Raising A Reader MA – A Story of Appreciation

December 19, 2011

“What more could a school ask for?  Children are being motivated to read and parents are excited about reading with their child at home.” So writes Mr. Jason DiCarlo, Principal of the Charlotte M. Murkland Elementary School in Lowell, MA on September 15, 2011.  Raising A Reader MA was launched in Lowell in 2010 thanks to a grant from the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley.  At a United Way event on September 16, 2011 hosted at Eastern Bank, Principal DiCarlo presented Raising A Reader MA with a letter thanking us for the work we do in his school.  We have to talk about how great we are, but Principal DiCarlo doesn’t.  Here’s what he says, “The Raising A Reader program is one that students, staff, and families at the Murkland School feel fortunate to have as a resource in helping to build early literacy reading skills.”

Principal DiCarlo goes on to say he’s grateful for the books, red book bags, staff training, multilingual training DVDs, parent training and support offered by the Raising A Reader MA team to the Pre-K teachers at his school who are implementing our program. “There are many reasons why this program is so well received by teachers and families.  Raising A Reader MA does an excellent job at providing all the resources that are needed for a successful partnership between families and school in supporting literacy at home.” Mr. DiCarlo specifically mentions the effect that the trainings have on the families and teachers at the Murkland School, “Parents leave the training feeling comfortable, confident, and empowered to help their child at home while supporting their early literacy development.  School staff feels supported because there is collaboration between the classroom teacher and the staff from Raising A Reader throughout the year to sustain and monitor the success of the program.”

Cesarina Gonzalez, the Regional Program Manager for Raising A Reader MA in Lowell, MA agrees that part of what makes Raising A Reader MA so successful in the Murkland School is the administration. “There is a great team, everyone is committed to serving families and making a difference. They have worked hard to create an environment where they are making a difference and people feel welcome and a part of the program. The administration and teachers at the Murkland School are very eager and the children are very diverse and ready to learn. Teachers are willing to go the extra mile and put in the time and effort. That makes the program run smoother and makes it so much more effective.”

Parents and teachers who participate in Raising A Reader MA are agreeing to more than just reading at home.  They are also committing to change the way they read with their children, the frequency with which they read with their children, and the importance they place on reading at home.  What they are doing is working together to lay the foundation for future school success. Research has shown that when children have gone through our program they enter Kindergarten more prepared to learn and thus do better in school.

We appreciate that others are recognizing the great work that Raising A Reader MA is doing and we’d like to offer a special thank you to Principal DiCarlo for taking the time to express his gratitude to Raising A Reader MA.

Reflect or Take Action:

-If you know someone in the Raising A Reader MA program, discuss the effects that this program is having.

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“We do not have a child to spare!”

Janet Porter, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, looks at a few numbers with growing concern “These numbers tell me Massachusetts will have trouble maintaining the pipeline of skilled, well-educated workers our innovation-based economy needs,” she writes in “Making the grade with literacy.” Porter, who chairs the board of Raising a Reader Massachusetts, looks to high-quality early education and language and literacy development as critical to the commonwealth’s economic future.

…read more in the December 14, 2011 post from Strategies for Children’s Eye on Early Education authored by Irene Sege.

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Surprises or Broccoli?
When the children in Mrs. Fratoni’s preschool classroom at Garfield Elementary School in Revere are asked, “What do you like more? Surprises or Broccoli?!” there was a unanimous cheer of “SURPRISES!” heard throughout the classroom.

A boy in Mrs. Fratoni's classroom looks at their gift of books and crayons from KPMG.

On November 21, 2011 surprises in the form of bags filled with books and crayons from KPMG were given to children in Mrs. Fratoni’s classroom as part of their Raising A Reader MA program.

Reading is just as good for you as broccoli but don’t tell this to the children in Mrs. Fratoni’s class.  Mrs. Fratoni’s preschool classroom at Garfield Elementary School has a Raising A Reader MA nook with reading chairs, our signature red book bags and an easy to read chart to keep track of what books children bring home. Teacher Gia Fratoni gleams with pride as she showcases the time she and her students devote to early literacy with support from Raising A Reader MA. On Friday afternoons the children line up to grab their red bag and pick out the books that they want to bring home. Children choose from Raising A Reader titles like Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle and Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd. Mrs. Fratoni generously adds classroom favorites to complement the titles available through Raising A Reader MA. On Tuesday students bring bags back, Mrs. Fratoni then prepares for the next book rotation. “The best thing about this program is how excited the children get. Getting children this energized about reading is a really great thing,” says Mrs. Fratoni as she describes the impact of Raising A Reader MA on her students.

Mrs. Fratoni's classroom has a section devoted entirely to Raising A Reader MA. There is a place to store books, organize who is bringing home what books and cozy reading chairs.

Lauren Butler, Regional Program Manager for Raising A Reader MA is equally excited about the program at Garfield Elementary School. “There is a culture of enthusiasm about Raising A Reader MA. The excitement of staff members like Roxanne Aiello (Parent Liaison for Revere Public Schools) who I work with trickles down to the teachers, their excitement trickles down to the children, and their excitement trickles down to the parents. It’s a testament to see the level of promise that the Garfield School has as a Raising A Reader MA partner. Raising A Reader MA works best when there is commitment on all levels.”

Mrs. Fratoni’s classroom occasionally provides an additional, voluntary Raising A Reader MA assignment for her students to do called extension activities. These might include asking them to draw a picture of their favorite character from the book they brought home for the weekend. Extension activities increase their excitement about reading. They call it “homework” and they love to do it. It helps them to learn about the story and really think about what they are reading.

Raising A Reader MA is an essential part of many public preschool classrooms across Massachusetts. Given the choice between reading and broccoli, children who struggle with reading may have a tough decision to make. However when early literacy skills are developed using Raising A Reader MA as a fun and enthusiastic activity for young children and their families, there is no question about what they’d prefer!

Reflect or Take Action:
-What are the “go to” books that kids in your life read over and over? Consider purchasing a copy of the book to donate to your local elementary school or early literacy center.

-Provide an optional assignment to your children when reading to them.

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Raising A Reader MA launched at Revere’s Beachmont School with help from KPMG

“Do you want to get your books?”

“Yaaaaaay!”

The 15 children in Ms. Ebner’s integrated pre-kindergarten classroom at Revere’s Beachmont School shrieked with excitement as their white organza gift bags from KPMG were passed out the morning of Wednesday, November 9^th. One by one the children were called forward to receive their bag filled with books, crayons and notepads. Children, like four year-old Zineb, ran to open their bags with their parents who were visiting the classroom for their orientation to the Raising A Reader MA program.  As Zineb searched through the bag of books her ten month old brother, who sat on his mother’s lap during the Raising A Reader MA orientation, turned the pages with her.

KPMG donated the gift bags and books to Raising A Reader MA as part of their commemoration of the anniversary of the September 11^th attacks on the World Trade Center. Employees at KPMG in Boston filled more than 500 of the gift bags with specially selected books and toys for pre-school-aged children. The bags were then given to Raising A Reader MA to distribute to the high need families and children they serve across the Commonwealth. Raising A Reader MA, whose mission is to give every child (ages 0-5) an equal opportunity for achievement by engaging parents in a routine of daily book sharing, offers a three-part, evidence-based program for increasing home book sharing through partnerships with public pre-kindergartens, day care and pre-school programs like Head Start, and home visiting and playgroup programs like Early Intervention. A cornerstone of their model is the Red Bag Book Rotation Program, which circulates dozens of high quality children’s books into the homes of families each week.

Beachmont teacher Elizabeth Ebner thanked Raising A Reader MA and KPMG for the gifts, which helped kick off the Raising A Reader MA program in her classroom. “I am excited about the program because Raising A Reader provides high quality books. By providing the families with high quality books, the program is sending a message to the children in my classroom that reading is a valuable activity.”  Echoing the excitement of Ms. Ebner, Valda, a mother whose son John is in Ms. Ebner’s classroom, said “This bag will be like bringing home a new toy every week. He’ll treat the books so good knowing that they have to be returned to school and also knowing that he’ll be able to take new books home. He‘ll love it!”

Valda, a mother of a student in Ms. Ebner’s classroom, looked through the bags from KPMG as her two children looked on excitedly.

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“Today more than ever, opportunity depends on education.  If opportunity is our nation’s hallmark, we have a patriotic, indeed a moral obligation to provide a superlative education.”

–Governor Deval Patrick

Elected officials, regulators and policy wonks and business leaders in Massachusetts are talking about investing in early education as core to the future success of our cities and towns, and indeed our nation. Consider this:

• On November 16^th a group of policy makers and health providers met at the Massachusetts Medical Society for the”2011 Summit on Early Education.”  Keynote speaker Rob Dugger with the Partnership for America’s Economic Success said, “I’m often asked Are you a Republican” or˜Are you a Democrat? I reply, I am neither. What I am is a Kid Firster! Kids HAVE to come first.”
• Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman agreed with Dugger’s sentiments in his letter to the dead-locked Congressional Super Committee in which he implores them to invest in early education as a jobs strategy. “The quality of our workforce is not what it should be and it is not improving. Deficits in skills in early childhood are perpetuated and magnified throughout life, and our country will be unable to compete in the global economy if it does not address the increasing numbers of children who are not prepared for success in school, career and life.”
• Last month the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a multi-year early childhood initiative with this statement, “Global competition for human talent and innovation, long-standing educational achievement gaps, low high school graduation rates, and the pending retirement of 77 million baby boomers have placed tremendous workforce pressures on American business. These pressures, if not checked, will jeopardize our national economic security and the viability of the American dream. Achieving a world-class [education] system begins with high-quality early learning opportunities for children from birth to age five.”

We also heard these themes from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick at the November 9th Education Summit on Closing the Achievement Gap.  Patrick sounded an alarm we first heard more than 20 years ago from the National Commission on Reading when he declared, “Three-quarters of children who struggle with reading by third grade will continue to struggle academically, greatly reducing their chances of graduating high school, going to college, or successfully participating in our high skill economy.”

We all know talk is cheap. Some might say early education is the political “Flavor of the Month,” or an easy way to defer “real” action on the joblessness concerns being heralded by individuals at the myriad Occupy encampments around the country.

But maybe not. In Massachusetts and across the nation we are seeing talk turned to action with the introduction of funding for interdisciplinary programs that link early education with elementary and secondary learning. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has proposed the creation of a federal Office of Early Learning to “institutionalize, increase, and coordinate federal support for high-quality early learning, manage outreach to the early learning community and enhance support for building high-performing early education systems in states across the country.”

Here in the Commonwealth barriers between higher education, K-12, and early childhood education have already been breached through the reorganization efforts spearheaded by Governor Patrick’s administration. The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care’s proposal to federal Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, if funded, will provide Commissioner Sherri Killins and her team with the resources to solidify a strategic and collaborative education pipeline driven by a need to ensure every child starts Kindergarten with the building blocks needed to succeed in school so they can achieve their American dream.

Governor Patrick was clear in his speech on November 9^th that early education is also an issue of economic justice. In spite of all of our successes, many students are not enjoying the benefits of a high-quality education.  There is still an inescapable correlation between socio-economic status and education achievement, between your childhood zip code and your future achievement. Raising the issue of economic inequality is a risky move, particularly given the climate of discontent exacerbated by the #Occupy Wall Street movement.

But in addressing the problem of economic inequality so clearly, Governor Patrick opened the door for Raising A Reader MA to present itself as an efficient, easy and high impact investment for business leaders to make. For an average of $125 per family per year, Raising A Reader MA is helping families break the cycle of low literacy by cultivating habits of Dialogic Reading at home. You’ve heard about the pioneering research done by Hart and Risley on the vocabulary of children in low-income families versus those of children middle- and upper income communities? According to their research, the average child in a professional home has heard 30 million more words than their counterparts in low-income homes by the time they start Kindergarten. Hart and Risley concluded that underprivileged children were underperforming in school simply because they weren’t getting the experience with language provided to their peers. Raising A Reader MA teaches high need families Dialogic Reading strategies, which is a style of reading intended to expand the parent/child interaction with the story and each other. Not only that, but we give families books and other supports to help them cultivate regular habits of Dialogic Reading at home.

Sure reading is a good idea, and as our elected officials and business leaders are pointing out, it is also a good investment decision. Raising A Reader MA’s model of pre-literacy development, when implemented with integrity, does in fact result in participating high need families reporting reading at home with their young children three or more times a week. As a result, their children experience these results:

• 76% master the letter-sound relationship at the beginning of words, compared to 64% of children who were read to fewer than 3 times a week
• 57%  master the letter-sound relationship at the end of words, compared to 43%
• 15% have sight-word recognition skills, compared to 8%
• Are twice as likely as other children to earn scores in the top 25% for reading skills.

Staff and supporters of Raising A Reader MA are among the thousands of people being called to action by Governor Patrick and other political and business leaders to become “Kids Firsters.” We have the chance here to provide an opportunity to every child in Massachusetts, a chance to show them that in the face of an uncertain future we were willing to act and to lead, to preserve for them what our parents and grandparents gave to us.  I want history to record that we in our time stood up for the American Dream, and made it real in Massachusetts for a generation to come.”

Reflect and Take Action:

• Take a moment to consider how your ability to read and access to books created opportunities for you to develop and/or reach your version of the American dream.
• Distribute the Chamber of Commerce report Ready, Set Go! Why Business Should Support Early Childhood Education to your colleagues, and initiate a conversation about how your business can increase support for early learning in your community.
• On your Facebook page change your political affiliation to “Kid Firster”
• Contact your local elected officials to find out their positions on early education and literacy.
• Find out how if your local Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Partnership for America’s Economic Success. Learn why or why not.
• Ask your portfolio manager to help you learn how your investments support early education and literacy.

The many advocacy organizations and business groups accelerating our nation’s dialogue about early education as an investment strategy have proposed additional action steps you can take.

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Is Raising A Reader MA a Solution to the Occupy Wall Street Movement?

Raising A Reader MA offers a solution to the current Occupy Wall Street movement, so says New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristof in his October 19, 2011 piece Occupy the Classroom. “..although part of the problem is billionaires being taxed at lower rates than those with more modest incomes, a bigger source of structural inequity is that many young people never get the skills to compete. They’re just left behind.”

And how does this contribute to economic inequities? In a conversation with Kathleen McCartney, the Dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education, Kristof learns what Raising A Reader MA has long known: even before kindergarten there are significant performance gaps between rich and poor which widen throughout a child’s education. Says Dean McCarthy, “This is where inequality starts, the reason early education is important is that you build a foundation for school success. And success breeds success.” Kristof learns from Nobel Prize-winning Economist, James Heckman that the foundation laid in early education is critically important because “Schooling after the second grade plays only a minor role in creating or reducing gaps.” This sentiment echoes the 1985 report of the national Commission on Reading which noted, “the single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school.” Yet for the majority of low-income families, early reading is not happening. Data tells us:

• Children who have not already developed some basic literacy practices when they enter school are three to four times more likely to drop out in years later. National Adult Literacy Survey, 1993.

• It is estimated that more than $2 billion is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems. US Department of Health and Human Services

• 43% of Massachusetts third graders read below grade level; this number jumps to 67% among children from low-income families and 77% for special needs children. 2009 Grade 4 MCAS Reading Results. Turning the Page: Refocusing Massachusetts for Reading Success  Nonie Lesaux, PhD.

• A child’s brain develops more in the early years of their life than at any other point of their life. Reading with young children is the strongest and most dependable way to ensure they have a successful future.

Kristof doesn’t know it, but building this foundation for success in school is precisely what Raising A Reader MA does in our work with families to develop and sustain regular habits of home book sharing using Dialogic Reading strategies.

Home book sharing may sound nice, but does it really make a difference? According to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study it does. This study found that of the children who were read to at least three time a week as they entered kindergarten:

• 76% had mastered the letter-sound relationship at the beginning of words, compared to 64% of children who were read to fewer than 3 times a week

• 57% had mastered the letter-sound relationship at the end of words, compared to 43%

• 15% had sight-word recognition skills, compared to 8%.

The result? Children who are read to three or more times are week are two times more likely to score in the top 25% for reading achievement than their peers who don’t have a robust routine of home book sharing at home. When young children experience Raising A Reader MA through their preschool, day care center, or home visiting program, they are better prepared to succeed in school. And remember,”success breeds success.”

Is Raising A Reader MA part of the solution to the Occupy Wall Street movement? We say “YES” because we are helping families break the cycle of low literacy that prevents children living in poverty from maximizing their education so they can, if they want to, break into the ranks of the 1%.

Reflect or Take Action to Occupy the Classroom

• Do you believe early education is one of the long term solutions to economic inequities in Massachusetts and the U.S.? Why or why not? Visit our Facebook page to share your opinions.
• How has reading and a good education helped you expand your economic or other horizons? Visit our Facebook page to share your stories.
• Want to invest time or money in early education as one of the solutions to Occupy Wall Street? Visit our website to make a donation of money or call your nearest public elementary school or Head Start program to learn about volunteering time to read with children and families.

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Buying Books for Holidays

Books make great gifts for young children. When shared with an adult trained in Dialogic Reading, books provide children with opportunities to explore new ideas, practice both saying and hearing words, and develop important pre-literacy and other school readiness skills, like sitting still for a story, identifying shapes and colors, and turning pages.

Well known for our goal of increasing home book sharing, staff at Raising A Reader MA are often asked “What books should I buy for my children, nieces/nephews, and grandchildren?

Sara Pollock DeMedeiros, our Program Director, offers the following advice “I recommend that people choose 1) books about topics that excite their children, 2) have great pictures and rhyming text- this allows children to fill in the blanks much more easily, and 3) books that parents won’t mind reading over and over again. Repetition is great for children, so parents should prepare themselves!”

Pressed for specific titles Sara says, “I always recommend Mo Willems books to friends. The Knuffle Bunny series and Pigeon series are great!”

Two of Raising A Reader MA’s Regional Program Managers shared their favorites with us by email.

Lauren Butler, Regional Program Manager for Greater Boston Region 1, writes “I’m a huge Rosemary Wells fan and one of my favorite series by her is Voyage to the Bunny Planet. Why? Well, because no matter how old you are it is a cozy sentiment that makes you smile. I guess it’s not totally holiday based but I’ve sent those books to friends who need some cheering. You can spice it up by adding all cozy things like chocolate and tea and a fluffy blanket.”

Cesarina Gonzalez, Regional Program Manager for Lowell and herself a mother of three, says “For babies I recommend board books with shiny and textured materials. For toddlers I suggest books with bold pictures. Books with story lines that can be easily understood but still appeal and reveal more meaning as the child gets older. For school-age children, I love books like Peter H. Reynolds’ The Dot and Ish; both books are sweet and simple and could lend themselves to great discussions and art projects.”

When buying books for young children remember:

• Select books about topics that excite the child who will receive it

• Have great pictures that are both appealing to look at and may be used to extend the story experience beyond the words on the page (e.g. when asking “Let’s count the number of butterflies on the page,” you invite children to begin a dialogue with you and story where they also practice skills like counting, recognizing butterfly shapes, etc.)

• Rhyming text allows children to fill in the blanks more easily while hearing the story; this helps develop phonological awareness (the ability to hear and repeat smaller sounds in words), an important pre-literacy skills

• Consider story lines that are appropriate for the child’s age, while also thinking about stories that will reveal different meaning as the child gets older

• Buy books you would want to read over and over and over again!

Still not sure what books to buy? Take this list of suggested titles to your favorite bookstore and explore which titles might appeal to the little ones in your life:

Book Recommendations:

Mary Elting, Trucks at Work (1962)
Peter H. Reynolds, Ish (2004).
Peter H. Reynolds, The Dot (2003)
Martin Waddell, Owl Babies (2010)
Rosemary Wells, Voyage to the Bunny Planet (1992)
Mo Williems, Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion (2010)
Mo Williems, Knuffle Bunny Too (2008)
Mo Williems, Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity (2007)
Mo Williems, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (2004)
Mo Williems, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy (2008)
Mo Williems, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! (2006)
Mo Williems, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! (2004)
Mo Williems, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2003)

Take the opportunity this holiday season to sit down with the children in your life to experience the exciting places that reading can take you. Visit us on Facebook and share your recommendations!

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Donna DiFillippo named Champion for Literacy

$3,500 prize money raised through Verizon’s ‘Check Into Literacy’ Program. The Massachusetts Literacy Foundation, in partnership with Verizon’s Check Into Literacy Program, announced on September 22, 2011 that Raising A Reader MA’s Executive Director, Donna DiFillippo, was one of ten recipients of the 2011 Massachusetts Literacy Champion Award. The Massachusetts Literacy Champion Award, created in 2003, identifies and supports Massachusetts literacy providers who have shown exceptional commitment and results through their work in literacy education. Each year ten literacy champions from across Massachusetts are selected and recognized for their achievements in the field. The Award comes with a $3,500 cash prize which must be used to support both creative program development and professional growth.

…read the complete press release online.

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Donna’s Book Bag...

Dear Friends,

From June through August, Raising A Reader families, program partners, and staff are meeting in public spaces throughout Massachusetts to share books, do fun activities, and, of course, eat snacks! While each Story Time in the Park is a pleasant and lighthearted affair, it is fun with a purpose. I’d like to quickly share just what makes Story Time in the Park an important part of our work supporting families in need across the Commonwealth.

1. Story Time in the Park makes Raising A Reader accessible to the broadest possible audience. We conduct targeted outreach to Raising A Reader partners and families to encourage attendance within the key areas we serve. Equally important, we ensure that every session is held in a centrally located park and is free and open to the public.
2. Learning is often sidelined during the summer, as vacation and staff transitions prevent many programs from continuing throughout the warmer months. Maintaining enthusiasm for reading all year round is critical for young learners. Story Time in the Park is a warm, welcoming and engaging program that appeals to children and adults alike.
3. Story Time in the Park creates an opportunity for Raising A Reader Program Coordinators to model effective dialogic reading practices, and for parents to receive additional messaging about the importance of reading. Although the atmosphere is relaxed, valuable information is communicated to parents and their children.

Thanks to support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Story Time in the Park begins with a Raising A Reader MA Program Coordinator sharing a book with the audience, followed by a related activity and a healthy treat. Additionally, each child leaves with their own copy of the book to bring home and share with their family. The benefit of such seemingly simple exercises is remarkable – they strengthen the communities we serve and cultivate an excitement for reading. If you’d like to join us, please visit our Events page for a Story Time in the Park near you.

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Swapping favorite stories with Boston au pairs

Because summer is a time when many young children fall behind in academic skills, Raising a Reader has developed a summer reading program to keep young children exposed to books over these critical 3 months. Executive Director Donna DiFillippo, a seasoned advocate for childhood education, is authoring a weblog to help parents and other caregivers promote reading with children.

 …Read more in a July 10, 2011 news article posted on their website.

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