This document discusses the importance of early literacy skills and how public libraries can support early childhood literacy development. It provides background on initiatives like "Every Child Ready to Read" that aim to educate parents and caregivers about activities to do with young children that build important pre-reading skills. Research shows the majority of parents see public libraries as important places that help foster a love of reading and provide resources to support early learning. The document argues libraries are well-positioned to incorporate recent research on brain development into their programs and create links with schools to support literacy standards from pre-K through third grade.

1. The
Year
of the
Reader
2014
Dawn Roginski
Early Childhood Outreach Librarian
January 20, 2014

2. http://educationbythenumbers.org
2

3. Measures how well a
student is prepared for life
beyond school.
US Department of Education, Institution of Eduction Sciences. “Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA)”, 2012.
3

4. The U.S. lags behind 65 countries even after
adjusting for poverty.
Our poor students are doing
poorly AND our top students
are nothing to brag about.
4

5. U.S. scores on PISA exams haven’t improved over the past
decade.
The top 10% of US students
have DECLINED.
The lowest students have showed
some mild improvement.
5

6. Brain Architecture shaped by our
EARLIEST EXPERIENCES
Single Neuron with Many Connections
Stronger Brain Architecture
Single Neuron with Fewer Connections
Weaker Brain Architecture
6

7. Infant brain 25% volume of adult
By age 1 it is at 70%
By age 3 it is at 85%
7

8. # of Experiences (Words) = # of Brain Connections
TIME SENSITIVE PROCESS
8

9. Window
Wiring
Opportunity
Greatest
Enhancement
Language Skills in
General
0-24 months
2-7 years
Language Skills (Early
Sounds)
0-24 months
8 months - puberty
Language Skills
(Vocabulary)
4-8 months
2-5 years
9

10. 45 mil
# words heard in one year
HIGHER INCOME FAMILY
13 mil
# words heard in one year
LOWER INCOME FAMILY
32 mil
LESS words heard in ONE year
X5
160 million
age of kindergarten entrance
WORDS BEHIND at kindergarten
entrance
10

11. Vocabulary Gap Widens exponentially with age.
1,116 word vs. 525 word vocabulary at
age 3
20,000 words vs. 6,000 words
vocabulary at age 6

13. Stanford Report(released September 25, 2013)
Language gap between rich and poor children
begins in infancy.
2yr old child of lower-income family is six months
behind in language development.
13

14. Dr. Ann Fernald (researcher at Stanford University)
http://
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=verqCmPrnY8
14

15. Children who enter Kindergarten
being read to at least 3x per
week showed a greater
phonemic awareness and were
twice as likely to score in the top
25% in reading readiness.
15

16. Upon Kindergarten Entrance One on One Picture Book Reading
Middle Class Child
1,000 – 1,700 hours
Low Income Child
25 hours
Adams, Marilyn Jagger. Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990.
16

17. 17

18. Children who can recite
8 Nursery Rhymes
at age 4,
will be among the best readers
at age 8.
Fox. Mem. Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their
Lives Forever . Orlando, FL : Harcourt, 2008.

19. Predictability of Early Literacy (language) Skills
Knowledge of
alphabet letters at
Kindergarten
entrance
Strongly
predicts 10th
grade reading
ability
19

20. Predictability of Early Literacy (language) Skills
Poor reader in 1st grade
90% PROBABILITY
that they are a poor
reader in 4th grade
20

21. Predictability of Early Literacy (language) Skills
“Ready to
Read”
> grade level
reader
> graduation
21
Kindergarten
2nd Grader
HS > grade
level
Of children with low literacy levels, only 2%
complete a 4 year college program.

22. Predictability of Early Literacy (language) Skills
HS Diploma
< teen pregnancy
< incarceration
< public assistance
< mental health services
California plans how many jail cells to build by using
the number of 4th graders who are not reading on a
fourth grade reading level.
22

23. # of “Rare” Words per Thousand
23

24. Medina County “CHIP” Survey
Only 35% of Families in Medina County
report that they read to their children
(< 5 yrs. old) on a daily basis.
Survey conducted by Living Well Medina County
“Community Health Improvement Plan” January 2013
Early Childhood, section 35

25. Kindergarten Readiness is VITAL
(past)
Grades K-3 We LEARN to READ
and from grades 4 up we
READ TO LEARN
(present)
Kindergarten We LEARN to READ
and from grades 1 up we
READ to LEARN
25

26. 26

27. Common Core Curriculum
Aligned with college and work
expectations.
Internationally benchmarked,
students are prepared to
succeed in global economy.
School experience same
across all states.
27

28. 28

29. Examples of Reading &
Sample Performance Tasks
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf

30. Test Reading Selection Possibilities
Independent Reading Stories Grades K & 1
Minarik, Else Holmelund. Little Bear
Eastman, P. D. Are You My Mother?
Seuss, Dr. Green Eggs and Ham
Lopshire, Robert. Put Me in the Zoo
Lobel, Arnold. Frog and Toad Together
Lobel, Arnold. Owl at Home
DePaola, Tomie. Pancakes for Breakfast
Arnold, Tedd. Hi! Fly Guy
Independent Reading Informational Texts Grades K & 1
Bulla, Clyde Robert. A Tree Is a Plant
Aliki. My Five Senses
Hurd, Edith Thacher. Starfish
Aliki. A Weed is a Flower
Crews, Donald. Truck
Hoban, Tana. I Read Signs
Reid, Mary Ebeltoft. Let’s Find Out About Ice Cream
“Garden Helpers.” National Geographic Young Explorers
“Wind Power.” National Geographic Young Explorers

31. Henkes, Kevin. Kitten’s First Full Moon. New York:
Greenwillow, 2004. (2004)
It was Kitten’s first full moon.
When she saw it, she thought.
There’s a little bowl of milk in the sky.
And she wanted it.
So she closed her eyes
and stretched her neck
and opened her mouth and licked.
But Kitten only ended up
with a bug on her tongue.
Poor Kitten! Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just
waiting.
So she pulled herself together
and wiggled her bottom
and sprang from the top step of the porch.

32. But Kitten only tumbled—bumping her nose and banging
her ear and pinching her tail.
Poor Kitten!
Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting.
So she chased it—down the sidewalk,
through the garden,past the field,and by the pond.
But Kitten never seemed to get closer.
Poor Kitten!
Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting.
So she ran to the tallest tree she could find,
and she climbed
and climbed
and climbed
to the very top.
But Kitten still couldn’t reach the bowl of milk,
and now she was scared.

33. Poor Kitten!
What could she do?
Then, in the pond, Kitten saw another bowl of milk.
And it was bigger.
What a night!
So she raced down the tree and raced through the grass
and raced to the edge of the pond.
She leaped with all her might—
Poor Kitten!
She was wet and sad and tired and hungry.
So she went back home—
and there was a great big bowl of milk
on the porch,just waiting for her.
Lucky Kitten!
COPYRIGHT © 2004 BY KEVIN HENKES

34. Kindergarten Reading – Assessment Choice for
Kitten’s First Full Moon
Students retell Kevin Henke’s Kitten’s First Full Moon
while demonstrating their understanding of a central
message or lesson of the story (e.g., how hard work
pays off, or the security of home). [RL.1.2]
(Narrative Skills)

35. Third Grade Reading Assessment Comparison
Prior to 2012-13
3 rd Grade Reading OAA
Into Effect NOW
PARCC Assessment 3rd Grade Reading Test
35

36. Third Grade Reading Guarantee
Starting in the school year 2013-2014, students
must be retained
if they do not make the cut score on the Third Grade OAA in
reading.
36

37. Test Reading Selection Possibilities
Independent Fiction Reading Grades 11–CCR
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales
de Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Cask of Amontillado
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment
Jewett, Sarah Orne. “A White Heron.”
Melville, Herman. Billy Budd, Sailor
Chekhov, Anton. “Home.”
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying
Independent Non-Fiction Reading Grades 11-CCR
Garcia, Cristina. Dreaming in Cuban
Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake

38. Test Reading Selection Possibilities (continued)
Independent Reading Drama Grades 11-CCR
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet
Molière, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. Tartuffe
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest
Independent Reading Poetry Grades 11-CCR
Li Po. “A Poem of Changgan”
Donne, John. “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning”
Wheatley, Phyllis. “On Being Brought From Africa to America”
Keats, John. “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.”
Dickinson, Emily. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”

39. Examples of Writing & Sample
Performance Tasks
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf

40. Kindergarten: This is an opinion about a work of literature
40

41. Kindergarten: This informative report was produced in class
41

42. First Grade – Informative Report

43. Third Grade Narrative

44. Grade 12, Argument
Write an essay on dress codes demonstrating
two different
perspectives on the issue (whether or not dress
codes should be adopted in school). Then
support one of the two points of view given or
present a different point of view on the issue.
You have thirty minutes to write.

45. 45

46. Local District Expectations
District
% Passing grade 8
math (2012)
% projected to
pass
Wadsworth
93
66
Buckeye
92
51
Brunswick
87
41
Medina
87
45
Ohio Department of Education
46

47. Local District Performance (September Test)

48. Words are our business
Number of library programs for children: 3.7 mil
Attendance at childrens library programs: 61.6 mil
Total circ of children’s materials: 816.7 mil
IMLS on early learning programs in 2010: $5.3 mil
2009 Public Library Survey
48

49. “Every Child Ready To Read”
2001 The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and
the Public Library Association (PLA) research studies that found
that a significant number of children were entering kindergarten
without the EARLY LITERACY SKILLS needed to learn to read.
2004 Teaching parents and other caregivers how to support the
development of their children’s early literacy skills becomes basis
for EVERY CHILD READY TO READ, 1st EDITION. Focus is on
educating parents in 6 identified early literacy SKILLS.
2011Two experts, Dr. Susan Neuman and Dr. Donna Celano, hired
to evaluate ECRR. Their research and recommendations become
ECRR, 2nd EDITION. They suggest that libraries demonstrate to
parents the PRACTICES that best support SKILL acquisition.

50. ECRR1
Print Motivation
Print Awareness
(see words)
Phonological Awareness
(make sounds)
Letter Knowledge
“Unconstrained Skills”
(see letters)
Vocabulary
(know words)
Narrative Skills
(tell story)
“Constrained Skills”
(love books)

51. ECRR2
Singing
Talking
Reading
Writing
Playing

52. 84% of parents with a child
5 years or younger
say libraries are
“very important.”
Miller, C., Zickuhr, K., Rainie, L., & Purcell, K. (2013). Par- ents’ and Children’s
Special Relationship with Reading and Libraries. Washington, DC: Pew Research
Center, pp. 3, 5–6, 8, 47.
52

53. 86% say libraries help develop a love of
reading and BOOKS;
81% say libraries provide access to resources
not available at home;
71% say libraries are a safe place for children.
53

54. For parents earning less than $50,000 per year, 79%
of these parents cite the role of the librarian to help
find information, free access to the Internet, quiet
study spaces, broader selections of e-books, and
more interactive learning experiences.
54

55. Libraries CAN:
Provide parental and family support and access to quality
programs and services.
Create links to schools that support local education
priorities, including Common Core and other state
standards.
Incorporate recent research on the brain
and learning into programs.
55

56. 56

57. l to
tia
te n n
po a i
t he
br
In
at e n g
c re l d i
s?
ui
In the value
b tho n
in e c t i e
of the
n nw
p
c oo er
BOOK?
of reading?
in t
he
pot
ent
ial
our
of
libr
ary
?
57