Wallkill Central School District
Presents
Parents Literacy Night
April 25, 2005 | 7– 8:15 PM
Presenters:
Mrs. Susan Martin – Hartcourt Educational Consultant-
Susan Martin came to Harcourt School Publishers with more than 20 years of educational experience where she served as both a classroom teacher (16 yrs.) and school administrator (7yrs.). As a recipient of several national and local grants, she has successfully created, implemented, and maintained innovative programs and practices for children and staff. She has published professionally, “Best Practices: School to Work K-5” for the New York State Department of Education. Susan holds a B.S. in Elementary Education/Special Education from Boston University and M.ED. in Instruction and Learning from the University of Pittsburgh , four teaching and two administrative certificates. Her professional affiliations include: International Reading Association, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, Learning Advisory Council for PBS television ( Schenectady, NY ) and BH/BL Children’s Theater Association. Mrs. Martin is the Wallkill Central School District ’s consultant for the K-2 and 6th grade Trophy Reading Program.
Click links for Mrs. Martin's PowerPoint Presentation
Web Viewable | Downloadable | PowerPoint Viewer
Mrs. Laura Busse - Clare F. Ostrander Elementary School First Grade Teacher
Ms. Tracey Manuele – Clare F. Ostrander Elementary School Reading Teacher
Ms. Rebekah Leonard - Leptondale Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher
Ms. Rose Milano - Plattekill Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher
Presentation Part One
Mrs. Martin - Spoke briefly with a group of parents and discussed the topics listed below:
Did you know?
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39% of 4th grade children nationwide have failed reading.
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Students need to know 100,000 vocabulary words upon high school graduation.
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90% of text read after high school is informational.
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The average number of minutes parents spend “talking” to their children is 7 minutes for mom and 4 minutes for dad.
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To pass the weekly vocabulary test students need to be exposed to the material 3 to 4 times.
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Students need to be exposed to vocabulary 8 times to activate/stimulate brain activity to process into long term memory.
Help Your Child Choose a “Just-Right” Book and Encourage Reading at Home
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Is your child interested in the book?
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Can your child read and figure out almost all the words?
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Does your child understand what he or she is reading (can tell you what the story is about or what he or she is learning)?
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Can your child read fairly smoothly? If your child is stumbling over many words, he/she will not be able to focus on reading for understanding.
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Follow the Five Finger Rule:
As your child reads, have he or she count on one hand any unknown words. If there are five or more different unknown words on a full page, this book is too hard for your child to read alone. You may want to read it aloud. Have older children read several pages before deciding if a book is too hard.
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Questions to probe for understanding:
It is not necessary for your child to read aloud to you every night. Once children are readers, they do most of their reading silently. Talk with your child about what he/she is reading. But, don’t quiz him or her. Keep your conversation informal. One or two of the questions below may help start a conversation. Remember! Don’t overwhelm your child with questions.
Fiction:
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What’s the problem in the story so far?
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What’s the main character like?
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Tell me about the setting, where the story is taking place.
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What’s your favorite part so far?
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What’s happening in the story right now?
Nonfiction:
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What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned so far?
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What’s your favorite part?
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What else are you hoping to learn?
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Be a model for your child. Let them see you reading.
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Create a home library
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Ideally children in grades K-2 should have 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction per day.
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Use of environmental print. (ie. Looking at food containers, store shelves, signs while driving etc. for word to discuss with children.)
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Have “real” conversations with your children such as “What did you like most or the least about your day.
Presentation Part Two:
The parents were divided into 3 groups. Each parent had the opportunity to work in each group with our teachers.
Group 1 - Mrs. Manuele and Mrs. Busse
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Environmental Print - (ie. make cereal box puzzles.)
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Turn off the television and have conversations.
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Have children make books on tapes or have grandparents record stories for the children.
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Reading stories together and talking about them.
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Parents had the opportunity to view all kinds of alphabet books.
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Teachers demonstrate the use of multi sensory items to help students retain skills. (ie. Have children write letters in various mediums such as, rice, sand, etc.)
Group 2 - Ms. Rebekah Leonard
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Demonstrated word building cards. (For example, adding the letter “c” to the word “at” and build the word “cat”.
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Demonstrated how to use magnetic letters for spelling.
Group 3 - Mrs. Rose Milano
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Building sentences using word cards. (For example, Mrs. Milano had the words “the”, “dog”, “sat” and demonstrated how to make a sentence using the word cards. “The dog sat.”)
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Mrs. Milano also presented samples of actual student’s writing.
The evening closed with a dessert reception and an informal discussion period.
The following publications, while they last, are available at the District Offices by contacting Mrs. Riley at 895-7100
Helping Your Child Learn Science
Oo-pples and Boo-noo-noos
La Lectura es lo Primero
A Child Becomes a Reader – Birth through Preschool
A Child Becomes a Reader – Kindergarten through Grade 3
Put Reading First – Helping your Child Learn to Read
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