The Case for Balanced Teaching

Now in a revised and updated fifth edition, this gold-standard text and K-8 practitioner resource provides a roadmap for comprehensive literacy instruction informed by the science of reading. Rather than advocating one best approach, the book shows how to balance skills- and meaning-focused instruction to support all students' success. Chapters describe specific ways to build word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, especially for learners who are struggling. The book explains the conceptual underpinnings of recommended strategies and techniques and shows how exemplary teachers actually put them into practice.

New to This Edition

• Updated throughout with new coauthor Tim Pressley; incorporates the latest research about reading development and difficulties.
• Chapter on instruction for emergent bilingual learners (EBs), plus an appendix on selecting texts for EBs.
• Expanded discussions of dyslexia and the role of executive function in reading.
• Application tables that translate key concepts into recommended classroom strategies.