Kindergarten ELLA Program

Early Literacy Learning Activities

The Idaho State Department of EducationPartners with Districts to Provide an

At-Home Reading Intervention Program

The Focus: Parent Literacy Training

The night kicks off with a presentation to share important information regarding the Reading Process and the Big 5 of Reading . . .

After the presentation, the students join their parents and teachers for

hands-on literacy activities.

Teachers and assistants provide support to parents as they work with their

children on the ten activities created for this event.

Instruction is provided in Spanish. All materials and directions are translated and offered in a

Spanish/English version.

Other languages are in the process of being translated.

The event can be organized to meet the needs of a school’s population.

Having access to instruction in their first language creates a positive connection between

parents and their child’s school.

Families Learn Together!

Parents receive training and see teachers model how to work on critical literacy

skills at home with their child.

Kids find the activities fun, and parents find them simple to teach at home.

Having the ELLA baghelps families keep all materials together and easily accessible!

Children can

hang it on their

bedroom door

or closet door!

Word lists are provided to make activities simple for the parent. Schools can add supplemental lists that fit with their own

classroom Reading curriculum.

Bags and materials can be ordered from the IRI page on the Idaho State Department of Education’s website and sent to your school district

A CD can be ordered on the IRI webpage, which will contain materials to be copied by your district

Volunteers will be needed to pack the materials into the bags

Districts with VISTA members could be supported by having them plan and organize the volunteers to pack the bags and help prepare the open house kickoff event

Ways to Implement the ELLA Program

Materials included:

ELLA cloth bag with logo

Sight word flashcards

Alphabet sheets (upper and lower case letters)

Plastic ABC’s in bag

Alphabet Rainbow (two-sided)

ELLA Booklet

(Schools can select to make a “Big 5 Book Mark”)

Material Preparation (Local Decision):

Sight word flashcards rubber banded together or placed in a baggie

Baggie stapled to upper and lower case alphabet sheet

Packing the ELLA Bags

Tips to Preparing a Successful Open House

Send invitations home as paper copies, emails, and phone calls Create and display posters around the school and neighborhood to

advertise the event Find community support or sponsorship for healthy refreshments or a meal Find volunteers to prepare simple materials for literacy activities (gather

pennies, animal pictures, picture books, and make copies of activity sheets) Create spread sheets for volunteers to document which children attended,

so other families can be trained at a Parent-Teacher Conference, or other literacy event

Organize volunteers to provide literacy activities to siblings, so families can come together without childcare worries

Phonemic Awareness Phonics Vocabulary Comprehension Fluency

This is an important representation that all skills must tie together to create a strong reader!

The Big “5” of Literacy Color Codes: Students collect a bead as they complete each of the “Big 5” and volunteers could help with this

The 5 colored beads are added to the “Big 5” bookmark

Volunteers or the PTA Secure Book Donations to Congratulate the Students’

Completion of the ELLA Booklet

Volunteers could

be organized to

help students

choose books! Students have the chance to see other studentsthat worked on ELLA!

Students Love to Choose a New Book to Keep!

Getting families

involved is the key!

Organizing volunteerswill support the school staff’s efforts!

Districts and Schools can have a direct impact on making this program successful for their students!

How exciting for parents to be involved in the success of their

child. Who could be more proud!

Thank You!

Early Literacy Learning Activities

Presented by the Idaho State Department of Education