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Balanced literacy

A literacy approach combining whole-language and phonics elements, including guided reading and leveled books; criticised by science of reading advocates.

Used in
United States
Topic
Teaching and learning

Being checked against official sources. This definition is written in our own words; always check the official guidance for your country.

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Three-cueing United States
A reading strategy prompting children to guess words from meaning, sentence structure and visual cues; several states have banned it in favour of phonics.
Science of reading United States All four UK nations (details may differ)
The body of research on how children learn to read, emphasising explicit phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

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Definitions are written by Classfern in our own words for teachers in the UK and the US. They are short explanations, not legal or official definitions: always check the official guidance for your country, nation or state. Classfern is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government department, inspectorate or exam board named here.