How Can Parents Help Children to Learn? Introduction to workshop facilitators and others helping to run the program. Ice breaker activity Introduce yourself to person on right and person on left. Elicit responses from group members about a question like: what was your favorite book when you were growing up? What is the best thing that happened to you this week? Who was the biggest help to you when you went to school? Why? Of the books shown on this page, which one could tell the story of you right now?

What is SIG? Grant Funded by OSEP Goal: Increased Literacy for Students Pre-K through High School Professional Development Family Involvement

Your workshop presenters are:

Supporting Children’s Learning Why are parents important in education? Important areas in Reading Research – the “five pillars” How does reading develop and improve? How/why students struggle with reading Strategies for reading improvement

Why are Parents Important in Their Children's Education? What does the research say about the effect of family involvement? What is family involvement? Parenting Communicating Volunteering Learning at Home Almost across the board, researchers have found that when parents are involved in their children’s education, students: Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Epstein, 1990; Clark, 1990; Comer & Haynes, 1992; Kellaghan et al, 1993) Have higher grade point averages and higher scores on standardized tests Are enrolled in more academically challenging courses Pass more classes and earn more credits Have better attendance Have improved behavior at home and at school and better social skills Are more likely to graduate from high school and attend post-secondary programs Coleman (Equality of Educational Opportunity 1966) found that not every parent has an equal amount of resources to bring to their involvement in children’s education. Parents vary in the amount of time, money, energy, and education/knowledge they possess. But Coleman found that variations among family backgrounds made more difference in children’s achievement than variations between schools. Coleman explained, “Schools, of whatever quality, are more effective for children from strong family backgrounds than for children from weak ones. The resources devoted by the family to the child’s education interact with the resources provided by the school – and there is greater variation in the former resources than the latter” (Coleman, 1987). Coleman suggested that schools provide inputs into the socialization process of students that can be characterized as opportunities, demands, and rewards. A second set of inputs come from the child’s “closer, more intimate and more persisting environment . . . and the environment that most affects them is, for nearly all children, the social environment of the household” (p.35). These inputs are attitudes, effort, and conception of self. Thus, if the family does not help the child develop good attitudes about school and self, the schools will not be as effective in doing their part.

Building Blocks of Reading Phonemic Awareness Reading Ability Vocabulary Phonics Comprehension Fluency Reading Readiness Listen Read Print Talk

Phonemic Awareness A Phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a spoken word. Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. cat – how many phonemes?/c/ /a/ /t/ cake – how many phonemes? /c/ /a/ /k/ manipulating sounds Beginning sounds - bat /b/ …. Ending sounds - bat /t/ Rhyming /b/ /a/ /t/ … /c/ /a/ /t/ Hearing syllables – clapping, etc.

Phonics Phonics is the predictable relationship between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters). Systematic and explicit instruction Connecting sounds to symbols Consonants and vowels Combinations and patterns Assists in decoding efforts to make reading less of a struggle

Fluency Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression. Bridges word recognition and comprehension. Different than speed reading. Changes with stage of development, familiarity with words, amount of practice Ways to improve fluency: Modeling good reading Repeated reading Adult-child reading Choral reading Tape-assisted reading Partner reading

Vocabulary Vocabulary: the words we use and understand in reading, listening, and writing. We have a harder time reading and understanding those words whose meaning we do not know. oral – speaking and listening reading – recognize in print Sometimes taught directly through word learning strategies like dictionary, word lists and parts, context clues However, most vocabulary is learned indirectly through everyday experiences talking, listening, reading repeated exposure to words – read, write, say

Comprehension Comprehension is understanding what we read. It’s the reason for reading. Good readers think when they read: Purposeful – know why they are reading Use background knowledge – decode, recall, compare Active – think while reading Monitor comprehension and use strategies Identify where the difficulty occurs Identify what the difficulty is Restates in own words Look back through text Look forward for info that helps resolve difficulty Able to use graphic organizers Able to ask and answer questions Use prior knowledge, predict and summarize

Example of importance of background knowledge: What do you need to know to read this recipe and bake these brownies? Recipe for Brownies 6 tablespoons Cocoa 1/4 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup flour 1 cup toasted pecans (optional) 2 eggs Pour batter into greased and floured pan. Bake at 350° for ½ hour.

Literacy for All If your child has a disability, does that mean he or she shouldn’t be working on reading and writing skills? Would you like to learn more about helping your child in those areas? Support and Training for Exceptional Parents (STEP) (800) 280-STEP and Family Voices of Tennessee 1-888-643-7811 are two Tennessee organizations whose staff help parents of children with special needs. Call them for more information.

Model Good Reading Read aloud - example Let them see you read Show children how to define the purpose for reading and to ask questions during reading Show how there’s always more information to read about a subject

Venn Diagram Similarities and Differences The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Different Different Similar

Story Map Main Setting Characters Problem of the story A story event Another story event How the problem is solved The ending

KWL Chart K What I know W What I want to Know L What I learned

Parent’s Role in Reading Provide support Read and have your child read – get them thinking and talking Help them find interesting sources of reading Visit the library and other places – give them background knowledge Don’t make reading time at home a chore: be positive - “Now we get to read” instead of “You have to get your reading done.” Read, read, read…

Recap What can parents do to support their children's learning? When do children start the “learning to read” process? What are the five areas researchers say are most important for learning to read? What are some of the ways in which children struggle with reading? How can we help children in those areas? Ask parents these questions to see if they got the information you were hoping they’d get from the workshop.

Questions?? Please visit the SIG Website for more strategies and ways to help your child improve reading skills: http://sig.cls.utk.edu/

Toolkit Tools The following material can be downloaded at no cost from http://sig.cls.utk.edu/ Toolkit Book: Families Helping Children Become Better Readers PowerPoint Presentation Facilitator’s Guide