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 (August)
Support your caregivers in understanding the language for the Science of Reading, including an introduction on HOW reading is developed and the Five Pillars of Literacy. We will set reading goals and discuss strategies for home reading practice at this initial meeting.
Session 2: Phonics practice at home for reading development (September)
This session will involve collaboration with caregivers on how to practice accuracy and comprehension, and why discussing what is being read for understanding is important. To support meeting home reading practice goals, we will identify current habits that can complement reading routines and what superpower each family has as the foundation for their child’s learning.
Session 3: Phonemic Awareness games and activities (October)
Let’s get excited about vocabulary! Learning new words can be fun, especially when you find them in your favorite stories. We will work on strategies for using new words to expand learning and focus on placing those words in context. We will also support home routines by identifying current habits and figuring out which ones can be incorporated into reading games and activities.
Session 4: Asking questions to build reading comprehension (November)
We will use background knowledge as a jumping-off point to celebrate each family’s strengths and how to attach new learning to familiar home experiences. We will also introduce and talk about how to incorporate home celebrations when children reach their reading goals.
No session in December
Session 5: Reading resolutions that stick (January)
Session 6: Fluency practice – the how and why (February)
Session 7: Why speaking about reading builds skills (March)
Session 8: Reading Games for Daily Practice (April)
Session 9: Activities to keep summer learning going (May)
Session 10: Summer reading fun! (June)
No session in July