Chapter 7 BLOG

We have been taught, in this program to use a Balanced Literacy Approach. This should include: shared reading, teacher read-alouds, reading workshop, shared writing, interactive writing, writing workshop, and work study. I use a lot of the components of this in my classroom. It is effective! My students gain confidence through reading stories over again and achieving independence. They feel successful when they see their ideas as part of the interactive writing we do. Additionally, my classroom environment is a print-rich environment, in which my students can see their work, read stories, and review posters they have made. When they have participated in creating the things on the walls, they have a sense of ownership and pride. I would, however, like to develop activities based around the Language Experience Approach, in which students tell stories and we write them down. “The texts they create can be used for specific lessons on vocabulary, grammar, writing conventions, structure, and more” (Diaz-Rico, p. 172). The idea of using their stories as the basis for lessons teaches them that their ideas are valued and will continually show them how we make mistakes and can make our writing better. In an article on the reading and writing development of ELs, researchers suggest that teachers should, “Utilize personal narratives and writing workshop techniques to help learners become comfortable with the craft of drafting, sharing, and revising their pieces” (Hudelson). The article, called Children's Writing in ESL can be found at http://www.readingrockets.org/article/287. This sounds a lot like the ideas presented in the chapter advocating the Balanced Literacy Approach.


Response to Peers:
The language experience approach and balanced literacy approach have value in our classrooms working with Special Education and ELs. Michelle Greco talks about the way that our teacher preparation classes have supported the balanced literacy approach. Like Michelle, I took the class with Stan Swartz last quarter. I found the literacy support cycles and the balanced literacy approach to be an asset to my classroom. When looking at Melissa Hale’s BLOG, I was surprised by her quote, although I read it myself. She refers to the fact that students who don’t learn to read in elementary school are far behind in high school and high risk as drop-outs. We do all we can to help our students succeed in reading and writing. The fact is, in special education, some of my students will never read on-level or independently. I do everything I can to help them succeed, but like Melissa, the lack of home support has a significant impact on their continued progress.