Module 6: Response to Reading

In chapter 14 we learn about working with parents. I've had the opportunity to observe and work in both a school with little to no parent involvement and a school with a ton of parent support. From my experiences I have found I enjoy having parents involved in the classroom and keeping the communication between the parents and teacher as open as possible. One classroom I had the opportunity to work in had multiple parent volunteers that took turns in helping with guided reading groups. The teacher developed the plans and when the parent volunteer came in she handed over the plans and had that group work with the parent while she worked with another group. During my student teaching, my CT and I never had a parent volunteer set foot in our classroom the entire semester. In fact, a large part of the parents missed their conference for parent/teacher conferences. In my experience I have come to believe that the support each student has at home is a factor in their achievement at school. One of the examples the text provided was the Family Literacy Project. I've heard great things about it, although I've never tried it, I think it would be beneficial to try in a classroom with little parent involvement. The text also provided another great suggestion for parents to use, captioned television. It's a great way to use television to improve students' reading. Not only are they seeing the words in print, but they are also hearing the fluency and tone from the speaker. If the teachers and parents work together, students can become more successful in all content areas.