Helping You Plan
Fun Research-Based Literacy Activities
​for Children in K-3rd Grade

Pilot Project Results

H I G H L I G H T S
80% of 365 participating children indicated they had fun participating in Fostering Readers literacy activities.
98% of 89 parents and caregivers indicated they "liked" or "loved" the literacy activity they participated in, and 90%  indicated they learned something new about their child's reading.
Participating afterschool providers reported that about 70% of the children chose books for their quiet time following Fostering Readers activities--substantially more than they expected based on children's prior behavior.
Participating library staff reported that on 82% of the occasions when they offered Fostering Readers programs, they noticed families checked out books and 44% of the occasions the program brought in families new to the library.

T E S T I M O N I A L S

"We had never seen children sit and read for 90 minutes or more during quiet time before."--Afterschool Provider
"The hands-on activities definitely worked the best."--Librarian
Banks Public Library used Fostering Readers to plan activities for their Camp Big Read this summer (2019). In the fall, a parent of one of the participants came to the library and said her 3rd grader is doing... "Great! She's really started picking up a lot of books since she participated in Camp Big Read."

Research Review

A   F E W   K E Y   F I N D I N G S

Centering books and reading in programming improves children’s attitudes toward reading and books.
  • Actively involving books and reading in all aspects of interdisciplinary programming positively impacts the attitudes of children toward reading and their interactions with books, a critical step in literacy skill development and improvement.
  • Teach children to ‘live books’: “help children connect everything they do with books and every book with something they do.”
  • Young people  read more and develop lifelong reading habits and strategies when they are allowed to choose their own books.
Children developing biliteracy in the U.S. will draw on all of their linguistic resources when they write.
  • Effective skill-building in writing recognizes and integrates the variety of cultural and linguistic norms that frame language use and influence written discourse patterns
  • Reading and writing are naturally linked:  comprehension and other reading skills can be cultivated through writing, and writing skills can be developed along with reading.
  • Writing is a skill to be developed and a tool for enhancing other areas of learning.
Gradual release of responsibility
is the most effective way to
foster comprehension.
  • Model (I do): Program leader models how to ask questions when reading a nonfiction book.
  • Shared (We do): At some point in the lesson, children should share in the practice with feedback.
  • Collaboration: Children work together to read and ask/answer/ponder questions as they read.
  • Approximate (You do): Children attempt to approximate the strategy.
  • Share: Children share their thinking and learning with others.
Fostering Readers is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of Oregon.