AfterSchool KidzLit: Scientific Basis

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 Standards5 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).