Family Literacy

1. Family Literacy Reading Clinic Family Night Dr. Sharon Pitcher REED 663 Towson University

2. In Your Readings These are the questions that you will be responding to on the blog.

3. Some Guidelines • Think of the parents as well as the children. • We can’t do as good a job as we can with parent support. • We have to share the reason why and articulate that to parents.

4. Family Tic Tac ToeDo three items together to make Tic Tac Toe. This is an example of a family literacy activity that we do in Reading Clinic.

5. Great Poetry Race Child reads a poem or little book to as many people as he/she can in a short period of time (5 days, 1 week, or even overnight). This was also mentioned in the Fluency PowerPoint. Recently an article I wrote on The Great Poetry Race was published in The Reading Teacher. A copy of that article which includes the forms to do the activity are on the Blackboard site. The article explains ideas on how to tell parents about the activity that will get them involved.

6. Keeping Score • Child reads aloud to the parent for ten minutes a night. The parent keeps score on how many words correct (check marks) and words incorrect. The form is simple. Parents feel empowered since they send the information to the teachers but this also adds an accountability factor to reading with your child each night. This also provides the teacher with a modified running record each week on the child. See the next slide for an example of the form.

7. Keeping Score Form

8. Instead of Flash Cards Too often primary teachers send home flash cards for parents to practice with children. Often this causes stress when the children do not know the words. Instead make a set of cards including two cards for each word and the students can: • Play Concentration • Play Go Fish

9. Some Easy Ideas: Primary Grades • Making words in shaving cream – Using shaving cream is unique and gives children the chance to practice words in a multisensory way. • Cut up sentences – make up a sentence using the words to be practiced, cut up, put in an envelope with the sentence printed out. The sentence then becomes a puzzle. • Home Links – great ideas for K-3 http://www.schoolhomelinks.com/research.html • Kindergarten Book Club – A book club for parents www.towson.edu/~spitcher

10. Older Students • Connect comprehension strategies to activities they enjoy (cooking, crafts, songs, sports) • Sports websites www.cbssportsline.com • Use other websites www.scholastic.com • Family Comprehension Book Club – See Course Documents in Blackboard for plans for this.

11. Resources for Family Literacy National Center for Family Literacy http://www.famlit.org/ Check out this website!

12. New Study on the Effect of Family Literacy Programs on Children’s Academic Achievement Harvard Family Research Project, (2007). Family Involvement in Elementary School Children's Education. Harvard Graduate School of Education • The study involved reviewing many other studies.

13. The review found: • that parent involvement had a positive and significant effect on children's overall academic performance. The effect was educationally meaningful and large enough to have practical implications for parents, family involvement practitioners, and policymakers. When parents participated in academic enrichment activities with their children outside of school for an average of less than 12 weeks, children demonstrated an equivalent of 4 to 5 months improvement in reading or math performance.

14. Harvard Study found: • Child Outcomes • Higher reading scores • Language growth and development • Motivation to achieve • Prosocial behavior • Quality work habits Parenting • Parent-child relationship • Linkages with the community • Home-School Relationships • Participation in school events and formal parent involvement programs • Communication • Responsibility for • Learning Outcomes • Supporting literacy • Helping with homework • Managing children's education • Maintaining high expectations

15. "A close mother-child relationship in the early years of school where the parent supports appropriate instruction based on child's development, is sensitive and elicits prosocial behavior is associated with children's social and academic performance in middle school.“ • "Parents who can explain educational tasks in an age-appropriate level and in a emotionally supportive manner have children who are more likely to participate in class, seek help from the teacher when needed, and monitor their own work.“ • "...children perform better in school when their parents had varied networks, in which adults exposed children to different socially and cognitively stimulating activities. • "Fathers who observe children in the classroom, attend conferences, and meet with counselors have children who experience educational success more often than their peers whose mothers are the only involved parents.“ Quotes from: Harvard Family Research Project, (2007). Family Involvement in Elementary School Children's Education. Harvard Graduate School of Education

16. For more information about this study: • http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/family-involvement-in-elementary-school-children-s-education

17. Google Literacy Project http://www.google.com/literacy Has many literacy resources that can be shared with parents. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=646379545336983815&q=literacy Watch this video about Sharon Darling, the Director of the National Family Literacy Center. She was one of the national leaders in bringing family literacy to the forefront both in schools and for government funding.

18. WordsThat Cook • http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7190338552341421489&q=Family+Literacy Watch this video about an effective family literacy project.

19. Questions About Family Literacy • If you have any questions or would like any resources that I did not put on the “Course Documents” section of Blackboard (I added many resources), put a question in your blog response. After completing this and your readings, contribute to the blog discussion at www.spitcher.wordpress.com .