Stephanie A. Harms University of Wisconsin – La Crosse­ Manitowoc III Learning Community

Through this effort [literacy bags], all families were able to provide their children with educational resources while expending little to no money, thus providing equitable at-home learning opportunities for all socioeconomic levels. "Partnerships were further implemented through ongoing communication, related to the kits and other classroom issues, between teachers and family members" (Floyd & Vernon- Dotson, 2009, p.165). These partnerships opened up communication between school and home, consequently affecting developing readers in a positive manner.

Review of the Literature (cont.) According to the San Diego County Office of Education's Website, "The major benefits of parent involvement include higher grades and test scores, positive attitudes and behavior, more successful academic programs, and more effective schools" (as cited in Samples, 2009, p. 30). Literacy bags were created "to welcome parents as partners with the school and to empower parents to prepare their children for the academic standards" (Grande, 2004, p. 121). With this understanding, skills and strategies need to be relayed home to parents so the support the child is receiving is consistent, and a cohesive learning environment is established (Dever & Burts, 2002; Faires et al., 2000; Samples, 2009).

Review of the Literature (cont.) Because of the implementation of home literacy bags, parents reported they were able to (a) know what questions to ask their child, (b) know their child's reading level, (c) help their child write a sentence, (d) help increase their child's sight-word vocabulary, (e) practice spelling words, and (f) play educational games (Grande, 2004). This research led me to...

Research questions How will the use of home literacy bags affect parent involvement with their child's reading progress? What affect will home literacy bags have on student reading proficiency? What effect will home literacy bags have on students' attitudes about reading?

Who & What? WHO? 14 first grade students and their families 6 girls and 8 boys All Caucasian WHAT? Students and families participated in a 7 week study involving take home literacy bags Students took home a literacy bag and were able to use it from Friday until the following Thursday

Sample Literacy Bag Each of the six literacy bags were filled with an array of age-appropriate literacy materials for the participants and their families to experience while at home.

Contents of the Literacy Bag Short/Long Vowel Cards and Word Family Games Literacy File Folder Games and BOOKS!

Contents of the Literacy Bag Each bag contained a colored folder that held many resources for parents such as: reading strategies list of ideas how parents could incorporate literacy on the “run” Instructional sheets Word collectors – place for families to keep track of interesting words Literacy Bag Log – to keep track of time and activities completed Feedback and Suggestion Forms

The Results Increase in parents’ awareness of appropriate reading strategies and the value of asking comprehension questions of their children. Increase in amount of time families spent on literacy each week. Average time spent each week when the literacy bag was present in their home was 1.48 hours.

Were the literacy bags beneficial? Hear what the parents had to say… (personal communications, February 2010). 12 of 13 parents responded "yes" the literacy bags were beneficial. “Yes!! Reading supplies and materials delivered to your door. It is up to the parents as to how much to do.” "Yes, because it made us all excited about reading and it made it fun.“ "Yes. I enjoyed working with my child on this project and gained a great understanding of his abilities.“ "Although we do literacy activities together when we do not have the bags, we make more time for literacy when we have them (it is more of a priority)."

Literacy bags are… a way to make learning fun a way to encourage literacy development at home a way to include parents in their child’s reading journey a way to communicate various strategies and skills that need more attention and practice at home interactive and can be enjoyed by all family members easy to put together