A Balanced Approach to Reading Instruction.

This column summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles, and highlights some World Wide Web resources, that discuss the use of a balanced approach to reading instruction in the early grades. For details about ERIC and ordering ERIC documents, please see the information following these abstracts.

ERIC Documents

ED435967 THE BALANCED READING PROGRAM: Helping All Students Achieve Success. Susan M. Blair-Larsen, & Kathryn A. Williams, Eds. 1999. 210pp. (Available from EDRS and from: Order Department, International Reading Association, 800 Barksdale Road, P.O. Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139.) This book explains the methodologies, techniques, strategies, and knowledge base necessary to achieve a balanced reading program. The book's contributors define the key elements in a balanced reading program and provide guidelines for implementing a balanced instructional program in the classroom. An introduction and nine chapters discuss such topics as vocabulary instruction, comprehension instruction, literature, assessing literacy, and culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms.

ED435095 IMPROVING COMPREHENSION AND ATTITUDE TOWARD READING USING A BALANCED READING APPROACH. Alison S. Gunner, Julie A. Smith, & Sauda D. Smith. 1999. 162 pp. This report describes how the implementation of a balanced reading program advanced the reading comprehension of one group of 3rd-and 8th-graders. This program appeared to improve students' attitudes toward reading, and to promote comprehension within targeted classrooms. The balanced reading program combined read-aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, and a home-school program with the goal of motivating students to respond critically and thoughtfully to literature. The intervention proved successful, as evidenced by comparing pre- and posttest measures.

ED427286 CLASSROOMS THAT WORK: They Can All Read and Write (2nd ed.). Patricia M. Cunningham & Richard L. Allington. 1999. 304pp. (Not Available from EDRS. Write: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., One Jacob Way, Reading, MA 01867.) Focusing on instructional reading methods for at-risk and culturally diverse student populations, this book promotes the integration of phonics and literature-based process writing and reading instruction. The book's chapters discuss topics of failed solutions, reading and thinking, writing and thinking, spelling fluency, science and social studies, and extra support for students who need it.

ED419227 IN THE BEGINNING: Helping All Children Achieve Early Literacy. Cheryl Rappaport Liebling. 1998. 50 pp. Noting an emerging consensus of opinion on the need for balance in early literacy instruction, this paper examines three overlapping phases of early literacy: novice (pinK-1), beginning (K-2), and advanced beginning (1-3). The first section describes young children's developing knowledge of written language during their progression through the three stages. The second section describes the elements of balanced early literacy instruction and offers a set of indicators that educators can use to evaluate how balanced the classroom early literacy program is. The final section suggests several alternatives for designing a core early literacy program.

ED418388 RECONSIDERING A BALANCED APPROACH TO READING. Constance Weaver, Ed. 1998. 538 pp. (Available from EDRS and from: National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096.) This collection reflects the stance that a truly balanced approach to reading instruction will focus on literacy as well as reading, integrate language and literacy across disciplines, attend to reading and writing skills in context, and reflect a broad research base. Articles in the collection address such topics as: 1) learning about language processes by analyzing miscues, 2) research on phonological awareness and phonics, 3) orthographic analogy training with kindergartners, 4) comparison of children's development of alphabetic knowledge in a skills-based and whole language classroom, 5) phonological awareness training of kindergarten children, 6) reading concepts and strategies, 7) research on phonemic awareness and on whole language, 8) research on literature-based reading instruction, and 9) late intervention.

ED418386 NORTH CAROLINA STRIVES FOR BALANCED READING INSTRUCTION. David R. Denton. 1998. 9 pp. (Available from EDRS and from: Southern Regional Education Board, 592 Tenth Street, N.W., Atlanta, GA 30318.) This paper contends that the most difficult task facing state policymakers is to understand that the strong feelings on both sides of the reading debate may not truly reflect the choices before them. The paper states that a good whole language program must include phonics, and that good phonics instruction, while essential, is only part of an effective reading program. The author concludes that policymakers should seek to walk a fine line between the more single-minded positions on either side of the reading debate if they are to promote an approach based on evidence of effectiveness.

Journal Articles

EJ594801 WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED "BALANCE"? Jill Fitzgerald. Reading Teacher, Vol. 53, No. 2 (October 1999): 100-107. This article defines "balance" as a philosophical perspective about what kinds of reading knowledge children should develop and how those kinds of knowledge can be attained, and that recognizes that there is no one "right" approach to teaching. The article outlines a set of guiding principles for organizing a classroom reading program and discusses the benefits of thinking about balance as a philosophical outlook.

EJ575087 ON BALANCED READING. D. Ray Reutzel. Reading Teacher, Vol. 52, No. 4 (December-January, 1998-1999): 322-324. This article argues that discussions in the United States of "balanced reading" ignore decades of successful reading instruction in New Zealand based on "Balanced ReadingProgrammes." These NewZealand programs embrace more complex constructions on instructional practice than do current discussions surrounding balanced reading instruction in the United States.

EJ563752 BALANCED INSTRUCTION: Insights and Considerations. Penny A. Freppon & Karin L. Dahl. Reading Research Querterly, Vol. 33, No. 2 (April-June 1998): 240-251. The authors present some of the conceptions of balanced instruction and provide information about the research and theory supporting each conception, then describe some of the practical implications for classroom practice.

EJ560963 BALANCED READING INSTRUCTION IN PRACTICE. Dorothy Fowler. Educational Leadership, Vol. 55, No. 6 (March 1998): 11-12. A 1st-grade teacher explains how she uses the whole-part-whole reading model with 115 youngsters. Rereading allows students to practice recently learned skills and strategies while developing fluency and comprehension. Other exercises include reading aloud in pairs, deciphering the daily schedule, discussing syllable and sound similarities, sharing written responses, and using just-learned phonemes in journal writing.

EJ560962 WHAT'S BASIC IN BEGINNING READING? Finding Common Ground. Dorothy S. Strickland. Educational Leadership, Vol. 55, No. 6 (March 1998): 6-10. As the phonics / whole-language debate continues, a method called "whole-part-whole" provides a balanced conceptual framework for thinking about and planning skills instruction. It addresses the need for teaching that is grounded in fundamental understandings about whole texts, allows for in-depth focus on special skills, and includes planned practice within a meaningful context.

World Wide Web Resources

* ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication (ERIC/ REC): http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/

* ERIC/REC's Literacy Education Resources: Early Childhood to High School: http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/comatt/litedres.html

* Balanced Reading Instruction. ERIC/ RECDigest. By Mila Stoicheva. 1999. ED435986: http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/digests/d144.html

* Reading Pathfinder: Information on helping children learn to read by 3rd grade. Includes a database of reading resources on the Web; to find information on a topic, select your topic (e.g., "balanced approach") on the Reading Pathfinder Database page. In English and Spanish: http:// readingpath.org /

* Timely Topic: Balanced Reading Instruction (from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory [NCREL]): http://www.ncrel.org/ sdrs/timely/britoc.htm

* Northwest Education Magazine. Fall 1998. Special issue topic: Succeeding at Reading: Literacy in the Early Years. (from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory [NWREL]): http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/ fall_98/index.html

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIC/EECE) contributed this column. ERIC documents are abstracted in the monthly index Resources in Education (RIE) and in the ERIC database online or on CD-ROM. Most ERIC documents (EDs) can be read on ERIC microfiche, which are available in many libraries. In addition, most documents can be ordered in paper copy or on microfiche, and many recent documents can be ordered on the Internet, from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 7420 Fullerton Rd., Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153-2852 (1-800-443-3742); URL: http://edrs.com/. For complete ordering information, contact EDRS or consult the most recent issue of RIE. An availability source is indicated for those documents summarized in this column that are not available from EDRS. For journal articles cited in the column, refer directly to the journal or contact article clearinghouses such as UnCover (800-787-7979), UMI (800-732-0616), or ISI (800-523-1850)for ordering information. Further information on elementary and early childhood education is available from ERIC/EECE, Children's Research Center, University of Illinois, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-7469; (phone: [phone] or 800-583-4135; E-email: [e-mail]); URL: http:// ericeece.org/.