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Four or five 30-minute sessions
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| Overview |
Research shows that the connection between home and school is enhanced when children share learning experiences with their families. This lesson plan follows a three-tier scaffolding model to suggest how teachers can prepare take-home reading activities for children to share with their parents or caregivers. By preparing students to read a selection unassisted and providing prompts for parent–child discussion, the model provides opportunities for low-literate parents or caregivers to celebrate their child’s achievement and to contribute their personal experiences and knowledge in ways that are comfortable to them.
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| From Theory to Practice |
Smith, M.C., & Elish-Piper, L. (2002). Primary-grade educators and adult literacy: Some strategies for assisting low-literate parents. The Reading Teacher, 56(2), 156–165.
- Many literacy activities that teachers send home with children living in low-literate families are difficult for parents or caregivers, who may be intimidated or confused by the demands of the particular activity.
- Teachers can develop successful take-home literacy activities for children from low-literate families by following a three-tier scaffolding model that takes into consideration the needs of the families. The three-tier approach consists of
| 1. |
Preparing students to take the activity home.
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| 2. |
Sending students home to work on the activity with their parents or caregivers.
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| 3. |
Having students share in class what their experiences were with the at-home activity.
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Morrow, L.M., Kuhn, M.R., & Schwanenflugel, P.J. (2006). The Family Fluency Program. The Reading Teacher, 60(4), 322–333.
This program introduces parents to strategies to use at home including echo reading, choral reading, and partner reading.
Kuhn, M. (2004). Helping students become accurate, expressive readers: Fluency instruction for small groups. The Reading Teacher, 58(4), 338–344.
Wilfong, L.G. (2008). Building fluency, word-recognition ability, and confidence in struggling readers: The poetry academy. The Reading Teacher, 62(1), 4–13.
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| Student Objectives |
Students will
- Develop fluency through repeated oral reading (echo, choral, and partner) of the same text
- Demonstrate understanding by contributing to class discussions about vocabulary and main ideas
- Apply what they have learned by sharing with parents or caregivers the poem or story they have learned to read
- Make connections with what they read through journal entries
- Reflect on their at-home experience in class
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| Instructional Plan |
Preparation
| 1. |
Choose a poem or story for students to read. Since they will need to be able to read it fluently and easily before they take it home, you want to choose a text that is reasonably easy and that will hold their interest. Poetry for Kids, Poems for Children, Stories for Children Magazine, and Storyline Online are all good resources for finding an appropriate text online.
The Storyline Online and Poetry for Kids websites are particularly valuable for at-home use because both sites offer examples of fluent reading, which can be helpful to both children and adults who may need a good model. If you have students who do not have Internet access at home, be sure to send printed materials or books home as well.
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| 2. |
You have several options for the take-home activity. You can print or copy the poem or story you have selected or send home the book it is in. You might also choose to send home information about accessing the website where it appears. You should make sure that all students have access to the text at home whether or not they have Internet access.
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| 3. |
Choose a few significant vocabulary words from the poem or story to discuss with students. Also, prepare some open-ended questions about the characters' behavior or events in the poem or story that could generate an interesting class discussion.
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| 4. |
You will use the following read-aloud strategies during the course of this lesson.
- Echo reading. One line or sentence is read aloud, and then students read the same line or sentence. The number of lines or words read at one time can be increased as reading improves. Students follow the printed text as they listen.
- Choral reading. Two or more students read the same text aloud together.
- Partner reading. Take turns reading. Start by reading one sentence and asking the students to read the next sentence. The amount read can be increased as the student becomes more comfortable with this technique.
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Instruction and Activities
Tier 1: Students Prepare to Take the Activity Home
Session 1
| 1. |
In a whole-class or small-group setting, read the selection aloud to students. If the selection you have chosen has a corresponding illustrated online version, you might consider sharing it with students using a projector or having students gather around several computer workstations. To differentiate a variety of reading levels, you may group students accordingly and choose different stories for each group. Groups should consist of no more than two to five students each.
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| 2. |
Discuss any vocabulary words you have highlighted and any other words that students have questions about.
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Ask the open-ended questions you developed regarding the characters and events in the selection. Invite other questions from the students and discuss.
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Session 2
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Distribute the printed version of the poem or story and have students echo read it once, repeating after you. Then choral read it as a group one or two times.
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| 2. |
Take note of which students may need to be given closer instruction; this may affect how you provide instruction in Session 3.
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Session 3
| 1. |
Arrange students in small groups. For struggling readers, you may want to choral read the selection with them several times before you have them join their small groups. You will need to decide whether it is more appropriate to place struggling readers separately in their own group so that you can provide more targeted, specific instruction or within groups with proficient readers who can model fluent choral reading.
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| 2. |
In small teacher-led groups, have students choral read the selection. Make sure all students can read it before you send it home. (You may need to schedule more time for echo or choral reading in order to have all students reading the selection fluently and easily.)
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| 3. |
If some students still cannot read the selection unassisted, provide them with an audio recording of the selection. (If you have chosen a story from the Storyline Online website, students can access the audio online.)
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Tier 2: Students Take the Activity Home
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Distribute a journal to each student. This may be just a few stapled blank pages, or you may want to use the journal page printout. Attach questions for students and adults to the front of the journal. These questions should be answered by both students and their parents or caregivers.
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| 2. |
Tell students they will be taking the poem or story and the journal home. Their assignment is to read the selection to their parents or caregivers, and then talk together about it before drawing or writing their responses to the following questions in the journals:
- What is your favorite part of the selection? What is your parent’s or caregiver’s favorite part of the selection?
- What does the selection remind you of? What did the selection remind your parent or caregiver of?
- Who is your favorite character and why? Who is your parent’s or caregiver’s favorite character and why?
Choose one or two of these questions to model, showing students how you would draw or write answers to the questions on the journal pages. Students should write or draw their answers to the questions and be prepared to share their parents’ responses. Parents may choose to tell, write, or draw their answers. Let students know that it is okay for them and their parents or caregivers to write in either English or their native language.
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Tier 3: Students Share Their Experiences with the At-Home Activity
| 1. |
Bring students together to discuss their experiences with the at-home activity.
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| 2. |
Encourage students to discuss any connections their families made to the selection and to show any pictures or writing about the selection that their families did. Scaffold the conversation by asking some or all of the same questions you posed to students when giving them instructions for the take-home activity.
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| Student Assessment/Reflections |
- Through classroom observations and notes, assess each student’s ability to:
- Read the selection fluently
- Participate in and grasp the discussions on vocabulary and main ideas
- Contribute to the small-group activity
- Reflect on the poem or story and their connections to it through the take-home exercise
In addition to assessing the above, this activity is significant because it helps you find ways to build on children's at-home literacy experiences.
- The discussion conducted in Tier 3 will help you to assess whether students benefited from the activity. If any students were unable to share their poems or stories with their families, treat the situation sensitively. Consider options for future take-home activities for students who may need additional support, either during the preparation for the activity or with further guidance for parents or caregivers. Some students may also benefit from having an “alternate adult listener” available if they are unable to share take-home activities with their families.
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1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
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