Improve student achievement through academically focused family nights! Research confirms the link between family involvement and academic success. Yet, as student populations become increasingly diverse, educators face a daunting challenge in establishing close connections with families. Bridging School and Home Through Family Nights: Ready-to-Use Plans for Grades K-8 offers all the information, materials, and resources for planning and implementing events that build effective relationships. Drawing on their own experiences and extensive research, the authors include information on adapting events for special populations, issues around providing food and incentives, cost-saving ideas, and additional resources. Each of the book’s thirteen family night chapters is a self-contained unit that provides event procedures, needed materials, connections with national standards, and numerous reproducibles, including: • Invitations • Agendas • Sign-in sheets • Evaluation forms • Activity worksheets • Handouts • Overheads Productive family night experiences offer an enjoyable and meaningful way for schools to reach out to families and get them involved. This book is appropriate for K-8 teachers and principals or anyone in the school or district responsible for family events.

Host family reading nights at your school! These events promote literacy outside of the classroom and encourage families to get involved in their children’s achievement. They also build relationships among educators, families, and community partners. This practical book is full of step-by-step guidelines and reproducible activities to help you bring family reading nights to life in your own school or district. Special Features: The book is organized by month of the school year, so you can quickly find activities that meet your needs Each activity is easy to implement and includes a page of instructions for teacher-leaders and an activity page for families An appendix provides all of the forms you need to get your Family Reading Night started, including invitations and registration sheets All of the family activities can be photocopied or downloaded for free from our website, www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138021471, so that you can print and distribute them during your event This enhanced second edition includes connections to the Common Core State Standards for reading. It also features a special new appendix with all of the family activities translated into Spanish, to help more families get involved!

Educators everywhere confront critical issues related to families, schooling, and teaching in diverse settings. Directly addressing this reality, Home-School Connections in a Multicultural Society shows pre-service and practicing teachers how to recognize and build on the rich resources for enhancing school learning that exist within culturally and linguistically diverse families. Combining engaging cases and relevant key concepts with thought-provoking pedagogical features, this valuable resource for educators at all levels: Provides detailed portraits of diverse families that highlight their unique cultural practices related to schooling and the challenges that their children face in school settings Introduces key sociocultural and ethnographic concepts, in ways that are both accessible and challenging, and applies these concepts as lenses through which to examine the portraits Shows how teachers and researchers have worked with diverse families to build positive relationships and develop learning activities that incorporate children’s unique experiences and resources Disrupting deficit assumptions about the experiences and knowledge that culturally and linguistically diverse children acquire in their homes and communities, this book engages readers in grappling deeply and personally with the chapters’ meanings and implications, and in envisioning their own practical ways to learn from and with families and children.

Using the culturally responsive family support model, this text prepares teachers to work effectively with the diverse families of their studentsFilled with practical suggestions and reflective opportunities, Home, School, and Community Collaboration uses the culturally responsive family support model to prepare readers to work with children from diverse families. This text includes contributions from 24 experts in the field in addressing the issues in family involvement that todayÆs teachers are likely to encounter. Key Features:Covers family systems theory, family involvement models, and the family support approach Includes a wide range of practical strategies for use in todayÆs schools, as well as activities that help readers make connections between the course content and their own experiencesFeatures case studies and vignettes that provide opportunities for reflection and help readers apply text information to real-life settings Accompanied by Outstanding Ancillaries:Instructor Resources onáCD offer valuable resources for qualified adopters, such as sample syllabi, teaching tips, PowerPoint presentations, and a comprehensive test bank. Contact Customer Care at 1-800-818-SAGE from 6 AM-5 PM, PT, to request a copy.áááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááááá A Student study site offers practice tests, flashcards, web resources, and SAGE journal articles on topics covered in the text.

This book offers strategies, activities, and tools to help teachers and reading specialists teach elementary and middle school students to become better readers, writers, speakers, and listeners. Written in a lively and accessible style with one chapter for each letter of the alphabet, Literacy from A to Z offers practical advice and fully realized examples to improve your lesson plans.

"The intent of this handbook is to provide a comprehensive, forward-looking, research-based resource for teachers, teacher-educators, and researchers on the key, inter-connected components of effective literacy instruction. The book is designed so that it is a readily useable resource for pre-service and practicing teachers as well. Every chapter in sections I, II, III, and IV includes substantial suggestions for implementing research-based practices in the classroom and for engaging in professional learning to help teachers increase their effectiveness as literacy instructors. Every chapter in section IV also includes substantial suggestions for fostering collaboration among staff and, when applicable, parents within schools"--

This practical, teacher-friendly book provides indispensable guidance for implementing research-based reading instruction that is responsive to students' diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Structured around the “big five” core topics of an effective reading program—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—the book explains tried-and-true teaching strategies for fostering all students' achievement. Key topics include engaging diverse students in classroom discussion, involving families in learning, and assessing and teaching new literacies. Numerous classroom examples demonstrate a wide range of easy-to-implement lesson ideas and activities for students at different grade levels, including struggling learners. Issues specific to English language learners are woven throughout the chapters.

Recent research suggests that good relationships between parents and their children’s providers or teachers could lead to positive outcomes for children and families. Positive, mutually respectful, and collaborative relationships between families and schools and education providers and teachers contribute to young children’s school readiness, increase positive family engagement in children’s programs, and strengthen home-program connection, a critical factor to children’s school success. Bridging Family-Teacher Relationships for ELL and Immigrant Students is a comprehensive reference source that focuses on research-based pedagogical practices for teaching young English language learners (ELL) and immigrants. It specifically looks at strategies across the curriculum including social-emotional development, parent involvement, language development, and more. While highlighting major themes that include academic engagement and achievement among ELL and immigrant children, factors affecting partnerships with schools and home, the impact of home environments on school readiness, and student performance, this book shares pedagogical practices across different subjects that use partnerships with families of ELL/immigrants. It is intended for classroom teachers (early childhood and K-12), parents, faculty, school administrators, academicians, professionals, researchers, and students interested in family-teacher relationships.

Describes how some schools and their communities have overcome key barriers -- finding the time, increasing their information about each other, bridging school-family differences, improving schools, and tapping external supports to strengthen school-family partnerships. Successful partnerships require the sustained mutual collaboration and support of school staffs and families at home and at school. Business or community groups can also help schools and families to work together. This Book is based on case studies of 20 successful education programs around the country. They include elementary and secondary schools and districtwide programs.

Develop and cultivate social-emotional learning to create a new school climate! As research on the positive outcomes of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) are emerging, schools and districts across the country are adopting the practices and processes to improve student outcomes and teacher capacity. The real-world experiences and evidence-based strategies outlined in this book will guide implementation of a practical and sustainable social emotional learning program. In addition to an integrated workbook readers will find: recommendations for steps with each strategy in an implementation rubric reflection questions to promote deeper thinking on SEL resources to explore at the end of each chapter