In our pre-K Literacy Lab program at Teton Literacy Center, we strive to use real life experiences as foundations for writing. Even though we are still practicing the foundations of writing like holding a marker with correct grip, forming people with a body, head, facial features and limbs, etc., all these things come together more easily when we are writing about something that has meaning to us. Our current food and cooking unit has provided a great springboard for these kinds of experiences.

Recently, we took a field trip to the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum and made pizza in the oven. Students used a recipe guided by pictures and worked together to knead the dough, spread the sauce, and add toppings until we had a tasty feast to eat. Then, we took time to reflect on and write about making the pizza. Students were so excited to write because it directly connected to their experience, background knowledge, and deep passion for eating pizza. As a result, their drawings were detailed, descriptive, and unique. I listened as students counted out ten pepperonis on their drawing, and others made sure to choose the exact color orange to color the cooked dough. Some students even included letters for the word ‘pizza!’
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During our Parent and Child Together Time (PACT) this month, parents and students wrote together about a food they enjoy making together at home. It was amazing to see students writing “recipes” with their family for taquitos, soup, and hot dogs.  In doing so, we incorporated family background and knowledge in a way that makes writing truly meaningful.

These strategies do not end in pre-K. Here are a few ideas for making writing meaningful for your older student:
 

• Write a description of something fun you did this weekend. Give it to a friend so you can do it again together!
• Does your student want a toy or a special gift? Have them write you a letter telling you the reasons why.
• Write a letter to your future self. What do you hope your job will be? What do you want to have accomplished?
• Write a step-by-step recipe for YOUR favorite food!

Vocab, vocab, vocab! Something you are always hearing about from educators, but why is it so important for your student to build his or her vocabulary? The primary answer to that question is that a rich vocabulary bank is the backbone to comprehension, both in reading as well as learning through listening. On the other side of that coin, a strong vocabulary base allows your student to adequately express herself, bolstering her ability to assert her ideas and engage others during communication. Basically, wide-ranging vocabulary skills help your student understand and be understood. Sounds pretty important, right? So how do you help your student build her vocabulary base? Read on for tips and tricks that our staff have found beneficial in helping students learn new vocabulary!
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Utilizing Context – help your student use the context in which the word is introduced to solve for the meaning of the word. Did the word come up in a reading you are doing together? Use the surrounding words and sentences—or context—to help your student understand what the word means. Did the word come up in a conversation or lecture? Discuss the context of that conversation or lecture with your student, focusing on aspects such as what was being discussed, the point the speaker was trying to make and the tone in which the word was said.

Ultimately, relating the word to the context in which it was used will allow your student to connect the word to a bigger picture, making it more likely that she will retain the meaning of the word.

Synonyms & Antonyms – a great way to help your student understand a new word is to provide your student with synonyms (mean the same thing) and antonyms (mean the opposite). Indeed, as your child’s vocabulary grows, many of the new words they learn can be related to another word that means the same thing, or the opposite. For example, the word “enormous” might be related to the words big, huge, large or gigantic. Conversely, you might provide the words small, little, teeny, tiny, minute as antonyms.
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Much like using context to solve for meaning, providing synonyms and antonyms will help your child relate a new vocabulary word to easier, more manageable words.

​Our students are asked to write all day in many ways at school- to write their name on their work, write a complete sentence in a quiz, write out all the steps to a math problem. Sometimes writing can feel like just another task that has to be done.
 
As parents and teachers, one of the best things we can do is to help students understand that writing is a tool and, like a swiss army knife, can be employed in many useful ways. Here’s just a quick list of uses for a pen and paper:
 
To communicate
Even though most people in our lives are a phone call (or FaceTime) away, there’s something special about getting a letter in the mail. Even a message sent via email or text message can be a great way to connect with someone who’s far away. Write a letter to a loved one with your student!
 
To thank
Who doesn’t love a thank you card? Make a habit of writing them with your student this holiday season. Not only will they practice grammar and spelling, they’ll be building socially conscious habits for life.
 
To persuade
Whether or not your student wants to be a lawyer, there will be countless moments in their life when good writing can help someone see their point of view. Applying for college, scholarships or a job? Better have a convincing application. Want that new bike for Christmas? Your letter to Santa needs to make it pretty clear why you deserve it. Next time your student wants something, help them write a persuasive argument to better get their point across.
 
To remember
The value of lists cannot be overstated in this frenetic age. Enlist your child to help write out the grocery list, a list of what to pack for vacation, a list of books to get at the library, etc.
 
To spread beauty
A well-crafted phrase is truly a thing of beauty. Try writing a poem with your student! What a great way to practice word choice and editing in the name of art.
 
Emergent writing
Last but definitely not least, writing for a purpose can start at a very early age. Before students are old enough to even know letters, they can draw as a way to tell a story. In our pre-K program, we support and develop emergent writing skills through lots of time to draw and verbalize thinking. Reading aloud is a great way to support writing as well. The more stories children hear and see, the better they are able to write them themselves.

Comprehension is one of the most crucial skills of becoming a well-rounded reader and one that we continuously work on with our students at Teton Literacy Center. Indeed, what fun is reading if you cannot understand the text!? Last month we gave you Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension! and this month we are going to delve deeper into one of those strategies—questioning texts.

One of the key strategies in assuring that students are understanding the texts they read is questioning. Questioning is effective in that it helps students take the time to think about the words they are reading and what those words mean together. Further, questioning is an easy tactic for parents to implement at home—all you have to do is take a short bit of time discuss and question what your student reads!
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What kind of questions are most effective you ask? Read on to find out questioning points proven to aid in comprehension!

• Summarize: Ask your student to summarize what she has read. This can be at the end of a reading session, chapter or book or it can be at the start of a new session with the same book. Examples of questions that will prompt your student to summarize:
  • What was the book about?
  • What was your favorite part? Why? Least favorite part?
  • Tell me what happened.
  • Do you remember what happened when we read last night?
• Predict: An easy follow-up to a mid-book summary, ask your student to predict what she thinks will happen next. You can also prompt predictions at the start of a book or in the middle of a reading session. Examples:
  • What an interesting title/cover/etc! What do you think this book will be about?
  • What happened last week? What do you think is going to happen next?
  • Wow! This is getting so exciting! What do you think will happen to this character?
• Key Details: Closely relating to summaries, ask your student about the key details of a text, or what the most important parts of the text are. Key details are a primary focus of Teton County School District and bringing the concept up at home is a great way to reinforce it for your student! Examples:
  • What were the most important parts of the story? Why were they important?
  • What key details helped you understand that character? Or situation?
  • When did you know things were changing in the story? Or for the character?
  • How did you know what the problem was? When did you know the problem was solved? What key detail let you know?

Striving to motivate children after a full day of school can be a daunting challenge. One literacy specialist articulates well how and why offering choice can encourage students to buy in. See our summary and the link below for some ideas to consider!
 
Handing over control and choice to students, learning alongside them, and not knowing ahead of time what direction an activity might take can be scary for educators, tutors, and other adults alike. The role of teacher as director and sage has been in existence for so long and many of us grew up with teachers filling this role. It’s hard to shake that expectation.
 
But offering students the opportunity to learn alongside you as an adult, and offering them choice within that learning empowers them. Yes, there are times that adults need to be the ultimate deciders, so this is not suggesting you give up authority and control to your students. Instead, consider the ways below that knowledge and learning opportunities can be built with, rather than for, students through offering children choice. 

Here are a few suggestions for tangible ways to offer children choice in their learning while still practicing their literacy skills.
 
#1. Stuff We Want to Know About
Brainstorm a list of “stuff” they want to know about and they are interested in: an activity, an event, a law, a skill, anything. Use this list to direct your reading, writing, learning, or conversation activities with students.
 
#2. Think Alouds
Model your thinking and your learning for students as you read alongside them. As you read, pause, asking questions and making comments and connections to things you already know or other topics you have learned about.
 
#3. Mini-choices
This article (linked below) reminded me of mini-choices we can offer children of all ages: not do we want to read or not, and not do you want to write or not. But instead: which book do you want to read, which of three topics do they want to write about, and what order they want to do these activities in? Do you want me to read first or do you want to?  Mini-choices like these can encourage buy-in from students and offer them more voice and choice in their learning.
 
#4. Students as Expert
A longtime tutor recently offered the idea of having time for your student to be the ‘expert.’ They get to choose a topic they know about, ranging from fishing to bugs, from movies to skateboarding. Then they get to be the expert, taking a few minutes to teach you their knowledge. We are excited to try this out with his students this school year, and encourage you to consider trying it as well!
 
For the full article or to read more click below: 

1. Reviewing comprehension after reading
Students who are good at reviewing their comprehension after reading, know when they understand what they read and when they did not. Students who check their comprehension, develop strategies to "fix" problems in their understanding as the problems arise. Research shows that instruction, even in the early grades, can help students become better at monitoring their comprehension.
Comprehension monitoring instruction teaches students to:

• Be aware of what they do understand
• Identify what they do not understand
• Use appropriate strategies to resolve problems in comprehension

2. Thinking about Reading
Good readers use strategies to think about and have control over their reading. Before reading, they might clarify their purpose for reading and preview the text. During reading, they might monitor their understanding, adjusting their reading speed to fit the difficulty of the text and "fixing" any comprehension problems they might have. After reading, they check their understanding of what they read.

3. Graphics for support!
Maps, webs, graphs, charts, frames or clusters of images can be used to illustrate relationships in a text. Regardless of which you choose, graphics can help readers focus and illustrate how they are related to their reading. Graphics also help students read and understand textbooks and chapter books with longer text.
Graphic organizers can:

• Help students focus on text structure "differences between fiction and nonfiction" as they read
• Provide students with tools they can use to examine and show relationships in a text
• Help students write well-organized summaries of a text

Once a month, parents of our preschool students come to the classroom a few minutes early at the end of the day to be a part of PACT: Parent And Child Together time. During this time, students get to share an aspect of what we’re working on in school with their parents and bridge the divide between school time and home time. Last month, we read picture books together during PACT time. Parents and kids took turns “reading” the pictures to each other using story-telling voices and holding the book between them. It was incredible to see our 4 year olds take ownership over reading a story to their parents, and to see our parents so invested in this reading time with their child.
What are your reading and writing routines like at home with your student? How do you communicate to each other the importance of reading and writing?
One way to establish these routines at home is to choose one thing that you both do together at the same time of day. This could be:

• Reading a bedtime story at night
• Reading the newspaper headlines in the morning
• Writing a note back and forth about how your day went after school and work

Or, you might choose to pick a ritual that you do together that can happen any time:

• Writing the grocery list together and finding each item at the store
• Making messages out of magnetic letters or words on the fridge
• Reading road signs and advertisements while driving or taking the bus

No matter what your routines are, your child will be far more likely to read and write at home when there is structure and support for reading and writing to be something fun that parents and children can do together.  

As the new school year approaches, parents have a new opportunity to establish a strong, collaborative relationship with their child's teacher. Below are some tips for getting the most of our your parent-teacher communication, especially when academic or behavioral issues arise:

• Make Time to Talk: Whether it's in person or by phone, find the time to have a meaningful conversation about your child's academic strengths and weaknesses, behaviors, and social skills.
• Take Notes: We know that as a parent you are very busy! Don't be afraid to write down suggestions given to you by your child's teacher so that you can refer back to them later. 
• Keep an Open Mind: Be sure to listen patiently and remember that your child's teacher is trying to help, not blame or criticize your child. You know your child best, so don't be afraid to add in your own constructive feedback and ideas! Be sure to express yourself in a neutral or positive way, rather than getting defensive. 
• Ask for Details: Ask for specifics so you can better address your child's needs. If your child's teacher says your child is struggling with phonemic awareness, be sure to identify what sounds are the most challenging. Find out if your child performs differently in whole group, small group, and individual settings. If your child is struggling with behavioral problems, ask if the behavior worsens during transition times, structured activities, station times, or free play. 
• Find Solutions: Work with your child's teacher to identify the root(s) of the problem. Create an action plan based on your conversation, and be sure to also include your child in brainstorming a solution. Lastly, be sure to check back in with both the teacher and your child. 
• Check out These Conversation Starters: Click on this link to find some helpful conversation starters! We really like: "What's a reasonable goal to set for my child?" 

On August 21st, many of us will be witnessing the first total solar eclipse of our lives. In honor of this upcoming event, we have been running summer camps with a total eclipse theme.

Check out some of the activities below to host your own mini "eclipse camp" at home:

• Oreo Phases of the Eclipse: We put a twist on a well-known cookie-based moon activity! Before creating your own Oreo phases of the eclipse, discuss what the terms "partial" and "total" mean. Use this template to practice using these two vocabulary words in context. If you are working with an older child, you may also want to discuss the four points of contact that happen during an eclipse! 
• Myth Telling: Add in a literary component to a scientific topic! There are a number of myths that deal with solar and lunar eclipses. Many of these myths involve an animal that attempts to eat the sun. (Check out this "Reader's Theatre" script we created to see what we mean.) Ultimately, this giant creature is frightened away by the noisy people of Earth who cry loudly in fear, bang on drums, set off fireworks, etc. We read three myths and then completed a three-part Venn diagram to compare and contrast them. After realizing that all three myths involved loud noises, we decided to make our own drums for the upcoming eclipse in Jackson. We also wrote our own myths and decorated our tin-can drums with pictographs symbolizing these stories. 
• Vocabulary Development: ​Use bubble-lettered words, like these, to practice visually depicting what new terms mean. We colored in the word "solar" so that it looked like a sun. We then fully colored in the word "total", but left some letters in "partial" white to illustrate the difference between totality and partiality. Beyond this, we made the words "solar eclipse" look eclipsed themselves. 
• Spin Art: Use watered-down paint to create your very own sun and moon. See this blog entry for more information on using salad spinners to do this. Add in an Earth to demonstrate the concept of syzygy.