Program developers at DSC, understanding the power of a supportive context for reading, collaborated with leading after-school organizations to create a program that fosters literacy and builds character.

Here are experts’ suggestions—especially applicable in nonschool settings—for promoting literacy:

Listen to Good Literature

According to Lucy McCormick Calkins, “In the teaching of reading, there [is] only a handful of things that everyone agrees [is] essential. Perhaps the most important of these is that children need to listen to the best of children’s literature read aloud to them.”[1]

Encourage Discussion

Michael Pressley says, “Children’s comprehension of the ideas in text increases when they have conversations about literature with peers and teachers.”[2]

Donna Alvermann makes the point that inclusive environments, where students have consistent opportunities to participate in discussion groups, play a powerful role in providing an atmosphere for motivation and success.[3]

Provide Exposure to Rich Language

According to Anne Cunningham and Keith Stanovich, “For vocabulary growth to occur after the middle grades, children must be exposed to rare words [outside the vocabulary of a fourth- to sixth-grader]. It is print that provides many more such word-learning opportunities. Children’s books have 50 percent more rare words in them than does adult prime time television and the conversation of college graduates.”[4]

Give Leaders Appropriate Curriculum and Support

NAA Standards[5] for Quality School-Age Care calls for after-school professionals to:

• Use developmentally appropriate curricula, targeted to specific age ranges and representative of a variety of cultures.
• Promote opportunities for creative arts, dramatic play, socializing, and learning.
• Encourage children and youth to make choices and to become more responsible.
• Relate to children and help the children relate to each other in positive ways.

Notes

1. Lucy McCormick Calkins, The Art of Teaching Reading (New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2000).
2. Michael Pressley, Effective Beginning Reading Instruction: The Rest of the Story from Research (Washington: National Education Association, 2002).
3. Donna E. Alvermann, "Effective Literacy Instruction for Adolescents," (Athens, GA: University of Georgia), http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/alvermann/effective.pdf.
4. Anne Cunningham and Keith Stanovich. “What Principals Need to Know About Reading,” Principal 83 no. 2 (2003): 34-39.
5. National AfterSchool Association (NAA), NAA Standards for Quality School-Age Care (Charlestown, MA: NAA, 1998).