Family literacy phoenix

REVISITING FAMILY LITERACY:

STRENGTHENING SCHOOL, FAMILY, AND

COMMUNITY THROUGH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Patricia A. CrawfordUniversity of Pittsburgh

Nancy Brasel & Sherron Killingsworth RobertsUniversity of Central FloridaACEI 2010, Phoenix. Arizona

PURPOSE OF SESSION:

To consider the benefits of implementing a family literacy program component while exploring ideas for creating interactive literacy activities for parents and children

FEDERAL DEFINITIONFamily literacy "services that are of

sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate all of the following activities:

a) training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the literacy education of their children;

b) parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency;

c) an age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences;

d) Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children.

FAMILY LITERACY FINDINGS Parent-child literacy activities, such as

reading to children, have been found to improve children's language skills and heighten their interest in books

The more frequently parents read to their children, the more likely the children are to show emerging literacy skills

Children’s development and school achievement is highly correlated with the amount of time they spend with their parents. (Jacobs, 2004; Pianta, 2004; Powell, 2004).

FAMILY LITERACY FINDINGS Parents have a significant impact on the

language and literacy development of their children (Dickinson & Tabor, 2001; Hart &Risley, 1995; 1999).

The more time that parents spend interacting with their children, the better the chance that their children will have higher vocabulary and IQ test scores at age three (Hart &Risley, 1999).

Frequent parent-child book reading benefits children’s language and literacy development (Bus, vanIjzendoorn& Pelligrini,1995; Lonigan&Whitehurst,1998).

SUPPORTING FAMILIES AS LITERACY COACHES: ROLES AND TIPSActively Listen- Listen

closely to the children and accept their perspective.

Become a Mentor- As a mentor or coach you will be asking children to extend their ideas, by wondering & asking questions

Share Positive Reading Experiences- Share books you have read, magazine articles, newspaper articles, letters, etc. to demonstrate the importance of reading

SUPPORTING FAMILIES AS LITERACY COACHES: MORE ROLES AND TIPS

Provide a Model-Read and think aloud so children can learn what successful readers do. Model fluent reading

Provide Appropriate Support- Wait five seconds before intervening if a child is having difficulty reading a word or text.

INTERACTIVE LITERACY BAGS

A Means to Support Family Literacy:

INTERACTIVE LITERACY BAGS Serve as a transportable classroom

library Provide a tangible connection between

home and school Typically include a developmentally

appropriate book and relevant support materials

May include suggestions for parents and other caring readers in the child’s life

Invite both reading and reading response

THREE SAMPLE PROGRAMS Red Bug Reads (Casselberry, Florida)

Family Literacy Bags (Palm Bay, Florida)

The Wordless Book Nook (New Wilmington, Pennsylvania)

RED BUG READS Part of an ongoing and comprehensive

program to support a love and learning of literacy at Red Bug Elementary in Casselberry, Florida

Packets developed as part of a 10+ year collaboration with the College of Education at the University of Central Florida

Packets developed by teacher education students and used by a wide range of community tutors who work with elementary students

About my book 1. Title and Year: 2. Author/ I llustrator: 3. Number of pages: 4. Genre and Summary (5-7 sentences): 5. Energetic, motivational BOOK TALK 6. Related books (list 3-5 books with title, author, year): 7. One related website and blurb: QAR questions with answers in parentheses Please use Question/Answer/Relationship to create at least two questions for each of the levels of questions (Raphael, 1984). These questions may be used before, during, or after. 1. RIGHT THERE questions are explicit, in the text. 2. THINK AND SEARCH questions are text based, but they require

implicit answers. 3. ON MY OWN questions require prior knowledge in the readers’

background. 4. AUTHOR AND ME questions blend knowledge from the text and

prior knowledge about the writer’s expertise. [Change one thing: the setting, the character, the problem…reminiscent of innovations on text

Read and Write Together 1. BEFORE READING ACTIVITY: This should introduce the book and activate or

create prior knowledge. Find a way to motivate students to want to read this book…(could be a graphic organizer or preview questions).

2. DURING READING ACTIVITY: This activity should promote active comprehension of the book. QAR questions fit in very well here. Direct the parents/tutor on where to stop and start reading in the midst of the questions.

3. AFTER READING ACTIVITY This activity should support and/or summarize the book. It could also extend the book. A writing activity works in really well here as does any of the graphic organizers.

*Include blank and completed copies of any worksheets, scoring cards, or graphic organizers with your book bag. 4. List of materials and items in the bag on an index card:

Make sure you include the following: 1. These typed, clear directions scripted for parents/volunteers to use.

2. Red Bug students writing connected text somewhere in their time together. 3. Something clever/motivating /visually stimulating for students in the bag.

4. List of materials and items included in the bag on an index card. 5. TURN IN TWO COPIES OF BOOK BAG ACTIVITY: one for grading &one for the school!

RED BUG READS PACKETS Book packets include activities to use

before, after, and during reading Packets include a wealth of generally

applicable activities such as the five-finger strategy, graphic organizers, reading and writing connections

See more at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ira2001/home.html

FAMILY LITERACY BAGSPORT MALABAR ELEMENTARY Ongoing program at Title One school in Palm

Bay Florida that began in January 2008 25 bags with children’s book(s), related

activities and materials Children choose bag based on picture tag

attached to bag Children take home bags each Friday and

return them the following Tuesday Participants included the kindergarten student and: mom, dad, brother, sister and/or grandmother

Mothers were the most frequent participants Families reported participating in the literacy

activities for one or more hours each weekend.

Title of Take Home Bag ________________________________________________________ Child’s Name ____________________________________________________________ Parents:_ 1. Did you like this book? Yes No 2. Did you like doing the activities? Yes No 3. If you did more than one activity, which was your favorite? _________________________________________________________ 4. Circle all of the people who worked with your child on this book: mom brother grandma dad sister grandpa guardian aunt uncle cousin friend 5. About how much time was spent on the activities? _____ 15 minutes _____ 30 minutes _____ 45 minutes

_____ 1 hour _____ more than 1 hour

6. How many different times did you work on activities? 1 2 3 4 5 6 more 7. Parent comments—Please share your feelings and ideas about this Literacy Bag. Students: Did you enjoy this take home bag?

Very Much____________ So So___________ Not at all____________ Please return this survey and the literacy bag to Mrs. Wolfe by Tuesday. (this form adapted from: Northwest Family Resource Center)

Bag Contents: Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin Giggle Giggle Quack by Doreen Cronin Dear Mrs. Larue: Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague Stamped postcards (you don’t have to return the stamped postcards with the completed bag) Directions: Read these 3 funny stories about characters that use notes and letters to communicate with people. Use the enclosed stamped postcards to send a message in the mail to someone you know – you can draw, write or have your parent write your message. How about mailing one to yourself? (Parents – the postcards are prepaid so all you have to do is drop into a mailbox when your child has written or drawn a message and you have added the mailing address.)

Please complete the enclosed survey with your child and return the complete literacy bag to Mrs. Wolfe by Tuesday.

Bag Contents: Deadly Snakes by Lisa McCourt Slinky Scaly Snakes by Jennifer Dussling The Best Book of Snakes by Christiane Gunzi Verdi by Janell Cannon Plastic snakes Directions: Read and enjoy these fiction and non-fiction books about snakes. Do you like snakes? What would you do if you found a snake in your backyard?

Please complete the enclosed survey with your child and return the complete literacy bag to Mrs. Wolfe by Tuesday.

Bag Contents: The Web Files by Margie Palatini and Richard Egielski Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat Fingerprinting Directions Pages for you to practice making fingerprints (you don’t need to return the pages you use) Magnifying Glass Tape dispenser and #2 pencils Directions: After reading the 2 enclosed books, follow the directions to chart your fingerprints. Are your fingerprints whorls, loops or arches? Do your fingerprints match anyone else in your family?

Please complete the enclosed survey with your child and return the complete literacy bag to Mrs. Wolfe by Tuesday.

Bag contents: Stellaluna by Janelle Cannon DVD & VHS video for Stellaluna Directions: Read this funny book about bats and birds with your family. When you are finished, use the dvd or video to watch the story. Was the movie like the book? If you use the dvd, explore the special features with your parents to learn more about bats and to make your own bat.

Please complete the enclosed survey with your child and return the complete literacy bag to Mrs. Wolfe by Tuesday.

WWW.STORYLINEONLINE.NET

INEXPENSIVE BAGS/TOTES Dollar Store Reusable grocery bags Back to School clearance End of the year Lost & Found collection

of backpacks

PARENT COMMENTS “Both kids loved these books. Thank you for

sharing them with us. We loved the Farmer Brown books.”

“This was a great bag for Jesse because he loves animals. He’s familiar with snakes so I liked the non-fiction books in the bag.”

“We enjoyed the book and the movie comparison. Rocco really got into finding the differences.”

“This bag (book) was very good. Bright pictures and the story taught some good ideas. As a parent I give this a 10!! We liked listening to the CD in the car on the way to school. The lyrics set to music were enjoyable to listen to and learn. This will be a good book to add to our library.”

WORDLESS BOOK NOOK Program funded by the Elizabeth

Breathwaite Award, Association for Childhood Education International

Aimed at supporting family literacy at a college-based child development center

Partnership between faculty at University of Pittsburgh and Westminster College

Book packets include only wordless texts and are aimed at promoting child-family interactive reading and language development

WORDLESS BOOKS

WORDLESS BOOKS Introduce children to the

aesthetics of children’s book illustrations

Offer invitations to construct meaning

Can be used by a variety of age levels

Provide support structure for ELL Offer unique family literacy

opportunities

PROGRAM COMPONENTS Exposure to literature Classroom introduction Recorded storytelling by

each child Three book-in-a-bag

family literacy engagements over a 3 week period Draw a picture Beginning, middle, end Post it story recording

Final recorded storytelling by each child

10 PRINCIPLES OF LITERACY 1. Nothing is better than reading and

writing to develop students’ reading and writing.

2. Most reading should be easy reading (high accuracy/good comprehension). An 80/20 ratio (easy to harder) seems about right.

3. Students do not develop comprehension strategies by answering questions after reading.

10 PRINCIPLES CONTINUED4. Children do not develop composing strategies from

red ink corrections.5. Children do not develop decoding strategies from

drills or isolated worksheets (nor from just reading) 6. Children benefit from an integrated, content-oriented,

and comprehensive reading/language arts curriculum plan.

7. Some children need access to larger amounts of more intensive instructional support and enhanced opportunities to read & write with instructional support.

10 PRINCIPLES CONTINUED8. Thoughtful literacy is the new general goal for

reading and language arts instruction.9. Developing independent readers and writers

is critical to developing thoughtful lifelong learners.

10. Good classroom instruction is absolutely central to every student’s achievement.(Prepared by R.L. Allington, 1995)

WHEN WE OPEN THE DOOR TO FAMILY

LITERACY…THE CONTAGION BEGINS!

When parents read to their children, they open the door to a lifetime of literacy and to endless learning.

When you read with your children, your lives are forever changed.

INTERACTIVE LITERACY BAGS:Selected support strategies to share with parents and other caring readers

5 FINGER STRATEGY Open the book to any page with text.

Read the page.

Hold up a finger for each word you do not know.

How many fingers are you holding up? 0-1 Finger=Easy Book 2-3 Fingers=Okay Book 4-5 Fingers=Challenging Book More than 5= TOO HARD!!!

READ TO, WITH, AND BY CHILDREN Read books aloud TO your children.

Read books WITH your children, by inviting active participation in the reading experience. Take turns reading various parts

Support reading BY children. Listen as they read stories to you.

BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER BEFORE READING: Engage children in talk

about the book. Ask them to predict what the story might be about after looking at the cover. Take a “picture walk” and have the child “read” the illustrations to you.

DURING READING: Promote active engagement by inviting questions, pointing out details in illustrations, or explaining concepts.

AFTER READING: Celebrate the story! Discuss the storyline. Ask the children to retell the story.