Reading
A Lesson In Building Bridges

Karen Brown began a family reading club to teach parents reading strategies and wound up learning a thing or two herself.

Two years ago, NEA member Karen Brown set out to help close the achievement gap for Black and Hispanic students at Cannon Road Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her idea? "Since parents are considered a child's first teacher," she explains, "why not create a multicultural family reading club that offers lessons in reading strategies along with books that would engage students and parents?"

The school agreed, and Brown managed to get a small grant to establish the Multicultural Family Book Club. She then identified 20 families to participate in this weekly, evening book club, bought the books, and gathered the families to read.

The parents organized into small groups, discussing books Brown had chosen and how they could be shared with their children. She also encouraged the families to work with each other.

Two years later, the parents say they've learned a lot about reading, and Brown says she's learned some hard-earned, but valuable lessons about running a family literacy project--lessons she shared at last year's International Reading Association conference.

"I made quite a few mistakes, but I was never afraid to acknowledge them or learn from them," says Brown.

For example, she says, "it's a mistake not to tell parents directly that their child was selected because he or she is a struggling reader." Being honest and forthright, she found, is the best policy. Also, "It's a mistake not to recognize a parent's own literacy issues and adjust accordingly. It's a mistake to be inflexible on issues like having more of the family participate." Recognizing the pitfalls, she says, made her shift gears. "We learned and improved."

For many of the parents, particularly immigrants, school has now become a less intimidating place, says Brown. "I had parents, including one father, who were really involved in some of the readings. They were also able to share their cultures. Now, since this project, we see more of these parents at the school during the day and after school. They're more comfortable on our school campus and more engaged in their child's school life."

And the children? "Since the program began, all of the students in the program moved up to grade level in reading, and a few did even better," says Brown. One 10-year-old, Darrius Perry, did so well, he's now a reading mentor, passing on his knowledge to younger students.

"I'd always been a reader," says Darrius' mother, Dawn Perry, "but the project gave me new skills to work with him. It's been great."

Brown says the "real" benefit of the project is that it extends far beyond the student or even the family. "Everyone ends up learning something new," she says, "even the teacher."

--Anita Merina

For more: Contact Karen Brown at Karen_K_Brown@ mcps.k12.md.us.

You Can Do It, Too!

If you're interested in creating a family reading program, take Karen Brown's hard-earned lessons to heart. Here are her tips for making reading clubs a family-school affair:

Look for good grants. The easy part is creating a family reading program. The challenging part is going beyond the initial grant and finding additional funds to keep the club going. You'll need materials printed, books collected, and training updated if you want to offer your families the project they deserve.

Be honest with the parents. Don't be afraid to suggest ways they can help to improve their child's performance, says Brown.

Make sure you know the parents. Are they insecure about their own literacy? Are they uncomfortable in the school setting? Are there books that might reach out to them? The answers will help you.

Don't be afraid to change mid-stream. "Be open to improvements," says Brown. "I'd rather make changes that may be difficult and challenging at first than stay stuck in a comfortable rut and not make a difference."

Use themes to cross cultural boundaries. Choose books with universality, recommends Brown. "Choosing books around the families theme created common ground for our African-American, African immigrant, and Hispanic families," says Brown.

Encourage the groups to mingle. "In the first year, the Hispanics stayed together and the African-American and African immigrant families stayed together," says Brown. "With bilingual books and themes, we found parents sharing their experiences more readily."

If you feed them, they will come. It may sound simple, but food is a great school-community organizer, says Brown. When you order, say what you're doing. You may get donations or discounts, like Brown did from a local pizzeria.

Time to Read and Celebrate!

On your mark, get set, read! The official celebration of NEA's Read Across America and Dr. Seuss's birthday takes place March 3 with reading events and challenges around the country. The 2003 Read Across America Co-chairs Ming-Na and Esai Morales will be coaching a host of celebrity readers in an all-star read-off in Los Angeles, Major League Soccer's 10 teams will kick off the League's reading initiative in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and millions of kids and grown-ups will lift up their voices and read. To find out what's happening in your state and around the country, go to www.nea.org/readacross.