Planning a Read-Aloud Event

Planning a Read-Aloud Event for Families

Introduction

Parent involvement When schools, afterschool programs, libraries and other community organizations create opportunities to involve parents in their children's education, children have more successful learning experiences and parents become even stronger supporters of their children's education. When these opportunities include information and chances for parents to learn and practice new skills, the impact on children's learning is magnified.

Learning to read is an important element in children's success in school and in life. Teachers, librarians, community literacy staff and volunteers each can play a role in increasing parents' involvement in their children's reading development. Planning events that bring parents and children together to learn while having fun provides a platform for modeling reading strategies that can easily be transferred home by parents.

Holding a "family fun night" that involves a read-aloud event presents just such an opportunity.

Planning

Purpose. Begin by thinking about the purpose of your read-aloud event. What do you hope to accomplish? Do you want to

Increase parents' involvement in their children's education?
Give parents opportunities to learn and practice strategies they can do at home with their children?
Help parents understand the significant role they play in their child's education?
Show children that their parents are interested in and value their education?

Perhaps you are hoping for all of these. In any case, you have to be able to convey to parents why they should attend this event and what they are going to gain that is important and relevant to their lives and to their children's lives.

Where and When. Where will your read-aloud event take place? The setting will determine the number of families that you can comfortably accommodate. Perhaps if your facility's size limits the number of families taking part, you can hold additional events so that even more families can take part. A very large facility requires special considerations as well, especially for a read-aloud. You need to make sure that everyone can hear and see and that all families feel included in the event.

Setting a date and time is important to ensuring maximum attendance at your read-aloud event. Try to pick a time and a day that is convenient for the greatest number of parents to attend. You may have to consider an evening or a weekend to accommodate parents' work schedules and daily routines. Make sure anyone who might be asked a question about the event—other teachers, school or program staff, administrators, support staff, volunteers—knows the important details of the read-aloud.

Incentives. It's helpful to give families additional incentives for attending your event. Consider offering books as door prizes or perhaps giving each family a book to take home. If books for each family are beyond your reach, think about bookmarks or decorated pencils. Your local bookseller may offer a discount for purchasing a large number of books or may give you free bookmarks. Often local businesses will contribute in-kind materials or funds for purchasing give-away items.

Also, consider serving refreshments. Providing punch and cookies is fine, but if the time of your event, budget and facility allow, think about providing a meal, such as hot dogs and hamburgers, tacos or spaghetti. Consider asking local businesses for in-kind donations or funds for refreshments.

Getting the Word Out. How are you going to get word to parents about the event? Does your school, library or organization have a Web site or newsletter you can use to "advertise" your event? An announcement about the family event can be made at a PTA or other parent meeting and flyers can be displayed where parents might see them in your school or building. Place flyers or posters in community locations parents frequent—grocery stores, laundromats, places of worship—to announce an upcoming event. Investigate public service announcements on local TV and radio stations and community events calendars in your local newspaper, as well.

Two weeks before the read-aloud event, send materials announcing the workshop home with children. Include all pertinent information—date, time, place and a telephone number parents can call to obtain additional information. Don't forget to mention the door prizes and refreshments. Post flyers in conspicuous places throughout the school, library or community building. If you will have to limit the number of families participating, you will want to initiate a response system so you can track the number of families planning to attend.

Be sure to consider the ages and interests of the children who will attend the read-aloud when you make a book selection. Plan a take-home activity for families based on the book you read.

Creating a Welcoming Environment. Parents are more likely to go places they like and where they feel welcome. Their comfort level often determines their level of involvement. Take a look around your school, library or community building. Think about the environment. Do all families feel welcome and comfortable? Do they enjoy visiting your facility? Are there materials, equipment and spaces that meet their needs?

Click here for a printable checklist of items to consider when creating a family-friendly environment.

Designing Your Read-Aloud Activities
The National Reading Panel Report, released in 2000, identified five core areas of reading that they found critical to the reading success of children, kindergarten to grade 3: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and text comprehension. Finding ways to help parents support these core areas when they read with children can help strengthen children’s reading skills.

The five reading areas are described below and include a link to specific strategies you can model and share with parents during your read-aloud event.

For a printable copy of strategies for all of the reading areas, click here.

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. Teaching children phonemic awareness results in increased comprehension and in children's ability to spell. Before children can make a connection between words and print, they need to be able to hear the separate sounds that make up words in spoken language. If children cannot hear the sounds in spoken language, relating sounds to written language becomes difficult. Hearing sounds in words and associating those sounds with letters and letter combinations are important skills for later success in decoding print.

Click here for some phonemic awareness strategies to model and share with parents.

Phonics

Phonics is the relationship between the sounds of spoken language and the letters used in written language. Phonics instruction has the greatest effect on children's reading achievement when it is introduced early, beginning in kindergarten and completed by the end of first grade. Children who receive explicit, systematic phonics instruction—that is, letter-sound relationships are taught directly in a defined sequence—demonstrate better word recognition, spelling and reading comprehension skills than those who receive no phonics instruction or instruction that is not systematic in its approach.

Click here for some phonics strategies to model and share with parents.

Fluency

Fluency is the ability to read text accurately, quickly, effortlessly and with expression. Fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding words, but instead can concentrate on the meaning of the text they are reading. Children learn to read fluently by listening to fluent readers. Modeling fluent reading is one way teachers, parents, librarians, literacy staff and volunteers can help children become fluent readers.

Click here for some fluency strategies to model and share with parents.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to the words we must know to communicate effectively. Children learn vocabulary both indirectly and directly. Most vocabulary is learned indirectly through exposure to words and their meanings in everyday experiences. Some vocabulary, especially words that are not a part of children’s everyday experiences, should be taught directly. Direct vocabulary instruction should focus on important words, useful words and difficult words. It should include instruction about dictionaries and reference aids, word parts and the use of context clues. Providing many opportunities in a variety of contexts to use new words deepens children’s knowledge and understanding of the words.

Click here for some vocabulary strategies to model and share with parents.

Text Comprehension

Text comprehension refers to understanding what is being read. Comprehension is the reason for reading. Comprehension can be taught by modeling, providing guided practice and giving children opportunities for independent application. Asking children questions about what they read and to summarize a reading passage are ways to strengthen their understanding of text passages.

Click here for some comprehension strategies to model and share with parents.

Next Steps

When teachers, librarians, literacy staff and volunteers model the use of strategies in these core areas as they read aloud, they provide parents with concrete examples of things they can do at home with their children.

Now that you have completed the logistical planning for your read-aloud event, it is time to plan your agenda for the evening. Two sample read-aloud plans are included here to help you do that—one is for children from kindergarten to fourth grade and one is for children from fourth to seventh grade.

Click here for a sample Read-Aloud plan for kindergarten through 4th grade.

Click here for a sample Read-Aloud plan for 4th through 7th grade.

This information was produced by the National Center for Family Literacy for use on www.thinkfinity.org, a powerful educational platform supported by the Verizon Foundation. This information may be reproduced for noncommercial purposes without permission.