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

Coming Up: Get Ready for Session 4
In “Home and School Together: Helping Beginning Readers Succeed,”
Jeanne Paratore talks about parents’ roles in children’s literacy learning.
It’s well known that research has validated the importance of storybook
reading at home to children’s early literacy success. But research also
tells us that, even when mainstream literacy practices (such as storybook
reading) are absent, there are other language and literacy practices in
children’s lives that teachers can build on. Teachers also need to keep
in mind that language, culture, and social class influence children’s and
parents’ literacy use and their expectations about school.
While you’re reading this chapter, consider these questions:
• What factors should be considered when you work with families?
• How does research support our understanding of the role parents
play in their children’s school success?
• What are effective and appropriate ways to involve families in
children’s literacy learning?
From the Professional Development Edition of What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction (3rd ed.),
© 2009 International Reading Association.
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