Partnering with parents to close emergent literacy gaps in our youngest learners Early Literacy Initiative Round Rock, Texas Presented by: Round Rock ISD Margo Vogelpohl Director, Title I and Prekindergarten Programs Kathryn Burch Coordinator, Title I Parent Programs
Total Number of Students: 47,021 (as of November 25, 2014) ● African American – 8.9% ● Hispanic – 30.3% ● White – 43.4% ● American Indian – 0.4% ● Asian – 12.7% ● Pacific Islander – 0.2% ● Two or more races – 4.1% ● Number of Languages Spoken: 79 ● Average Student Teacher Ratio: 14.9 ● 17 Title I campuses - 14 elementary schools, 3 middle schools Early Literacy Initiative Round Rock ISD Round Rock, Texas
What story do these numbers tell? The percentage of The percentage children entering of a child’s brain Kindergarten that is developed unprepared for by age 3. school, most lacking in literacy and language skills. Two-thirds of American children living in poverty have no Average number of words books in their A child raised in poverty per day a child learns home. experiences 30 million between the ages of 12 months and 18 years if fewer words by the age they are in a vocabulary of four than his/her more rich environment. affluent peers.
Prekindergarten Data Parent Survey Research Early Literacy Initiative Round Rock ISD Round Rock, Texas
Target audience 0-4 year olds Focused on six early literacy concepts Funded by a $5,000 community grant (HEB) Curriculum developed week to week
Offered in two centralized locations (east and west) Families from six Title I campuses were invited Classes met weekly for one hour (one morning/one evening) Classes were on-going throughout the school year Early Literacy Number of Classes Held Total Families Class Location Average Fall Spring Average Number Unduplicated Number of Semester Semester of Families Families Served Families Anderson Mill 6 classes 4.8 13 classes 4.8 15 Family Resource 6 classes 4.3 14 classes 3.6 12 Center
Meet our first graduates! Meet Lidia and Leo Lidia joined our Parent ESL classes and brought Leo along. Leo became an active participant in the classes along with the parents! Leo is now a rock star Prekindergartener! Lidia actively serves on our District Parent Advisory Committee.
Meet Elizabeth and Lorena! Elizabeth started in the very first Early Literacy Cohort at the age of 2 with her mother, Lorena. Lorena has gone on to continue her education to become a medical interpreter. Grandmother Gloria now brings Elizabeth to the “Readers Today . . . Leaders Tomorrow!” class. Gloria has also started attending ESL classes on campus. “My baby has learned so much since we started the classes. She now knows her alphabet, and socially it has been a blessing for her. We couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much!”
Meet Amanda and Kasandra Amanda and Kasandra joined our very first Early Literacy class. They attended classes for one year. Kassandra is now an active prekindergarten learner and her mother, Amanda, began attending GED classes on the campus. Amanda introduced the classes to her cousin, Gloria and nephew, Angel. Meet Gloria and Angel Angel is now learning both literacy and English in PreK. In January he won the IB Scholar Award at his school! Gloria is actively pursuing her GED through prep classes offered by Round Rock ISD’s Parent University .
BONUS PARENTS - A SECOND SET OF LEARNERS! The Title I Parent Community Specialist Early Literacy Initiative . . .
Kinder Ready Series Collaboration with the Round Rock ISD Parent Programs Team Early Literacy Classes offered for four weeks following district Kinder Round Up in the spring on every Title I Elementary Campus. All incoming Prekindergarten and Kindergarten students were invited. Parent Community Specialists were provided with lesson plans, resources and training necessary to teach the classes. Lessons focused on four early literacy skills: Sequencing Vocabulary Development Visual Discrimination Making Connections Lessons were designed using four books: A Cow That Went Oink A Porcupine Named Fluffy Chrysanthemum Froggy Goes to School
What does a class look like? ★ Welcome/Celebrations Parents share a celebration and/or journal entry from reading with their children during the previous week. ★ Opening Song/Rhyme Teacher has the opportunity to greet every student and family while encouraging vocabulary development, socialization and fluency. ★ Action Rhyme Students get their wiggles out and develop oral language. ★ Quieting Rhyme Students are engaged in vocabulary and are prepared for the story of the day. ★ Story Time/Snack Teacher reads aloud a story focused on a specific early literacy skill, modeling instructional practices for parents. ★ Parent Practice/Parent Learning Parents select a book to read to their children and practice the targeted skill modeled during story time. ★ Make and Take Families create a literacy skill product to use for practice at home, extend the learning and add to their home libraries. ★ Closing Rhyme Teacher provides closure to the lesson and reinforces the skill of the day.
# Unduplicated Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Average Campus children # of children # of children # of children # of children # of children 10 3 7 5 4 4.8 Anderson Mill 8 7 4 5 4 5.0 Berkman 13 14 5 5 9 8.3 Bluebonnet 11 11 8 7 6 8.3 Caldwell Heights 9 6 7 4 7 6.0 Callison 9 6 4 4 4 4.5 Forest North 10 8 9 4 4 6.3 Gattis 5 4 1 2 2 2.3 Robertson 16 16 11 9 7 10.8 Union Hill 6 6 5 6 6 5.8 Voigt 6 4 4 1 1 2.5 Wells Branch Totals 103 85 65 52 54 6.0
Readers Today . . . Leaders Tomorrow! where we are now A dual learning approach was developed where parents and children are both learners. A new title was created, Readers Today . . . Leaders Tomorrow! Part-time prekindergarten teacher hired 10 hours per week to develop curriculum and teach at four Title I host campuses. Classes are held on all elementary Title I campuses in collaboration Early Literacy Initiative with the Parent Programs Team under the Parent University umbrella of classes. Classes are taught in both English and Spanish. Round Rock, Texas Classes are offered in the community through a partnership with the Round Rock ISD public library. The initiative is funded by Title I ($15,000).
Readers Today . . . Leaders Tomorrow! where we go from here Gateway class for increased parent literacy and engagement: -ESL, Adult Basic Education/GED in both English and Spanish -Volunteering -Parent University -School partnerships Continued expansion of curriculum resources Increase the number of classes offered in both English and Spanish on Early Literacy Initiative elementary Title I campuses and in the community Develop assessment tools to monitor the effectiveness of the early literacy classes: -Pre/post observation checklist Round Rock, Texas -Follow up of original cohort students and parents Round Rock ISD
Early Literacy Initiative Round Rock ISD Round Rock, Texas The possibilities are endless!
The number of Round Rock ISD families that have attended Early Literacy classes and now share the magic of reading together! Thank you for helping us rewrite the story of Early Literacy! Margo Vogelpohl margo_vogelpohl@roundrockisd.org Kathryn Burch kathryn_burch@roundrockisd.org
Recommend
More recommend
