. "Look it up in the dictionary?'

"Yes. But suppose you don't have a dictionary handy. What elsecould you do?"

Julia then helps her students see that the passage contains enoughcontext clues to give them an adequate understanding of the wordsediments.

Choosing Vocabulary Words to Aid Comprehension

These steps can help you identify words that will improve studentsvocabulary development comprehension directly.

1. Identify a selection's theme or key concepts.
2. Identify cluster words from the selection that relate to the theme or key concepts.
3. Eliminate words students know (or figure out words students know from context clues or structural analysis).
4. Eliminate words whose meaning is not needed to understand something important.

Ideas for Teaching Vocabulary

• While reading aloud to the class, pause to discuss interesting or amusing words.
• Have students list in their journals words that interest or confuse them.
• Don't have students copy definitions, but do teach them how to use a dictionary.
• Use graphic devices to help students explore individual words or relationships between words.

Teacher Tip: Effective Instruction

• Teach words in a meaningful context, using authentic literature.
• Teach only a few words per reading selection.
• Relate each word to students' prior knowledge.
• Group each word with other related words.
• Have students use the word to express their own ideas and experiences.
• Expose students to the word in a variety of contexts.

Phonics and StructuralAnalysis

Kathy Chen sits with a Big Book propped on one knee and seven ofher grist graders clustered on the floor in front of her. Pointing toeach word, she reads, "...and he pulled the rabbit out of his..." Shepauses and asks,

"Who can tell me the next word?" Four voices shout, "Hat!"

"Good," says Kathy. "Who can tell me why?"

"It's in the picture," one student answers.

"Yes, and what letter does hat begin with?" Kathy asks.

"H!"

"That's right," says Kathy. "Does anyone see another word thatbegins with h? Keesha, come and point out the word. Good! Thatword is his, and it begins with h. Let's all sayhis and hat out loud. Can you hear that they begin withthe same sound?"

Kathy is taking advantage of a shared reading session to teach herstudents a lesson in decoding, the process of identifying the writtenform of a spoken word. She uses three types of cues. Semantics(meaning) and structural analysis help the students identify the wordhat; phonics (letter-sound associations) help them learn torecognize hat, he and his. "All three ways oflearning to read are essential," say Kathy. "Phonics can't standalone." 

Teacher Tip: Teaching Phonics inSequence

Try this progression when teaching phonics:

1. Alliteration, Rhyme, Onsets and Rhymes

2. Single Consonant Sounds

3. Consonant Clusters (bl, gr, and sp)

4. Consonant Digraphs (sh, ch, and th)

5. Short Vowels

6. Long Vowels

7. Vowel or Vowel-Consonant Pairs (oo, ew, oi, and oy)

Ideas for Teaching Phonics

• Use words and names that are part of students' visual environment to reinforce letter-sound associations.
• Create a phonics chart that contains words with a particular phonogram.
• Have students write tongue twisters using words that begin with the same sound.
• Have teams brainstorm to generate the longest list of words containing a particular phonogram.

Structural Analysis

In Julia Carriosa's fourth grade class, word skill instructionfocuses on structural analysis using familiar word parts (base parts,prefixes, and suffixes) to determine the meaning of unfamiliarwords.

"By fourth grade, most of my students are already skilled atletter-sound association. But they are now dealing with harder words,and even when they have pronounced the new word, they might not knowwhat it means. So we focus on context clues and whatever meaningclues the word itself might contain."

Be sure your students understand that many prefixes and suffixeshave more than one meaning, as in inactive and inroad,and that even when they know the correct meaning of an affix, theymight still come up with an incorrect definition. Emphasize theimportance of checking a word's context to see if their guessedmeaning makes sense.

These checklists may be helpful in assessing your students'decoding skills.

Emergent Readers

• beginning consonants
• end consonants
• medial consonants
• consonant blends (bl, gr, sp)
• consonant digraphs (sh, th, ch)
• short vowels
• long vowels
• vowel pairs (oo, ew, oi, oy)

Early/Fluent Readers

• inflected forms (-s, -es, -ed, -ing, -ly)
• contractions
• possessives
• compound words
• syllables
• base words
• root words
• prefixes
• suffixes

Teacher Tip: Structural Analysis andPhonics

Shared Reading

Have students raise their hands during a second reading when theyhear a word that contains a certain sound.

Guided Reading

After finishing a story, have students review it for compoundwords.

Shared Writing

Have students compose a rhyming poem.

Writing Aloud

Have students think aloud as they predict how a word isspelled.