Where Does Literacy Begin?

Well, according to Esther A. Jantzen’s article in the LA Times, literacy begins at home, and I couldn’t agree more. She had this to say about the study which found that Bush’s Reading First program is not working:

I doubt if anyone with experience in urban education is surprised at the announcement. We’re disappointed that, once again, a generation of public school kids didn’t get whatever is needed in order to learn to read well.

But we’re not surprised. We’ve been barking up the wrong tree a long time.

I’ve actually been watching and waiting for the inevitable finger-pointing that was bound to happen once the news spread about the lack of success the Reading First program has had in improving student performance in urban schools. It should come as no surprise that the blame be tossed around and passed down from office to office before finally landing in the laps of the schools and teachers. While I knew the finger would also eventually be pointed at parents, I didn’t expect it to be done this quickly.

Although I think some blame belongs to the schools and the administration of the program in general, I completely agree with the author’s views in regards to the importance of starting literacy in the home. She goes on to share the findings of an eye-opening study that was done on children’s vocabulary and literacy; an important one that most parents (and many educators) are sadly, unfamiliar with:

They found that by age 3 children of welfare parents heard 10 million words, those with working-class parents heard 20 million words, and those with professional parents heard 30 million words. In addition, with children 13-18 months old in welfare families, almost 80% of the feedback to the child was negative, in working-class families about 50% was negative, and in professional families more than 80% of feedback to the child was affirmative.

It turns out that verbal development is not so much about IQ, parental love or socioeconomic status. These skills are related to how much a child is talked to and the tone of the communications. Literacy is founded on words heard and words used. What this means is that the critical place that literacy develops is the home, not the school, and that the crucial intervention period is very early in the life of a child.

This is powerful information for any parent to have and act on! I wish every parent would make it his or her personal mission to assure that their child gets the best start possible by simply following what this study suggests: talking and interacting with your child in a positive manner as much as possible! Jantzen goes on to supply several realistic ideas for parents, companies, and the community at large to make this change happen in homes across the country. Having worked at a couple of urban schools myself where parental involvement meant calling a social worker, I can only hope that her message is heard.

I can at least help by spreading her word and by providing parents the knowledge to teach their kids to read at home through our site! Read the whole article here to find out more about her ideas.

Synonym Memory - Lesson Idea # 26

Synonyms have been shown to be an excellent way to build our vocabularies because it’s really easy to learn and attach a new word to a concept/meaning that we already know. Kids can have fun learning and adding to their vocabulary by playing this version of the classic game of memory. You can use store bought word cards or make your own out of index cards or card stock to play. Although you can use any set of random words you like (click here for word ideas), it’s also a good idea to choose words from a book or selection that you are working on with your child.

1. Pick out some synonym pairs (the number will vary depending on your child’s age and reading ability - anywhere from 5 pairs for younger kids to 15 pairs for older kids) and review the words with your child. Have your child practice reading the words and take the time to discuss their meanings.
2. Lay the word cards face down in rows on the floor or table.
3. Have your child choose a card, read the word aloud, and try to find the word card that matches its meaning. If they find the right card they get to keep the pair. If not, they put both cards back where they were and it’s the next person’s turn.
4. Continue until there are no cards left. The person with the most cards wins!

• You can make this as simple or as difficult as you like. For younger kids you can use simple words with pictures to help them with the meaning (ex: small/little, hat/cap) - harder words for older kids (ex: alone/isolated, exhausted/weary).
• This is an excellent time to introduce your kids to mature vocabulary words that can be tied to easy words that they already know - this really helps to expand their vocabulary in a rich way! Examples: sad/melancholy, friendly/amicable, mad/indignant.
• You can also change this up by making the word pairs antonyms.

Vocab Riddles - Lesson Idea #25

This fun game will help your child learn the meanings of words from a story or book that you are working on. It also gives your kids a great chance for fluency practice if they get to read the words several times before they actually start reading the text. Or you can simply play it after a reading to reinforce the meanings.

1. Choose several words from the selection you are about to read with your child (this can vary depending on your child’s age, reading ability, and/or difficulty of the text - but usually between 5-10 words).
2. List the words on a white board or chart and have your child try to read them - blending them if necessary or you can read them together. Discuss the meaning of each word with your child. You can look them up together, talk about what they mean, use them in sentences, etc..
3. Then tell your child that you will be playing a riddle game where they’ll have to guess which word matches your clue. They get to cross off each correct word they guess - maybe even win a treat (an m&m or extra minutes earned to spend on a favorite activity).
4. For example: For the words mast, remote, and link, you can use the following riddles:

I’m tall, very strong, and you can attach sails to me.

I mean the opposite of being close or near to things or people.

If I’m missing, then you can’t keep the chain together.

Remember that you can keep this as difficult or as easy as you want depending on your child’s age and ability. Have fun with it!

Comic Books Don’t Teach Anything

Or do they? Many may not consider comic books to be quality literature, but they are. They’re actually really cool pieces to use to create an interest in reading. While they may appeal to both girls and boys, comic books have been shown to be very useful in sparking an interest in reading in reluctant male readers. It’s no wonder since they’re chock-full of awesome illustrations, unique story lines, short text boxes, and speech bubbles. They’re definitely not like your everyday picture book or text, so some may not see the educational value they hold. You might have to dig (through different genres and titles), but if you look closely you’ll find a valuable resource for your child. Chris Shave definitely found them helpful when teaching his boys:

Shave said that comic books are very visual and these images are enough to drive the story forward alone, even without text. The pictures help actively involve the reader in the story.

“There are short bursts of dialogue, speech, and thought bubbles. Because of that, readers who might feel bogged down by long text and big paragraphs will experience success (reading comic books).”

More reasons why comic books are great selections to encourage reading:

• They are high interest so your kids will want to read them. This is huge when trying to instill a love for reading in your child! They may start out with comic books and end up with Shakespeare, you never know - at least they’re reading! Read how Taylor put this theory to practice with high schoolers.
• The characters tend to use a rich variety of words which helps kids expand their own vocabulary. You can do some interesting vocabulary lessons using comic books.
• Did you know that Marvel (and other companies) make comic book versions of classical literature like The Iliad, Treasure Island, and The Man in the Iron Mask? These would be a great way to introduce the real books and to provide your child with some background knowledge. Or you can use them after reading the real ones to expose your kids to a different version.

All in all, comic books shouldn’t be overlooked when choosing reading material for your child. You never know what will be that one thing that will motivate your child to read until you try it!

Letter Inspector - Lesson Idea #24

This is a fun pretend play game that reinforces letter recognition while getting your child active around the house or at the store. You’ll need a couple of pipe cleaners and a print rich environment (make sure there are lots of things with words around)

1. To make an instant inspector - make a “magnifying glass” out of a pipe cleaner by twisting it into a loop shape that has a hole big enough to place over the hunted letters.
2. Tell your child that you need their help in searching for as many (target letter) that they can find around. For example: You can lead by saying “I’m searching for the letter ‘b’”, while looking through your “magnifying glass” as you walk around. When you find one, you can say “Here’s a ‘b’!  Let’s see how many more you can find.”
3. Have fun investigating throughout the place for as many letters as you can both find!

Extension ideas:

• You can also incorporate some math in by having them keep track of how many target letters they can find.
• You can use this as a review activity for several letters at once and keep track of how many of each letter is found. Incorporate math by having your child compare which letter was found more often, find how many more ‘f’s did you find than ‘b’s, etc. They can even make a graph!

Jumping For Sounds - Lesson Idea #23

This activity can be used to burn off some of your child’s extra energy while practicing their sounds to develop their phonemic awareness. It’s even more fun when you have siblings or friends join in!

1. Choose a target letter and decide where in the word you want the focus to be (easy: beginning sound, medium: ending sound, hard: middle sound or mixed if working with vowels). It also helps to create a list of random words that have the target sound and some that don’t ahead of time, so you don’t get stuck trying to think of some on the spot.
2. Tell your child that you’ll be saying some words and that they have to listen to see if the word has the target sound in the right place. If the word does, they can jump up. If it doesn’t, they can just stay where they are.
3. Tell them to get in the ready position by squatting down with their hands on the floor (I call it froggy position). Begin saying some words slowly to give them a chance to react.

Some sample words for the beginning sound /s/:

silly           mine            net
goat          sack             scallop
happy       Septmeber     star
snake        tent              book
Sally          ballopn         playground
monkey     singer           squash
I promise that you’ll wear your child out playing this! You can use it as a game to pay when you introduce a new sound or as review. You can also change it up by changing their response activity (clapping, stomping, jumping jack, etc.)

Put On Your Dunce Cap

You’ve all heard the phrase “Put on your thinking caps”, right? Well, this is sort of like that, but the opposite version. There are many times when we, as parents and teachers, act a bit “slower” than we are for the sake of giving our children an extra boost of confidence to discover things on their own. This is what my phrase “Put on your dunce cap” is all about!

If you’ve ever stared in open-eyed amazement at a five year old who just found you in your “impossible to find” hiding spot during a round of hide-and-seek, you know exactly what I mean.

This pretend lapse of intelligence on your part is sometimes just the thing your child needs to get motivated and involved in a learning game. It gives them such gratification to find out new things while getting the chance to “teach” you something for a change. So go ahead and put your dunce cap on for some extra fun during the lessons, games, and activities that you do with your child!

Word Blends (beginning consonants) - Lesson Idea #22

This is a phonemic awareness activity – click here for info on why these help. You can use a puppet for this activity to make it more fun.

1. Tell your child that you will be putting some sounds together to make words. Tell him/her that you (or the puppet) will give them a sound and a part of the word and they will have to put them together to make a word. For example: You say: /n/…eedle. Your child says the word “needle”.
2. Remember that the goal is for your child to blend sounds together orally, not to be able to read these words. So don’t be afraid to use big words – it’ll really add to their listening/speaking vocabulary!

Samples:

/t/…iger

/d/…inosaur

/m/…onkey

/b/…asket

/t/…elevision

/j/…ungle

/p/…oodle

/m/…idnight

/s/ andwhich

Silly Sentences - Lesson Idea #21

Use this activity as a review for letters you’ve worked with. You can do this one whether your child knows how to read or not. Your purpose is to reinforce the letter shape and sound in a fun way.

1. Write a silly sentence so that all of the words in it begin with the same letter and sound. For example: Handsome Henry hugs happy hyenas.
2. Read the sentence aloud and have them repeat it with you. They can also try to say it fast several times. Ask your child what letter and sound they think is special in this sentence - /h/.
3. Ask your child to think of other words that start with the same letter and sound. List what they come up with and go over the words.
4. Some other sample sentences:

• Jolly Johnny jiggles Jackie’s jewels.
• Silly Sam says scallops soak soda.

The listing of words can also help develop your child’s vocabulary. Get ready for tongue twisters!

Previously On…

I admit it. I’m a TV junkie. I like to think I watch in moderation, but I probably watch too much. I know that fact may seem to contradict what we’re advocating here, but I can’t help it. And I actually noticed something helpful about television a few weeks ago when Ana was explaining a reading strategy to me. The strategy we were discussing is summarizing. I’m not the reading expert, so I’ll let her take you through the specifics of summarizing, why it’s important, and how to employ it, but I quickly realized that it is a strategy used in television all the time.

Most of my favorite shows are running series like Lost that develop characters and stories over weeks and years. One thing every episode of these shows has in common is that they all begin with a “Previously on…” segment that summarizes what has happened so far. As Ana points out in her article on summarizing, there’s a very good reason for this–it gives us a chance to get caught up very quickly so we can pay attention and absorb the new material.

Again, I’ll leave the coaching of this strategy to Ana, but I thought I’d point out a way that this strategy is commonly used in another medium. I’ve always appreciated the “Previously on…” segments of television shows. Besides reminding me of what has happened in previous episodes, they’re also effective in setting the mood for what I’m about to watch. Whenever I pick up a book I’m working on, especially if it’s fiction, I almost always skim a few paragraphs I covered in my last reading session just to give myself a quick reminder of where I was and to get my mind back into story.