Balanced literacy is a theory of teaching reading and writing the English language that arose in the 1990s and has a variety of interpretations. It is an instructional approach that involves a balance between teacher-led reading and writing instruction and independent learning. The components of a balanced literacy approach include many different strategies applied during Reading Workshop and Writing Workshops. A typical balanced literacy framework consists of five components including read aloud, guided reading, shared reading, independent reading, and word study. The teacher begins by modeling the reading/writing strategy that is the focus of the workshop during a mini-lesson. Then, students read leveled texts independently or write independently for an extended period of time as the teacher circulates amongst them to observe, record observations and confer.

Some proponents of balanced literacy say it uses research-based elements of comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, phonemic awareness, and phonics and includes instruction in a combination of the whole group, small group, and 1:1 instruction in reading, writing, speaking, and listening with the strongest research-based elements of each. However, critics such as Diane Ravitch say that balanced literacy may use elements of phonics and whole language but it focuses mainly on reading strategies such as "predicting what they will read, visualizing what they will read, inferring the meaning of what they have read, reading alone, reading in a group, and so on".

Balanced literacy is a popular method of teaching reading and writing, and it is the most commonly taught approach in American schools. However, it is difficult to define and can vary from classroom to classroom. While balanced literacy can help many students discover a love of reading, it may not work for all students, especially those with learning disabilities like dyslexia, as it lacks the structured, explicit instruction and content needed for these students.