This document provides information about a Reading is Fundamental (RIF) summer literacy program. It discusses: 1) RIF's mission to promote literacy and their focus on providing books to children ages 0-8, with an emphasis on STEAM topics. 2) Details of the RIF summer program implemented at Croatan High School, including distributing books and activities to students over the summer to prevent learning loss. 3) Research showing that summer learning loss disproportionately affects low-income students and that providing students with books and activities at their reading level can help close the achievement gap.

1. KEEP THEM READING
WITH STEAM
Innovative Approaches
to Literacy
Summer Institute
Croatan High School
July 7th, 2014
Debby Hollowell and
Sherry Meador
PICTURE
HERE!

2. Background of
Reading Is Fundamental
(RIF)

3. Founded in 1966, RIF is
the nation’s oldest and
largest children’s and
families’ literacy
non-profit.
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4. • Vision: A literate America in which all children have
access to books and discover the joys and value of
reading.
• Mission: RIF is dedicated to motivating young
children to read by working with children, their
parents, and community members to make reading
a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.
• Focus on Children 0-8 years old
• Multicultural Initiative
• Parent Engagement
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6. Our history with RIF

7. • This is our 2nd year with Reading
is Fundamental

8. First year
• All 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade
classrooms and two media centers
received a set of 40 multicultural
STEAM books with Common Core
activity guides
• 2nd and 3rd grade students received 8
books for the summer vacation

9. 2nd year
• All 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade
classrooms and two media
centers received a set of 40
multicultural STEAM books with
Common Core activity guides
• 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students
received 8 books for the summer
vacation

10. Next year (if granted)
• All PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th
grade classrooms and two media centers will
receive a set of multicultural STEAM books
with Common Core activity guides
• PreK, Kindergarten, 1st,2nd, 3rd , 4th and 5th
grade students will receive books for the
summer vacation allowing Reading is
Fundamental to reach children earlier to
prevent reading difficulties later in their
schooling.

11. Multicultural Literacy Initiative
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12. • The Multicultural Book
Collections include 40
award-winning titles
from some of the most
celebrated authors in
children’s literature
today.
• For each book, RIF has
developed accompanying
literacy activities for
parents, community
leaders, and teachers.
Multicultural Literacy Initiative
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• Link to multi-cultural books

13. link

14. Image from:
http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs161/1102824136985/img/358.gif?a=1115193285329

15. Can young children understand
STEAM? Yes, but. . .
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16. THE BOTTOM LINE
Start early and make your instruction
tangible, concrete, action-packed, and
career-oriented.
16

17. “The next Mark Zuckerberg
may be that 8-year-old child
RIF serves whose only books
are the ones we provide,” said
Carol H. Rasco, president and
CEO of RIF. “The skills today’s
students need to succeed as
tomorrow’s pioneers should
start at the earliest possible
opportunity with an approach
that builds on their natural
curiosity. As a country, we’re
missing the mark with few
resources explicitly aimed at
STEAM education for our
youngest students.”
Why STEAM?
17

19. Expository or Informational Text are emphasized
more with the Common Core
19
• Common Core requires that students
read more informational text
• Activity guide provides higher order
questions and activities to do with the
STEAM books
• Text features and highly engaging
pictures are in many of the books

20. 20

21. 21

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23. Timeline during school year
• Early spring- teachers receive classroom collection of
40 books. Grant requires teachers to choose at least
10 books to read and complete activities in the
classroom
• STEAM event is planned for grade level or entire
school
• Student permission slips are sent home allowing
students to be tested for their Lexile level
• Students take the IOWA Basic Skills test

24. • Bag tags are marked with Lexile level with
results from IOWA test results
• Arts and craft supplies are organized into RIF
bags
• Book distribution dates are set for the end of
school and the middle of the summer
• Book distribution is held during the last days of
school (5 books)
• Books are on colored tables according to level
and students pick books on the tables matching
their bag tag
• Students come during the summer to choose
an additional three books

39. STEM Enrichment activities
• $1,000 allowance per school
• Must be STEAM related
• Field trips
• Guest speakers
• Can be spent on supplies
• Can not be spent on food

40. PCPS STEAM ENRICHMENT
ACTIVITIES

41. NC Aquarium Outreach
Pine Knoll Shores, NC

45. Imagination Station from Wilson
Science and History on Wheels

46. Animal Encounters for
entire school

47. Hands on Fun with Polymers
for 2nd graders

49. FAA STEAM ENRICHMENT
ACTIVITIES

50. Museum of Life & Science
Durham, NC

53. Museum of Life and Science Outreach
Durham, NC

56. WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS ABOUT
THE READING LANDSCAPE
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57. 71% of children living in poverty cannot read
at the most basic level.
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58. America’s Literacy Crisis
• In low-income neighborhoods, there is only 1
book for every 300 children.
• 34% of children entering kindergarten lack the
basic language skills they will need to learn to
read.
• Only 1 in 5 low-income children read on grade
level by the end of 3rd grade.
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59. • A child from a low-income family enters
kindergarten with a listening vocabulary of 3,000
words, while a child from a high-income family
enters with a listening vocabulary of 20,000
words.
• 88% of children who have difficulty reading at the
end of 1st grade display similar difficulties at the
end of 4th grade.
What Do We Know About Children and Reading?
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60. • 75% of students who are poor readers in 3rd grade
remain poor readers in high school; after 3rd grade,
cognitive demands increase yearly.
• 36% of American 4th graders read below the Basic
level on NAEP.
• Among 4th graders, 58% of African-American, 54% of
Hispanic, and 52% of American Indian children
scored below the Basic level on NAEP.
• 54% of all 4th graders eligible for free or reduced
lunch scored below the Basic level on NAEP.
What Do We Know About Children and Reading?
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61. National Assessment of Educational Progress:
The Poverty Achievement Gap
Sources: National Center for Educational Statistics
Note: NSLP = National School Lunch Program (provides
free and reduced-priced lunches to children of low-
income families.)
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62. LITERACY (reading, writing, listening,
speaking) is the VEHICLE to content material,
• Science
• Social Studies
• Mathematics
• Health
• Technology
• Engineering
ESPECIALLY when LEARNING TO READ
changes to READING TO KNOW.
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63. HERE’S the BIG PROBLEM:
The GAP doesn’t close!
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64. WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS ABOUT
SUMMER READING LOSS:
CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS
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65. Summer “Slide”
The Loss?
• One month to three or even more of learning
from the PREVIOUS school year
The Implication?
• First day of school of new year: some children
know half to all the content material for the
coming year; other children have lost 1/4 -1/2
year of learning from last year
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66. Summer “Slide”
• Learning loss that occurs anytime children are not in
school (summer as well as winter, fall, and spring
breaks)
• First documented in 1906, teacher of mathematics
• Subjects most affected – those that rely on skills that
require:
- constant repetition
- multiple opportunities for practice and feedback
- with a goal of automaticity
- like reading, writing, math, TIER THREE
vocabulary
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67. Learning Loss and Socio-economics
• Middle income families – Enrichment activities
in the summer:
* parent at home, more educated
* travel
* camps
* bookstore and library in home or
neighborhood
*enrichment programs, classes
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68. Learning Loss and Socio-economics
• Low income families – Very limited
enrichment activities in the summer:
* limited access to print
* limited choice of materials
* limited travel
* limited participation in camps, classes,
enrichment programs
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69. Conclusion from Allington and
McGill-Franzen (2013)…
• “Summer reading loss accounts for roughly 80%
of the reading achievement gap between more
and less economically advantaged children”
(Alexander, Entwisle, and Olson, 200&).
• “By the time both groups of children…near
graduation…, the rich/poor…gap is 4 years wide,
with children from low-income families
performing at the same level as…middle-class
children in 8th grade” (NCES, 2010)!
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71. Summer Reading Programs
as a Possible Solution to Close the Gap
• Kim and White (2008)
study
• To prevent “decay” of
children’s reading
ability over summer,
children need a
program with at least
the FOUR following
components:
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72. Four Components of an Effective
Summer Reading Program
1. Access to books (6-8)
* at the individualized (lexiled), appropriate level
of difficulty for each learner
* with choice of topic within the lexiled level
2. Scaffolded activities and motivators
3. Professional development
4. Parent involvement
(Kim and White, 2008)
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73. RIF Summer Reading Program
Features:
• Classroom books
• Summer books for children
(8 per child)
• Lexile testing of children
• Motivational events
• Motivational, educational
activities
• Professional development
for teachers
• Parent involvement
• Parent contact
36
-Part of “cradle to career” school/family literacy
initiative
-Funded by U.S. Department of Education, through
Innovative Approaches to Literacy

74. Books
• Choice and lexiles
• 8 per child, per summer
• Based on common core
– Few narration
– 75% exposition
• STEAM-themed
– Tier 3 vocabulary
– Cradle to career focus
37

75. Teachers
In-services and continuing focus on:
• Working with parents
• Helping children choose books
• Using the activities in the classroom and with
parents
• Common core alignment
• Exposition vs. narrative
• Tiers 1,2,3 vocabulary
• Active learning
38

76. Parents
• On-going affirmation about their roles
• Special meetings at Summer and Fall Back to
School Reading Celebrations
• Special attention to parent activity sheets and
literacy calendars
• Weekly contact during summer reading, 6-8
weeks, via ways parents choose (text, phone,
email)
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77. YEAR ONE RESULTS FROM
Innovative Approaches to Literacy
• It was predicted that there would not be a change until
the 2nd year of the grant
• 57% of children saw growth
• 4% of children saw no change
• 39% of children saw loss
• When the hypothesis said after one year 80% of
students would show loss
• Essentially what the external evaluators have found is
that the lowest Lexile group actually made statistically
significant gains in Lexile scores for second and third
grades across the board.

78. RIF YEAR TWO
• 16 states
• 173 school
districts
• 4/5 are in the
highest poverty
levels
• 2/3 are
characterized as
rural

79. We are anxiously awaiting the results
from year two in December and can’t
wait to report the results!

80. In two years, this grant
has given out over
750,000 books to
children and classrooms
and 4,000 books to our
students!

81. To access any resources presented
today, please visit the 2014
Summer Institute wiki:
http://si2014reg2.ncdpi.wikispace
s.net/Keep+Them+Reading+with+
STEAM
All are free and ready to use!

82. And That Will Give Us . . .
• NOT the end;
• Book People United!
• A community of readers
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