Family LiteracyFamily LiteracyHewlett Elementary

October 4, 2011Hewlett Elementary

October 4, 2011

The Conditions of Learning

Charting a New Mission

• Today’s information age requires that young people develop literacy skills that are significantly higher than those that have ever been required of them. It is urgent for schools to chart a new mission.

• The world has changed, however; whereas twenty years ago 95% of jobs were low-skilled, today those jobs constitute only 10% of our entire economy (Darling-Hammond et. al., 2008).

• During the four years between 1997-2002, the amount of new information produced in the world was equal to the amount produced over the entire previous history of the world (Darling-Hammond et. al., 2008).

• The amount of technical information is being produced at such a high rate that it is predicted soon to double every seventy-two hours (Jukes and McCain, 2002).

What’s New in Literacyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BK_2VULCU

•Intergenerational Struggle Over Literacy Norms

•New Technology and New Ethos

•Multi-modal Texts Everywhere

•Blogs, Digital Storytelling, Wikis, Voice Thread

•http://www.pbs.org/programs/digital-media/

•http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/

Common Core StandardsSix Shifts in ELA/Literacy

•Balancing Informational and Literary Text

•Building Knowledge in the Disciplines

• Staircase of Complexity

• Text-Based Answers

• Writing From Sources

• Academic Vocabulary

What the Research Says

• “We have forty years of research showing that packaged reading reforms simply do not seem reliable to improve student achievement” (Allington).

• The single biggest influence on student academic growth is the quality of the teacher in the classroom.

✓ Long stretches of time to read high-interest books of their own choosing.

✓ Match between reader and text level.

✓ Explicit instruction in skills and strategies.

✓ Opportunities to talk in response to texts.

Essential Comprehension Skills

• Monitoring for Meaning

• Inferring

• Asking questions (and searching for answers)

• Making connections

• Envisioning

• Predicting

• Determining importance

• Synthesizing

Supporting Reading at Home

Let’s teach our children that learning to read is a lifelong process and something that all of us can be engaged in

alongside each other.

• Make reading and writing a habit.

• Read-aloud to your child (any and every age).

• Encourage your children to story tell stories they have read.

• Ask your child, “What do you think about...?” “What makes you think that?”

• Take regular trips to the library or book store. Give books as gifts just because...

• Make everyday activities literacy activities.

Authors Families Love Authors Families Love

• Eric Carle

• Mem Fox

• Mo Willems

• Kevin Henkes

• Judith Viorst

• Patricia Polacco

• Cynthia Rylant

• Roald Dahl

• Jan Brett

• Robert Munsch

• Tomie DePaola

• Gail Gibbons

• Jon Scieszka

• Shel Silverstein

MagazinesMagazines

• Ordering magazine subscriptions are a great way to increase the volume of non-fiction and informational text children are reading.

Some recommendations:

Sports Illustrated for Kids www.sikids.com

National Geographic Kids www.nationalgeographic.com/magazines

Scholastic Magazines www.scholastic.com/news

Books for Parents

• How to Talk So Kids Can Learn at Home and In School: What Every Parent and Teacher Needs to Know, by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlich

• Raising Lifelong Learners: A Parent’s Guide, by Lucy Calkins, with Lydia Bellino

• 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help your Kids Read it and Get it!, by Susan Zimmerman and Chryse Hutchins

• The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease

• Read to me: Raising Kids Who Love to Read, by Bernice E. Cullinan

• Games for Learning, by Peggy Kaye

• Even Hockey Players Read, by David Booth

• The Knowledge Deficit, by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.