What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction - International ...

The author surveys cultural and linguistic differences among
families and their effects on literacy practice and expectations,
describing successful family programs that have brought home and
school literacies more closely together.
Framing the Session
Desired outcomes
• To define cultural, family, and school factors and practices that
research indicates support early literacy
• To investigate family–school partnerships and the essential
elements of early literacy instruction
• To apply research-validated practices to involve families
effectively in literacy learning
Guiding questions
• What factors should be considered when thinking about and
working with families?
• How does research support our understanding of the role
parents play in their children’s school success?
• How might teachers effectively and appropriately involve
families in children’s literacy learning?
Key vocabulary
• Mere literacy: A conceptualization of literacy as based in
language only, and frequently in narrow rules of language such
as mastery of letter–sound correspondence (p. 57, quoting from
work by The New London Group, 1996)
• Multiliteracies: A system focusing on modes of representation
much broader than language alone (p. 57, again quoting from
work by The New London Group)
• Intergenerational literacy: Programs “explicitly designed to
support the literacy development of both parent [or other adult
caregiver] and child” (p. 59)
Materials
For each participant:
✓ Chapter 3 of What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction
From the Professional Development Edition of What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction
(3rd ed.), © 2009 International Reading Association.
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