Kindergarten Reading Strategies and Expectations for Parents

Vanessa Huftel

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs

Portfolio Entry for Wisconsin Teacher Standards

Independent Study

Catherine Anderson, Advisor

April 1, 2015

Selected Wisconsin Teacher Standard Descriptors

Wisconsin Teacher Standard #10: The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues,

parents and agencies in the larger community to support pupil learning and well-being and who

acts with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.

Knowledge. The teacher understands how factors in the students' environment outside of

school (e.g.,, family circumstances, community environments, health and economic

conditions) may influence students' life and learning.

Dispositions. The teacher values and appreciates the importance of all aspects of a

child's experience.

Performances. The teacher establishes respectful and productive relationships with

parents and guardians from diverse home and community situations, and seeks to develop

cooperative partnerships in support of student learning and well-being.

Danielson Standards

Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities

4c Communicating with Families

Pre-assessments

Self-assessment of Instruction Related to WTS and Targeted Student Learning

Objective(s) For Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 10, I want to demonstrate that I can help

foster and create positive rapport with the parents and guardians of my students through

collaboration and communication in order to support their child’s education at school and home.

I chose precise knowledge, dispositions, and performance descriptors from WTS 10 that helped

guide my research.

I chose the knowledge descriptor that states, “The teacher understands how factors in the

students' environment outside of school (e.g., family circumstances, community environments,

health and economic conditions) may influence students' life and learning.” This is a factor of

which I must always be aware. I have come to realize how important it is for me as an educator

to get to know the students personally, as well as their families. I can better help my students and

families if I know them personally so I can give them the resources they need. Just like students,

not all families are the same. Some students are from middle to high socioeconomic

backgrounds where several opportunities and experiences for learning have been provided

because they have the resources available to them. Even these families can struggle with having

limited time requiring assistance in getting information in a timely manner. Other families are

getting through each day simply trying to survive. They may not know how to find academic

resources for their child, or are not aware of the expectations that their children face at school

each day.

The disposition factor I chose says, “The teacher values and appreciates the importance

of all aspects of a child's experience.” I think it is incredible to look at a group of children and

see the vast diversity in each one of them, even at the ages of five and six. Children already

come to kindergarten with their own story; their own life experiences that are beginning to shape

their personalities and lives. Their experiences are affected by their families, engagement,

friends, daycare, staying at home with mom, divorce, marriages, single parents, church, past and

present school experiences, etc. The list goes on and on. I get the important job of taking each

individual child, helping them find their individual strengths, and nurturing them to grow and

learn into those special skills. I help foster each child, and allow them to share their story and

experiences with me on a daily basis. By doing this, my students are constantly teaching me

patience, understanding, and how to show empathy.

I genuinely love working with the parents and families of my students, even in difficult or

uncomfortable situations. I love to share their children for a year! I relate their accomplishments

and the gains they have made. I love to problem solve with families of children who are

struggling or need extra guidance. The reward for all involved is amazing. The performance

descriptor for WTS 10 states, “The teacher establishes respectful and productive relationships

with parents and guardians from diverse home and community situations, and seeks to develop

cooperative partnerships in support of student learning and well-being.” Each year that I teach, I

find myself intentionally getting to know my families better and better. I cannot help but get

invested in the lives of my students as I truly care about each and every one of them. Over time,

I have found myself in different roles with families, as a counselor, parent educator, a shoulder to

cry on, advocate, and friend. I feel like the students in my class have success and an enjoyable

school experience partly because of the positive relationships that I form with every family. This

makes communication much easier, and allows parents to feel safe coming to me, and sending

their precious child to me every day.

Pre-Assessment of Student Performance Related to Targeted Student Learning

Objective(s)

I currently teach kindergarten at St. Croix Central Elementary School. There are six

sections of kindergarten with approximately 120 students in all. My current kindergarten class

has 19 students; 11 girls and 8 boys. Eighteen students identify as Caucasian and one as

Hispanic. Three of my students receive Title 1 services for specific support in reading. Three of

my students receive speech and other services for developmental delays, and another is part of

our English Language Learner (ELL) program. I have one student with Attention Deficit

Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and two others whose parents are concerned about their focus

and attention. I work with five different paraprofessionals throughout the day in my classroom

and two different special education teachers.

In the fall of 2014, my kindergarten team and I worked together to create a Student

Learning Outcome (SLO) goal as well as a Professional Practice Goal (PPG) for our CESA 6

Educator Effectiveness Learning Plan. We used very specific data from our fall Phonological

Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS), report card data, and past data and current classroom

experiences to drive our goals. Ultimately, we looked at specific classroom data to create our

own goals.

PALS testing is state-mandated and aligns with the common core.  PALS is a screening,

diagnostic and progress monitoring tool for measuring the fundamental components of literacy.

Testing takes place in the fall, winter, and spring.  Students who do not meet benchmark are

identified as needing interventions.  The summed score gives an overall look to where the

students are and where we want them to be at the time of testing.  Four of my students did not

meet the Letter Sounds Benchmark on the PALS assessment that took place on October 16th and

17th, 2014. Three of these students are special education students.  The benchmark is for

students to know 4 letter sounds at this time of year. At the time of testing, there were 10

students who could not produce 15 sounds or more, which was a personal expectation that I had

set for my students based on what had already been introduced for the school year and from

many students having four-year-old kindergarten or preschool experience.  My SLO goal for the

2014-2015 school is to have the 10 students who scored 15 or less sounds on the Fall PALS

screening to meet the Spring PALS benchmark of 20 sounds.

From past experience and conversations, our team realized that many of our students are

not getting the support and guidance they need at home to help instill the skills that are being

taught at school. For some of these children, this is not because of a lack of parents’

involvement, but parents who simply do not have strategies and resources to help their children.

We have also come to find that several parents do not have a clear understanding of the high

expectations that are now put on kindergarten students. Because of these concerns and

conversations, our team decided to create a PPG goal that states, “It is my goal to provide parents

with monthly resources, knowledge, skills, strategies, and confidence that would align their at-

home reading experiences to support the reading instruction children receive at school during the

2014-2015 school year. Parents will build their knowledge and confidence in reading

instruction/skills from fall to spring. Improvements will be evident based off of the results from

the parent reading surveys.” Upon completion of creating our PPG, each kindergarten teacher

sent out a reading survey that we collaborated on to create, to all of the parents of their respective

classrooms. They were offered both electronically and on paper (Artifact A). Of the nineteen

students I have, only twelve parents responded to the survey. Several reminders were sent home

and emailed. Please see Artifact B for the parent responses. As a grade level, we did not have a

huge response of surveys, which is somewhat concerning. In the future, I would like to look at

other avenues for surveying our parents, possibly at the fall and winter conferences.

The parent survey responses showed children enjoy reading at home and they feel like

they have available resources. I was surprised to see the low expectations parents have for their

kindergarten child. This was a red flag to me. Parents need to be aware of the expectations that

current kindergarten students have. Kindergarten students are expected to do much more than

read one sentence, begin to sound out words, and know some sight words. Our district goal is

that kindergarten students leave to first grade at an instructional level D, which is a short

paragraph on each page with several sight words, decodable words, and some repeating text.

Throughout the school year, I have been implementing and/or continuing to use several

strategies to help improve letter sound awareness and parent education. Those include, but are

not limited to Daily 5, the alphabet chant, guided reading, literacy centers, PALS quick checks,

monthly reading logs, parent education meetings and reading nights, literacy corner on my

weekly newsletter, music and movement activities, and weekly at-home literacy folders

activities.

Assessment of Learning Environment While Learning Targeted Objective(s)

The environment of a kindergarten classroom is always evolving and changing. There

are many factors that can either enhance or negatively impact our learning experiences. Some

kindergarten students come into school with a lot of exposure to various literacy concepts. At

times, there are students who come into school greatly exceeding expectations. Students in this

scenario typically, but not always, are very fortunate to have very supportive parents who are

willing to be advocates for their child’s education. Then there are students who come in with

little to no school experiences. I often have 20-25% of students in my class who are a part of the

special education program with varying needs such as, but not limited to, speech, cognitive

disabilities, hard of hearing, autism, and attention deficit disorder. This creates a very diverse

learning environment where so many individual needs need to be met in order to ensure success,

further learning, and engagement not only in math, but also in every single educational aspect.

In my kindergarten classroom, I am fortunate to have an abundance of resources and

supplies that help me teach literacy, specifically letter sound awareness, and supply parents with

the necessary literacy resources to help their child at home. I have the Journey’s curriculum,

Daily 5, CAFÉ, Reading A-Z, and Raz-Kids. All of these come with materials that parents can

implement at home. I also have a great deal of technology and specific free websites that I use in

the classroom that parents may also use at home if they have computer access.

Assessment Conclusion and Essential Question to Guide Research

The self-assessment, assessment of student performance, and learning environment

assessment show that our kindergarten teachers must provide parents with the resources and

education of early and emergent literacy so they may implement teaching strategies at home. We

also must express to parents the expectations that current kindergarten students now face.

Parents have a great need for strong and reliable literacy resources. The question that will guide

my research is, “How can I best educate kindergarten parents on simple, yet effective, reading

strategies that will support their child’s emergent literacy knowledge?”

Synthesis of Research

Over the years, there have been several studies done and articles written about the

importance of the involvement of parents in their child’s early literacy education. Although this

may seem like a daunting task to some parents, there are several simple strategies that can help

foster and improve children’s reading success.

One of the most important and effective strategies parents can engage in is simply to read

to their child and expose them to books. Partridge (2004) provided a list of ten key strategies

that parents can use at home during shared reading time. Partridge described them as follows:

1. Families should create a book reading routine. A specific time should be set aside so there is

predictability as to when a shared reading will occur. This helps hold parents more accountable.

There should also be a specific routine while reading. Allow time for children to interact with

the story, ask and answer questions, and be an overall participant in the book.

2. Time reading together should be enjoyable!

3. Read as much as possible. Partridge suggested that, “A reasonable goal is 15-30 minutes per

day of shared reading time” (p. 26). Having a predictable schedule and routine will help aide in

this.

4. Allow children to read favorite books over and over again and let them choose books they

like. This gives children more control over the reading time and helps build their confidence of

early literacy skills.

5. Help the child make connections from his or her life to the story. This makes books come

alive, and in turn children find the stories much more engaging and relatable.

6. Parents must watch for certain clues in their children. They need to check for understanding

and if the child is engaged. If not, parents could consider changing the types of books they are

reading together.

7. Discuss the print. Also talk about the alphabet, words, how to handle a book, and beginning

reading strategies. This will help prepare the child for reading readiness.

8. Expose children to a variety of books. Parents are encouraged to use their public library to

search various genres.

9. Talk before, during, and after the shared reading. This helps the child make connections.

10. Encourage the children to play as a way of interacting with the text. Provide the child with

writing supplies, stuffed animals, dress-up clothes, etc. to make the book come to life.

Partridge (2004) suggested that when parents implement these strategies, their reading

time with their child would be more enjoyable. Teachers are also encouraged to use these

techniques if they are not already.

Little and Box (2002) shared several of the same reading strategies, but they pointed out

the importance of talking to children. There are some parents where this may be one of the only

avenues they can take in helping their child become exposed to language development because

they themselves may not know how to read or write, or lack the resources to adequately provide

for their child. “The more adults communicate with children, the greater their oral vocabulary

becomes. Children with extended vocabularies tend to become capable, competent speakers,

readers, and writers in elementary school” (Little & Box, p. 98).

Darling (2005) also noted several methods that parents can implement with their child at

home to support key skills being taught at school. Through research, Darling, “determined that

print concepts, writing, and invented spelling among others, are key predictors for reading at

school age. Evidence suggests that when teachers and parents partner to support children’s

reading and academic achievement, at-risk children make gains” (p. 476). Darling focused on

seven main literacy strategies to help teachers connect with parents. They are a) phonemic

awareness, b) phonics, c) fluency, d) vocabulary, e) text comprehension, f) print concepts, and g)

writing. Parents should discuss specific ways in which these areas are being taught and should

collaborate with the classroom teacher to find ways to support their child’s learning at home.

How though, can educators find out what resources and information families need to

support reading at home? An effective way teachers can gain great information is from parent

surveys and questionnaires. They can help determine what resources or education the classroom

teachers need to provide the parents. Martini and Senechal (2012) questioned parents in four

main areas; a) formal literacy teaching activities, b) parents’ expectations for their child’s early

literacy skills, c) teaching contexts, and d) obstacles to teaching. Parents were questioned about

how often they teach or have taught basic reading skills at home such as alphabet and sound

recognition, name printing, writing words, and reading words. They were also asked how often

they would have their child trace or copy words, read words, and point to words while reading.

They were asked about the expectations they have for their kindergarten child going into first

grade. Parents had to rate the importance of letter and sound recognition, name writing, and

writing and reading some words. Parents were asked about the resources, or reading contexts,

that they used with their child at home. Examples of teaching contexts are, “alphabet books,

workbooks, shopping lists, street signs, and storybooks” (Martini & Senechal, p. 212). Lastly,

parents shared their obstacles to teaching their children at home by rating their agreement or

disagreement with the following statements, “I have time to help my child learn to read and write

words; and I have limited knowledge to teach reading and writing skills” (p. 213). Through this

survey, Martini and Senechal found that “the present findings extend our understanding of the

home literacy environment and its association to child outcomes during a period of development

that seems particularly sensitive to environmental differences. Parents who report teaching about

literacy often tend to have higher expectations regarding their child’s knowledge about the

alphabet, word reading, and printing” (p. 218). The study showed that parents are held more

accountable to work with their child at home if they know they will be sharing, or reporting what

literacy activities they are doing.

There are an abundant amount of resources that educators can use to create an open line

of communication regarding emergent literacy strategies and expectations at home. It is up to

the teacher to determine where his or her students are at, and what resources the families need.

A good way to do this is through surveys and questionnaires. Once the teacher has decided what

skills and strategies specific families need, he or she may begin providing parents with at home

resources and ideas to strengthen the school to home connection.

Research Implications

My question to guide research was, “How can I best educate kindergarten parents on

simple reading strategies that will support their child’s emergent literacy knowledge?” Through

my research, I found so many valuable resources that I will share with my students, parents, and

staff. My research into parent education on literacy strategies and expectations gave me many

valuable, simple, and useful ideas that I would like to share with my kindergarten team, families

of students, and other staff members. After providing resources to the families of my students, I

hope that all will see how easy, fun, and integral it is to provide several opportunities for literacy

at home.

In the future, I would like to focus more on parent surveys, and even student surveys, to

gain a better understanding of how I can support reading at home. I would like to find the best

avenue to survey parents. Are the Google surveys working or would a paper copy be best?

Should parents take the survey at school, for example during conferences, or at home? This year

has been a trial and error process. I would like to see one hundred percent participation from

families. Either way, I have seen the specific importance of surveys, which is getting to know

the needs of my students and their families.

I will continue to communicate reading strategies with parents, but will focus specifically

on those from my research. These strategies seem to be very attainable for busy families. I

would like to share these ideas and expectations at our kindergarten open house next fall.

Starting the year with high expectations for families will hopefully show through the literacy

growth of my students.

Post-assessments

Research-based Action Plan

Action Plan Summary Outline

1. Resend the parent survey that was completed in the fall to see how parents are feeling

about the resources that have been provided to them. (Artifact C)

2. Review the data from the Winter PALS assessment to see how to better reach the

students who are currently not meeting the Spring letter sound benchmark. (See table

below.)

3. Provide parents of struggling students at-home reading binders to work on skills with

their child at home. (Artifact D)

4. Send home literacy information in my weekly newsletter. (Artifact E)

5. Send home weekly reading folders with books and activities at their specific reading

level and encourage parents to have their children login and use Raz-Kids.

Targeted Student Learning Objective(s)

1. Standardized goal:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A

Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by

producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each

consonant.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B

Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for

the five major vowels.

2. Targeted learning objective: My SLO goal for the 2014-2015 school is to have

the 10 students who scored 15 or less sounds on the Fall PALS screening to meet

the Spring PALS benchmark of 20 sounds.

Task(s) and Essential Proficiency Criteria for Targeted Learning Objective(s)

1. Task: Students will make the sounds for all consonants, the short vowel sounds,

and the digraphs “sh”, “ch”, and “th”.

2. Criteria that Prove Proficiency in Meeting Targeted Learning Objective(s)

a. Students will be able to make 80% or more of the consonant, short vowel

and digraph sounds.

Method(s) to Assess Progress of Proficiency or Targeted Learning Objective(s)

1. Winter PALS assessment (and subsequent Spring PALS assessment)

2. 2nd Quarter report card testing (and subsequent 3rd and 4th quarter assessments)

Post-assessments

Instructional Insight Related to WTS and Targeted Student Learning Objective(s)

In order to help meet my SLO, and give the parents of my students the necessary

information to practice at home, I had to greatly adjust my instruction. After looking at my fall

PALS data, first quarter assessments, and the fall parent reading survey, I began providing

specific instruction that focused on letter sound awareness. I began doing a daily letter chant

with the students. We also added several letter sound songs with movements. My lower

students who did not meet benchmark at the beginning of the year began receiving specific and

individualized instruction during guided reading time. I did the Fountas & Pinnell leveled

reading test on my higher-level learners so they would stay challenged in our guided reading

groups. Seeing the strategies that were working at school gave me many ideas to share with

families.

I learned from my research that there are so many easy strategies that parents can

incorporate at home to support early literacy. I have first and foremost encouraged parents to

spend more time reading with their child or having their child read to them. I sent home the

same letter chant that we use at school and made personalized letter recognition and letter sound

awareness binders for my students who did not meet the fall PALS benchmark for at-home use.

I began incorporating weekly literacy information for parents in my newsletter. Students have a

reading folder that they bring home each week with specific literacy activities.

Comparison of Student Performance Related to Targeted Student Learning Objective(s)

The students who scored below benchmark of four letter sounds in the fall have made impressive progress. The following table shows the growth from fall to winter on the PALS assessment and our first to second quarter assessments. Student A is already meeting the spring benchmark. Student B knows 45% of the sounds needed to meet the spring benchmark. Student

C knows 85% of the sounds needed, and lastly, Student D knows 95% of sounds to meet benchmark. I will reevaluate again on third and fourth quarter report cards and the Spring PALS assessment in May.

Data from the four students who scored below benchmark of four sounds or less on the fall PALS assessment.

Fall Sounds Winter Sounds

Report Card Letter Sound Assessments(Given in October and January) Students are assessed on consonant and short vowel sounds.

Child A* 26/26 A* 26/26Child B+ 0/26 B 12/26Child C= 3/26 C= 19/26Child D^ 5/26 D^ 24/26

PALS assessment(Administered in October and January.) Students are assessed on all consonant sounds except M, X, and Q and the digraphs sh, ch, and th.

Child A* 0/26 A* 23/26Child B+ 1/26 B 9/26Child C 1/26 C 17/26Child D 2/26 D 19/26

*Child A is a special education student. She refused to cooperate during the PALS assessment and that is why she scored below the benchmark of four sounds.

+Child B is an ESL student whose native language is Spanish.

=Child C came in with no prior school experience.

^Child D has developmental delays, specifically in speech and behavior.

Reflection of Entire Learning Process

What Worked and Why

1. After reviewing specific survey information, PALS, Fountas and Pinnell, and report card data,

I was able to get current information for each of my students to help me decide what resources

parents will need for their child. Some of the information sent home was not a one size fits all

approach.

2. The second survey showed that parent expectations are rising for their child. There was

definitely a difference in the responses from the first survey to the second, which is helpful for

me. I was sad to see that reading enjoyment has gone down, but this motivates me to help find

ways to make reading fun at home.

3. I was excited to see after reviewing my Winter PALS and 2nd Quarter report card data that

three of the four students who were not meeting the PALS fall benchmark are now exceeding or

very close to meeting the spring benchmark of twenty sounds (see table above). My students are

finding success because I have provided precise lessons targeting my desired skill throughout the

entire school year.

What Did Not Work and Why

1. I was hoping to reach all of my parents during parent-teacher conferences to retake the

reading survey, but there were parents who did not show up on time, or did not come at all.

Several still did not respond after notes and reminders were sent home.

2. Because there were so many fantastic resources and ideas, it was hard for me to decide what

to use and what not to use. Although I believe that all of the information that was sent home was

helpful, I worry that it may have been overwhelming for certain families.

My Next Steps

1. I will have parents take the Parent Reading Survey one more time in the spring to

determine if the resources and information I provided for the families was helpful or

not.

2. I will continue to send home weekly reading information in my newsletter.

3. I will continue to provide students with at level reading resources and activities for

home.

Bibliography

Darling, S. (2005). Strategies for engaging parents in home support of reading acquisition. The

Reading Teacher, 58(5), 476-479.

Little, D. C., & Box, J. A. (2002). Developing Early Reading and Writing Skills of Young

Children: A Program for Parents. Reading Improvement, 39(2), 97-100.

Martini, F., & Sénéchal, M. (2012). Learning literacy skills at home: Parent teaching,

expectations, and child interest. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue

canadienne des sciences du comportement, 44(3), 210.

Partridge, H. A. (2004). Helping parents make the most of shared book reading. Early Childhood

Education Journal, 32(1), 25-30.

Artifact A

This is the initial parent reading survey that went home both electronically and, if parents

requested, on paper.

Artifact A (continued)

Artifact A (continued)

Artifact B

This artifact shows the responses the parent reading survey that was given in October

.

Artifact B (continued)

Artifact B (continued)

Artifact CThis artifact shows the results of the Winter Reading Parent Survey that was sent home in

February. Please see Artifact A to compare results.

Artifact C (continued)

Artifact C (continued)

Artifact DThis artifact provides evidence of the reading binders that I made for my four students

who did not meet the PALS fall benchmark. There were alphabet activity pages, a sound chart, and flashcards. I also enclosed a list of strategies for parents to use while they are reading with

their child.

Artifact EI provide families with weekly reading information in my newsletter. I try to relate it to a

specific skill we are working on at school. Below is the backside of my “Peek of the Week”.