ABSTRACT
Nestled among colorful boxes of shiny new supplies are some old samples of student work from the year past. The samples are arranged in folders that go from the end of the year backward to the beginning. The balanced literacy model enables a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student through the contexts of shared reading, interactive reading, guided reading, and independent reading; shared writing, interactive writing, guided writing, and independent writing. The writing contexts mirror the reading contexts, and the focus progresses from whole-group to small-group to independent work. There is a natural progression of skills and strategies taught, keeping in mind the developmental needs of the children and their expanding level of expertise through the year. The separate contexts of the reading workshop—shared reading, literacy stations, interactive read-aloud, and independent reading—have separate though interconnected, interdependent focus lessons.
