1. Professional Development Session
Early Literacy & Reading Skills
Longfellow Elementary
March 23, 2011
Kathy Hoover & Cassie Koch
This is the title page for the Professional Development session.
List:
Topic
Name of school/site
Date of presentation
Name of facilitator(s)

2. Professional Development and Academic Content Standards
Kindergarten- Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency #1- Read own first and last name.
Kindergarten- Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency #2- Identify and complete rhyming words and patterns.
Kindergarten- Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency #4- Distinguish and name all upper- and lower-case letters.
Kindergarten- Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency #7- Hear and say the separate phonemes in words, such as identifying the initial consonant sound in a word, and blend phonemes to say words.
Kindergarten- Writing Applications #1- Dictate or write simple stories, using letters, words or pictures.
Kindergarten- Communication: Oral and Visual #1- Listen attentively to speakers, stories, poems, and songs.
Kindergarten- Communication: Oral and Visual #3- Follow simple oral directions.
List the ODE Professional Development and Academic Content Standards (based on selected topic/content area) that pertain to your topic and this Professional Development session.
Explain how Standards relate to the topic/content area.

3. Professional Development and Academic Content Standards
Ohio Professional Development Standard 6.5a- Students and families are included in the learning process in a meaningful way.
Ohio Professional Development Standard 6.5c- Connections between home and school are strengthened when educators learn and use methods to communicate effectively with families and other members of the community.
Ohio Professional Development Standard 6.5d- Educators understand how child- and family-related mental health issues impact student achievement.

4. Professional Learning Goals
Parents will become familiar with…
various kindergarten screening assessments.
hierarchy of reading skills development.
Fountas & Pinnell reading levels.
activities that can be used at home to promote early reading skills.
As you read each learning goal for the session:
Ask participants to consider what they want to learn more about in relation to the general goals.
Ask each participant to create questions that reflect what they personally want to gain from the session.
How might we incorporate this information into the session? How might this information “fit” within the presentation?

5. Overview of Session Share thoughts about activities from last meeting
Explain the Hierarchy of Phonological Awareness Skills
Explore 3 kindergarten reading assessments
KRA-L
DIBELS
Fountas & Pinnell
Make-It, Take-Its
Reflection & Evaluation
Give a brief overview of the session. What will participants hear, see, and do?

6. Building Background Knowledge
Engagement
Candy Bar Ice Breaker (choose 3 pieces)
Milk Chocolate- What is your child’s favorite book?
Dark Chocolate- What is one thing you want to learn about to help your child with reading?
Mr. Goodbar- What is the first word you think of when you hear the word “reading”?
Krackle- What is your favorite book?
You will begin the session by….
What activity will you employ as a way to engage the participants?
How will you share research with the participants?
In what way(s) could you encourage audience participation and discussion around the research?

7. Building Background Knowledge
Johnson and Roseman (2003) have identified the Hierarchy of Phonological Awareness Skills.
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear sounds of spoken word, such as rhymes and syllables.
Hierarchy of Phonological Awareness shows skill development from preschool to first grade.

8. Building Background Knowledge
Preparatory Activities
o Develop listening habits – Preschool-Early Kindergarten
o Tune into print - Preschool-Early Kindergarten
Rhyme Awareness Activities
o Identify words that rhyme - Preschool-Kindergarten
o Produce words that rhyme - Preschool-Kindergarten
Phoneme Awareness Activities
o Identify the beginning sound of a word - Preschool-Kindergarten
o Identify the ending sound of a word - Preschool-Kindergarten
o Identify the middle sound of a word – Kindergarten-First Grade
Segmenting Activities
o Segments sentences into words - Preschool-Kindergarten
o Segment words into syllables - Preschool-Kindergarten
o Segment words into sounds – Kindergarten-First Grade
Blending Activities
o Blend syllables into words – Kindergarten-First Grade
o Blend sounds into words – Kindergarten-First Grade
Manipulation Activities
o Delete syllables from words – First Grade
o Substitute syllables in words – First Grade
o Delete sounds from words – First Grade
o Substitute sounds in words – First Grade

9. Building Background Knowledge
Why do you think kindergarten screening is important?
Research from the National Reading Panel (2000) stated that assessing students’ basic literacy performance can help determine which children are on track with reading development.
These building blocks must be mastered in order to become skilled readers.

10. Explore
To aid in monitoring early literacy skills, kindergartners are given three assessments throughout the year.
They are:
Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy (KRA-L)
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS)
Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment (Running Records)
This is where you will explore the topic in greater depth. Here, you will be “delving deeper into the topic”. Refer to “district data” that served as the impetus for this Professional Development session. Where are the participants in terms of knowledge of topic and understanding? How will you know what the participants know?
What observable and recorded data will you use, share, discuss?
How will you connect research on your topic to research on professional development?
What will teachers need to know and be able to do?
How will you get the participants engaged in the session?
What information do you need to convey to the participants about this topic?

11. Explore: KRA-L
Assesses oral language, rhyming, letter identification, and alliteration.
One-time test given to kindergartners entering the public school system.
It is a snap shot that helps teachers with planning lessons that meet the needs of students in the class.
This assessment is divided into 3 levels
Target, Enrichment, and Intervention

12. Explore: KRA-L Sections of KRA-L Answer Questions Repeat Sentences
Identify Rhyming Words
Produce Rhyming Words
Recognize Letters
Recognize Beginning Sounds

13. Explore: DIBELS
Used to assess early literacy skills for students from kindergarten to 6th grade.
At the kindergarten level, DIBELS assesses phonemic awareness and phonics.
Phonemic awareness is hearing, manipulating, and using spoken sounds.
Phonics is recognizing the relationship between letters and sounds.
Teachers use results to identify students who may need additional support.
Explore old DIBELS test.

14. Explore: Fountas & Pinnell
Used to determine reading levels of students.
Students read passages out loud and then answer comprehension questions.
Teachers take a running record to note any reading errors made.
Kindergartners typically score within 3 reading levels: A, B, and C.
By the end of kindergarten, students are expected to be at a level C.
Explore books at A, B, and C levels.

15. Explore: Fountas & Pinnell
What are the differences you notice between A, B, and C books?
Look at pictures.
Look at the length of the sentences.
Look at how many sentences are on each page.
Look at the difficulty of the sentences.
Look at how the pictures relate to the text.

16. Apply
To practice the early reading skills that are assessed during these tests, games and activities can be played at home.
Pass out, explain, and demonstrate activities and games.
Listening to Sounds Around Us
Sequencing Card Game
Magnetic Letter Activities
Strike-Out Game

17. Apply Explain and pass out materials for Make-It, Take-Its.
Name Puzzle
ABC Name Book
You will have 20 minutes to work on making these activities!
Parents will make these games and activities that they will then do with their child/children at home.

18. Reflect Summarize key points.
Hierarchy of Phonological Awareness Skills
Kindergarten Screeners and Assessments
Importance of using activities at home.
New Learning: Most Important Point (MIP)
In your notebook, write down one or two facts that you learned or found important from this session.
Share thoughts with others.
Are there other questions you would want the participants to answer? What information would we want to gather?
REMEMBER TO DISSEMINATE AND COLLECT THE EVALUATION FORMS/SURVEYS

19. Reflect Questions? What additional questions do you have? Personal:
Which activities will you use at home with your child/children?
What topics would you like to cover in our future sessions?

20. Reflect Professional: Evaluation
Please fill out the evaluation form about the parent meetings so far.
Do not put your name on the evaluation form.
Read the first 5 questions. Depending on how you feel about the statement, circle “Yes”, “Somewhat”, or “No”.
Read the last 3 questions. Write any comments or suggestions.
When you have completed the evaluation form, please place it face down on the table. Thank you!