Caleb Crum

Dr. Hunter
ELED 508
Literacy Instruction Notes
September 1st, 2018
Name: Caleb Crum
Grade level you are currently teaching or are planning to teach:
PreK through 6th Grade
Balanced Literacy is: what scholars in the field of literacy have learned
over the past fifty years and what literacy instruction must consist of to
be effective and meet needs of students.
Major Components of Balanced Literacy
Strategy Targeted Skills
Read-Aloud Interactive reading Story conventions,
where students listen comprehension,
to teacher reading, fluency, word sounds,
often joining in on function of
familiar or repetitious punctuation,
words. vocabulary, and
phonics.
Shared Reading Together, students Story conventions,
and teacher read vocabulary, fluency,
aloud from text (big word sounds, function
book, enlarged text, of punctuation, and
poem, part(s) of a phonics.
story.
Reader’s Workshop Students self-select a Target skills or
book to read. concepts specific to
Minilessons are the workshop.
presented by teachers
to target skill/concept
for students to locate
in their book during
independent reading
lessons.
Independent Students read self- Reading strategies,
Reading selected texts alone or vocabulary
with a partner(s). development, reading
appreciation, and
concept development.

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Word Work Teacher directly Word-attack
teachers letter strategies, vocabulary,
knowledge, phonics, grammar,
phonological letter knowledge,
awareness, high letter/word sound
frequency words, connections.
letter and word
sounds, and patterns.
Guided Reading Teachers work in small Word-attack
groups as they read strategies, story
leveled texts to match conventions, fluency,
student ability and comprehension,
interest. The teacher vocabulary, and
helps students think, phonics.
read, and talk about
the text in a
purposeful way that
will lead them to
become independent,
fluent readers.
Write-Aloud Teachers model what Writing conventions,
they are thinking as concept development,
they write a piece in and writing process.
front of their students.
Shared/Modeled Teacher and student(s) Writing conventions,
Writing work together to concept development,
compose a syntax, vocabulary,
message/story. development,
Students provide ideas grammar, and writing
as teacher acts as process.
scribe, modeling the
writing process.
Interactive Writing Teacher and students Concept development,
compose a writing conventions,
story/message sounds of words and
together. Students how sounds connect
“share the pen” to with letters, writing

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 record text on board, process, punctuation,
poster, overhead or and grammar.
other medium.
Guided Writing Teacher works one-on- Sound/symbol
one or in small groups connections, process
with students to focus writing, writing
on specific skill conventions,
deficiencies. punctuation, and
syntax.
Independent Writing Students self-select Writing conventions,
topics, draft, edit, and process writing.
revise, and either
publish or record their
writing in a personal
journal.
Writer’s Workshop All students in the Writing conventions,
class work and process writing.
independently on self-
selected pieces at the
same time.
Literacy Centers Places for students to Reinforce
practice and explore skills/concepts taught
skills/concepts while in class.
guided reading groups
are in session.
Student-Teacher Teacher meets one- Target skills/concepts
Conferences on-one w/ students to are specific to the
discuss skill and needs of the individual
concept student.
strengths/weaknesses.
Direct Instruction Teacher presents Targeted skills or
planned skill or concepts are specific
concept instruction to to lesson (i.e.,
whole class or small vocabulary, phonics,
groups. writing conventions).
Literature Circles Students meet in small Analytical thinking and
groups to discuss, speaking skills,

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 question, and comprehension, and
challenge other discussion skills.
opinions about text.
Mini-lessons Small-group or whole- Targeted skill or
class instruction on a concept is specific to
specific skill or set of the lesson.
skills with which the
targeted group is
having difficulty.
Thematic Units Teacher plans and Comprehension,
presents literature- connecting ideas, story
based units of and writing
instruction that conventions, and
include opportunities word-attack skills.
for students to read,
write, speak, present,
respond, and think
critically.
Field Trips Class trips are planned Add to student
to support student understanding and
learning. knowledge base. Help
students make
connections between
what they are learning
and life outside the
classroom.
Guest Speakers Guests (parents, Add to student
teachers, understanding and
administrators, knowledge base. Help
support staff, students make
community members, connections.
etc.…) support student
learning w/ personal
experiences.
Guest Readers Guests read favorite Literature appreciation
stories to the class. and listening skills.

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APPLICATION: With all of these major components of what a balanced
literacy curriculum looks like, I will work closely with my 5th grade
teachers to understand where students will require more attention and
implement the major components, and ancillary components to ELA.
More importantly with my PE curriculum I will create situations for
students to be able to practice the major components that have been
listed through creating a rubric/rules for activities, discussing the activity
and recording data from activities. Since I mainly deal with all grade levels
I will work closely with all grade levels to understand what the major
CCSS standards are of focus so that I can implement the appropriate
strategies to help support their classroom curricula.

Learning Goals in a Balanced Literacy Program Should Include:

 The conventions of print
 Strategies for approaching text
 A wide range of vocabulary words
 Strategies for decoding words
 Conventions of grammar and how they are used to
communicate meaning
 Processes of writing
 How to speak effectively and how to organize an oral
presentation
 Read with fluency and understanding
 Use context clues to understand text
 Make predictions and draw conclusions from information
presented in texts
 Express their thoughts verbally and in writing in a clear and
logical way
 Edit their work
 Be reflective and ask questions
Read-Alouds at ALL LEVELS:
 Actively engages students with the text

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 Read-aloud at all levels allow students to be actively engaged in
their texts and also models for students what the reading process
may look like and sound like so that we as teachers can provide
them with background knowledge about texts. More importantly
this introduces students on how to be a good and fluent reader, it
teaches students how to read, and gives them the opportunity to
hear how language is supposed to sound when reading aloud. By
reading aloud this also helps students support their own critical
thinking skills and fosters student’s understanding that it is their
responsibility to create meaning through texts. Lastly, and the most
important significance to reading aloud is that it helps foster a love
for reading for students and can inspire them to further their
reading and academic goals.
Ways to do a Read-Aloud
Step #1. Before Reading
a) Create enthusiasm for the test.
b) Introduce students to the author and illustrator.
c) Discuss the title and ask for predictions relating to the title.
d) Discuss the illustrations on the cover.
Step #2. During Reading
a) Ask questions that will activate prior knowledge.
b) Ask students to predict what they think will happen next.
Step #3. Reading Aloud
a) Read to students in an expressive, exciting way.
b) Read through the whole book for young children, a chapter or
piece of text for older students. Allow them to hear the fluency in
your reading.
Step #4. After Reading
a) Ask questions about the character.
b) Discuss the elements of the story.
c) Create a graphic organizer/chart to categorize information for
students.
d) For young children, reread the story several times. Students love to
hear stories over and over again.
e) For repetitive text, stories, or poems with a refrain, ask students to
read or sing along with you.

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 f) Ask students what they think would have been a better ending for
the story.
g) Encourage students to make personal connections to the text.
Step #5. Providing Suggestions for Follow-up Activities (which
may also be used as independent activities)
a) Read another book on the same topic.
b) Create a piece of artwork relating to the text in some way.
c) Search a magazine for ideas or objects discussed in the book.
d) Research a topic presented in the book.
e) Write a journal entry responding to the text.
f) Write a response or letter to the character.
g) Write a sequel to the story.

It is important to note that reading aloud allows students to witness what

modeled fluency in reading looks like, and can expose students to topics
they may otherwise not be ready to read on their own.
Shared Reading:
Shared reading is another strategy apart from reading aloud that can aid
students in their practice of their reading skills. Shared reading can take
place in small groups, or with the whole class. This allows students the
time to share in the process of reading along with either the teacher or
with their peers. It is important to also have the correct material for the
different grade level/age groups that will participate in shared reading,
whether it be a big book, or specific non-fiction texts that offers differing
perspectives on a topic that may be covered. Shared reading also allows
the teacher to challenge their students by reading books that may be too
difficult for students to read on their own, but ones they may still be able
to understand. Shared reading can also be helpful in grouping up
students based on their strengths and weaknesses allowing students to
potentially learn and grow from their peers and discover new ways in
how they can improve their reading proficiency.
Reading Workshop:
Reading workshops allow teachers to provide students the opportunities
they require to gain reading independence. This helps encourage and
foster a love of reading for students to participate in texts that interest
them. Within the reading workshop teachers would structure minilessons
to meet the differing needs of their students, and can aid in

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understanding more about their texts while also enhancing their
grammar and vocabulary usage and knowledge. Reading workshops give
purpose for reading and allows all students to participate meaningfully in
their classroom.
Independent Reading:
Much like a reading workshop where students select a text that interests
them, independent reading helps solidify that relationship. This allows
students private time to practice their reading skills but also implies that
reading is not just an activity that can be linked to “schoolwork” but
something that be done as an activity outside of school. Getting students
to understand that there is value and enjoyment in reading is the key
process in independent reading. When teachers hold their students
accountable during independent reading, this allows students to be more
involved within their text choice too.
Word Work (deeply explain in your own work)
 Phonics and Phonemic Awareness: Phonics and phonemic
awareness aid children especially in grades K-2 to figure out how to
pronounce and understand words.
 Word Wall: This is a place where teachers can introduce new
vocabulary or frequently used words for their students to learn and
practice. They can be changed and practiced as early as every day
or every week.
 Interactive Edit: This is used to teach mechanics, spelling, or
grammar. Students would typically work with teachers to help
make corrections together. This type of word working allows for
students in later years to do authentic work with their peer’s
writing.
 Journal Writing: Journal writing gives students the opportunity to
use their own words in a fun and creative way. This can give
students a place to privately express their feelings without the
intrusion from the outside world, and helps form a bond of trust
between student and teacher.
 Morning Message: Creating morning messages helps with
teacher work with language and words in a meaningful context for
their students. This also lets teachers create messages on their
boards and have their students respond.

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  Vocabulary: Vocabulary words help build on the student’s basic
knowledge of academic vocabulary terms, and allows for group or
whole class discussion. Vocabulary words should be introduced in
context, in phrases or in sentences. This helps students understand
how the word is used.
Guided Reading
 Introduction: With guided reading, the teacher introduces the
book using a variety of methods/strategies such as providing
background information, asking students to recall a previous book
or author, and asking students to make predictions based on the
cover. In this step students are brainstorming/hypothesizing what
they may or may not expect when reading through the text.
 Book Walk: In the book walk, teachers go through the different
illustrations in the book and ask students to make predictions
about what they might think will happen based on the illustrations,
what they think it is about, and so on. Again, this allows students to
start constructing their own thoughts and feelings about a book
before actually reading it which can aid in the interest of the text
for the student.
 Reading: In this phase, younger students will be tasked with
“whispering reading” while one student reads aloud in a slightly
louder voice. More fluent readers read the book silently. Teachers
can periodically check on students reading by asking the student to
read a portion of the text aloud. More importantly this can provide
students with a “checking” of their own understanding of the text
compared to their peers and how it is being interpreted by others.
 Discussion: A discussion following a reading series lets students
respond to how they thought and felt about the text and how they
used their “target” strategies to reach that understanding.
Using Independent Activities to Support Student Learning:
Independent activities can be used and organized in a variety of ways,
allowing all students to participate in a series of activities such as literacy
centers. This also allows the accommodation for skills and concepts that
need to be reinforced for students.
 Word center: This is where students can practice putting words
together to make sentences or practice spelling new words.

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 Reading center: Reading centers are where students can reread
books that were read during read-alouds or where students can
find texts that are of interest to them. Reading centers can also be
used to help students read more about a topic that was discussed
in class.
 Art center: Art centers focus on giving students the opportunities
to create pictures or illustrate their understanding of a story that
was read in class or to even illustrate their own stories.
 Listening center: Listening centers are where students can listen
to books on tape while following along with the book which can
help further their reading and language fluency and understand
how different letters can make different sounds.
 Writing center: Writing centers allow students to practice their
writing or create original pieces. This can improve the creative
process and promote more interests in reading and writing.
 Math center: Math centers provide students the opportunity to
practice their math skills, and even work with other students to
practice together.
 Science center: Science centers are where students can make
observations and take notes on what they see. This type of thinking
can contribute to a higher level of thought and aid students in the
learning process.
 Music center: Music centers are where students can work
together to write their own songs about the plot or character in a
story. This type of center can aid in rhyme scheme and allow
students to experiment with different words and rhyming sounds.
 Recording center: Recording centers allow students to tape-
record their reading of book so that they can hear themselves read,
and practice specific words they may be having trouble with, or the
speed at which they read.
 Computer center: Computer centers are where students can
conduct research or practice skills with educational games and
tutorial programs. This can help students with finding credible
sources, and practice their skills in a variety of subjects.

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  Drama center: Drama centers are where students can write and
perform plays or skits, or even recreate one of their favorite texts
or books and interpret it with their feelings.
APPLICATION:
Though I am not a classroom teacher, and cannot accommodate for such
settings like the ones listed above, I can provide students physical activity
while trying to practice their skills such as reading, being introduced to
new vocabulary on a word wall, use their electronic devices to potentially
record data from an activity, and even incorporate science and
mathematical lessons into PE activities. The application of these activities
will prove challenging for my field; however, I will continue to research
and learn different methods to potentially use these activities to help
students and their individuality.
Write-Alouds: Similar to read-aloud’s, both writing and reading are
closely related which explains the similar alignment between the two.
During this session, teachers would model what they are actually thinking
and write it on a piece of paper in front of their students. As they write,
teachers express their concern over word choices, calling on the students
to help revise and edit their work. Teachers discuss why they began the
way they did and ask for suggestions for revision. This component is
extremely helpful for students because it exposes them to the writing
process and what is required for a final product. It also helps students
understand that writing is not as easy and that it takes time even for a
teacher.
Shared Writing: Shared writing is where the teacher and student both
take part in the writing process together. Both select a topic and discuss
how it will be written. During times of shared writing the student will
provide ideas while the teacher acts as a scribe. This provides
opportunities for the students to practice thinking and writing like a
writer while having the support and guidance of a teacher.
Interactive Writing: Interactive writing is meant to be a fun activity
where the students and teacher create a story or message together and
then “share the pen” to record the story on a board or overhead. This
time is used to focus on instruction on the conventions of writing, word
sounds, cadence, spelling and vocabulary.

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Guided Writing: Similar to write aloud’s and shared writing, guided
writing allows teachers to provide guided practice as they write their own
pieces. This strategy is often used when working one-on-one with a
student to clarify the writing process. This can also be used as a whole-
class activity. More importantly this allows teaches to focus on the
needed skills and strategies without including students who do not have
the same needs. These are typically short term groupings, which prevents
students from using the groups to identify themselves or their classmates
as poor or struggling writers.
Independent Writing: Independent writing is a major focus of the
balanced literacy program. In independent writing there are multiple
stages of which a student must go through in order to successfully write
independently. Having students engage in writing as a process helps them
to understand in a pragmatic and meaningful way what they are writing
about. There are five stages that include prewriting, creating the first
draft, revising, editing, and publishing.
Writer’s Workshop: Writer’s workshops are encapsulated by
minilessons much like the reading workshops. Writer’s workshops
provide students with opportunities for authentic reading and writing.
The teacher will begin the workshop with a minilesson focused on a
strategy or skill in writing, and the students are asked to consider that
particular strategy as they proceed in their writing. These minilessons
stem from weaknesses noticed in student writing. During the workshop,
teachers may circulate through the room, conferencing with students and
helping when needed. This allows students in the elementary, middle,
and high school to write at their own pace in a comfortable environment
and to enjoy the applause from their writing.
Literacy Activities in the Classroom:
 Student-teacher conferences: Student-teacher conferences
regardless of grade level should be held frequently to help stay
connected to your students as learners and individuals.
Conferencing can easily occur during class time. It is important for
students to have individual access to your time and attention,
especially those who have difficulty speaking or verbalizing their
problems.

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 Direct instruction: Direct instruction is an effective strategy to
teach basic skills and concepts. In order for this to be successful
they need to have the opportunities to practice them and witness
them be modeled by a teacher. The process in providing direct
instruction for balanced literacy is maybe provide a partially
completed outline and then lead students to complete it on their
own.
 Literature circles: Literature centers are opportunities for
students to meet in small groups and collaborate/discuss on a
piece of literature. For these groups to be effective, students need
instruction on how to talk about literature. The teacher’s role is
simply to move around the room as the groups are meeting to lend
them support as needed.
 Minilessons: Minilessons are designed to address issues as they
present themselves for students. The usage will differ depending
on what grade level they will be used with, but they can help
students better understand their strengths and weaknesses and
where to apply more focus.
 Critic’s Corner: Critic’s corner gives students the ability to view
films and to think about and talk about what they are viewing in a
critical way. Students need to be given the conventions of film and
initial guidance about the kinds of things they should be looking for
while watching a film. Students should be encouraged to make
connections between what they are viewing and other aspects of
their educational and personal lives.
 Thematic Units: Thematic units provide students the opportunity
to explore specific topics, use a variety of activities, texts, and
tools. This allows for different concepts to be introduced to
students and to potentially find where their interests are. This also
helps students become exposed to themes that they would
otherwise not be exposed to.
 Field Trips: Field trips help students see how what they are
learning is applied to in real-life situations. This also promotes and
builds upon the knowledge base the student already possess. This
also helps students expand what they are already know and learn
more in depth about a specific subject while attending a field trip.

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  Guest Speakers: Much like field trips, guest speakers can further
support the knowledge base of students by providing true insight
into what they are learning about. Guest speakers help bridge the
gap between learning and relevancy to real life.
 Guest Readers: Guest readers create a fun and inspirational
environment for young readers. Whether it be school staff or
parents participating in this it adds to the learning environment.
This displays that regardless of what a person does in their life,
reading is an important skill to have and possess, and it should be
an integral part of someone’s life.
 Oral Presentation: Oral presentations allow students to
practice their organizational and presentation skills.
Students must have a clear understanding in advance of
their expectations of the presentation. This allows student
to also practice their speech, and vocabulary usage as well.

APPLICATION: With all of these different blocks in mind, most of these

will not be as relevant to my curriculum as they are with a classroom
teacher. Granted during times of PE there will be instances where field
trips will be taken, we will have guest speakers, minilesson’s will occur to
help further assess physical skills, student-teacher conferences occur
almost daily to ensure that a trusting bond is built with my students. My
other coworker and I team teach for half of our lessons (usually
attendance, warm-up), then we split into our own lessons so allowing for
each one of us to be a different oral presenter, and even have the
students be oral presenters of what is expected per classes can be
capitalized on. I can implement a “critic’s corner” with all of my classes by
showing videos that demonstrate a lack of skill or behavior, compared to
a video that shows excellent skills and behavior and have the students
compared the two both on and off paper. Students are also placed into a
squad group that is represented by red, yellow, green, blue which could
enhance the usage of minilessons if needed to assess skills based on
proficiency.

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*Managing the Language Arts Block for Elementary Students or
for Middle and High School: The grade span that I am currently
working in is PreK-6th Grade. Managing language arts blocks for
elementary students can be tricky. Having a balanced literacy program
provides a wide range of activities for teachers to use to teach and
develop literacy skills. When developing activities, the ones that need to
be chosen are what best support the goals and objectives of the lesson as
well as the CCSS standards that are given focus. Because programs like
this are intended to be flexible enough to accommodate specific needs of
the students at any time, there is no correct model. Teachers can choose
to focus on minilesson’s during writing workshops if there is a specific
time set aside for writing. It is important to remember that students need
a wide variety of reading and writing experiences to battle boredom in
their literacy program. To provide a more appropriate balanced program.
Basal programs can easily be supplemented with balanced literacy
strategies (such as rea-alouds, write-alouds, shared reading, guided
reading, reader’s workshop, writer’s workshop, independent reading and
writing, word work, literacy centers etc.). This holds especially true for my
5th grade intervention group that I provide support for to aid students
who need the extra help in terms of skill proficiency.
These are Important Strategies that should be used in ALL Grade
Spans
Think-Pair-Share: Think-Pair-Share is comprised of when a teacher
poses a question to their students and provides time for students to
“think” about possible answers. After that, students’ pair with other
students to discuss their thinking, this is the “pair” segment. Finally,
students share their responses with a larger group or the whole class, this
is the “share” segment. This strategy allows students to work
collaboratively which promotes higher level thinking and allows students
to place value on “thinking” and valuing other students’ opinions.
Discussion Journals: Discussion journals are used after reading and a
discussion where students may be asked to write within the following
categories. The categories can include an idea or two that they found
interesting, two things they would like to know more about, an idea they
want to write about in their journal. This strategy helps students with
their organizational skills and helps them collect their thoughts and ideas.

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Sorting: Sorting helps students generate words or short phrases based
on chapters and record this data on index cards. This can further lead
group activities, students meet with others in a group and discuss the
words and phrases they chose. This activity gives students the
opportunity to select important information from the chapter, think
about it and then discuss their choices with others.
Chunk and Jot: Content material is often dense and difficult, so we
teach students to read and stop, then think and analyze what they have
read about. This helps them to process the information and recognize
when they may have to reread or stop to think or look up something in
the dictionary. This allows for students to build upon their vocabulary and
academic knowledge.
Error Analysis: This allows students to go back to their tests and analyze
their errors to get back one-half of the credit. Firstly, the error must be
identified, then the correct error must be written, and then write a
sentence or two about how this mistake can be prevented in the future.
Charting Content Information: Based upon a particular topic, have
students as a group create key questions along the top of the chart. With
each question’s students would write what they already know about the
question, as they progress with the charting, students can list sources
that helped them answer the questions. The last part of the chart is
where students summarize the information they have learned about the
questions.
APPLICATION: By modifying some of these strategies, they can be used
in the PE setting by helping students “think-pair-share” with certain
activities, rules, and games. I can also implement “sorting” with certain
vocabulary words in activities and what constitutes positive behaviors,
skills, and sportsmanship versus negative behaviors etc. With error
analysis, students can be stopped mid-activity to assess what has been
going on, and how we can fix issues that may be present within a
game/activity and correct them with a “reset” of each round. Charting
the information students can be held responsible by collecting data
amongst themselves every month when we introduce a fitness week.
Students could be tasked with counting how many repetitions they were
able to do of one exercise and track that month to month and list sources
that will help them keep track of that data. This is all fairly new to me, so

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trying to implement these strategies will be challenge, but one that can
be accomplished nonetheless.

Additional Notes:
Key things I noticed is to make real world connections to what students
are learning.
Breaking complex tasks into simpler parts.
Modeling with thinking aloud and note-taking during lectures/textbook
reading.
Teaching time management skills by creating schedules for students and
encourage them to create their own.
Giving students daily opportunities to read and write independently will
also be important.
Teaching a wide range of literacy skills that will be empowering.
Be prepared to model all activities that I want my students to do.
Be sensitive to my approach with my students especially those who have
difficulty learning to read, or are English Lanuage Learners.

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