basal reading approach

2. It is a core reading program that is used to teach children to read. It is usually a grade-level series of textbooks produced by an educational publisher which focus on teaching reading either by a code-emphasis approach or a meaning-emphasis approach.

3. It is very dependent on books and instructional materials, in terms of its presentation.

4. Code emphasis approachRelies heavily on phonemic awareness and decoding and word attack skills

5. Meaning-emphasis programTends to stress the concept of "reading for understanding" and the accompanying workbooks have questions about the stories read, vocabulary lessons and lessons encouraging students to write about what they have read.

6. History

7. Materials and Content of Basal Reader

11. Advantages1. Well organized, each skill is presented in a sequential order.2. Good scope and sequence; skills are taught continuously throughout all of the grades.3. Teacher's manual is full of ideas to be used. 4. Readers are colorful, well illustrated, and contain a variety of literature appropriate for each age.

12. Advantages 5. Includes systematic instruction in word recognition, comprehension, and some study skills with a gradual introduction of each new skill. 6. A big help to a beginning teacher.7. Some contain criterion-referenced tests to check skill mastery.

13. Advantages 8. Some have an IRI for placement.9. Stories attempt to be multi-ethnic and non-stereotyping of women.

14. Limitations 1. Readability. The stories often vary widely in grade level within a reader.2. Teachers have a tendency to regard the guide as The Source instead of as a guide.3. Recreational reading for pleasure is often neglected.

15. Limitations4. Pacing of introduction of new skills is too rapid for some and too slow for others.5. Students tend to be placed into readers which are too difficult or too easy for them. 6. Stories are sometimes dull.7. Teachers tend to use the basal as the entire reading.

16. Limitations8. Not personalized.9. Not individualized enough.10. The language in the beginning readers doesn't always match that of the child. 11. Stories at the beginning levels may be dull and unnatural in language patterns.

The basal reading approach is a method of teaching reading to children. The program's name comes from the word "base" or "basic." It involves using a series of books, or readers, tailored to a specific reading level. This approach has been used for centuries and is still in use today.

THE BASAL READING APPROACH teaches reading through a series of books that have been written especially for that purpose. Also known as graded readers, the books in a basal program are designed to teach children to read. A basal reading curriculum includes a series of readers, workbooks, activity sheets and a teacher's guide with lessons already planned. The approach works best when students are divided into groups according to their reading level.

History

The McGuffey Readers, used in American schools as early as 1836, were some of the first basal readers. These books came into the education scene as children began to move from a home-based education into public schools. The McGuffey books remained a popular choice among American schools until the 1960s. In the 1930s the popular "Dick and Jane" books were published by the Scott-Foresman Company. They were in frequent use until the 1960s, when the company stopped production. The basal reading approach is still used in education; however, it has been expanded to include supplemental resources.

Advantages

o    One of the major benefits of the basal reading approach is that it provides the teacher with pre-planned lessons and the tools needed to assess student's reading abilities. Other advantages include books arranged in a logical sequence of increasing difficulty, the gradual introduction of reading skills and assurance to educators that those important skills are being taught. Students using a basal reading approach are also introduced to a wide range of genres.

Disadvantages

o    What some educators see as advantages to the approach, others see as limitations. Some teachers feel the program is too rigid and doesn't engage students. Often times, the stories do not match students interests, making it hard to capture the attention of a reluctant reader. The approach is designed to work best in a group and is often difficult to alter for students who learn better individually or have learning disabilities.

Whole language: The whole language approach to literacy is an educational philosophy that believes in teaching children to read by focusing on meaning and strategies for understanding language as system of parts that work together to create meaning. Though it sounds as though whole language discounts phonics as a way to teach reading, teaching phonemic awareness (or sub-lexical reading) is a component of a whole language approach.

The philosophy also believes in teaching students to recognize core words as a whole word instead of sounding out all words phonetically. It uses literature as a teaching tool, aims to integrate literacy with all parts of the curriculum (including science, math and social studies) and asks students to use reading and writing for everyday purposes instead of just for the sake of learning to read and write.

Also Known As:  balanced literacy

Disadvantages:  It's been suggested that students who are taught using a pure whole language approach without a phonics component have a difficult time learning how to spell.

The highly fundamental skills of reading and writing can be taught from multiple perspectives. The traditional method of phonics-based teaching continuously produces results in English classrooms, though sometimes at the expense of a child's burgeoning opinion of reading and writing. The whole language approach fosters creativity toward these tasks throughout the learning process, encouraging children to learn holistically rather than in segments.

Fundamental Approach

o    The theory behind whole language learning is for students to learn to read and write the same way they learned to speak. Students in a whole language classroom learn language as a whole entity, rather than something that can be broken down and decoded into steps. For example, while a child in a phonics-based classroom would first learn small units of language like letters and morphemes, followed by words and sentences and eventually entire paragraphs, a child in a whole language classroom focuses on the flow and meaning of text and learns to decode words based on their context within the greater whole of the sentence or passage.

Scaffolding

o    Though the process of scaffolding may be more straightforward in a phonics-based classroom, it exists in and is vital to a whole language approach. The whole language approach stresses that children should build on what they already know to discover and better learn new concepts. A child in this type of classroom would build on what he already knows about writing to construct sentences, for example, about his family.

Instruction

o    A teacher employing the whole language approach is much more likely to encourage students to learn through discovery, rather than through direct instruction. But this does not mean that the whole language approach involves no direct instruction. Nor does it mean that knowledge of phonics is not taught to children. Instead, students gain phonics skills as taught in the context of full language understanding, rather than as isolated skills that must later be patched together to form a more whole understanding of language.

Advantages and Disadvantages

o    Whole language learning was designed to provide children with a better understanding of the full context of language. This approach emphasizes creativity when applied to learning to read and write rather than rote memorization of concepts that may contribute to some children's opinions of reading and writing as chore-like. Children who learn through whole language learning, however, may not develop as much accuracy in pronunciation, word recognition and spelling skills as one who learned through phonics-based teaching.

LITERATURE BASED APPROACH

The use of literature can be a valuable asset to any reading class. Although grammatical exercises are essential in helping students understand the basics of a written language, the use of stories can help the students see the language in context and also teach important cultural lessons about the language. However, choosing only that type of literature that doesn't add complications to the overall lesson is crucial.

Advantage: Students See What They Have Learned

o    The use of literature in a reading lesson allows students to contextualize what they have just learned. After a series of grammatical exercises covering a certain area, such as subject/verb agreement, for example, assigning a short story containing the content of the lesson allows the students to see how it operates in the context of usage. Although grammatical exercises also demonstrate usage, stories can do the same thing in a much more fluid and less rigid manner.

Advantage: Stories Can Be Fun for Students

o    One of the main advantages of the literature-based approach to teaching reading is the opportunity to provide students with content that can make the lesson fun. To spend an entire lesson reading off grammar exercises wouldn't be very enjoyable for the students or the teacher; general boredom can make for a very unproductive session.

 Disadvantage: Literature May Be Above the Student's Reading Level

o    When choosing literature for students, the teacher must give in-depth consideration to the reading level of the students, which can be very difficult to gauge. Although the teacher can obviously tell what grammar and vocabulary has been covered in the lesson thus far, there is virtually no way to know what the students have learned or absorbed outside of the class. Making too many assumptions about what students should know at their grade level could lead to unnecessary confusion on the part of the students.

Disadvantage: Students May Not Connect With the Literature

o    Apart from conflicts with reading level, literature may also be lost on students due to their age and cultural context. Cultural context in particular can be even more difficult to gauge than reading level. Although literature involving politics, sex or religion should be avoided as a general rule, the teacher will also have to avoid literature that might seem too exotic or ethnically foreign to certain students. In addition, safe literature that easily avoids all of these conflicts, like a children's book, for example, may appear dull and trite to some students.

Literature Based Approach

 Simply put, Literature-based approach is means of using literature as the basis for classroom instruction; it takes into account that literature is not just "reading", but is a wealth of experiences to be shared and appreciated by those involved, especially the developing young reader.  It makes use of authors original narrative and expository writings as the core of experiences to support children in developing literacy. As teachers and former literature students, we know all too well that literature has not always been and continues not to be a subject of choice for the very reason that it has been taught through a strong reading base. Realising that this has left our students more disillusioned about the subject, there is call for teachers to use more innovative, meaningful methods/activities to enable students to see the benefits/value of literature. By using original narrative and expository writings as the core for experiences to support children in developing litearcy in conjunction with authentic activities such as "talking" (sharing) about the book after reading , and making connections to real life experiences, childrena and adults are better able andwilling to develop literacy skills of reading, writing and thinking (Wells, 1990) (Tunell & Jacobs, 1989).
This can be achieved through a variety of ways:

·                     Thematic Instruction/Organization: this consists of a series of learning experiences that zoom in on a particular theme, topic or unit, genre or author; which consists of specific learning outcomes for students.Through this approach  students are able to build on prior knowledge to construct meaning. (Anderson & Pearson, 1984)students are also able to make connections and transfer learning. It also provides students with a model for developing reading and writing skills; because they ar exposed to a particular theme or topic for a length of time, then they are well exposed to sufficient examples to help them produce better quality structured writings.(Marzano, 1991)

·                     Responding to Literature: unlike the traditional approach to teaching literature through basal readers, and asking students rote questions about what happened in the text, students are provided with the opportunity to respond to the text in ways that are more "natural" and meaningful to them; example: discussion, journal entries, drama, listening logs, portfolios and even blogs. Not only does this tap into their creative nature, but it also respects their individuality, By developing this intimate relationship with the text  and its authentic, believable characters students are exposed to multiple cultures and principles able to draw from each others experiences , viewing issues from different perspectives which could promote more tolerance among students in and out of the classroom.

In the end the role of teacher here is to plan thoroughly, selecting themes that both valuable and appropriate for students; help students to activate prior knowledge and link it with those in the text and very important , provide students with scaffolding (Martinez & Roser, 1991). In combination these will do well to instil in students an appreciation and respect for literature as a wealth of pleasurable experiences.