Republic Act No.

9155 known as Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001

provides among others the strengthening of School-Based Management (SBM).
By further devolving the governance of education to schools, empowering school
heads and non-teaching personnel in expanding community participation and
involvement and making the delivery of educational service to the learners more
responsive, efficient and effective through an enhanced school planning and
improvement that lays down specific interventions through initiated projects in
schools.

In consonance with the Act, all teaching and non-teaching personnel are
encouraged to create/innovate school-based initiated projects geared towards
the improvement of the teaching-learning process and school governance.

Table of Contents
 DepEd Format of a Project Proposal for Innovation in Schools
 I. Project Contacts
 II. Project Summary
 III. Project Background
 IV. Project Objectives
 V. Project Methodology
o A. Work Breakdown and Task Time Estimates
o B. Project Deliverables
o C. Project Risk Management
 VI. Project Costs
 DEPED FORMAT OF A COMPLETED PROJECT FOR INNOVATION IN SCHOOLS
 I. Project Contacts
 II. Project Summary
 III. Project Background
 IV. Project Objectives
 V. Project Methodology
o A. Work Breakdown and Task Time Estimates
o B. Project Deliverables
o C. Project Risk Management
 VI. Project Costs
 VII. Monitoring and Evaluation
 VIII. Next Steps
 IX. Appendices
 DepEd Guidelines on Conducting a Project for Innovation in School
DepEd Format of a Project Proposal for
Innovation in Schools
Aspect Description

Font for headings Boldface Serif or sans serif size in accordance with hierarc

Font for text portion 12-point serif such as Times New Romans or Book Antigu

Margins Layout Standard, at least 1 inch One column, single-sided

Paragraphing Indented paragraphs, no line skip between paragraphs in

Page number Bottom centered

Paper Letter (8.5×11)

Spacing 1.5

Name of Proponent:

Project Title: sentence summary of the project scope

Project Time-frame:

I. Project Contacts
List the persons who are involved with the project and can be contacted. Be sure
to include their names, titles, roles in the project, as well as phone numbers and
email addresses.
II. Project Summary
The goal of this section is to present the reasons for doing this project as well as
stating the project’s objectives. In this section, in particular, it is essential to write
concisely and clearly. Be able to answer the following questions:

 Why are you doing this project?

 What will you be doing?
 How will you be doing it?
 Who will be doing it?
 Where will it be done?
 How long will it take?
 How much will it cost?

III. Project Background

Explain what needs/problems you are trying to solve, and why these
needs/problems are worth solving. You should also provide a brief setting and
history behind the project. This section should be no more than a page. Include
references to supporting documentation, such as project design or lay-out. This
information can be placed in the Index.

IV. Project Objectives

State explicitly what goals the project is aiming to achieve.

V. Project Methodology
This sections details the plan for how the project objectives will be achieved. It
usually starts with a description of the overall approach.

A. Work Breakdown and Task Time Estimates

In this section, you should create a detailed project schedule. Make a list of tasks
that will be performed for this project, make sure the list is complete enough and
the tasks broken down.

B. Project Deliverables
Make a list of the project “deliverables.” (These are the products that will be
delivered to the client at the end and throughout the project). Make sure to
include a description of the deliverable.

C. Project Risk Management

This section details the significant project risks and delineates the plans to
alleviate or control them. Make sure to address each risk’s likelihood of occurring
as well as its impact on the project and the school.

VI. Project Costs

In this section you will need to estimate the overall cost of the project.

A. Project Budget – must be detailed

B. Sources – (source of fund) Should not come from the MOOE fund.

DEPED FORMAT OF A COMPLETED

PROJECT FOR INNOVATION IN
SCHOOLS
Name of Proponent:

Project Title: sentence summary of the project scope

Project Time-frame:

I. Project Contacts
List the persons who are involved with the project and can be contacted. Be sure
to include their names, titles, roles in the project, as well as phone numbers and
email addresses.

II. Project Summary

The goal of this section is to present the reasons for doing this project as well as
stating the project’s objectives. In this section in particular it is very important to
write concisely and clearly. Be able to answer the following questions:

 Why are you doing this project?

 What will you be doing?
 How will you be doing it?
 Who will be doing it?
 Where will it be done?
 How long will it take?
 How much will it cost?

III. Project Background

Explain what needs/problems you are trying to solve, and why these
needs/problems are worth solving. You should also provide a brief setting and
history behind the project. This section should be no more than a page. Include
references to supporting documentation, such as project design or lay-out. This
information can be placed in the Index.

IV. Project Objectives

State explicit/ what goals the project is aiming to achieve.
V. Project Methodology
This sections details the plan for how the project objectives will be achieved. It
usually starts with a description of the overall approach.

A. Work Breakdown and Task Time Estimates

In this section you should create a detailed project schedule. Make a list of tasks
that will be performed for this project, make sure the list is detailed enough and
the tasks broken down

B. Project Deliverables
Make a list of project “deliverables.” (These are the products that will be delivered
to the client at the end and throughout the duration of the project). Make sure to
include a description of the deliverable.

C. Project Risk Management

This section details the major project risks and delineates the plans to alleviate or
control them. Make sure to address each risk’s likelihood of occurring as well as
its impact on the project and the school.

VI. Project Costs

In this section you will need to estimate the overall cost of the project.

A. Project Budget – must be detailed

B. Sources – (source of fund) Should not come from the MOOE fund.

VII. Monitoring and Evaluation

(Describe how progress will be evaluated throughout and at the end of the
project.

Formulate clear indicators for objectives and result.)

VIII. Next Steps

Specify the actions required for sustainability of the Project

 Next Step 1
 Next Step 2
 Next Step 3

IX. Appendices
Pictures, Letter/ MOA (Donors) Bill of materials, receipts of deliverables, Letter of
Acceptance, Approved evaluation form signed by project evaluators.

Low reading comprehension impacts PH

education quality
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A secondary school teacher in Zamboanga City noted that during the 2019

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the Philippines,

among 79 participating countries, scored the lowest in reading

comprehension.

Culianan National High School mentor Anna Marie Marcos disclosed that the

present reading literacy rate of students “brings big impact to the educational

system as it poses question to the countryʼs education quality.”

Although the system should not be blamed solely, Marcos said that it can

never be separated from oneʼs persective that it is the system that has power

to reading literacy rate as one of the main goals of education other than

instilling values and skills to them.

However, it is not just the academe that is to be blamed, she clarified, as there

are other factors that affect the reading literacy of a pupil, such as socio-

economic status, unconducive learning environment, uninclined reading

materials to oneʼs interest and even the disinterest in reading, in general.ˮ

Marcos stressed that as reading is the functional factor in developing literacy

among school children, “our society′s standing in reading literacy among

learners is quite alarming, since it is a prerequisite toward learning complex

ideas.” Continuous effort must then put on this skill.

   
360p geselecteerd als afspeelkwaliteit

She claimed that a study found out that many learners with good reading

habit have good reading skills over those with poor reading habit.This result

simply implies that reading habit must be established with every learner as it

helps in building the skill.

“This is where the teacher′s role becomes crucial in developing literacy of

his/her students. There are many ways of which teachers are able to

encourage their students to read; one of which is becoming a good example

and demonstrating reading habit themselves,” the mentor said.

Moreover, reading during the early years helps children in improving their

other language skills because “someone's reading habit is best formed at a

young impressionable age in school, but once formed, it can last one′s life;

furthermorre, reading will become people′s habit if they always spend their

time reading any kind of reading materials of their preferences routinely and

continuously.ˮ
According to Marcos, Wigfield and Guthrie (1997) pointed out that when the

learner is motivated, he/she always looks for something to read; hence,

teachers should intrinsically motivate students to read.

The Culianan NHS teacher accentuated that “since reading habit and reading

motivation are seen as factors that contribute to the development of the

reading literacy among children, it is indispensable the these two factors must

be put into consideration by the parents and teachers.ˮ

Comprehension adds meaning to what is read. Reading comprehension occurs when words on
a page are not just mere words but thoughts and ideas. Comprehension makes reading
enjoyable, fun, and informative. It is needed to succeed in school, work, and life in general

Although many children can read, the act of reading and the act of comprehending what
you read are two very different things. Reading requires the fluent parsing and blending
various phonetic sounds to create words. Reading Comprehension, on the other hand,
involves thinking about the words that were just read and deriving a meaning, for just
those words and the text as a whole! In simpler terms, reading comprehension is
the ability to read, understand, process, and recall what was just read.

Reading Comprehension > 'Reading'

Well, without proper comprehension skills, students lack the ability to understand what
they read. The point of reading isn't to make sounds in your brain or out loud, but rather,
to understand important lessons, stories and arguments. Through the act of writing, our
ancestors have recorded important knowledge that we can understand simply by
reading. By understanding what we read, we pick up important information, understand
scientific theories, past opinions and new frontiers. (In layman's terms, it is through
reading that we no longer have to 'discover' gravity, or the independence of 182 nations
with every new generation).

Having excellent reading comprehension skills is crucial. It increases the enjoyment and
effectiveness of reading and helps not only academically, but professionally, and in a pe
rson's personal life. Imagine, for example, that your boss gives you a complicated
document: you can read the words, but you cannot understand what the document is
telling you. What then, is the point of being able to 'read,' if it can't help you move
forward?

Reading Comprehension is Everywhere

Many parents make the mistake of assuming Reading Comprehension only influences
English / Language Arts. However, comprehension is crucial for basic survival in the
education system. Through passages and word problems, the requirement to
comprehend what you read is omnipresent in every student's life, from Math Class to
History.

Science: Children read and learn about many scientific related topics throughout K-12. 
Proper
reading comprehension will have them read and understand facts about animals, plants, 
the Solar System, the scientific method, and many more.

Math: Children are given word problems a lot in mathematics. Without reading compreh
ension skills, children will struggle determining what is actually being asked and said.

History: Children are taught about many significant leaders and events throughout histo
ry like
Abraham Lincoln, The Constitution, and the American Civil War. In order for children to
succeed at reading about history, they must understand what is being said. Reading
Comprehension will help them understand and process the information in the text.

Building Reading Comprehension 

Overwhelmed by the far-reaching implications of Reading Comprehension? Don't be!
Comprehension is actually quite simple to build. However, it will require daily, active
involvement from a parent or guardian, where you guide your child through the thought
processes that underly understanding any text.

1. Daily Reading Practice: All children should spend at least half-hour daily,

reading with a loved one. Not only does this foster a positive relationship with
reading, but it also allows you to model the cognitive steps required to
comprehend what is read.
(Seriously, we can't emphasize this enough. The research out there is endless --
every child requires daily reading at home to succeed).

2. Check for Understanding: Whether you are reading, or your child is

reading, ask key comprehension questions, periodically, while reading. Doing this
not only helps you see if they are understanding what is being read, but it also
teaches them what questions they should be asking themselves as they read.
 Before Starting
-Look at the Cover & Title! What do you think this book will be about?
-Do you know anything about this topic?
-What types of characters do you think will be in the story?

During
Stop periodically (every paragraph or page) and ask:
-"Who?"
-"What just happened?"
-"Where?"
At key points, you can also ask "How did it happen?" and "Why did it happen?"

As you progress through the story, make sure that your child is holding on to the
story by asking "What has happened so far?"

Teach them to predict / imagine / hypothesize by asking "How do you think the
character will handle the situation?"

Also, clear their doubts and give them a voice in your daily reading practice by
asking “Is there anything you are wondering right now?”

After:
Check to see if your child understood the text by asking
-“What was the main message in the story/text?”
-“Tell me the story in your own words”
“What were the most important events in the story?”

3. Make connections. As you and your children read aloud, share experiences you 
have had that relate to the story and have them share theirs. Not only does this
build an interest in reading, but it grounds them in the idea that there is
something common and shared in the act of reading, and it invests them in the
story.

4. Create
a visual. Sometimes children have a hard time visualizing what they just read. H
elp your
children visualize by describing the scene, characters, and plot. You can even as
k them what they
are visualizing and have them draw in pencil, pen, markers, or colored pencils. T
hey will be
involved and creating their own story, which will help them get a clearer understa
nding of what is happening.
 5. Make inferences and
predictions. Making inferences and predictions goes hand-and-hand with
asking questions. Inferring is the ability to take clues and given
knowledge from a text and
conclude what will happen next. To help them infer, ask them to predict what mig
ht happen next in the story
     “What does the author want you to think about?”
      “Why do you think the character did ______?”
      “What do you think will happen next?”
       “If the story had a sequel, what do you think it would be about?”

6. Fix any type of confusion. It is important to go back and re-read as soon as

your child seems confused! Make sure you are tracking your child's
comprehension progress. The moment they can't answer one of your questions,
whether it's at the first sentence or in the middle, or maybe even at the end, back
up and re-read!

Remember, building Reading Comprehension will take time. Comprehension is built on

phonetic awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary, and / or language arts. Stick to your
daily reading practice (especially when you want to give up) and remind your child that it
is important to understand every single word / sentence / paragraph / story they read.
 
Over time, as you lovingly help them to see the importance of comrehension., and pour
through endless stories together, you'll see your child learn the steps it takes to
understand what they read -- slowly, and then all at once :)
 

Schedule a Reading Assessment

References:

Montgomery, Courtney. "How to Improve Reading Comprehension: 8 Expert Tips." How 
to Improve
Reading Comprehension: 8 Expert Tips. PrepScholar, 25 June 2016. Web. 10 Oct. 201
7.

Osewalt, Ginny. "6 Tips for Helping Your Child Improve Reading Comprehension." Und
erstood.org. Web. 10 Oct. 2017.

 
Topics: Focus, Reading, English Language Arts, Learning, Children, Books, Math
Genie, Parents, South Plainfield, literacy, imagination, Reading Comprehension, North
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reading, vocabulary, inference, word collector

Reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Those have been the educational focal points for centuries. They are the building blocks of
all that we learn and all that we do in our lives.

However, there is a misconception that the importance of reading comprehension ends after

we finish our schooling.

That’s definitely not true.

Being able to read, and being able to understand what we read, becomes a monumental
part of our lives.

As adults, we must be able to read contracts for work. We need to read documents when
buying a new home or car. We need to be able to understand forms and applications when
we sign our names.

Reading comprehension goes far beyond schooling. If you or a loved one is experiencing
challenges due to reading comprehension, it’s important to get the professional assistance you
need. Click here to schedule a free introductory call with Great Speech. This way, you will know
you are addressing reading comprehension problems in the most practical way possible.

Here are a few of the biggest reasons that reading comprehension will remain one of the
most important skills to develop and practice in our lives.

Why Reading Is So Important

Learning how to read is an amazing feeling. Learning how to comprehend what we read is
an empowering feeling.

However, the importance of reading comprehension is never really understood until we are
faced with a real world situation.

There are a number of things that can occur in our lives to make us backslide in our abilities
to read and understand. Disability, injury, and disease can be huge deterrents or obstacles.

Our team of licensed, specialized therapists are skilled and experienced working with reading
comprehension challenges. If you don’t feel confident when reading, you may need help. Schedule
your free introductory call with us today to get the support you need through our virtual speech
therapy program.

These obstacles can immediately answer the question of “why is comprehension

important?”

Importance of Reading Comprehension?

Under normal circumstances, we learn how to read when we begin school as kids.

We learn the alphabet. We learn words. We string these words together so that we can
learn how to understand sentences and paragraphs.

Student and teacher reading comprehension activities are part of our daily academic lives.
We are immersed in reading and it becomes like second nature.

But what happens when something goes wrong? What happens when our brains suffer
injury or disease causes harm to our health? Many times, our reading comprehension is
directly affected and altered.

Here are a few instances when the ability to learn is compromised and the importance of
reading comprehension becomes paramount.

Traumatic Brain Injury

The brain is one of the most important parts of our body. Without it, we can’t breathe, we
can’t function, and we surely can’t live.

Our brains are the epicenter of our ability to learn. We cannot speak without the brain
helping us out. We can’t read and understand without the brain connecting the information.

Brain injury can have an immense effect on our reading comprehension abilities. An injury
involving the temporal lobe can immediately damage our ability to remember things. Also,
this type of injury can make it near impossible to string together sounds, words, and
phrases.

Brain injuries resulting from loss of oxygen to the brain (i.e. post drowning), motor
accidents, and concussions can have devastating effects. These types of injuries can inhibit
the ability to speak, understand, or comprehend.

When a brain injury occurs, the importance of reading comprehension becomes a primary
goal for therapists.

Reading can help rehabilitate the brain, in some instances. A great place to start is speech
therapy, which is a great option for how to teach reading skills after a brain injury.

Stroke
Another medical issue that can have a debilitating effect on reading comprehension is a
stroke.

During a stroke, oxygen is cut off from the brain. This affects many parts of the brain and
can cause issues with speaking, understanding, and remembering things.

A common effect from victims suffering a stroke can be aphasia articulation. This disorder
directly affects communication. Those that suffer from aphasia are plagued with speech
problems, as well as reading and comprehension processing issues.

Many struggle with formulating words, as well as interacting in conversation.

The importance of reading comprehension becomes a strong driving force in rehabilitation.

There can be quite a benefit when stroke victims work with a speech therapist to practice
learning words, sounds, and context.

Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism

Spectrum Disorder
Autism and Asperger’s syndrome seem to be affecting more and more kids each year. Both
of these conditions have a direct effect on communication and understanding.

Early detection is an incredibly important factor to begin relevant therapy. When children
present symptoms or indicators of either condition, speech therapy should begin as soon as
possible.

Helping children that struggle with communication will need a teacher/therapist that know

how to teach reading skills.

Language and Learning Disability

When someone struggles with a language and/or a learning disability, reading
comprehension can be a challenge.

There are many types of reading that can be difficult to process, such as expository text
type articles. When there are a lot of words, as well as difficult phrases, students with
language and/or learning disabilities can feel overwhelmed.

However, these disabilities can be accommodated with speech therapy. Beginning therapy
as soon as possible is a great way to combat the struggles that learning disabilities can
cause in school and in life.

Comprehension Is Key
We all think about learning how to read and write as part of our lives at a very early age.

However, sometimes things happen and our lives are affected.

The importance of reading comprehension goes far beyond the hallowed halls of school.
Reading comprehension is a key ingredient to a successful life.

When something unexpected happens, knowing that there are rehabilitative options can be
a lifesaver. Being able to re-learn how to read, understand, comprehend, and communicate
is an amazing opportunity for many.

When we think about the reading comprehension strategies from high school, middle
school, and even elementary school – we think of reading articles and answering questions.

However, reading comprehension goes past what we learned in school.

The importance of comprehension is what makes us advocates for ourselves and our
families. Being able to read and understand through communication empowers us to make
decisions in our lives.

The brain is an amazing part of our bodies and our lives. Without this command center of
our bodies, we would have no way to interact with others and lead amazing lives.

If you struggle with reading comprehension, know there is help. Click here to schedule an

introductory call to start your program with a specialized speech therapist today. Let your mind do
incredible things.

Despite the fact that some middle and high school students have not mastered it, reading
comprehension (the ability to understand written text) is seldom taught in the upper grades. Mr.
Dupree, however, is convinced that it is important for him to teach reading comprehension strategies
to students who have not yet acquired these skills. During the course of his research, he learns that
when students comprehend or understand written text, and combine their understanding with prior
knowledge, they are able to perform the reading-comprehension skills listed in the table below:

Reading Comprehension Skills

Identify simple facts presented in written text (literal comprehension)

Make judgments about the written text’s content (evaluative comprehension)

Connect the text to other written passages and situations (inferential comprehension)

Mr. Dupree recognizes that these three reading-comprehension skills are necessary if students are
to benefit from the science textbook and, ultimately, to succeed in his class.

Why Teach It?

Mr. Dupree further learns that reading comprehension is critical to the development of all students’
reading skills. This is particularly true in the upper grades, where the curriculum requires that
students comprehend increasingly complex expository text. Consequently, teachers expect that,
once students complete the third grade, they will be able to read and understand textbooks in all
subjects, including science.

Keep in Mind
Although it’s important to ask students questions about what they read, doing so is not the same as
teaching them how to comprehend what they have read.

Unfortunately, many middle and high school students haven’t learned effective strategies for
comprehending expository text and for navigating this type of information. In addition, a lack of
sufficient background knowledge and content-specific vocabulary also impede students’ ability to
comprehend the subject matter.

For Your Information

Although reading comprehension is complex, students’ comprehension of texts may be influenced
by several major factors:

The reader — This includes the reader’s cognitive capabilities, motivation, knowledge, and
experiences.

The text — This includes the wording of the text and the way that the information is selected,
described, or presented.

The instructional activity — This includes the purpose of the activity, the nature of the activity
itself, the operations performed to process the text, and the outcomes of the activity.

The environment or context — This includes the classroom environment, especially the native
language, culture, and ethnicity of the reader, the teacher, and the other students.
Reading is all around us. We encounter print in a huge variety of forms day to day,
both at school, at home, and everywhere in-between. As adults, we read
automatically the vast majority of the time, without even really noticing the text
around us. Consider when you last saw a poster for something – you are very
likely to have ‘read’ the poster without actively reading it. But we are confident
readers. We have learned to read fluently and automatically with self-regulation,
becoming good readers who can read for pleasure and purpose.

For pupils whose reading has not already become second nature, we have to not
only consider the teaching of the mechanics and understanding of reading, but
also the environment within which we read. We have to make careful choices so
that our environment is not only a reading environment, but a reading rich
environment.

But what does a reading rich environment look like? Langlois  (2016) found that
they are “…made up of setting, text types, mood, time, attitudes and purpose.”  A
rich reading environment doesn’t just mean displays and neat bookshelves. In
order to really interrogate our reading environments, we need to consider three
areas of school: classrooms, the library and the wider shared school environment.

READING IN THE CLASSROOM: IMMERSION IN TEXTS

If a child stood at your classroom door, what would they see? What would your
classroom communicate? To build a reading rich environment, we need to
carefully consider the experience we provide within our classrooms.

 What does the reading classroom look like? A crucial consideration is how
you share that reading is a priority throughout your visual environment. Having a
reading area and display can support your message, so long as it is powerful
instead of passive. Whether planning your reading area or a display, thinking
about how the space will impact pupils’ reading attitudes is important.
Considering how best to organise your books to ensure all pupils can find
something that interests them; thinking through how best to collate pupils’
recommendations and how to share your own reading journey may be a good
place to begin. Focusing in on books themselves can be useful, exploring how
best to display them throughout the learning environment, so that pupils’
interests are piqued. But more than anything, considering how you can make
your classroom a comfortable space for reading, is the key. Where can pupils sit
when they read? Do they always have to sit, or can they lie down? Who do they
sit with? Why? At the moment, social distancing will be making decisions about
your reading environment in the classroom more problematic. Although you may
not be able to organise your reading rich environment as you would like to right
now, it is important to still think about what we can do. How can we organise
books so that pupils still access recommendations and make their own choices?
 How can we make our displays engaging and purposeful whilst our reading area
may not be able to be used as actively?
 What do you read? Ask any teacher what they would do to improve the reading
environment, and their response would probably include at least some reference
to sourcing reading material. A crucial part of the reading rich environment
revolves around texts – not just books, but all texts of all types. A reading rich
environment must make texts accessible and engaging to pupils, actively
encouraging them to read independently. It depends on staff communicating
their knowledge of children’s literature, both new and classic, with pupils. How
many texts do you share with pupils? How do you choose them? How do you
build on pupils’ interests?
 How often do you read? For reading to flourish, we need to build in as many
opportunities for reading as possible. This could be in the form of reading
lessons, reading in other subjects, reading for pleasure, reading for purpose or
reading aloud. What is crucial is the number and range of such opportunities,
and by whom they are led. Having a reading rich environment means having
protected reading time, giving pupils opportunities not just to read texts and
hear texts, but talk about them, sharing their thoughts, feelings and
preferences. The Research Rich Pedagogies ‘Teachers as Readers’  project
builds on this idea in their research Social Reading Environments. By increasing
the amount of time reading, and involving everyone in reading, we show its
importance. How much time do you spend reading in your class? How many
people are involved in reading? How much ‘book blether’, as Teresa
Cremin  would term it, goes on?
We spend the majority of our time reading within classrooms, which is only natural
considering that is where we actively teach reading. However, in order to build a
reading rich environment, we must think outside of that box, and extend the
reading rich environment throughout the school.

A GOOD SCHOOL LIBRARY: THE BEATING HEART OF THE SCHOOL

A good school library is an important part of building a reading rich environment.

Whether a whole room, or a smaller space in school, a library is not just a place
from which to borrow books, but a beacon for reading. It can broaden your pupils
horizons and so much more. The National Literacy Trust  (2019) found that children
and young people who used the school library showed:

 Better reading attainment.

 Better mental wellbeing.

 Higher levels of reading enjoyment, reading for pleasure and reading

confidence.

 Higher levels of writing confidence and writing for pleasure.

 A tendency to read and write a greater range of material.
For children and young people who receive free school meals, these outcomes
were even more significant. However, not every child currently benefits from this
great resource. The Great School Libraries  survey found that 1 in 8 pupils do not
have access to a school library. Even more concerningly, the survey noted that
schools with a higher proportion of children receiving free school meals were more
than twice as likely not to have access to a designated library space. We know
that it can be challenging to find an appropriate space or the budget needed to
create a school library. Grants such as those from the Foyle Foundation  can be a
great source of help when developing your own library. If room is an issue, getting
creative with smaller areas around school can be a great way of having designated
library space without the need for an entire room devoted to it. You could use book
nooks, key stage or class libraries, which though smaller, can be just as powerful.
Albert Einstein once wrote, “The only thing you absolutely have to know, is the
location of the library.” Although he was not extolling the virtues of the school
library, Einstein’s view of libraries is one which we can learn from. Rather than
saying reading is important, he specifically focused on the importance of the
library as a central place, a bank of the world’s knowledge. To Einstein, the library
was more than the books within its walls, and we should think about our school
libraries in the same way. We need to think about the space in which our library is
located; the resources it houses and the way it is used. Right now, in the midst of
the COVID-19 pandemic, you may not be able to use your library in the way you
would wish; however, it is still important to think about the longer term impact of
your library and how you can continue to develop it.
 Space. Ideally, a school library needs to be in a prominent place in school which
shows its importance and where a group of children, preferably a whole class,
can visit at the same time. The space needs to be engaging and inviting, with
opportunities to share a love of books in evidence, e.g. a recommendations box,
a ‘What am I reading?’ wall. Children need to be involved in its creation and
development: they need ownership of this most important of reading spaces.
 Resources. It is vital for reading resources to be up to date, engaging and
varied, with pupils able to easily find what they are looking for. School libraries
fail when pupils cannot find a book, or other text, such as a comic or magazine,
they want to read. Taking the time to audit what you have and plug any gaps,
with input from children, can make a huge difference.
 Use. Your space may be visually beautiful, but how are pupils and staff, even
parents, using it? Every class needs to have dedicated library time, ideally with
the chance to share books, make recommendations and become a social
reader. Where possible, thinking about how pupils can access the school library
with their parents is also an important consideration, building links between the
school reading environment and that of home. At the moment, a key
consideration may be how pupils are accessing your library in a safe, socially
distanced way. Schools are coming up with fantastic ways of making their library
resources accessible through book trolleys, quarantining returns, staggering
visits. Whatever you can do to keep this valuable space accessible will make a
huge difference to pupils and their engagement with reading.
If we want to build a reading rich environment and subsequently a love of reading,
our first port of call needs to be our school library. Having a library in school is key
to the promotion of reading – it tells pupils that you consider reading to be
important. Consider your current school provision. Do you have a designated
library space? Is it in an area of the school that shows it is prioritised? Is it
welcoming and engaging for pupils? What can you do to encourage more pupils
and parents to visit? The Great School Libraries campaign  website is full of useful
resources to help you consider how to breathe new life into your school library. By
promoting and prioritising the library, and making it inviting and accessible to all,
we can communicate that reading is more than just another lesson, but an
important part of life.

FOLLOWING THE READING THREAD THROUGH THE WHOLE SCHOOL

ENVIRONMENT

Think of your reading environment as a tapestry. With a great school library and
classrooms that communicate reading, you have only half the picture. A true
reading-rich environment runs throughout and outside the whole shared space,
with pupils encouraged to read anywhere and everywhere. By instilling this, you
encourage pupils to not only think of reading as a classroom, or even a school,
activity, but one which underpins everything. It is yet another way to communicate
to pupils, parents and visitors that reading is important to you.

 Displays. One of the easiest ways to spread your reading rich environment
wider is to use whole school displays which focus on shared reading
experiences. Displays focused upon favourite books, reading recommendations
and reading behaviours can be truly powerful when carefully thought out. Such
displays also offer the chance to expand pupils’ views of reading by inviting a
wide range of stakeholders to contribute. Including contributions from people
children admire, showing them that reading is something that everybody does,
can be a great way of continuing to build a love of reading across school.
 Spaces and places. Although the library should be the central reading space in
school, a reading rich environment will go further than that, providing spaces
and places for reading across the whole school. Designating quiet areas, where
pupils can go to read, including outside, can make a huge difference. But the
focus should not always be on pupils’ reading – we need to acknowledge that a
huge part of your reading environment depends on the reading behaviours
modelled and opportunities created by staff. If pupils experience reading in
assemblies, on the coach going swimming and on the field at playtime, enjoying
reading is normalised and more likely to become a valued part of life.
 Home. A successful reading rich environment will expand to not only impact
reading within school but outside it. The first step to this is communicating the
importance of reading with parents and other stakeholders. By including them in
the development of your rich reading environment, through parental voice,
 reading newsletters and your website, you can communicate the importance of
reading, and so too can they with their children.

BUT WHAT ABOUT YOUR CULTURE?

Ultimately, creating a reading rich environment is about much more than what
things look like. You can have a beautiful reading environment, where all the
books are neatly shelved, where everybody’s displays are stunning, where reading
is visible, but where reading is not vocal. These environments may seem reading
rich, but in reality, they are only rich in appearance. In order for our reading
environments to have real power, to be truly reading rich, we have to consider the
culture within which they sit.

Developing a reading culture is about more than how reading ‘looks’ in school. It is
about prioritising reading, carving time out of each and every day for it, regardless
of the many other pressures on the timetable. It relies on staff building and
disseminating their knowledge of children’s literature, sharing their love of reading
with pupils and acting as reading role models. It requires not only space in school,
but drive. As Karl Duke  says, is your headteacher the ‘head reader’? Do pupils,
parents, staff and other stakeholders understand the power of reading? How do
you support parents to continue that reading rich environment at home? What
does your school do to not only teach pupils how to read, but support them to
develop a true love of reading?
Our FREE webinar Creating a Reading Culture  explores a whole host of tips on
how to develop a reading culture across school as well as an introduction to
the One Education Reading Award .
The reading rich environment is just one of the many foundations that underpin an
excellent reading curriculum. Our three-part virtual course, Exploring the Reading
Curriculum , will delve into best practice across the reading curriculum, building
subject knowledge and providing opportunities to reflect on current provision.
Session one  will focus on best practice in the teaching of reading for
understanding, looking at using whole class and small group approaches using the
One Education Reading Gems system.
Session two  will investigate how to teach specific reading skills such as inference,
retrieval and comparison; exploring subject knowledge and a wealth of ideas for
strategies and activities.
Finally, session three  will explore how to instil a reading culture in school,
discussing how to encourage reading throughout the curriculum and the impact of
a focus on reading for pleasure.
Sessions can be attended individually, or as a series , with a discount available for
schools who attend all three sessions.
Building a love of reading depends on creating a reading rich environment. By
carefully considering the conditions in which we read, we can provide so many
more opportunities to engage with text and support those behaviours which are the
foundations of reading. For further support on how to develop your reading
environment, or for other queries related to the reading curriculum, please contact
Laura Lodge via email: laura.lodge@oneeducation.co.uk .
GO BACK
Home reading environment is crucial for children's reading
skills
Date:
October 14, 2015
Source:
The University of Stavanger
Summary:
Children that are seldom read to and whose parents read very little are at a disadvantage
when they start school. Growing research indicates that there is a strong connection
between a child's reading environment at home from the time they are very young and the
progress a child makes in being able to read once they start school.

    
Share:
FULL STORY

Children that are seldom read to and whose parents read very little are at a
disadvantage when they start school.

There is a strong connection between a child's reading environment at home from the time they are
very young and the progress a child makes in being able to read once they start school. This was
the finding of a study undertaken in connection with the On Track research project
(http://lesesenteret.uis.no/research/research-projects/on-track/) at the Norwegian Reading Centre
(www.lesesenteret.uis.no) at the University of Stavanger (UoS).
"There are big differences among six-year-olds. While many new first grade pupils can already read
on their own, others are not even at the point where they understand that letters represent sounds.
We know from the research that it is important that children are well prepared for reading when they
start school and will be embarking on formal literacy. This study shows that the parents' attitudes to
reading, the number of children's books in the home, the age at which parents start reading aloud to
children and how often they read to them all determine how well prepared children are to learn to
read when starting school," says Vibeke Bergersen.
Bergersen has written the master's thesis "Kan du lese for meg? En studie av elevers leserelaterte
ferdigheter ved skolestart sett i sammenheng med lesemiljø i hjemmet" (Institutt for
grunnskolelærerutdanning, idrett og spesialpedagogikk, Universitetet i Stavanger, 2015) ("Can you
read for me? A study of pupils' reading skills when starting school viewed in the context of the
reading environment at home" [The Department of Education and Sports Science, University of
Stavanger, 2015]).
BETTER VOCABULARY
The On Track research project is investigating ways of preventing reading and writing difficulties.
They studied 1171 first grade pupils and their parents from 19 schools in Rogaland county, Norway.
The pupils were tested in various reading and writing skills when they started school in autumn
2014. The parents were asked how often they themselves read, how many children's books they had
at home, how often the child was read to and the age of the child when they started reading to the
child. The results of this study clearly showed that the greater significance books have in children's
lives from the time they are young, the better prepared they are to learn to read when starting
school.
"This is because reading early and often to children influences the child's vocabulary and
phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is about being aware of different sounds in
language and is important in learning the first letters. Children that are often read to encounter
linguistic games or rhymes and jingles in children's books. In this way, they become more aware of
the connection between letters and sounds. By sitting with an adult who is reading books, children
become aware of letters and words, and it will be easier for them to read," Bergersen explains.
READING MORE MEANS A BETTER VOCABULARY
Reading aloud to a child before the child can speak positively influences the number of words the
child learns.
"Between the ages of 18 months and about three years of age is the most influential time with regard
to language learning. It is therefore important to read to children often from an early age. When
starting school, children who have a lot of children's books at home and who have been read to
before reaching two years of age have a vocabulary that is almost twice that of children who have
few children's books at home and who have only been read to aloud after the age of four years.
Children with a large vocabulary understand more of what is going on at school and are better able
to keep up with what is being taught. Children with poorer vocabularies understand less, and this
can negatively impact their education. During the school years, the pupils must read as part of
learning different subjects. This means that it is very important to have good basic reading skills and
a good understanding of written material. A child's vocabulary can be enhanced by providing a good
reading environment at home," says Bergersen.
She was surprised at the extent to which the parents' own motivation to read influenced children's
skills.
"Over one million Norwegians have poor reading skills. Even if parents do not like to read, children
should nevertheless be given access to books in other ways. Perhaps parents can ask the nursery
school staff to devote more time to stimulating the child to read. Parents can also sit with their child
when the child is listening to audio books with text and images on a tablet," she says.
BIG VARIATIONS
Bergersen's study shows that 80% of the parents have taught their children letters before they start
school and that as many as 20% of new first grade pupils can read already. "This means that in a
class of 30, six pupils will already have started reading by the time they start school. These pupils
must be given suitable reading material and teaching should be planned so that pupils who can read
and those who have not yet discovered that letters represent sounds are both given challenges
suitable for their abilities.
Kjersti Lundetræ, associate professor at the Norwegian Reading Centre, UoS, believes that these
findings should have an impact on early reading and writing education in school.
"When pupils have such different skills when starting school, this should influence the amount of
group education that is devoted to learning letters, for example. Many pupils know all the letters
when starting school and can write quite a bit, but do not necessarily know how the letters are
formed. To help the pupils avoid learning awkward spelling methods and to smooth out differences,
it may be a good idea to progress faster through the learning of letters than has been the norm. We
must also facilitate reading and writing activities that allow for different levels of ability. Pupils who
can already read well and pupils who are learning to write need different challenges, and they also
need access to different types of reading material. All pupils need to experience achievement and
challenges; otherwise, we know that the pupils become demotivated and also become accustomed
to accomplishing very little in learning situations.
Lundetræ also highlights the importance of having an overview of individual pupils' skills when they
begin first grade. "When children start school, teachers should take time to get to know each
individual pupil and undertake and document a short, individual skills' assessment."

Story Source:
Materials provided by The University of Stavanger. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.
At Dwight D. Eisenhower Charter School in Algiers, a low-slung brick building across
the river from downtown New Orleans, school leaders greet students as they make their
way into the building. All are masked.

In the cafeteria, a movable wall cuts the space in half, separating the students into
socially distanced groups of nine. Strips of tape mark separate pathways for students
and staff. Big pumps of hand sanitizer sit on each desk, and everyone, teachers and
students, is wearing a mask.

The building has capacity for more than 600 students, but today they're expecting fewer
than two dozen. That's because this isn't school exactly. It's a "learning hub," where
students will do their virtual classwork on city-provided computers with a little bit of
guidance from staff. The city of New Orleans, and some of its charter schools, plan to set
up at least several hundred of these free learning hub spots at schools, libraries and
other locations.

Just over half of school districts across the country are providing only virtual learning
or, at most, part-time hybrid schedules, according to a recent survey from the Center on
Reinventing Public Education. This creates a new child care gap for millions of working
parents. Plus, virtual learning requires computers, which an estimated 7.3 million
children don't have, and ideally high-speed broadband Internet, which an estimated
16.9 million children don't have, according to a recent analysis by the Alliance for
Excellent Education.
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Families with the means may be hiring private tutors, and getting together with other
families for socialization, in what's been dubbed "pandemic pods." That solution has
been criticized as inequitable. Now, some communities across the country are striving to
create free or low-cost alternatives. These, dubbed "learning hubs" or "learning labs,"
are being organized by cities and school districts, often in partnership with local
nonprofits, to offer students a free or subsidized safe place to go during the day, and
help with remote learning.

The city of New York has pledged to create 100,000 spots; San Francisco, 6,000. The
YMCA is helping to set up "hubs" or "learning academies" in California's Silicon Valley;
Boston; Chicago; Houston; Memphis, Tenn.; Huntsville and Montgomery, Ala.; Florida;
and La Crosse, Wis.
In New Orleans, Timolynn Sams is director of community engagement and impact at
InspireNOLA, the charter school network of which Eisenhower is a member. They have
opened up "hub" spots at all eight of their school buildings, and they're at capacity a few
weeks after the start of school.

The access to Wi-Fi is a big draw as well as part-time free child care. She notes the
equity gaps inherent in this arrangement. "Our private and parochial schools are back in
session. None of our public schools are." Public schools in New Orleans are 91%
students of color, and 82% economically disadvantaged, while private and parochial
schools are far more skewed toward white and affluent students.

Safety issues
One of the big questions hovering over these learning hubs is: How can it be safe to
congregate children, including in school buildings, if it's not safe to open schools?
Across the country, learning hub operators say the key is keeping numbers small.

In the case of YMCA-led programs, they also have the benefit of experience. YMCAs
across the country ran child care programs for essential workers throughout the early
months of the pandemic for 40,000 children, with few reported cases and no outbreaks.
In Wisconsin, Jennie Melde is the director of youth development at the La Crosse
YMCA, which is planning "learning lab" programs for about 800 children in partnership
with three different local school districts. Some will be sited in school buildings, with
school personnel on staff. They will be free for students during traditional school hours,
with additional fees tacked on for before- and after-care.

"Because we're the YMCA, and because we've been doing emergency child care and child
care through the summer, we've been through a lot of the things that schools are just
preparing to go through, like what do you do when there's a positive case? How do you
screen children in your program? How do you train staff? We're already set up to do
those things."

Not only has the YMCA been running child care programs safely for more than 100 days
at this point, Melde says; it also has the experience of having to close down after a
positive case and then reopening — and doing so with no more reported transmissions.

"Most of our families were very willing to come back and be a part of our program," she
says, "because they knew and trusted our safety practices and safety protocols." This
experience of stopping the spread gives Melde confidence.

However, William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health, says there are still health worries with learning hubs.

The biggest problem arises, he says, in districts that have hybrid schedules. Students
might be attending school in person on Monday with one cohort of 12 children, and
attend a "hub" with a different cohort of 12 children on Tuesday. Total contacts:
effectively doubled. "Not adding new contacts should be the name of the game," Hanage
says.
Even in places where school is entirely virtual and students are attending only the hub
program, the makeup of the groups may change from day to day. For example, at some
YMCA programs, to provide parents the maximum flexibility and affordability, children
can attend as little as one day a week.

Plus, Hanage adds, in these more informal settings — outside of school buildings, being
set up on a relative shoestring, with staff who may be low-wage child care workers
rather than licensed teachers — "you may have less opportunity to be able to control
physical distancing or testing, any of the things that you would be trying to do to prevent
the spread of the virus."

Equity concerns
There's another issue, too. Keeping hub numbers small may be crucial to preserving
safety, but it may be directly at odds with providing access to all in need — or even those
most in need.

With a pandemic-size hole in city and state budgets, and Congress' failure so far to pass
a second relief package, many communities may not have enough money.

"It was a balancing act of trying to figure out how many children we would be able to
appropriately serve," says Maria Su, executive director of San Francisco's Department of
Children, Youth and Their Families.

San Francisco officials compared notes to get a rough head count of their most high-
need populations: children who are homeless or living in single-room-occupancy hotels,
are in foster care or public housing, and/or are English language learners. Then they set
out to create spots for all of them, using existing nonprofit agencies that provide after-
school care.

To keep the groups small and distanced, they are spreading out to 80 sites such as
libraries and park facilities; so far they've secured about a third of what is needed. "We
are, on a daily basis, trying to recruit more sites so that we can, of course, open up more
opportunities," Su says.

The next missing piece is to find and register those children. Su says they're working
with community leaders in public housing, homeless communities and elsewhere for a
planned October launch.

In New Orleans, Emily Wolff, with the Mayor's Office of Youth & Families, says the hubs
there get funding from the federal government, which means a daunting amount of
paperwork.

"We wish we could just have them fill out a simple registration form and get signed up
right away," Wolff explains "but that's made it a little bit slower. And unfortunately for
some families, they see all that and it's just a barrier."
New York City, which has made the biggest pledge, has released few details thus far.
Maj. Kevin Stoops of the local Salvation Army says he's been in talks to host at most 160
children at four locations within New York City. "We have to ramp up very quickly to get
a staff in place." And then there's fundraising: There will be extra administrative
expenses for these nonprofits that the city, and other communities around the country,
are not likely to pay for.

With money, public schools could be the ones to secure space, put safety protocols in
place and hire enough people to educate all their students for free in small cohorts.
States might need to issue emergency certifications to teaching personnel. It's been
proposed that some kind of national service program be created for unemployed youth
and college students who are themselves taking online classes.

But the money, so far, isn't there. And so "learning hubs" are setting out to provide some
of the services of public school, minus in-person instruction, to a very small number of
children. They are in theory targeted to the most vulnerable, but no one is claiming
they're going to reach every family that could benefit.

What Is a Learning Center?

 
A learning center is typically a designated area within the classroom that provides students with
exciting and interesting experiences to practice, enrich, reteach, and enhance their learning. These
types of centers are filled with manipulatives, art materials, books, and other instructional tools.
Students visit the centers to complete an assignment or learn through different activities. In well-
designed learning centers, students participate in activities that help them see curriculum subjects in
real-time, hands-on ways. Working both independently and in small groups, students are provided
with time and space to complete a project or learn about a subject in a more in-depth fashion.

A learning center is governed by rules that students are well aware of and requires students to be
responsible and accountable for their own learning. The power of learning centers lies in the fact that
students who "didn't get it the first time" or need information presented in a different light receive a
more individualized lesson than a whole-class lesson could ever provide. Centers provide time for
you as the teacher to spend time with students individually or in small groups, helping students learn
curriculum materials in their own way and style.

This seminar discusses a new approach to designing Internet-based learning centers that can be
integrated with the centers you already have in your classroom.