ABSTRACT
English language arts and reading (ELAR) include reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing (NCTE/IRA, 1996/2012). One approach to ELAR instruction involves teaching skills, including phonics, in isolation. In contrast, a whole-language approach focuses on teaching skills in the service of meaning. Balanced literacy values a combination of meaning and skills by providing opportunities for students to read and write in a variety of contexts. Such an approach addresses the components of comprehension, composition, and literary and language conventions in both explicit and implicit ways (Pearson, Raphael, Benson, & Madda, 2007).
