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Parent Handbook: Reading Aloud at Home. Jessica O’Connell MAIT 404: Capstone Project May 16, 2013. Guiding Questions. How can chapter books be used in primary grade classrooms? Are they effective? How do primary grade students develop vocabulary knowledge?
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Parent Handbook: Reading Aloud at Home Jessica O’Connell MAIT 404: Capstone Project May 16, 2013
Guiding Questions • How can chapter books be used in primary grade classrooms? Are they effective? • How do primary grade students develop vocabulary knowledge? • How can chapter book read alouds increase vocabulary knowledge in primary grade classrooms?
Research Findings • Reading aloud to children is the “single most important activity” to help children foster the knowledge needed to be successful in reading (Lacedonia, 1999). • Students construct meaning through the use of conversations during the read aloud process. • The “interactive read aloud is an important method for learning about conventions of texts that ultimately lead to independent reading” (Wiseman, 2011). • Vocabulary is an essential component to any balanced literacy program (Kieffer & Lesaux, 2007).
Capstone Project: Parent Handbook • Purpose: a toolkit for parents to use as an aid in supporting their child when reading at home.
Why a Parent Handbook? • Parent need • School organization: One teacher per grade level • Increase Parent-Teacher collaboration • Incoming Preschool students are from a Montessori class structure
Challenges of Parent Handbook • Cost of production • Lack of ability to translate into other languages • Choice of resources/information • Paper resource in a “paperless” world
Next Steps… • List of Sight Word Strategies • Information will need to be updated regularly • If successful, other handbooks for other subject areas can be produced • Revise grade level of handbook to meet the needs of my future parents (changing grade levels)
Conclusion • This project helped make me a more confident educator. • More articulate with the parent community. • Prompted me to initiate a Literacy event for next school year.