During this time of year, many things come to mind: snow, celebrations, a roaring fire, and family. Whether gathered to observe traditions or huddled together for winter weather, families can spend time together building literacy and prioritizing reading. Family literacy can look very different from one household to another. There is no “right” way for families to embrace literacy practices such as reading, writing, speaking, singing, and listening. Family literacy has moved beyond filling out reading logs and setting the timer for 20 minutes. Instead, literacy practices can include:
Honoring how families engage in literacy is empowering for them and important for student growth. Ohio families can find what they need to celebrate literacy from INFOhio. INFOhio purchases and licenses quality digital content– eBooks, videos, articles, and printables– available at no cost to Ohio’s schools and families. In the darkest time of the year, make family literacy a bright spot with INFOhio and these suggested activities.
Read Together as a Family
Families can connect and unwind by setting aside time to read print or digital books. It doesn't need to happen at the same time every day or be a certain amount of time. What works best for each family is most important.
INFOhio has purchased and licensed quality eBooks for readers and placed them in four collections:
Each grade-level collection includes engaging text for readers. Titles include:
Give Options for the Whole Family
Choice boards are a great way to engage children, providing multiple literacy options. Share 12 Ways to Read Through the Holidays with your students and their families. The choice board features 12 options for practicing literacy with a mixture of suggestions from this blog and other activities that promote reading, talking, listening, singing, and writing.
Circle Stories
Whether commuting to and from school and extracurricular events or visiting loved ones, families spend a lot of time in the car. Turn that ride into a literacy opportunity that engages the whole family. Circle stories are an easy way to talk, listen, and usually laugh. One person starts the story by sharing a sentence or phrase. The next person provides the next line, and so on until the story is over or everyone is laughing. Check out these Favorite First Sentences from Explora for Grades PreK-5 as story starters that will entertain all ages.
Don't Read the Whole Book!
It can be frustrating to try and read a whole book—no matter the length—to busy or squirmy kids. Whether you finish the book or not may not matter in the long run when compared to the positive, warm experience children associate with reading. In fact, what is most important about read alouds is the connection children feel to the loved one they are with. This holiday season, don't worry about finishing the book. Instead, focus on the experience. Make reading together special with cocoa or cookies. Or, try talking about a favorite book and let each family member share a favorite part, character, or line.
Celebrate with Trivia!
Read up on facts and trivia in preparation for family trivia night! Check out this choice board with 20 eBooks from INFOhio to boost your knowledge! Take turns reading out facts or turn them into questions. Ask children to share the trivia they found most interesting. Was it the giant mushrooms that once covered Earth or the robot that cooks French fries?
Find Your Literacy Power
Many of the digital resources available from INFOhio allow families to read, write, talk, listen, and sing. BookFlix includes all of these in one. Paired fiction and nonfiction eBooks have read-aloud features that can be turned on or off. Readers can listen and read along. In addition, fiction eBooks are videos with words on the bottom of the screen and music. Encourage writing by playing the Puzzlers for the pairs, and requiring family members to write their answers on paper before they play the game online. To keep family literacy time festive, consider these pairs:
Focus on Family Traditions
All families have traditions and it is important to honor these during family literacy time. It is also a good time to learn more about traditions other families might have. Ask family members to write down their favorite family tradition on a slip of paper and then collect them in a hat or basket. Read each response aloud, and take turns guessing who that favorite tradition belongs to. Then, check out these titles from BookFlix to learn more about how other families spend their holidays.
Media Variety
Literacy extends beyond the page. It is important to think about how we watch and listen too. Empower families by sharing a variety of media on a topic—eBook, print, audio, and video. INFOhio resources provide families with literacy experiences the whole family can enjoy. Here are resources to support all media types and family preferences.
Sound it Out!
The days of instructing students to guess what a word is based on images or the rest of the sentence are gone. To be successful readers, students need to sound out words, relying on their phonemic awareness and grasp of each component in structured literacy. Help families practice this important reading approach by gifting them the Colorado Department of Education's Rescue Words from the Guessing Goblin bookmarks. Use phonics eBooks found in the Ages 3-5 eBooks and Videos Collection. Search for “decodable.”
Print Everywhere
No matter where you go, print is there. Whether at the grocery, out to eat, or settling down to read quietly, supporting children's awareness of print and its purpose is an important part of reading. Share these videos with easy ways to practice literacy wherever you are with families.
Family Readers Theater
Readers theater is a fun way to include multiple readers in a literacy event and build comprehension and fluency. Send home a sample script for families to read together. Encourage different characters to have their own voices and wear costumes. Remind families to record their readers theater and host a screening event when students return from the holidays. Challenge students to write their own script on a book they have read or a topic they are interested in.
Build Knowledge and Vocabulary—Holiday Style
Scaffold readers using multiple texts on a topic to help them learn more about it. Share a challenging text with families, like Stunning Snowflakes from Science World. The Lexile level for this article is a little high, but reading other texts like Snowflake Bentley or watching a video such as Snowflake Photographer can help strong readers read the challenging text and learn more about this cool topic!
Read Aloud to Extend (Bonus!)
Strong literacy practices are supported by honoring the cultures and traditions of families. English language learners (ELL) may be able to read fluently in their own language but are challenged when reading in English. Engage them and their families in holiday reading by sharing resources that provide opportunities to grow in their native language and English, such as Explora for Grades PreK-5. Not only does this resource provide translation for languages worldwide, it also reads the text aloud in English. Families can read the text on the screen in their language while listening to it in English. Suggest families use the PDF and listen to the read aloud a second time to reinforce vocabulary.
Using INFOhio's quality digital content is an easy and cost effective way to turn this winter into a wonderland of family literacy. Make the season shine and share these activities to read through the season with your students and their families!
Emily Rozmus is a Senior Instructional Specialist at INFOhio. She has worked in education for more than 30 years, first as a secondary English teacher and district librarian before starting at INFOhio in 2013. Emily has developed district growth plans, integrated technology, created instruction for information literacy, fostered teacher development, and worked on teams to implement curriculum. At INFOhio, she focuses on training educators to use INFOhio resources to improve early learning. She also works to share research and best practices for helping students be better readers of INFOhio's digital text.
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