DOCUMENT RESUME CS 012 596 ED 399 514 Lloyd, Paul, Comp. AUTHOR Developing Family Literacy Programs: Course Handbook TITLE II--Education L530. Indiana Univ., Bloomington. School of Education. INSTITUTION PUB DATE [96] 258p.; Some materials may not reproduce legibly. For NOTE Course Handbook I, see CS 012 595. Instructional Materials (For Classroom Use Guides PUB TYPE Learner) (051) MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Curriculum Development; Distance Education; DESCRIPTORS Evaluation Methods; Higher Education; Intergenerational Programs; *Lesson Plans; *Literacy; Parent Education; Program Development; Reading Materials; *Reading Material Selection *Family Literacy IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT Part 2 of a two-part handbook presents reading materials and sample exercises for a distance education course designed to enhance an understanding of the nature of family literacy needs and to show how to develop and teach in family literacy designing programs. The five elective modules for the course include: curriculum materials for parents, designing curriculum materials for children, selecting appropriate published materials, developing lesson plans, and constructing evaluation measures. Each module in the book consists of reading materials and a sample exercise. Some modules contain selected abstracts from the ERIC database. (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Education L530: Developing Family Literacy Programs Course Handbook II Compiled by Paul Lloyd, Ph.D. Indiana University, Bloomington School of Education Language Education Department Contents: Elective Modules 4 through 8 I. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION E HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) 11 This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI position or policy. Distance Education Indiana UniVersity Smith Research Center, Suite 150 2805 East Tenth Street Bloomington, IN 47408 1-800-759-4723 [email protected] http://www.indiana.edu/ericrec/disted/menu.hhnl The contents of this course handbook have been reproduced with the permission of their copyright holders. This handbook is not to be reproduced in any format without permission. To request permission, contact the above address. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 Education L530: Developing Family Literacy Programs Course Handbook II Compiled by Paul Lloyd, Ph.D. Indiana University, Bloomington School of Education Language Education Department Contents: Elective Modules 4 through 8 I. Distance Education Indiana University Smith Research Center, Suite 150 2805 East Tenth Street Bloomington, IN 47408 1-800-759-4723 [email protected] hftp://www.indiana.edureric_recidisted/menu.html The contents of this course handbook have been reproduced with the permission of their copyright holders. This handbook is not to be reproduced in any format without permission. To request permission, contact the above address. 3 Curriculum Materials for Parents Module 4 The nature of the curriculum and materials to be provided for parents in a family literacy program will depend on the type of program and the parents' role within it. In some family literacy programs, the main participants are the children, and their parents play a supporting role in enhancing the literacy development of their children. In other programs, the parents are more active and spend time developing their parenting skills. And, in still other programs, the parents' education proceeds hand-in-hand with that of their children, so that the whole family can grow in literacy together. In this last type of program, the parents' curriculum usually includes a mainstream adult education component, targeted at the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics, together with an emphasis on the development of life skills such as those connected with money management, good citizenship and employment. Since many of these adults did not graduate from high school, a frequent goal of this adult education is to prepare the parents for a high-school equivalency diploma. In this course, the teaching of the basic academic skills to parents will not be treated in any detail, because many books and courses are now available that teach these adult education topics. This module will concentrate much more on various aspects of parenting and other life skills that the adults in a family literacy program can become involved in. A general context in which all efforts to teach parenting needs to be set is well summarized by Powell (1996): "Parenting is an active, cognitive process. Accordingly, program designs that enable parents to digest and integrate new perspectives on parenting with existing beliefs and practices are likely to yield greater effects than program designs that approach parents primarily as 'blank slates' to be written upon with all new knowledge." In other words, a program's approach to parenting skills should be firmly based in the participating families' current practices and take into account the ethnic and community cultures from which the families come. All but the most dysfunctional families are successful units to some extent, and the role of a family literacy program is to assist families as they add to the skills they need for greater success in school, work and society. One of the most important of those skills for many programs is the interaction that takes place between parent and child when they read books together. Some parents were not read to as children themselves, and so have little experience of the richness of activity and discussion that reading can generate. For example, they may read a book to their child straight through without pausing, or they may ask the child only the most direct questions about the text or pictures to make sure the child is paying attention (e.g., "What is this?", "Can you name that?"). Recent research (see Snow & Tabors, 1996) has shown that parent/child conversations, around books and elsewhere, have a considerable influence on the child's later success in school. And it is the richness of those conversations that is the greatest factor. is the story in a book related to the child's own experience? do parents explain the world around them to their children? Conversations between some parents and children encourage children to make connections between ideas by linking new learnings to previous experience and consistently using knowledge to make predictions and draw conclusions. Such approaches may be unfamiliar to parents and it is the role of the program provider to introduce these ideas in a non-threatening way and show how they can be integrated into the families' everyday activities. (See, for example, Cul linan and Bagert (1993).) 7 4 However, the ability of parents to spend such quality time with their children depends on the presence of a stable environment. If the family is homeless, or too poor to buy enough food, or if violent arguments are common, then these issues need to be addressed. Program providers can help parents develop the life skills of dealing with welfare offices, of planning a budget, and of conflict resolution. Sometimes, in an emergency, a program provider will need to intervene directly by, for example, accompanying a parent to the housing office when there is a dispute about the family's accommodations. But there is a danger that the children's educational development will be set aside by such issues facing families. Program goals for both parents and children need to be kept in mind, so that a balance can be maintained at all times and the program can succeed with the whole family. Now read the articles for this module: Doneson, S. G. (1991). Reading as a second chance: Teen mothers and children's books. Journal of Reading, 35 (3), 220-223. Mikulecky, L. (1996). Family literacy: Parent and child interactions. In Benjamin, L. A., & Lord, J. (Eds). Family literacy: Directions in research and implications for practice, pp. 55-63. Powell, D. (1996). Teaching parenting and basic skills to parents: what we know. In Benjamin, L. A., & Lord, J. (Eds). Family literacy: Directions in research and implications for practice, pp. 65-71. Set.... Role: Parents' role in early reading. The Wahl, A. (1988). Ready ... Reading Teacher, December 1988, 228-231. Crook, S. (Ed.) (1986). What works at home: Research findings and learning activities. Austin, TX: Texas University, Extension Instruction and Materials Center. Snow, C., & Tabors, P. (1996). Intergenerational transfer of literacy. In Benjamin, L. A., & Lord, J. (Fds). Family literacy: Directions in research and implications for practice, pp. 73-80. You may also want to look at the ERIC documents whose abstracts are included in the module (as well as others in the Introduction to Modules 3-8). Then use the example practice exercise to help you complete the assigned practice exercise for Module 4. References Crook, S. (Ed.) (1986). What works at home: Research findings and learning activities. Austin, TX: Texas University, Extension Instruction and Materials Center. Cullinan, B., & Bagert, B. (1993). Helping your child learn to read (with activities for children from infancy through age 10). Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 355 484) Doneson, S. G. (1991). Reading as a second chance: Teen mothers and children's books. Journal of Reading, 35 (3), 220-223. Mikulecky, L. (1996). Family literacy: Parent and child interactions. In Benjamin, L. A., & Lord, J. (Eds) Family literacy: Directions in research and implications for practice, pp. 55-63. Powell, D. (1996). Teaching parenting and basic skills to parents: what we know. In Benjamin, L. A., & Lord, J. (Eds). Family literacy: Directions in research and implications for practice. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, pp. 65-71. Snow, C., & Tabors, P. (1996). Intergenerational transfer of literacy. In Benjamin, L. A., & Lord, J. (Eds). Family literacy: Directions in research and implications for practice. Washington, DC: U.S: Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, pp. 73-80. Role: Parents' role in early reading. The Reading Set Wahl, A. (1988). Ready ... ... Teacher, December 1988, 228-231. 9 Doneson is program supervisor at the Has lett Family Learning Center and may be reached at 4562 Comah-` the Dr., Okemos MI 48864, USA. Reading as a second Susan G. Doneson chance: Teen mothers The surprises inherent in teaching are perhaps able to teach and children's books one of the reasons that instructors are the same subjects year after year; in fact, what they from one class to the are teaching is never the same next, even if the material is identical. In each group, students interact with one another and with the course materials in unique ways, seeing the materials through their own sets of filters and fashioning the les- to fit their own needs. sons As teachers, we can attempt to figure out in ad- vance what those needs will be and design our les- successful in sons to satisfy them. At times we are predictabie ways; other times we are not. But the most exciting classes result when the students and the coursework take unexpected turnswhen students communicate needs that we, as instructors, would not have predicted but to which we are able to respond. It was with this concept in mind that I set out to teach a class entitled "Children and Books" to a school stu- group of pregnant and parenting high dents. My objectives were threefold: first, to lure reluc- subject tant readers into reading books by presenting of themspecifically, the rais- matter of interest to ing of children; second, to familiarize the students with the wide array of popular books and magazines available to them as resource guides on parenting stu- and child development; and third, to introduce the dents to children's books appropriate to various ages and and developmental stages so that these mothers confi- mothers to be would become comfortable and dent in reading to their children. The potentia! 7.1u:tigenerationa: :mpact of teaching Is most apparent in .a classroom of pregnant and par- rapidly my enting teens. I am often struck with how students can and must transfer their theoretical un- know- derstandings into practical action. For example, for 8- ing that separation anxiety is an important issue teen- and 13-month-olds is potentially useful for many explain why a for- agers; but for my students, it can her merly content child now screams whenever his or the mother leaves the nursery to attend class across for hall. This may not make it any easier emotionally it may make it possi- my student to leave her child, but and know Copyright C) 1991 ble for her to comprehend the child's needs International Reading Association how to respond. 7031-4610/91/USS1.25 + .00 November 1991 BEST COPY AMAMI Journal of Reading 35:3 220 Most of my students have been willing to do for their garten, a time when some of them had had their first children things that they would not do for them- exposure to being read to. selveslike reading. Their desire to understand what is going on with their children is a natural con- Personal stories emerge duit for introducing reading materials about child de- It was during the early classes when we were explor- velopment. With this in mind, I avoid textbooks and ing wordless books that I had my first insight that this have instead built a "bookstore" of used paperbacks class was going .to be filled with many unexpected and magazines that they can purchase at nominal turns.' In the past, when I had observed people "read- charge. I hope to build an informed parenting style ing" these books to children, they either simply de- that will survive graduation. The results have been scribed the picture, made up very simple tales, or positive and predictable with most students feeling asked the child to tell them a story based on the illus- comfortable and competent using childcare books trations. Often the pictures provided a sequence of and magazines. events or suggested a very open-ended scenario from which to build. An unexpected turn introduced these wordless books in the same man- My course turned in an unexpected direction in rela- ner in which f introduced all of the readings: i began tion to the third goal: helping the students select by examining the books in class without the students' books to read to their children. in teaching a class' children present. in this way I hoped to impart some about children's literature to a group of young moth- information on child development and connect the ers, a teacher might well expect the students to re- book with an appropriate developmental stage. member books from their own childhoods, favorites In this private setting, the young mothers created read to them and treasured. But in this class, many of far more elaborate interpretations of the wordless the students had not been read to, had not owned texts than i had anticipated. These included tales of books, and had not visited the public library with their abandonment, rape, domestic violence, religious ex- own parents, guardians, or other adults. Several stu- periences, and deathstories clearly unfit for their dents, in fact, were surprised to discover that the local children's ears. After each student's recitation, long library 'contained a children's section and that books discussions ensued, often lasting the full 21/2 hours of could be borrowed for free. the afternoon class. Although the stories were told in And so, although I expected to be able to begin the the third person, the discussions soon became in- class by asking my students what books had been tensely personal, so much so that i found it essential their favorites when they were small, found myself to end each class with an admonition of confidential- with no common body of knowledge to which to refer ity. as a frame of reference. Consequently, began by These young women dared to talk about horrible sharing with my students books for the very young, events in their own lives, often for the first time, books with bright picturesand few, if any, words through the vehicle of their stories' main characterS. such as Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno. By watching the other students develop interest in and The teens were surprised, excited, and skeptical empathy for their fictional characters, the storytellers about the prospect of reading to children who were too seemed to fee( safe revealing themselves; they al- young to speak. Some labeled the idea "weird" and lowed themselves to absorb the support and safety of needed a great deal of convincing that it made any the group. sense at ai. Several students, however, were per- One young woman, when faced with a picture of a suaded in a powerful manner by observing a student farmer's field, told of a summer when she was 9 years and her one-year-old son who chose to utter his first old and went to visit with her grandparents. What word, "ball," while his mother read to him from a card- should have been an idyllic summer of carefree play board book filled with pictures of familiar objects. My was marred by a sexual assault perpetrated by her 13- theory suddenly had persona! and practical implica- year-old first cousin. When she attempted to tell her tions that the students understood and liked! grandparents about this, they castigated her for lying. From then on, it was quite easy to interest the stu- When she asked to go home, they refused; saying her dents in selecting books for their children. Reading to mother, a single woman of 25, needed a break. The children was fun for both child and mother and we assaults continued for another month and the child re- quickly established that it did not need to be a formal turned home to her mother, afraid to tell her what had time. It was okay for small children to wander a bit or happened, sure that she, too, would not believe her. interrupt during a story. This notion was counter to the Some years later, the storyteller's cousin was ar- rules they had had to learn when they began kinder- rested and imprisoned for rape; the young woman, 8 HST COPY AMIABLE Reading as a second chance 221 Issues of identity and questions about adoptionan now 16, told her mother what had happened to her option many of the young women had had to confront and was surprised to hear that her cousin's father, her when faced with their unplanned pregnanciesarose uncle, had done the same thing to her mother. The after reading Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. A young mother, now my student, had never mentioned little bird hatches when his mother, sensing the hatch- the incident to anyone again, until the picture book re- ing would soon occur, has gone in search of food. The minded her of the farm. little bird asks all corners, including a steam shovel, That story elicited many responses from the other "Are you my mother?" The mother bird returns and students, including the revelation that at least six of the pair reunites. them had been raped prior to their 18th birthdays, that Several students described this book as "touch- the child of one of the pregnant students was the prod- ing." They related events in which older siblings had uct of a rape by a first cousin, and that all of the young taunted them that they were not really "part of the women were particularly concerned with how to pro- tect their own children from such assaults. My stu- family," that they had been adopted, that they were "of different blood." A few students stated that they had dents expressed genera! confusion about what was "normal" male behavior and conduct and debated believed their older siblings but had been afraid to ask their parents for fear they would not "tell them the whether fathers should be allowed to change diapers truth." They talked about how relieved they had beer or potty-train female children. when they finally figured out that their older brothere tried to help the students be supportive of one an- and sisters had been lying. other in dealing with these old traumas and attempted Two of the students who were adopted shared wit- to refer several of them to community resources for the rest of the group how they had felt and how both o' counseling and therapy. also suggested readings them were, as they neared their 18th birthdays, initial. and movies that dealt with assault issues and invited ing searches for their biological parents. They talkec guest speakers into the classroom to talk about do- about feeling that, as far as our society was con mestic assault, rape, and self-protection. Finding ma- terials specifically about paternal involvement in child cerned, being adopted was clearly "second best" anc that that feeling had greatly influenced their own deci rearing proved to be difficult but as a group we were able to infer quite a bit from general toilet training sions to raise their unplanned children themselves. information and materials about young children's School experiences were elicited by reading Leo the Late Bloomer. by Robert Kraus. One student talkec sexuality. about being retained twice in elementary school Many students talked about not liking school, feelin; Different books raise different questions incompetent, being behind the other kids. Anothe talked about her lingering frustration when after sev The young women had a great deal to say about the heir iivestheir lovers, brothers, fathers, hus- erai years of being called "stupid," it was discoyerec -nen bands, and friendsafter we read Flash the Dash by in the fourth grade that she had a learning disability Don Freeman, in which a lazy male dachshund be- although she still did not receive the special help an remediation she needed and wanted. By telling the comes more responsible just in time for the arrival of puppies. The "old" Flash, who for years relied on his class about this, the student was able to effect imme diate changes in her life. i was able to arrange sornt mate for support, seemed to remind many of my stu- tutoring for her, and her clasSmates became more pe dents of the men in their lives. One student remarked, "if dogs could get booze or weed, this guy would cer- tient with her labored efforts to read. Many of the books written to address specific fear tainly have had some." They felt that Flash's reforma- children often have, such as Franklin in the Dark b tion was unrealistic and talked at length about why his mate had put up with his nonproductivity for so long. Paulette Bourgeois, encouraged the young mothers t This led another student to reveal that although she deal with these same fears within themselves. knew that her boyfriend wasn't "good for her," she One young woman reported a great fear of base stayed with him, allowing him to live in the apartment :rents. She suspected that the fear had developed a for which she paid and eat the food she bought and a result of an incident which had occurred when sh . asking for nothing from him. She asked aloud why we was three years old and had been locked in the base ment as a punishment by her stepfather. When sh thought she stayed in the relationship. At this point, observed Franklin's acknowledgement that ever nearly all of the other students joined the discussion, other animal he encountered had fears and that th: talking about their own relationships and their feelings about whether it was more important to have any realization led to his gradually overcoming his ow: maneven one who was not good for themthan not she, too, managed to face her fear. After much discus sion with and support from the other members of th to have one at all. 9 Journal of Reading November 1991 222 35:3 3EST COPY AMIABLE Books cited joy the exercise and later reported some success with using the class-tested methods in real-life situations. Anno, M. (1975). Anno's counting book. New York: Another byproduct of the students' exploration of Crowell. preschool literature was vocabulary gains. Many of Bourgeois, P (1986). Franklin in the dark. New York: the students were fascinated by books such as Scholastic. Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever, in which Eastman, P.D. (1960). Are you my mother? New York: he names a variety of common things. One Random House. young woman would actually read every word on a Freeman, D. (1973). Flash the Dash. Chicago, IL: Chil- page, often calling out a word that was new to her. dren's Press. Many reported finding words listed that they had Kraus, R. (1971). Leo the late bloomer. New York: heard before but had not really understood. The Scholastic. graphic representations of each word made them Preston, E.M. (1976). The temper tantrum book. New easy to understand and the students delighted in their York: Penguin. new-found vocabulary. Scarry, R. (1963). Richard Scarry's best word book Scarry's What Do People Do All Day was also a pop- ever. Racine, W!: Western. :liar selection. His illustrations of animals involved in Scarry, R. (1968). What do people do all day. New daily tasks, such as delivering the mail or baking York: Random House. bread, coupled with his simple explanations allowed some students to understand for the first time proc- esses they were supposed to have learned in social studies and science classes but had not. The students were pleased finally to be able to explain these proc- esses to someone else and they reported an allevia- class, she was able to turn the basement in her own tion of some of their fears that their children might too crowded townhouse into a much needed. playroom for soon "be smarter than we are." her growing boys. She said that the change occurred because she had been able to eliminate her isolation Benefits are wide ranging and understand that each person in the class had some fear that they had had to conquer. "I wish some- By the end of the term, i was pleased and amazed to body had read a book like this to me when I was little," review the class's progress. Most of the students felt she noted. comfortable reading books about child rearing and Handling anger in appropriate ways was another par- reading to their children. They were familiar with the ticularly compelling topic discussion. First of wide array of books and magazines available as re- the students dealt with the fact that it was all right source guides on parenting and child development to be angry, as in The Temper Tantrum Book by Edna and many were actively using them. in addition fe:t Mitchell Preston. Some of the students had been that most of the students believed in the value of read- taught that it was "wrong" to feel anger, yet they all ac- ing to their children and understoOd the potential knowledged that at times everyone feels angry. The power of books in their children's lives. conflict between what they had been taught and what The intimacy that emerged among the students be- they felt was true resulted in their having no idea about cause of the book discussions carried over into their what to do with their anger. Many held it in, refusing to daily interactions and the weekly support group. Be- confront other peopie or talk about negativeor even cause each student began to understand her ciass- ambivalentfeelings; others lashed out, either verbally mates better, to know the areas in which they each or physically, hoping to create a "tough" image which were most vulnerable and most strong, they began to might serve to eliminate potential conflicts. Some stu- support and defend one another from real and per- dents talked about being afraid of angertheir own as ceived threats and slurs. watched as they made a:- well as other people'sand related personal experi- lowances for one anotherrecognizing when a ences of physical and emotional abuse as a result of particular woman had reached her limit, pushing an- someone else's anger directed at them. other to reach for personal goals, and struggling to- For most of the students, the notion that anger is a gether to resolve conflicts. natural consequence of human relationships was rev- By the end of 18 weeks, i believe they began to see olutionary and they were eager to explore its implica- themselves as a cohesive unit with more similarities tions. We role-played many scenes of interpersonal than differences. They began to believe in themselves conflicts, from books as well as from life, experiment- as competent parents with a wide variety of resources ing with all the possible ways of dealing with anger in their reach and involved in their own personal that the students .could imagine. They seemed to en- growth. IL 0 Reading as a second chance 223 BEST CON AU LA