Home School Partnership Megan Ormond Part A The article Write soon!

by Timothy Rasinski and Nancy Padak emphasizes the need to show parents how important writing is for children. The authors point out that writing is an essential part of literacy development and helps children become b etter readers (Padak & Rasinski, p. 618). Parents can be useful allies to help s tudents gain proficiency in writing by providing opportunities for writing pract ice at home. This article suggests many authentic opportunities for writing that parents could easily offer their children. The authors assert that as educators we need to share this type of information with parents so they can be more info rmed at better able to nurture their childrens literacy development. Many common writing tasks that family members typically engage in are di scussed as ways to allow children to gain more experience in writing. List writi ng is an easy way to incorporate writing into daily routines (Padak & Rasinski, p. 618). Children can begin to write their own lists modeled after the behavior of their parents. Just as parents leave notes for each other and for their child ren, children themselves can learn to leave notes for family members. They can a lso carry a note pad to take notes on things that happen during the day (Padak & Rasinski, p. 618). Parents can model journal or diary writing and help their ch ildren begin journals of their own. Dialogue journals are another way to offer students the opportunity to write at home (Padak & Rasinski, p. 619). This has t he added benefit of students being able to see the fluent writing of their paren ts, which may help them model their own responses. Children can practice writing letters and e-mails to family and friends. This is a fun way to let them commun icate using writing. Families could create special event books in which members share special wishes or memories of the child (Padak & Rasinski, p. 619). Famili es may also want to practice some creative writing by producing parodies of popu lar songs or rhymes. All of these suggestions allow students to practice writ ing in a low-stress, low-pressure environment. Parents should not focus on gramm ar or spelling, as criticism may discourage children. This article is important because it focuses on the importance of buildi ng a partnership with parents to develop writing skills. I found the article int eresting because most articles about partnering with parents for literacy develo pment focuses on reading. Writing is an important part of literacy that I think many parents would be willing to help their children work on if they knew how. One benefit of the information provided in this article is that it asks parents to share writings tasks that they complete routinely. They do not have t o go to any training or be experts on writing; they need only share with their c hildren the types of writing they are already doing every day. Each task is simp le and would not take long to work on with a child. Parents could let their chil dren help them write the grocery list or they could encourage them to write down their own Christmas wish list. Children could list the chores they need to comp lete each week. It would be easy for children to see the importance of this acti vity since it would be personally relevant and serve a purpose in their lives. T hat sort of authentic task can be motivating and provides a high probability of feeling successful upon completion, both of which are important for young writer s. Writing notes, letters, or e-mails to family members is also a great suggesti on because it allows children to share their thoughts with the people they care about. Again, it is personally relevant and provides a way for them to communica te in a written way that is fun and purposeful. Tasks like this can help studen ts see the realworld significance and uses of writing. These types of writing opp ortunities, along with dialogue journals, have the added bonus of creating more family interaction, which is important in an era of computers and video games, t echnology which often isolates children. I also like the suggestion of writing p arodies (Padak & Rasinski, p. 619) because it is a writing activity parents and children can work on together that children would find fun and silly but would actually provide them a way to practice important skills.

This article focuses on making writing within the home routine so childr en can see it as an important part of daily life. It encourages parents to work on writing with their children in authentic ways without criticizing spelling an d mechanics. I think that is important for parents to understand. Educators do n ot expect parents to be writing teachers, but students do need extra practice in writing outside of the classroom. The reason why I chose this article was becau se it gave specific suggestions of activities parents could do at home with chil dren. When parents take time to go to school literacy nights, I think they want to come away with concrete ideas, specific strategies they can use. This article provides that. Literacy coordinators, teachers, and administrators could easily develop a handout for parents containing the information within this article. E ducators could even build upon these suggestions by listing other authentic writ ing tasks or specifying instances tasks mentioned in the article could be used. These suggestions could also be listed on class webpages or discussed on open ho use nights. The article Getting parents and children off to a strong start in reading by Frances Imperato can be best summarized by its final statement: Teachers need to help parents help their children (p. 344). This article describes action resea rch conducted by the author, an elementary school reading specialist. The author recognized a need to share specific strategies and activities with parents that they could do at home with their children to help increase re ading ability. Because of the diversity of the school, the tried and true advice of read with them no longer seemed sufficient (Imperato p. 342). After attending a workshop, Imperato developed an idea and gained approval from her principal in order to begin a pilot reading program at her school. The pilot program involved a specific ten to fifteen minute literacy rou tine parents could engage in each night with their child. She held parent traini ng sessions to explain to parents how the routine worked. Two classes served as the treatment group and two classes served as the control group. Imperato kept u p with reading logs turned in by the children and offered incentives for them to return their logs. The log served as an important means of two-way communicatio n between the researcher and the parents. At the end of the year, all students had made gains in literacy, but the treatment group showed a far greater number of readers who had made significant increases in reading levels. The following y ear, with the principals approval, Imperato launched the program with the entire kindergarten. This time there was a higher level of participation, but number of readers versus non-readers did not increase. The author suggests some interveni ng factors that may account for this (Imperato, p. 344). Overall, the article shows that a structured family literacy routine tha t is easily followed and focuses on meaningful activities has a positive impact on literacy. The author describes the positive comments she received from parent s about the program. She asserts that the program has been a success for student s, parents, and teachers (Imperato, p. 344). I enjoy reading action research by practicing educators, and I found thi s to be an interesting article. I think it is probably obvious to most that any established literacy routine that families adhere to will benefit a childs litera cy development. The value in this article, I believe, is the specificity in the routine she created. The author is right; the advice most teachers give is Read to your child. Have them read. However, that really is not adequate. Particularly when the scho ols population is diverse and does not share the same cultural norms and ideas, s pecificity is beneficial. Parents may read a book to their child once and feel a s though they have done all that they can do. And, yes, reading that book was a step in the right direction. However, parents can do more, and most parents want to do more but are unsure how to go about it. Imperatos routine is sound because it is simple, specific, and built upon sound literacy research. Parents model good reading by pointing to the words an d reading them fluently. This is repeated, and then they read chorally with thei r child several times. By the time the child reads aloud, he has heard the text several times and has a chance to be very successful and practice good reading h

abits modeled after his parent. Then, learning is extended by completing a quick word study activity. This short sessions are meant to be fun. This way it can b e a time looked forward to by both parent and child. Not only will it help them improve literacy skills, but it will give families a positive way to spend time together. Students would view this less like work and more like a special time t o spend with a parent. It is evident by the positive reactions by staff, students, and parents that programs like this are beneficial. There is no down side to having parents participate in simple literacy activities at home with their children. The probl em is getting participation from every household. Imperato offered incentives of stickers and popcorn parties (Imperato, p. 343). This is also where parent trai ning sessions are very important. Parents need to feel comfortable with such rou tines. They need to see how easy it would be to do this routine several nights a week. They need to feel confident that they can handle doing this with their ch ild. Most importantly, they need to understand how important family involvement in literacy truly is. Schools can easily create a program modeled after the one created by Imp erato. It involves minimal preparation for such positive benefits. Schools could hold multiple training sessions and must be mindful of parent needs. Especially in a school with a diverse population, there may need to be several training se ssions offered at different times of the day and on weekends to accommodate the schedules of parents who work different shifts. At these training sessions, the literacy specialist could present the importance of family literacy activities a nd demonstrate the simplicity of the suggested routine. Handouts could be given to the parents that detailed the overview of the program and the routine to be u sed. Additionally, while offering incentives to students is important, offering incentives for parents may be equally important. Perhaps childcare or dinner cou ld be provided during the training sessions. Maybe gift certificates could be ra ffled off to families who participate. While an increase in a childs reading abil ity is more than enough incentive for some families, others may need a more tang ible reward. Part B The Articles The article Write soon! by Timothy Rasinski and Nancy Padak emphasizes the need to show parents how important writing is for children. The authors point out that writing is an essential part of literacy development and helps children become b etter readers (Padak & Rasinski, p. 618). Parents can be useful allies to help s tudents gain proficiency in writing by providing opportunities for writing pract ice at home. This article suggests many authentic opportunities for writing that parents could easily offer their children. The authors assert that as educators we need to share this type of information with parents so they can be more info rmed at better able to nurture their childrens literacy development. In the article Getting parents and children off to a strong start in read ing by Frances Imperato, Imperato discusses how she recognized a need to share sp ecific strategies and activities with parents that they could do at home with th eir children to help increase reading ability. Because of the diversity of the s chool, the tried and true advice of read with them no longer seemed sufficient (Im perato p. 342). After attending a workshop, Imperato developed an idea and gaine d approval from her principal in order to begin a pilot reading program at her s chool. The pilot program involved a specific ten to fifteen minute literacy rout ine parents could engage in each night with their child. She held parent trainin g sessions to explain to parents how the routine worked. From these articles, I wanted to share the philosophy the writers presen ted about the importance of families and teachers working together to improve st udent literacy. I also wanted to focus the presentation on real ways teachers ca n develop a framework for such a partnership. I shared the specific example of u sing dialog journals as an authentic opportunity to write at home from the Rasin ski and Padak article. From the Imperato article, I adapted her routine to one t hat I thought would be more appropriate for high school students. I used both of

these examples as a way to get the participant teachers brainstorming about oth er specific strategies teachers could use to strengthen a literacy home-school p artnership. The Presentation I chose to present my information to the English Department at my high s chool. Throughout my study of home-school partnerships, I have been struck by th e fact that most articles are geared toward elementary school children. However, I believe building and refining literacy skills is just as critical during a ch ilds high school education, and this process could be greatly enhanced if schools and parents could work together. Since the English Department is given the prim ary responsibility in the school of improving literacy, I thought those teachers would be the best target audience for my presentation, along with the schools li teracy facilitator. I conducted the presentation during the monthly department m eeting in the department chairs classroom. Nine teachers were present, including all of the schools English teachers, the literacy facilitator, and one exceptiona l childrens teacher who teaches English. These teachers varied in teaching experi ence from a second year teacher to a veteran teacher of twenty-eight years. My goals for this presentation were to get teachers thinking about the r ole we play in developing home-school partnerships. Often, teachers leave the bu ilding of such relationships to counselors and social workers. However, I wanted these teachers to see that they were a vital piece of this puzzle, that they co uld develop a framework for a partnership that could benefit their own students. Additionally, I wanted teachers to realize the impact such a teacher-parent all iance could have on childrens literacy. The quote I used from the Borkhorst-Heng article stresses that significance. Finally, I wanted teachers to leave the meet ing with some real, practical strategies they could use to begin to forge home-s chool partnerships. I wanted the teachers to start thinking of ways themselves t hat they could engage and support parents with literacy development at home that would enrich students education. After I went through the introduction about barriers to home-school part nerships and the reasons why these partnerships must be developed, we looked at three areas in which teachers could support parents in engaging in literacy acti vities with children at home. First we discussed ways teachers can impart to par ents the importance of literacy development, even at the high school level. I ga ve the example of using displays and bulletin boards at open houses. Teacher par ticipants in the meeting sat in groups of 2-3, and each group came up with anoth er suggestion for sharing the importance of literacy. It took a few minutes for them to begin to generate ideas, and some groups ideas were identical, but once w e began to discuss them, one idea began to spark another. Ideas included develop ing literacy newsletters (which students could help produce), literacy messages included on progress reports, developing wikis to share with parents on how to h elp student literacy development at home, information posted on class websites, and a library open house for parents. We moved on to the other two areas of focu s for the presentation: supporting reading at home and writing at home. Again, I gave the group an example strategy for each area and asked them to develop more strategies we could implement. They began to think of ideas much more quickly t his time. I think the discussion of the first area got them started thinking and made it easier for them to think of additional strategies in the second two are as. Ideas suggested for reading at home included interviewing parents about favo rite books, giving parents focus questions to discuss with students before start ing class novels, implementing book reports to be given to parents instead of te achers, students reading the newspapers with parents, and students reading recip es and instruction manuals with parents. We discussed the benefit of authentic r eading and writing opportunities. By now, the group was getting excited at the p ossibilities. In the area of writing, they suggested writing letters with parent s to other relatives, writing grocery lists, writing notes for a parents or sibli ngs lunchbox, writing letters to the editor of a newspaper with a parent, writing movie or book reviews, and diary writing. By the end of the meeting, I felt lik e each teacher had at least one strategy that he/she planned to actually use wit h students. The exceptional childrens teacher seemed particularly enthusiastic be

cause he is our newest teacher and had not considered many of these avenues befo re. I felt like I had really accomplished the goals I set for my presentation, a nd I got to hear a lot of new ideas, as well. Link to Presentation My presentation can be found at http://prezi.com/_zqkknnlysqj/home-school-partne rships/

The Handout HOME SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS: The Key to Student Success Megan Ormond Greene Central High School English Department Meeting November 8, 2010 The Importance of Literacy at Home 1. Open House: Create bulletin boards about the importance of literacy. 2. 3. Support Reading in the Home 1. Parent Partners: Allow students to check out two copies of the same book from the school library, one copy for themselves and the other copy for a paren t or relative. The student and parent can both read the book and have daily or w eekly discussions about what they have read. Teachers can provide logs so studen ts can document their discussions, or they could provide possible discussion que stions to get the conversations started. 2. 3. Support Writing in the Home 1. Dialogue journals: Encourage and support parents in creating dialogue jo urnals to use with their children. This can be as simple as a notebook left on t he kitchen counter. Parents can write a note to the child, and the child can res pond and leave a new note for the parent. Not only does this provide a way for p arents to model writing and a way for students to practice writing at home, but it gives a way for parents to communicate with their children. 2. 3. References: Imperato, F. (2009). Getting parents off to a strong start in reading. The Readi ng Teacher, 63, 342-344. Padak, N., & Rasinski, T. (2006). Home-school partnerships in literacy education : From rhetoric

to reality. The Reading Teacher, 60, 292-296. Final Reflection I have learned through this process how important it is for parents and teachers to work together to help a child develop literacy skills. This type of partnership helps parents learn how to aid their children, helps teachers by rei nforcing important skills at home, and most of all, helps children to become bet ter readers and writers. A supportive home environment has a tremendous impact o n student achievement. I have realized that most parents are willing to be activ e participants in their childrens education, but it takes support from teachers t o make this happen. As teachers, we need to remember that we are here to serve t he public, which includes our students as well as their parents. We should be th e experts on literacy that can show parents how to help their children at home. Teachers and parents must stop playing the blame game, pointing the finger at ea ch other for why students are failing. It is much more productive to stop pointi ng fingers and start joining hands. I believe that my presentation to the English Department exceeded my exp ectations. I feel as though I made it clear how important home-school partnershi ps are. Not only did the group come up with strategies that we can all use to fu rther joint efforts between parents and teachers, but they became enthusiastic a bout the possibilities that could be realized by such efforts. Several teachers recognized that it would not take a lot of extra time or effort to implement the se ideas. The suggestions they generated could easily be incorporated to any hig h school classroom and provide parents with the opportunity to engage their chil dren in authentic literacy activities at home. One teacher was really excited ab out the idea of a literacy newsletter. She said she plans to let her students cr eate a newsletter for parents about the literacy activities the class has worked on during the current grading period. This activity will provide an opportunity for literacy development in the classroom, and it will spread value and knowled ge of important literacy skills into the home and community. Other teachers bega n to talk about which units they could incorporate many of the reading and writi ng activities into. As we left the meeting, I felt sure that many of the strateg ies generated during the presentation would actually be used in the near future. That made me feel like the information I presented made a real difference in my school and for our students. The participants all said that presentation was be neficial and that they gained a lot from our discussions. I also think it is imp ortant that literacy educators, including myself, need to continue to stress the importance of home-school partnerships with our colleagues and our communities. Ultimately, these partnerships could be the difference needed for a child to su cceed. References Borkhorst-Heng, W. D. (2008, May). School-home partnerships to nurture adolescen t literacy [Electronic version]. Middle School Journal, 40-49. Imperato, F. (2009). Getting parents off to a strong start in reading. The Readi ng Teacher, 63, 342-344. Padak, N., & Rasinski, T. (2006). Home-school partnerships in literacy education : From rhetoric to reality. The Reading Teacher, 60, 292-296.