[MOSAIC] Take Home Parent/Student Reading Connections

[Bonita DeAmicis]

Hi Ali,

Great ideas! I added a thought to two of yours.

> 1.  A book sent home with each child for a week.  I'd like to  attach various 
> activities that will engage the parent
> fluency, etc.  Do any of you do anything like this?  Any  hints/or suggestions?

The last two years I added a once a month homework assingment where students were to "perform" a reading for their parents.  I asked students to pick out one passage (a page or two) that they would practice again and again and at the end of the week they would "perform" the passage for their parents.  I had they find a passage in their wn reading that they really liked (lots of action--great description, raised interesting questions, etc.).  Then to practice--to fix up any words they  didn't know, to use intonation and expression, etc.  The parents then filled out a paper that returned to tell me how their child did.  It was fun for the students, the parents, and for me. High readers often chose rather lofty passages to work on.  At the beginning and once in a while, I gave out passages that I had picked out for them to perform for their parents.

> 2.  Hold a "read-in" twice a month where parents will be invited to  come in 
> and "relax and enjoy a good read" with their child.  I'd provide  milk, 
> cookies, tea.....something.  I figured maybe they could spend 30  minutes in the 
> classroom on designated days and times.  For the students  that didn't have 
> parents that could come in, I'd buddy them up with a 5th  grader, principal, 
> counselor, another teacher, or something like that.

I had six parents one year who LOVED to come in the room.  I just added them to reader's workshop and they wandered the room talking to 5-6 children about the books they are reading.  I gave the parents a brief how-to training after school prior to initiating this.  I saw these parents stopping students out front after school to find out what happened in the story and some even began reading the books the students were reading.  It was great fun.

:)Bonita