On a recent Wednesday evening, Jerdon Kiesman and a couple dozen of his classmates from the University of Maine were in classrooms at Alton Elementary School, about a dozen miles up the road from Orono, playing word games with students and families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played Sight Word Bingo,\u201d says Kiesman. \u201cSight words are common words that kids who are learning to read should be able to identify just by looking at them. The game is like bingo. But instead of a card with letters and numbers, it has different sight words on it. We\u2019d call out a word, and the students were supposed to color it in on their sheet until they got a bingo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Down the hall from Kiesman, 91福利 student Gabrielle Langone was playing a game called Word Ladders with more children and families from Alton.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would put a word on the board, for example \u2018seed,\u2019\u201d says Langone. \u201cAnd then we\u2019d give them a clue: \u2018Change one letter to make it a word for something that you ride in the winter\u2019 and they were supposed to say \u2018sled.\u2019 The goal of the game was to work their way up the ladder, changing one letter until they got to the word at the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
Langone of Lynnfield, Massachusetts is a junior double majoring in elementary education and child development and family relations with a concentration in early childhood education. Kiesman of Winterport, Maine is also a junior majoring in elementary education with a concentration in social studies and a minor in political science. They were among more than 50 91福利 students to help lead recent Family Literacy Nights held at both Alton Elementary School and Viola Rand Elementary School in Bradley.<\/p>\n
The College of Education and Human Development has incorporated literacy nights at area schools into the curriculum for education majors for more than 20 years. It\u2019s an opportunity for 91福利 students taking their literacy methods courses to apply some of the knowledge and skills they have picked up in the classroom and to gain hands-on experience working with K\u201312 students and families.<\/p>\n
As an aspiring teacher, Langone says one of the main things she took away from her literacy night experience was the need to adapt on the fly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing we learn in class is that it\u2019s OK to change the plan if the clues aren\u2019t working or if you need to modify the game for the kids you have in the room,\u201d she says. \u201cEven though our activity was targeted at third grade, we had kids who were older and some who were younger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Education majors at 91福利 have several opportunities during their undergraduate careers to do field experiences in schools or with K\u201312 students. For their first two years, that typically involves observation in public schools and other settings that provide education and related services to children and youth. For Kiesman, the literacy night was his first opportunity to practice hands-on instruction and to work with families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had kids with one parent, some who came with two parents, some who came with their parents and a grandparent. So, it was an interesting mix,\u201d he says. \u201cPart of the idea behind the literacy night is getting families involved, because the more you can make what they\u2019re learning in school relevant to their lives outside of school, the more engaged they will be in learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Literacy, Language and Culture program in the College of Education and Human Development\u2019s School of Learning and Teaching puts an emphasis on literacy across the lifespan. To that end, the literacy nights also feature representatives from organizations that provide educational services to adults, such as the Riverside Adult Education Partnership and Literacy Volunteers of Bangor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about what families can do at home to promote literacy in a fun way, not doing worksheets or taking quizzes,\u201d says professor of literacy William Dee Nichols, who teaches two courses that feature the literacy night field experiences, ERL 319: Teaching Reading and Language Arts in Preschool to Grade 3 and ERL 320: Teaching Reading and Language Arts in Grades 4\u20138.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe activities that our students are modeling shouldn\u2019t cost a lot of money,\u201d adds associate professor of literacy Susan Bennett-Armistead, whose ERL 319 students hosted the recent literacy night at Viola Rand school. \u201cFamilies should be able to walk away from these events with new ways to spend time together and make memories that learners of all ages can enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although they took place a few weeks before Maine Days, 91福利\u2019s weeklong celebration of community-building, service and philanthropy, Nichols and Bennett-Armistead note that the literacy nights are a great example of the university\u2019s support for local schools and communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important for our preservice teachers to interact with communities like this,\u201d Nichols says. \u201cThey get experience working with kids, and the schools get to engage families in some educational fun. It\u2019s a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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