What is meant by using a Balanced Literacy approach to teaching?
A. The comprehensive approach to balanced literacy rests on three pillars: Reading, Writing, and Word Work. Balanced Literacy includes five essential components of a strong reading program. These components or parts are: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and expressiveness, vocabulary and comprehension. Research and years of successful classroom experience tell us that there are effective teaching practices that help all students become capable readers, writers and speakers. This means that students will be receiving instruction that incorporates read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading. In writing instruction, the children will learn a process writing approach that starts in the early grades with shared writing and interactive writing, and continues throughout the years with independent writing in a variety of genres.
