The document describes a reading program between Windham Middle School 5th grade students and Windham Head Start preschoolers. The goals are to improve literacy skills for preschoolers, help students improve their reading skills and confidence, and promote reading as a fun activity. Students receive training on selecting books, reading aloud, and engaging preschoolers. Initial feedback found students highly motivated to practice reading and engaged preschoolers with questions, activities, and vocabulary. The program aims to strengthen community connections through joint library visits and parent workshops.

1. The Joy of Reading Windham Middle School Fifth Grade Students working with Windham Head Start Preschoolers

2. Intended Preschool Outcomes Head Start children will have increased skills on learning outcomes related to literacy Families and students/children will value the public library as an important resource Children/students will have their culture and primary language reinforced as being valued and part of their reading experiences Children and families will view reading as fun

3. Why Reading Aloud is Important The single most important activity for building skills required for successful reading is reading aloud to children. Reading aloud enriches a child’s background knowledge, develops a child’s vocabulary and comprehension, and increases a child’s interest to read and write. Reading aloud to children provides opportunities for listening, interpreting, and discussing text relationships. Reading aloud increases word recognition and fluency. It also influences word knowledge, reading speed, oral accuracy, and comprehension. Reading aloud creates a mental dictionary for the child and an opportunity to learn many words that are not routinely spoken. ELLM Orientation Material

4. “ Reading aloud and talking about what we’re reading sharpens children’s brains. It helps develop their ability to concentrate at length, to solve problems logically, and to express themselves more easily and clearly.” - Mem Fox ; Reading Magic

5. Head Start Child Outcomes Framework Listening and Understanding For non-English-speaking children, progresses in listening to and understanding English Speaking and Communicating Uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken language Phonological Awareness Associates sounds with written words Book Knowledge and Appreciation Shows growing interest in reading-related activities, such as asking to have a favorite book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; going to the library Progresses in learning how to handle and care for books; knowing to view one page at a time in sequence from front to back; and understanding that a book has a title, author and illustrator Print Awareness and Concepts Recognizes a word as a unit of print

6. Speaking and Communicating Uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken language

7. Phonological Awareness Associates sounds with written words

8. Book Knowledge and Appreciation Shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing stories

9. and… Demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books

10. Print Awareness and Concepts Demonstrates increasing awareness of concepts of print, such as that reading English moves from top to bottom and left to right, that speech can be written down, and that print conveys a message

11. Shows progress in recognizing the association between spoken and written words by following print as it is read aloud

12. Okay, so the program is connected to the learning outcomes for Head Start children, but how does reading picture books during class time benefit the 5th grade students ?

13. Intended Fifth Grade Outcomes Intervention reading students will increase their confidence in reading aloud and their reading fluency Participating students will increase their reading scores on the CT Mastery Tests and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) Students will increase their positive self-concept and social competence by viewing themselves as positive role models and by making a contribution to their community

14. 55 % of the fifth grade students participating in this program are intervention readers currently reading at the first or second grade level . Typically, these students also have self-esteem issues and do not feel important, needed, or valued by their school or extended community .

15. Developmental Reading Assessment Insights 85% of everything children read should be easy for them 15% should be a bit of a challenge 0% at the difficult level because it provides no purpose for learning

16. Preparing the 5 th Grade Students Classroom workshop facilitated by EASTCONN with teambuilding activities that focus on respect, responsibility, perspective and attitude Classroom workshop facilitated by the town’s children's librarian covering book selection, reading aloud and how to extend a story Classroom workshop facilitated by EASTCONN to explain the preschool goals and objectives, share teaching strategies and model a reading activity Classroom teachers model the whole procedure from choosing a book to reading to preschooler. In small groups, students fill out story activity form and practice reading aloud to one another.

17. Developmental Reading Assessment Characteristics of a Successful Reader Selects appropriate books Sustains reading Previews & predicts Engages in fluent & expressive reading Uses a variety of strategies Reads for meaning Reads within a literacy community

18. Story Reading and Activity Checklist for 5 th Grade Students Questions asking why, how, what if …, what happened when …, what do you think will happen …: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wrap up questions that have the preschoolers thinking and connecting to their own experiences: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Extended activities: Examples: Ask preschoolers to draw a picture of their favorite part of the story or their favorite character. Have the preschoolers re-tell the story using the book and it’s pictures as a guide. Have preschoolers tell a story using puppets (try to have them use some of the vocabulary from the story) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Story Reading and Activity Checklist Title of Book: ________________________________ Author’s name: _______________________________ Illustrator’s name: ____________________________ Main ideas: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Main characters: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ List of vocabulary words/unfamiliar topics from the story: Word Meaning ___________ ________________________________ ___________ ________________________________ ___________ ________________________________ ___________ ________________________________

19. 5 th Grade Teacher Feedback Student Motivation and Empowerment Now, whenever there is an unscheduled period, students beg to use the time to practice reading their books aloud to one another and to work on creating extended activities. Student Ownership and Commitment Students are asking to read aloud to their class and fill out of the Student Activity Form. Classmates are contributing by making positive , productive comments and discussing how much they like the book selected, often asking if they can use it next. Student Responsibility and Appreciation A student made this comment to his teacher after his first interaction with the preschoolers; “It was fun. The preschoolers made me feel good, but they are very active and it is hard to keep their attention. Being a teacher is hard work! I’m exhausted!”

20. Parents and Community Connections Visits to the town library by Head Start students and their 5 th grade buddies Workshops for parents that better prepare them to share and read books and stories with their children A culminating celebratory event held in the children’s section of the town library