Shifting the Balance, Grades 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom

by Katie Cunningham, Jan Burkins, Kari Yates

In this much anticipated follow-up to their groundbreaking book, Shifting the 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom, authors Jan Burkins and Kari Yates, together with co-author Katie Cunningham, extend the conversation in Shifting the Balance, Grades 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom. This new text is built in mind specifically for grades 3-5 teachers around best practices for the intermediate classroom. Shifting the Balance, Grades 3-5 introduces six more shifts across individual chapters

Zoom in on a common (but not-as helpful-as-we-had-hoped) practice to reconsiderUntangle a number of “misunderstandings” that have likely contributed to the use of the common practicePropose a more science-aligned shift to the current practiceProvide solid scientific research to support the revised practiceOffer a collection of high-leverage, easy-to-implement instructional routines to support the shift to more brain-friendly instructionThe authors offer a refreshing approach that is respectful, accessible, and practical – grounded in an earnest commitment to building a bridge between research and classroom practice. As with the first Shifting the Balance, they aim to keep students at the forefront of reading instruction.

Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2023

About the author

Katie Cunningham is a Python and Django developer for Speak Agent
by day, and a technical writer by night. While she had always had an interest in programming, it didn't turn
into a career until she started to work at NASA. There, she slowly
transitioned from gathering requirements to developing full time,
advocating the use of more open source in the government sector.

It was at NASA that she gained an interest in 508 compliance. At
first, she was only interested in getting her applications through QA
faster. Over time, however, she gained a passion for a web that was
easy for everyone to use. Now in the private sector, she is
championing compliance even for websites that don't require it by law.

She currently lives just outside of Washington, DC with her husband and
two children.

Reviews

[LI-CHING HUANG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

This books exposes so many of my doubts over current practices and offer many great high leveraging advices. It's not easy to make changes and I am not more knowledgeable to make those shifts because it is researched based.