ARI's Twelve Days of Literacy

Our Mission

The Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) is a statewide K-3 initiative committed to supporting the development of high-quality instruction that will prepare all students with the literacy skills needed to meet or exceed grade-level standards. The goal of the ARI is to significantly improve reading instruction and ultimately achieve 100% literacy among public school students.

Tis' the season for giving!

The Alabama Reading Initiative is excited to share twelve days of literacy activities with families this season. Let's keep the spirit of the season alive with some fun! Take a look at these exciting literacy activities to keep your child engaged this holiday season!


Day 1 On the 1st Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Talking While You Read Bookmark! Talking to your child about a book will boost your child’s vocabulary and knowledge about various topics. You can use PEER: Prompt, Evaluate, Expand, and Repeat to guide your conversations with your child during the reading of any book. It is best to choose a book that piques the interest of your child and has detailed pictures; this will help you and your child to have a very engaging conversation. Click on the link to access the bookmark: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EPt3PWajC27Sg8ZRvJe6Lnr7GB8a8Lyx/view?usp=sharing Click on this link to access the trifold: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EzK9y5-C5pvT25ETMSqvckfzBANjruAn/view?usp=sharing	Day 2 On the 2nd day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Blending to Read Words Opportunity! Blending is the ability to put letter sounds together to read a word. To read a word, children must know the sounds the letters represent in the word and be able to blend those sounds to come up with the correct word. For example, after children know the letter sounds /f/ for f, /ĭ/ for i, and /sh/ for sh, they learn to blend those sounds together to read the whole word. When they see the word fish, they are able to say, "/f/ /ĭ/ /sh/, fish." We call this, blending because you are putting sounds together to read a word. Check out the resource here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1jtv_FkH1yf7W-y9KHLuK3-gT8Ulls4/view?usp=sharing	Day 3 On the 3rd Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Rhyming Activity! There are many different types of sounds in words. Rhyming words represent a type of sound relationship between words. Children need to have the ability to recognize when words rhyme. Words rhyme when they have the same ending sound. For example, blue and shoe rhyme. When children recognize words that rhyme and can say a word that rhymes with a word they are given, they can use known words to read new words. You can access the rhyme time activity here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gXeh6KrWYlfIldeVc3oeIJmgKjZ1r7bZ/view?usp=sharing Check out a video related to this activity below.

Day 1

On the 1st Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Talking While You Read Bookmark! Talking to your child about a book will boost your child’s vocabulary and knowledge about various topics. You can use PEER: Prompt, Evaluate, Expand, and Repeat to guide your conversations with your child during the reading of any book. It is best to choose a book that piques the interest of your child and has detailed pictures; this will help you and your child to have a very engaging conversation. Click on the link to access the bookmark: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EPt3PWajC27Sg8ZRvJe6Lnr7GB8a8Lyx/view?usp=sharing

Click on this link to access the trifold: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EzK9y5-C5pvT25ETMSqvckfzBANjruAn/view?usp=sharing

Day 2

On the 2nd day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Blending to Read Words Opportunity! Blending is the ability to put letter sounds together to read a word. To read a word, children must know the sounds the letters represent in the word and be able to blend those sounds to come up with the correct word. For example, after children know the letter sounds /f/ for f, /ĭ/ for i, and /sh/ for sh, they learn to blend those sounds together to read the whole word. When they see the word fish, they are able to say, "/f/ /ĭ/ /sh/, fish." We call this, blending because you are putting sounds together to read a word. Check out the resource here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1jtv_FkH1yf7W-y9KHLuK3-gT8Ulls4/view?usp=sharing

Day 3

On the 3rd Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Rhyming Activity! There are many different types of sounds in words. Rhyming words represent a type of sound relationship between words. Children need to have the ability to recognize when words rhyme. Words rhyme when they have the same ending sound. For example, blue and shoe rhyme. When children recognize words that rhyme and can say a word that rhymes with a word they are given, they can use known words to read new words. You can access the rhyme time activity here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gXeh6KrWYlfIldeVc3oeIJmgKjZ1r7bZ/view?usp=sharing

Check out a video related to this activity below.


Day 4 On the 4th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Summarize a Story Activity! Summarizing means you shorten what you read to the most important ideas. To summarize, focus on main ideas and important details while reading to help you generate a summary. If you are reading a shorter text, you can summarize after you finish reading the text. If you are reading a longer text, summarize after important sections of the text, such as chapters. • A main idea is the most important message of what you are reading. There can be more than one main idea in a text. • Important details include information that support the main ideas. You can access additional summarizing resources here: 1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Zlvsq4MSQrP7A0BZCAxi7j60VhcLFIj/view?usp=sharing 2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/13izANeMyhtVEInaqtN2o6TjyTdNIdVdi/view?usp=sharing	Day 5 On the 5th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Fun Oral Language Activity To Use While Grocery Shopping! Oral language is the way we communicate with others through speaking and listening. We use oral language every day as we speak and listen to others. This activity is a great way to guide our conversations in the grocery store. Click here for the printable document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fEVCWzpsBJd0rMHCOXB2HKfuDrAW2rJd/view?usp=sharing	Day 6 On the 6th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Say and Slide Individual Sounds Activity! When your child practices identifying the individual sounds in words and putting those sounds back together, this will strengthen their reading and spelling ability. Use this activity to help your child practice hearing the individual sounds in spoken words. Click on the link to access the resources for this activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q_pJ-hmhO9rE5AMXDpm9Jh8qQAduHrB-/view?usp=sharing You can view a video of this activity below.

Day 4

On the 4th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me:

A Summarize a Story Activity! Summarizing means you shorten what you read to the most important ideas. To summarize, focus on main ideas and important details while reading to help you generate a summary. If you are reading a shorter text, you can summarize after you finish reading the text. If you are reading a longer text, summarize after important sections of the text, such as chapters.

• A main idea is the most important message of what you are reading. There can be more than one main idea in a text.

• Important details include information that support the main ideas.

You can access additional summarizing resources here:

1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Zlvsq4MSQrP7A0BZCAxi7j60VhcLFIj/view?usp=sharing

2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/13izANeMyhtVEInaqtN2o6TjyTdNIdVdi/view?usp=sharing

Day 5

On the 5th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Fun Oral Language Activity To Use While Grocery Shopping! Oral language is the way we communicate with others through speaking and listening. We use oral language every day as we speak and listen to others. This activity is a great way to guide our conversations in the grocery store. Click here for the printable document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fEVCWzpsBJd0rMHCOXB2HKfuDrAW2rJd/view?usp=sharing

Day 6

On the 6th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Say and Slide Individual Sounds Activity! When your child practices identifying the individual sounds in words and putting those sounds back together, this will strengthen their reading and spelling ability. Use this activity to help your child practice hearing the individual sounds in spoken words. Click on the link to access the resources for this activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q_pJ-hmhO9rE5AMXDpm9Jh8qQAduHrB-/view?usp=sharing

You can view a video of this activity below.


Day 7 On the 7th day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A High-Frequency Words Activity! High-frequency words are words that appear frequently in books. Examples of high-frequency words are again, every, know, and could. It is important that children learn how to read high-frequency words automatically, correctly without hesitation. The more your child reads, writes, and re-reads high-frequency words, the better he or she will get at reading them automatically. Check out this resource here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oHMym6XoZ5LUJscAGHH_GyLPpP9Ry5x0/view?usp=sharing	Day 8 On the 8th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Talk About Words Activity! Vocabulary knowledge is a crucial part of oral language and includes understanding the meaning of words and how to use and pronounce them. Speaking with and listening to your child every day talk about books and his or her experiences will help your child practice oral language. We all know that the more you practice something, the better you become! Access this activity here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nFeY__42gZiB7oCHVU8z6YAS8yfIhOsl/view?usp=sharing	Day 9 On the 9th day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: An Oral Reading Practice Opportunity! Oral reading practice is when children read out loud. It is very important that children have many opportunities for oral reading practice with a proficient reader who listens and offers help when needed. As children read out loud, they get better at reading words correctly, quickly, and with the right expression (fluently). Echo reading is one way to increase oral reading practice. As you echo read with your child, make sure that he or she follows along while you read by looking at the words as you read them. Your child should point to the words as he or she reads the same thing you read. This is to make sure your child is paying attention to the words and not just repeating what you say. We have also included a link to access additional resources here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cs8iF0Q_RJMdX1TZbNkxXwjUYinXt_il/view?usp=sharing Check out a video related to this activity below.

Day 7

On the 7th day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A High-Frequency Words Activity! High-frequency words are words that appear frequently in books. Examples of high-frequency words are again, every, know, and could. It is important that children learn how to read high-frequency words automatically, correctly without hesitation. The more your child reads, writes, and re-reads high-frequency words, the better he or she will get at reading them automatically. Check out this resource here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oHMym6XoZ5LUJscAGHH_GyLPpP9Ry5x0/view?usp=sharing

Day 8

On the 8th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Talk About Words Activity! Vocabulary knowledge is a crucial part of oral language and includes understanding the meaning of words and how to use and pronounce them. Speaking with and listening to your child every day talk about books and his or her experiences will help your child practice oral language. We all know that the more you practice something, the better you become! Access this activity here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nFeY__42gZiB7oCHVU8z6YAS8yfIhOsl/view?usp=sharing

Day 9

On the 9th day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: An Oral Reading Practice Opportunity! Oral reading practice is when children read out loud. It is very important that children have many opportunities for oral reading practice with a proficient reader who listens and offers help when needed. As children read out loud, they get better at reading words correctly, quickly, and with the right expression (fluently). Echo reading is one way to increase oral reading practice. As you echo read with your child, make sure that he or she follows along while you read by looking at the words as you read them. Your child should point to the words as he or she reads the same thing you read. This is to make sure your child is paying attention to the words and not just repeating what you say. We have also included a link to access additional resources here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cs8iF0Q_RJMdX1TZbNkxXwjUYinXt_il/view?usp=sharing

Check out a video related to this activity below.


Day 10 On the 10th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: Blending Puzzle Activities! Blending is the ability to put sounds together to read a word. To read a word, children must know the sounds the letters represent in the word and be able to blend those sounds to come up with the correct word. For example, after children know the letter sounds /f/ for f, /ă/ for a, and /n/ for n, they learn to blend those sounds together to read the whole word. When they see the word fan, they are able to say,"/f/, /ă/, /n/, fan." We call this, blending words. This family resource includes three activities, organized with level one being easiest and level three being most difficult. Level 1 Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wtjhYudfuxBl-MvXuWq0LnG62n-4iJjj/view?usp=sharing Level 2 Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t1mp_Gj_sCuexvpWFP0wLxyc0L_VHQB-/view?usp=sharing Level 3 Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nX043apJXvsRfKVFTaS92C8hWqRnbzOb/view?usp=sharing	Day 11 On the 11th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Common Word Parts Activity! When your child understands how to identify base words, prefixes, and suffixes, this supports his ability to read, write, and understand more challenging words. A base word, such as help, can stand alone and still have meaning. In the word helpful, -ful is a suffix because it is a word part added to the end of the base word help. In the word unhelpful, un- is a prefix because it is a word part added to the beginning of the base word help. Adding prefixes and suffixes to base words changes the meaning, so this is why understanding these different word parts will be beneficial to your child’s reading and spelling. Click on this link to access the resource for this activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C7Oz7Ly_cV6YOITiesPP1k0-wLTVWOYm/view?usp=sharing	Day 12 On the 12th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Dinner Table Talk Activity! Engage in extended conversations at the dinner table. After you ask your child a question, follow up with more questions to encourage your child to provide details. Examples: • What was your favorite part of school today? Why? • What was difficult for you today at school? How did you handle it? • What are you thankful for today? Why? • What would you love to invent? • Which superhero power would you like to have? How would you use it? You can find additional dinner conversation starters here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Vp_QP_DL_22oarnWeMpySh600QiyZ4H/view?usp=sharing Check out a video related to this activity below.

Day 10

On the 10th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: Blending Puzzle Activities! Blending is the ability to put sounds together to read a word. To read a word, children must know the sounds the letters represent in the word and be able to blend those sounds to come up with the correct word. For example, after children know the letter sounds /f/ for f, /ă/ for a, and /n/ for n, they learn to blend those sounds together to read the whole word. When they see the word fan, they are able to say,"/f/, /ă/, /n/, fan." We call this, blending words.

This family resource includes three activities, organized with level one being easiest and level three being most difficult.

Level 1 Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wtjhYudfuxBl-MvXuWq0LnG62n-4iJjj/view?usp=sharing

Level 2 Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t1mp_Gj_sCuexvpWFP0wLxyc0L_VHQB-/view?usp=sharing

Level 3 Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nX043apJXvsRfKVFTaS92C8hWqRnbzOb/view?usp=sharing

Day 11

On the 11th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Common Word Parts Activity! When your child understands how to identify base words, prefixes, and suffixes, this supports his ability to read, write, and understand more challenging words. A base word, such as help, can stand alone and still have meaning. In the word helpful, -ful is a suffix because it is a word part added to the end of the base word help. In the word unhelpful, un- is a prefix because it is a word part added to the beginning of the base word help. Adding prefixes and suffixes to base words changes the meaning, so this is why understanding these different word parts will be beneficial to your child’s reading and spelling. Click on this link to access the resource for this activity:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C7Oz7Ly_cV6YOITiesPP1k0-wLTVWOYm/view?usp=sharing

Day 12

On the 12th Day of Literacy Activities, ARI gave to me: A Dinner Table Talk Activity! Engage in extended conversations at the dinner table. After you ask your child a question, follow up with more questions to encourage your child to provide details.

Examples:

• What was your favorite part of school today? Why?

• What was difficult for you today at school? How did you handle it?

• What are you thankful for today? Why?

• What would you love to invent?

• Which superhero power would you like to have? How would you use it?

You can find additional dinner conversation starters here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Vp_QP_DL_22oarnWeMpySh600QiyZ4H/view?usp=sharing

Check out a video related to this activity below.

Additional Literacy Resources

Learning to read begins at home through everyday parent-child interactions, long before children attend school. Your continued support of literacy development throughout elementary school positively affects your child's reading ability and their love of reading.

These Family Activities include easy-to-follow plans to help you support your child's foundational reading skills at home. Materials needed for each Family Activity, such as letter cards, are included. They begin with simpler activities and progress to more difficult ones. You may want to start with the first activity and move to the next when you notice that your child has a firm understanding of the content from that activity. We encourage you to select appropriate activities for your child, and feel free to set aside anything that seems too difficult. The goal is to engage your child in activities that promote learning in a positive environment, not to induce frustration. The activities should be completed with the child, frequently, with patience, and positive feedback. Using the activities at home will be a fun way to spend family time together!

The Family Literacy Videos show families engaging their children in the Family Activities just described. The key points about the videos help you know what to focus on for a specific activity. The twelve days of literacy activities all came from the following links.

Kindergarten Family Link: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/southeast/foundations/kindergarten_intro.asp

1st Grade Family Link: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/southeast/foundations/firstgrade_intro.asp

2nd Grade Family Link: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/southeast/foundations/secondgrade_intro.asp

3rd Grade Family Link: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/southeast/foundations/thirdgrade_intro.asp

Additional Resources

Resources - Alabama Partnership for Children

APC has compiled resources surrounding a FOCUS (Focus On Children Under Six) topic for all organizations that request the information for distribution in local communities. It is our hope that the FOCUS resources will provide more attention to birth-to-five topics statewide.

Resources (nancyyoung.ca)

The following link contains recommended books, videos, articles, and websites that provide information relating to reading and writing, dyslexia, giftedness, ADHD, twice-exceptional, and movement.

Storyline Online - Home

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Daytime Emmy®-nominated and award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online®, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pine, Kristen Bell, Rita Moreno, Viola Davis, Jaime Camil, Kevin Costner, Lily Tomlin, Sarah Silverman, Betty White, Wanda Sykes and dozens more. As you watch the videos, we recommend that you pause the video to discuss what the story is about or respond to the actors' comments.

https://alabamafamilycentral.org/

Alabama Family Central has been a goal for several years from the creation of the Department of Children’s Affairs in 2001 through the priorities of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet in recent years. As a single platform for families to access services and programs, its purpose is to help families easily navigate and find links to supports they need. State agency partners include Departments of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, Early Childhood Education, Education, Human Resources, Medicaid, Mental Health, Public Health, Rehabilitation Services/Early Intervention, with support from the Office of Information Technology.

The information included in this document is done from the perspective of improving LITERACY instruction for students and is only intended to outline support that directly relates to literacy instruction. Please use any resource links with discretion, as their position statements are their own and not necessarily representative of ARI and the ALSDE. Usage of any materials should be with adherence to rules and regulations of the Alabama State Department of Education.

Accessibility

ARI's Twelve Days of Literacy

A Gift For Families

ARI's Twelve Days of Literacy

A Gift For Families

Our Mission

Tis' the season for giving!

Here Are Your 12 Days of Literacy Activities!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Additional Literacy Resources