July 27, 2023
Parents and children grow together at school-based Family Literacy Nights
At Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, middle schoolers hosted a festive “book restaurant” where they presented younger students and their parents with a menu of books, and then read the selections to their guests. Parents and children played MadLibs, Jeopardy, and rhyming bingo as they shared suggestions for the perfect words to fill in the blanks.
At Beechfield Elementary Middle School in SouthWest Baltimore, local authors and poets read their works to an ecstatic audience of students and parents. Students can participate in literacy games such as sight word twister and sight word bingo. Also, families tossed velcro darts at, and then read, frequently-used “site words.” They won basketballs for asking “5 w” questions (such as “who” or “where”) to show how to dig into a story they had just heard.
At both schools, parents could meet one-on-one with their child’s teachers and were treated to a delicious dinner. And they left with a “tool kit” for at-home learning filled with such items as bilingual books, flashcards, pencils, word games, books, stickers, journals, and worksheets.
Experiences like these are happening all over the city as schools host Family Literacy Nights.
In understanding more about the Science of Reading, we are working with parents and caregivers more closely, because “families sometimes need support in knowing what to do and how to do around foundational literacy skills,” said Christopher Knighting, City Schools K-8 Literacy Specialist. “These events guide them through that process as schools build a relationship embedded in content and actionable support, trust, and respect. Some parents undervalue the importance of working with kids on these foundational literacy activities. We’re helping them connect to the learning.”
Family Literacy Nights are based on the premise that kids, especially in early grades, love to hear language. They’re eager to identify letters, know what sounds they make, and make those sounds themselves. When their parent or caregiver conveys excitement about those words - perhaps by clapping out the sounds or singing a nursery rhyme - “well,” says Mr. Knighting, “it’s the actual foundation of literacy.”
Family Literacy Nights are just one part of City Schools' foundational skills building initiative to support literacy and reading. It’s all based on school data and the foundational literacy curriculum.
“When our 20-teacher committee started planning our Family Literacy Night, we pulled the data to identify trends of our students - the glows and grows,” says Lakeland teacher Megan Chester. “The plan from the analysis of the information at the beginning of this work helped teachers and families see the connection to their everyday experience. If families have more access to materials and understand how the curriculum is taught, they can practice at home to help kids improve. We'll see upward trends.” Students are routinely assessed on foundational literacy skills, and using this diagnostic data connects directly to what educators need to teach.
At Lakeland Family Literacy Nights, all activities and materials are translated into Spanish to accommodate the entire school community. Families are also able to sign up their students for summer programs and receive valuable resources from community organizations, like the Baltimore City Health Department and Enoch Pratt Library.
Jamel Henderson, Community Schools Coordinator at Beechfield, echoes the value of the events for literacy awareness and beyond.
“The evenings are also an opportunity for parents to engage in conversation with school leadership,” he says. “Families want to be heard. This helps build community and we’re offered the right tutelage for them to be successful to help their scholar. That support is critical at home and at school.”
Beechfield pre-K teacher Barbara Clark agrees: “We’re providing the building blocks that some parents aren't aware of. The way children are learning now is not the way Mom learned. The strategies and expectations have changed as these children are going through school and these events help align us all. The goal for all of this is to give the students the best support and opportunities to succeed in college and careers.”