Moving from balanced literacy to a more structured approach

I was a committed balanced literacy educator for 20 years.

To me, balanced literacy meant that I taught both basic skills and a love of reading.

I put a greater emphasis on the activities – shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, read aloud, and centers – than on foundational skills.

Sure, I taught phonics … but I didn’t want to overdo it. So I didn’t use a phonics program; I taught phonics on a need-to-know basis.

Instead of giving explicit instruction, I had my students read independently for long periods while I gave short one-on-one conferences.

I was passionate about balanced literacy.

It’s the approach I learned in graduate school. It’s what I used to teach my first and second graders to read.

It’s the approach I used to teach my oldest five kids to read.

It’s what I thought other teachers should use (and I told them so through multiple blog posts and workshops).

I thought it worked (it sure seemed to).

It wasn’t until I read Emily Hanford’s viral article a few times that I started to wonder if I needed to rethink my approach.

I wish I could tell you that the first time I read the article, my eyes were opened. But I was stubborn, and it was more than a year before I took it to heart.

Check out this podcast episode

My reaction to Emily Hanford’s article, “At a Loss for Words”




The first thing I questioned was three-cueing …

Once I understood how the brain learns to read, I began to realize that three-cueing (having kids “guess” words using just the first letter, pictures, or context) was actually bypassing an important process called orthographic mapping.

This episode spells it out …

What’s wrong with three-cueing?

In other words … I wasn’t helping my students remember the words for the future.

And by my lack of explicit phonics instruction, I almost guaranteed that some of my students would hit a wall in later grades when they lacked strategies for reading multi-syllable words in books without pictures or helpful context.

As I studied structured literacy, I began to see the differences between what I’d been doing and what an approach backed by research looks like.

I began to make quite a few changes …I stopped leaving phonemic awareness to chance.I started using decodable instead of leveled text.I created a systematic, sequential phonics scope and sequence … and actually used it.I integrated spelling with phonics instruction.I found a new way to teach “sight words.”I began to look at comprehension in a different way.For the first time, I saw the incredible value of explicit instruction.

Check out this popular post

The ultimate guide to decodable books

And all along the way, I was encouraged that thousands of other teachers were making the switch!

In fact, I interviewed some of them for my Balanced to Structured Literacy podcast series: Savannah Campbell from Campbell Creates Readers Christina Winter from Mrs. Winter’s Bliss Heidi Jane from Droppin’ Knowledge with Heidi Lindsay Kemeny , podcast host and classroom teacher Jessica Farmer from Farmer Loves Phonics Gina from Get Literacy Margaret Goldberg from the Right to Read Project Sarah Paul from Sarah’s Teaching Snippets Jan Burkins and Kari Yates , authors of Shifting the Balance Dr. Wendy Farone , LETRS trainer, Title 1 reading specialist (and a lot more!)

In anticipation of the fall launch of our course, Teaching Every Reader, Becky Spence and I are beginning a collaborative blog series all about making the switch from balanced literacy to a more structured approach.

Just click on each image to find the blog post!

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 Coming August 29  Coming September 5  Coming September 12  Coming September 19  Coming September 26  Coming October 3

 

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