The Gift of Reading
A survey of the parents at Garden Gate Elementary School in the Cupertino Union School District (California) found that while very few parents spent time reading to their children, 99 percent of the parents had VCRs. A teacher working with the Cupertino-Fremont Model Technology Schools Project used these results to develop an innovative program to involve these parents in reading with their children.
The Gift of Reading program featured "gift" packages that included a videotape of a teacher reading a book aloud. Each video was boxed along with the book itself plus appropriate follow-up activities and materials like crayons, paper, clay, or paints that were necessary to complete the activities. Each box was decorated, stored in a tote bag, numbered and cataloged in the school library. Students could check out the tote bag and bring it home with them.
Signs of the program's success at Garden Elementary included students as well as parents consistently checking out the tote bags from the library. And in surveys, parents indicated that the Gift of Reading program helped to improve the language skills of parents and students, along with giving parents or other adults or older siblings in the home an opportunity to interact with their children in a new way.
Tips for implementing the program:
Videotaping may include additional settings such as maps, illustrations, or other items of interest that pertain to the story.
A signal (bell or a clicker) may be used to indicate the turning of pages for younger students.
Choose a book with fairly large print and good illustrations for younger children.
For older students, chapter books may be selected with the teacher reading only the first chapter to engage the interest of the student.
At the end of each book, the teacher might recommend other books by the same author or books with a similar topic, and might suggest a short activity that relates to the book.
Use shorter, 30-minute video tapes rather than regular 6-hour tapes.
Keep the original tape and only send copies home.
Promote the program at Back to School Night, parent conferences, etc.
Evaluate the program.
This program can also be expanded or adapted to the Gift of Phonics, the Gift of Mathematics, the Gift of Music, etc.
Comments from Participants
This is a wonderful idea! I have not applied this strategy before, but I intend to. I can see moving into subject matter area as well.
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carol
kelley, , DoDEA Apr 17, 2005 7:51 PM
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