Kindergarten ELLA Program Early Literacy Learning Activities

The Idaho State Department of Education Partners with Districts to Provide an At-Home Reading Intervention Program

The Focus: Parent Literacy Training

The night kicks off with a presentation to share important information regarding the Reading Process and the Big 5 of Reading...

After the presentation, the students join their parents and teachers for hands-on literacy activities.

Teachers and assistants provide support to parents as they work with their children on the ten activities created for this event.

Instruction is provided in Spanish. All materials and directions are translated and offered in a Spanish/English version. Other languages are in the process of being translated.

The event can be organized to meet the needs of a school’s population.

Having access to instruction in their first language creates a positive connection between parents and their child’s school.

Families Learn Together!

Parents receive training and see teachers model how to work on critical literacy skills at home with their child.

Kids find the activities fun, and parents find them simple to teach at home.

Having the ELLA bag helps families keep all materials together and easily accessible! Children can hang it on their bedroom door or closet door!

Word lists are provided to make activities simple for the parent. Schools can add supplemental lists that fit with their own classroom Reading curriculum.

 Bags and materials can be ordered from the IRI page on the Idaho State Department of Education’s website and sent to your school district  A CD can be ordered on the IRI webpage, which will contain materials to be copied by your district  Volunteers will be needed to pack the materials into the bags  Districts with VISTA members could be supported by having them plan and organize the volunteers to pack the bags and help prepare the open house kickoff event Ways to Implement the ELLA Program

 Materials included: ELLA cloth bag with logo Sight word flashcards Alphabet sheets (upper and lower case letters) Plastic ABC’s in bag Alphabet Rainbow (two-sided) ELLA Booklet (Schools can select to make a “Big 5 Book Mark”)  Material Preparation (Local Decision): Sight word flashcards rubber banded together or placed in a baggie Baggie stapled to upper and lower case alphabet sheet Packing the ELLA Bags

Tips to Preparing a Successful Open House  Send invitations home as paper copies, s, and phone calls  Create and display posters around the school and neighborhood to advertise the event  Find community support or sponsorship for healthy refreshments or a meal  Find volunteers to prepare simple materials for literacy activities (gather pennies, animal pictures, picture books, and make copies of activity sheets)  Create spread sheets for volunteers to document which children attended, so other families can be trained at a Parent-Teacher Conference, or other literacy event  Organize volunteers to provide literacy activities to siblings, so families can come together without childcare worries

 Phonemic Awareness  Phonics  Vocabulary  Comprehension  Fluency This is an important representation that all skills must tie together to create a strong reader! The Big “5” of Literacy Color Codes: Students collect a bead as they complete each of the “Big 5” and volunteers could help with this The 5 colored beads are added to the “Big 5” bookmark

Volunteers or the PTA Secure Book Donations to Congratulate the Students’ Completion of the ELLA Booklet

Volunteers could be organized to help students choose books! Students have the chance to see other students that worked on ELLA! Students Love to Choose a New Book to Keep!

Getting families involved is the key! Organizing volunteers will support the school staff’s efforts! Districts and Schools can have a direct impact on making this program successful for their students!

How exciting for parents to be involved in the success of their child. Who could be more proud!

Thank You! Early Literacy Learning Activities

Presented by the Idaho State Department of Education