MARESA Literacy Monthly: May/June 2023 Edition

 

For the love of all

may/june DEi library resources

The theme for May and June is "Our Actions Are Important." The books in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion library can be found here. There are links to read alouds, activities, and inspiration. Let me know if you'd like me to come in as a guest reader using one or more of the books on the list. 

Here's a list of Ways to Affordably Build a Diverse Classroom Library.

Learning For Justice has a ton of resources to implement this theme. 

One fun idea to wrap up the year is to have your older students (3-5) work on a puppet show to put on for the younger students. The lesson plan is here. Students design, create and perform a puppet show to teach others about a diversity, anti-bias or social justice theme from the central text. Sometimes screen free is the way to be! 

Engaging Families

Supporting Summer Reading While The School doors are still open! 

The Essential School-Wide and Center-Wide Practices in Literacy document offers guidance for preparing students and families for summer.  Below you will find Essential 9, bullets 3 and 4:    

Essential # 9:  An ambitious summer reading initiative supports reading growth. 

• providing instruction at the end of the school year to re-emphasize reading comprehension strategies
  
  
  and orient children to summer reading by encouraging use of effective strategies while reading at home;  and
• providing structured guidance to parents and guardians to support reading at home, such as by encouraging parents and guardians to listen to their child read aloud, discuss books with their child, and provide feedback on their child’s reading.

After reading the research-supported practices above, reflect independently or with colleagues using the following prompts: 

1. What reading strategies would benefit students while reading over the summer?  
2. When might I provide instruction to help students bridge strategy use from school year/classroom use to independent summer reading? 
3. Are there any tools that I could provide to help encourage reading strategy use over summer?  (ex. specialized bookmarks, posters, recordings...)
4. How might I share the benefits of supporting reading at home over the summer with families?
5. What structured guidance could I provide to encourage parents to listen and support their child's reading through the summer months?

Spotlight on the Essentials

family Summer Programs & literacy support

Literacy Essential #10 in both the K-3 and 4-5 documents calls educators to collaborate with families to promote literacy.   Specifically, bullet 5 states that one way to do this is to provide literacy-supporting resources.  With so much to do and limited time to do it, why not connect families to a high quality resource that can support their child's summer learning.

The Michigan Learning Channel's Summer Reading Program: 

• 8 weeks of high interest themed learning
• families can follow a program guide for viewing or access lessons on demand
• printable student workbooks (lessons can be accessed on pages using a QR code!
• Click HERE to see last year's super fun, engaging summer fun activity book. 
• Fill out this short FORM to request FREE copies of this summer's activity book for all your families.
• Include this QR code that will take families to a 2 minute video about Read, Write, ROAR (the PBS show that goes along with the summer activity book...did I mention I was a starring actress in some of the 2nd grade episodes?!) :)
  
  
   

More Summer Literacy Engagement Ideas for Families from MDE:

HOMEwork for Read Alouds K-3  --------- QR code ---------->

HOMEwork for Writing K-3

There are resources in Arabic and Spanish as well. 

Those are just a few resources:

Print and send them home or create QR codes to add to your end of the year newsletters. It's super simple to do if you haven't dabbled with it yet. Here is one site to generate your own QR codes for any website. It's simple and easy and will get hopefully get more parents clicking and discovering ways to support literacy during the summer months.

Other Ideas

• Connect with your local library
• Send home book bags 
• Send home "Inspired Author" bags (email cziegler@maresa.org for ideas) :) 
• Summer Student Success Monthly Calendars 
• Share this collection of FREE digital resources organized around the Literacy Essentials
• Summer Reading BINGO  from Highlights
• Readaloud.org has a ton of free printables - challenges, posters, calendars, and more

For the Love of Reading

tEachers as readers

We encourage you to embrace the escape of a good book this summer!  Did you know it can even benefit your health? In all of the hustle and bustle of a school year, sometimes the only reading that is done is that which is anchored in your classwork.  

Also, if you haven't tried out the Libby App on your device (you can use on your computer, too), try it now!  With your local library card and Libby, you have access to 1000's of high quality books, magazines, audiobooks, and more!  Contact your local librarian or email cziegler@maresa.org if you would like support in getting this set up.  

Summer Learning

tEachers as Learners

Summertime is often used as a time to reflect, recharge, and look forward to new beginnings. 

When you begin to look forward, we invite you to explore learning options. View a curated collection HERE!  

Please note:  Edupaths has adopted a single sign-on which is good but it changes the process for accessing Edupaths courses a bit therefore our direct links to courses do not work unless you are already logged into Edupaths. See the directions below.

1. First, make sure your browser is logged into your district email account.

2. Next, go to Edupaths.org and click "Log In"

3. It will take you to the Midatahub.org Log in Portal. Search for your district.

4. When you select your district, it will log you in with your school email account.

5. Now you can click on any of the links we provided below. Click the enroll button and authorize to connect Edupaths to your google account.

6. Once in Edupaths, you can also search for any course by title.

If you need any assistance, contact Gaby at geyzagui@maresa.org

 go! Go! Gaby!

Learning Activities for family fun!

Dr. White and I worked on the LAFF project some time ago, and we had a great time thinking of activities for families to do together, that balanced being active and the outdoors while taking advantage of technology. 

This site was created with the support of NMU's School of Education Leadership and Public Service SELPS, please share it with your student's families!