Professional Development Workshops
For Educators
Parent Liasons, Volunteer Coordinators, Community Education Partners, Title 1 Coordinators, School Staff/Leaders
The 4 educator sessions are designed to help those working with families build their family engagement literacy plans and then support families, themselves, or staff in practicing specific reading skills through stories and book read-alouds. Sessions are around an hour, and can be delivered virtually or in-person.
Session 1: Building community and family literacy engagement plans.
Do your families understand and use the language of the Science of Reading when discussing their child’s reading goals? In this session, we will not only explore how to increase the use of books sent home through the Kids Read Now program but also identify the barriers and enablers to home reading engagement.
Session 2: Removing Reading Barriers: Bridging Home to School Reading Time with a focus on Fluency Activities and Oral Language Skills
Helping families understand why accuracy and comprehension are both important in developing language comprehension. Use the discovery sheets in Kids Read Now books as a way to re-read text and help caregivers prompt comprehension talks with their students.
Session 3: Building vocabulary skills and reading behaviors through engaging read-alouds
You introduce new vocabulary; how can families practice and deepen their understanding at home? Use stories to introduce and practice content-specific vocabulary, and even take the lead in introducing new learning at home. Additionally, help students meet their goals by identifying what your families are doing outside school hours and how to replace some of those activities with reading practice.
Session 4: Building background knowledge and setting successful reading habits for students
What makes learning “sticky” for your learners?Is there a way to build on your families funds of knowledge so they become collaborators in learning, especially when it comes to reading gains? At the end, we will discuss how to help families celebrate meeting reading goals!
For Caregivers
We offer monthly virtual half-hour sessions on the third Wednesday of each month. On the third Wednesday, we will have one morning session in English, one English session, and one Spanish session in the evening.
Families register with their email addresses via a QR code we provide you. Each session is 30 minutes, and you can have families participate in one session or monthly sessions only during your program year. We don’t hold sessions in December and July.
Session 1: Reading routines and habits for the new school year
Get a jump-start on understanding the language of the Science of Reading, including an introduction to HOW reading is developed. Learn what you can do in 1 minute, 5 minutes, or even 10 minutes, and how to add reading to a habit already in place (like eating breakfast or brushing your teeth!). Reading a little throughout the day adds up over time!
Session 2: Phonics practice at home for reading development
Join us to learn how to help your child learn letter sounds and phonics through simple, everyday activities. Leave with easy games you can play every day to develop phonics skills.
Session 3: Multi-literacies: Financial Literacy - Earning
Join us as we learn what multiple literacies mean and how understanding financial literacy can help your child be successful in life. This session will cover money management for young children, with a focus on why we earn money.
Session 4: Phonemic Awareness games and activities
We will be learning how to identify and hear the different sounds you hear in words. If your child can hear and identify different sounds, they will become stronger readers. We will learn four games to play by the end of this fun and interactive session.
Session 5: Multi-literacies: Financial Literacy - Saving
This financial literacy session will help you talk with your child about budgeting. We will follow along in a child's book as the character learns how to save their money for something special.
Session 6: Fluency Practice – the how and why
Join us as we explore ways to practice and model fluency when reading with your child at home. Each family will leave with games and activities for echo reading, choral reading, and repeated reading, as well as an understanding of what fluency is and why it helps your child develop reading comprehension skills.
Session 7: Multi-literacies: Financial Literacy - Budgeting
This financial literacy session will help you talk with your child about budgeting. Help them learn what a budget is and why building a budget is important!
Session 8: Why speaking about reading builds skills
Did you know that simply speaking with your child and asking questions about a story helps them become stronger readers? In this session, we discuss how you can use new vocabulary in conversation, ask questions that use more complex words and sentences, and why asking questions helps your child be a good reader.
Session 9: Multi-literacies: Financial Literacy - Spending and Giving
This financial literacy session is about how we spend money and why we might give some of it away. Join our favorite book charachter Money Bunny we see how he decides what part of his budget goes where.
Session 10: Activities to keep summer learning going
How do we keep reading going over the summer? Join us for tools, tips, and tricks to keep reading fun and ongoing throughout the summer. We will review fluency-building techniques, including echo and choral reading, and discuss ways to use writing activities such as summer journals, reading responses, and real-life writing, like grocery lists and postcards, for your child.
Session 11: Summer reading fun!
Summer Reading Time! Join us for fun ideas for using your books and new games to keep learning light and fun over the summer break. Set routines so reading doesn’t get forgotten during those busy summer days.