Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom
- Downloads：8436
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-11-14 15:21:34
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jan Burkins
- ISBN：B0BLZ4W44G
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Lindsay Bembenek
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A quick and easy read that I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about structured literacy and The Science of Reading！ All K-2 teachers should get their hands on this one！
Jess
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This is a teacher book， but I would recommend it also if you were a parent with a young reader at home！ This helps to teach how kids read， and which practices help， and which practices are harmful。
Kim Flatau
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This book is a great read and tool for anyone who teaching kids to read and struggling with to find the “right” way with all of the current Science of Reading research and the “reading wars” debate it is a great resource for shifting reading instruction。 It gave me great insight as a primary teacher and while I don’t have all of the right answers this book gave me the courage to start making a shift in my reading instruction practices。
Ashley Gustafson
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While I enjoyed the writing of this book， I don’t feel like I actually learned anything new from it。 I feel like it was mostly things I already do in what I thought was a “balanced literacy” classroom。 Maybe I was more “science of reading” without knowing it？
Erika
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Great resource for lower elementary teachers shifting their practice to be aligned with the Science of Reading。 The book gives concrete suggestions for activities and changes in the classroom。 Highly recommend。
Kara Putrino
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Pragmatic read for any reading teacher
Lindsey McDermott
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As a Science of Reading advocate， I was hesitant to read this book。 However， I think these two women did an excellent job of simplifying and clearly explaining the science。 I wish I this was my first introduction into the topic as it clarified so much that took me years of scholarly articles to learn。 However， it was still a little whole language for my liking and I disagreed with a few of their claims。 Worth reading no matter what side of the argument you are on！
Carpetbhi
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Shifting the Balance 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates:a Critical Review by Miriam P。 TrehearneHaving written six successful literacy focused professional books for teachers， having been a classroom teacher， an Early Childhood and Early Literacy Specialist， Program Specialist （exceptional needs students） Literacy Coach， and University Associate and having worked with teachers and administrators around the world， I am aware Shifting the Balance 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates:a Critical Review by Miriam P。 TrehearneHaving written six successful literacy focused professional books for teachers， having been a classroom teacher， an Early Childhood and Early Literacy Specialist， Program Specialist （exceptional needs students） Literacy Coach， and University Associate and having worked with teachers and administrators around the world， I am aware of the politics and the challenges involving the “reading wars”。 They are numerous。 Pendulum swings often disenfranchise teachers， students， and parents。 Many experienced teachers suffer as they continue to live through pendulum swings （e。g。 whole language versus phonics， as if the two are， or ever were， mutually exclusive）。 Defining balanced literacy can be challenging。 However， it is important to this book， the title of which states 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom。 The authors do not define this key term and instead state: “A common definition of balanced literacy is difficult to pin down” and that “balanced literacy plays out differently from school to school and classroom to classroom。” This is not good enough。 Its centrality requires a definition。 Not withstanding the importance of defining terms or at least stipulating them， this review will focus on one very key area which was omitted and provide the research-base behind it。Burkins and Yates did not include writing when discussing the Balanced Literacy Classroom。 This is a serious omission。 The research described by Bill Teale in his article “The Curriculum Gap Ensures a Continuing Achievement Gap” （2007） is important。 This research indicates that writing is one of three key areas often neglected in early literacy classrooms。 This curriculum gap means that many young children are being shortchanged and will suffer the consequences in later grades （Teale， 2014）。In her landmark research， Dolores Durkin （1966） discovered that the parents and caregivers of children who had learned to read before coming to kindergarten had read with their children。 However， they did more than this。 They gave their children many writing opportunities。 It became clear that early readers generally are very interested in writing， and many write long before they read。 Writing often provides a foundation for reading。In a study of beginning literacy learning， kindergarteners’ writing behaviors were found to be predictive of subsequent （Grade 1） reading achievement， even after controlling for the effects of IQ （Shatil， Share and Levin， 2000）。A complex theory of literacy learning acknowledges that writers have to know how to do certain things that overlap with things that readers have to know or do。 The two processes are concurrent sources of learning and contribute to each other in early literacy learning。 Reading and writing are reciprocal and interrelated processes （Marie Clay 2001）。Canadian researchers， Harrison， Ogle， McIntyre， and Hellsten （2008）， reviewed K–3 studies on early writing conducted in Canada， the United Kingdom， and the United States。 The findings， published in a paper titled “The Influence of Early Writing Instruction on Developing Literacy，” indicated that early writing■ Supports the development of phonological awareness， the alphabetic principle， and phonics■ Enhances early reading （word identification， decoding， passage comprehension， and word reading） and often precedes early reading。The quality of writing support for 4-year-olds is highly related to their language and literacy growth at the end of Kindergarten and Grade 1 （Dickinson and Sprague 2001）。 Writing is an activity that promotes alphabet letter knowledge， phonological awareness， phonics， concepts of print， including the fact that the end of a line is not always the end of a thought （Snow， Burns， and Griffin 1998）。 So， writing （including drawing） helps children to make sense of their world。And finally， the evidence from a meta-analysis shows that having students in Grades 2-12 write about material they have read， enhances their comprehension of it。 This was true for students in general and students who were weaker readers and writers， in particular （Graham and Hebert， 2011）。“Learning to write assists children in their reading; in learning to read， children also gain insights that help them as writers。 But writing is more than an aid to learning to read; it is an important curricular goal。 Through writing children express themselves， clarify their thinking， communicate ideas， and integrate new information into their knowledge base。”—Every Child a Reader， CIERA 1And Dr。 Tim Shanahan （2017） sums it up with:Reading-writing relations start when reading and writing start。 Many folks delay writing until a solid reading base is established。 Research doesn’t support that: kids are able to draw reading benefits from the beginning。 When young children first try to write， they have to think hard about print concepts。 When young children first try to spell， they have to think hard about phonemic awareness。The impact of writing on reading must be considered part of any acceptable definition of science of reading instruction （Shanahan 2020）。 So， how can writing be eliminated from the Balanced Literacy Classroom when shifting the balance？ Clearly the instructional practices identified by Burkins and Yates are too narrow and not complete。 。。。more
AmyJo Mushrush
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A quick but great book for marinating and seasoned teachers to read to explore balanced literacy and teaching reading。 Provides many in-classroom examples， charts， lists， and effective strategies as well as misunderstandings。
Becky
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Excellent book！ I found shift 5 and 6 to be enlightening。
David Anderson
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The first 4 to 4。5 chapters were great！ I took a lot of notes and have ideas to try this year。 The last two chapters were tough to grasp。
Pamela Morganelli
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Must Read for TeachersI loved how this book was organized。 I felt like I could really use the information in my classroom。 I highly recommend this book！
Lori Barry
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If you are a K-3 teacher teaching reading， I highly recommend this book！
Nicole
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Excellent book！ I felt the authors did a great job of helping teachers understand how to change their literacy practices to be more aligned with the Science of Reading。 I am excited to use their suggestions in my classroom this fall。
Susan
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Excellent！ Explains， clarifies， and suggests！
Samantha Porterfield
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Easy to read with well documented science and practical classroom applications that don’t feel overwhelming。
Tracy
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It’s validating to know that a lot of the things I already do with my MLs already aligns with the science of reading （and so does much of what we do in Reading Recovery）， and I liked a lot of Burkins And yates’ suggestions for shifts to more closely align reading instruction with the science of reading。 Glad to see their advocacy for oral language instruction in the first chapter！ Loved the idea of having students use mirrors to see their mouths as they practice phonemic awareness。 Would have lo It’s validating to know that a lot of the things I already do with my MLs already aligns with the science of reading （and so does much of what we do in Reading Recovery）， and I liked a lot of Burkins And yates’ suggestions for shifts to more closely align reading instruction with the science of reading。 Glad to see their advocacy for oral language instruction in the first chapter！ Loved the idea of having students use mirrors to see their mouths as they practice phonemic awareness。 Would have loved to have some suggestions of high quality decodable readers， such as publishers or authors to look for。 A couple of strategies， I question their effectiveness when it comes to MLs， but not every strategy works with every student。 。。。more
Jen
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Great reference manual for Science of Reading information。 My book is filled with tabs and highlights and I know I will be referencing this book for years。 Truly nothing earth shattering but rather confirmation of what I am currently doing and new inspiration on ways to enrich my instruction。 Highly recommend for any educator looking to strengthen their reading instruction。
Ashley Kohls
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A great professional book teaching readers how to transition from only using balanced literacy to including the science of reading in literacy instruction。 Misconceptions and helpful tips are included。 Would recommend for any elementary school teacher， parents of young kids， and anyone interested in how learning to read works！
Paula Boyce
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This is an interesting book for anyone who works with K-2 readers and writers。 Many of the typical literacy practices and routines that are familiar and used by classroom teachers， interventionists， and reading specialists are "challenged，" explained， then updated。 Typical scenarios and frustrations with lack of student progress are shared， then recommendations for implementing new scientific research are put in place by these same teachers， often with encouraging results。 The authors shared the This is an interesting book for anyone who works with K-2 readers and writers。 Many of the typical literacy practices and routines that are familiar and used by classroom teachers， interventionists， and reading specialists are "challenged，" explained， then updated。 Typical scenarios and frustrations with lack of student progress are shared， then recommendations for implementing new scientific research are put in place by these same teachers， often with encouraging results。 The authors shared the same skepticism that readers are apt to have at first。 This book directs teachers to ways to integrate both science and balance in their early literacy classrooms--a balance between phonological processing and sense-making。 。。。more
Crystal Bates
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This is an easy read the provides small shifts in moving from a balanced literacy to structured literacy mindset。 I love that it gives you practical ways to implement these shifts in the classroom。
Moya
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The information in this book is very similar to that in the LETRS， but less detailed。 It's a good book to get a general idea of teaching reading in primary grades aligned with the science of reading。 However， I personally feel that it lacks of in-dept discussion within each shift。 The information in this book is very similar to that in the LETRS， but less detailed。 It's a good book to get a general idea of teaching reading in primary grades aligned with the science of reading。 However， I personally feel that it lacks of in-dept discussion within each shift。 。。。more
Gretchen Pratt
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Straightforward， easy to apply adjustments to current practices in a classroom to improve outcomes for readers。 If you feel like you aren’t seeing results and not sure what to do， this is a great starting point。 Shifts include practices that can be implemented outside of a full curriculum resource adoption and are versatile to use throughout the day。 Also a great read for people who find themselves homeschooling or wanting to add literacy instruction support at home for young readers。
Donnetta Kiifner
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This book challenged the way I have taught reading over my teaching career。 A great read for anyone teaching primary reading。 Now which part do I start with next school year？
Mandy Robek
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Informative in a gentle way with suggestions to help readers with various needs。
Julia
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This book is full of discrete ideas that you can easily enact in your classroom to directly impact student learning。 6 easy steps to create better readers！！ I highly recommend this book for all educators who teach Kindergarten & First Grade。
Melissa Jones
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A common sense approach to truly balanced classroom instruction around reading。 No sides， opponents， or adversaries- just a focus on sound instructional practices to teach our kids to read。 We need more of this and less fighting。
Cindy Stemper
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Buying this book made me nervous。 There is so much anger and opinion about the Reading Wars right now。 I found this book helpful and not alarming as I read it。 It explained things clearly and offered practical， small changes--many of which I am already doing or have done at other times in my career。 It helped me be more clear on the research and what the Science of Reading really means。 After reading it， I am aware of how much misinformation and misinterpretation there is out there。 Oh， Pendulum Buying this book made me nervous。 There is so much anger and opinion about the Reading Wars right now。 I found this book helpful and not alarming as I read it。 It explained things clearly and offered practical， small changes--many of which I am already doing or have done at other times in my career。 It helped me be more clear on the research and what the Science of Reading really means。 After reading it， I am aware of how much misinformation and misinterpretation there is out there。 Oh， Pendulum， allow us to do what is right for the kids in front of us！！ 。。。more
Elizabeth Hassinger
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As an ardent believer that the reading war is stupid and actually keeps us from what kids need， this book bridges long held teaching "beliefs" and how to work in conjunction with researched practices。 Every learning is going to be different and I believe as a teacher of reading what is important is how I respond to the learners needs rather than a singular way of teaching。 This book helped me hold up my beliefs， but also how I could improve upon my instruction。 As an ardent believer that the reading war is stupid and actually keeps us from what kids need， this book bridges long held teaching "beliefs" and how to work in conjunction with researched practices。 Every learning is going to be different and I believe as a teacher of reading what is important is how I respond to the learners needs rather than a singular way of teaching。 This book helped me hold up my beliefs， but also how I could improve upon my instruction。 。。。more
Zoey Schaefer
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