literacy Archives - News@91��ɫ

Canada’s largest literacy project triples reading progress for struggling students

egamulin — Wed, 20 May 2026 15:30:36 +0000

Multi-province study involving 642 students found half won’t need reading intervention

Struggling Canadian readers achieved a year and a half of literacy growth in just five months, according to preliminary findings from a landmark multi-province project that shows short, frequent intervention sessions can radically accelerate reading skills in young kids.

Faculty of Education Dean Robert Savage

More than 600 grade two students identified as struggling readers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Quebec took part in the study. Over a 16-week period, these students received small-group intervention sessions four times a week for 30 minutes, with a focus on phonological awareness, phonics, irregular word reading and decodable text reading.

The results showed significant gains in record time: in just five months, children improved their word reading skills by approximately one and a half years, over and above what would be expected from their maturation.

The project, called Turning the aspiration of universal literacy into a reality in Canadian schools, demonstrates that with targeted, evidence-based intervention, struggling readers can achieve literary success in a short period of time. This work was led by George Georgiou at the University of Alberta and Robert Savage at 91��ɫ. Additional results from the project involving students from Ontario are expected at a later date.

The success of this intervention provides a clear roadmap for the future of Canadian education and the project team is now looking to scale this work nationwide.

"By training school personnel in evidence-based practices, we can ensure high-quality primary instruction that prevents reading gaps before they widen, thus significantly decreasing the number of children who require intensive literacy support," say the co-researchers.

The research was supported by a coalition of funders, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Max Bell Foundation, and Alberta Education.

A study with the full findings will be published at a later date.

For more information or to speak with one of the researchers, please contact:

Emina Gamulin | 91��ɫ Senior Digital Media Relations Officer | egamulin@yorku.ca

Sarah Vernon | University of Alberta Media Strategist | svernon@ualberta.ca

The post Canada’s largest literacy project triples reading progress for struggling students appeared first on News@91��ɫ.

Back to School Prep: 10 tips for parents to make reading and math fun

roshanp — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 12:17:59 +0000

91��ɫ experts available to explain how to prevent learning losses

TORONTO, August 10, 2020 – With four weeks to go before children return to Ontario elementary schools on Tuesday, September 8, parents are encouraged to keep learning alive in their households to help make for a smoother transition back to the classroom.

That’s the advice of two 91��ɫ educators who say some parents are concerned that their kids will have an achievement gap when they return to school in the fall because of the “summer slide” – a phenomenon where some kids lose about two months of reading and math skills over the summer. This is particularly pronounced in lower-income and at-risk student populations.

One U.S-based also suggests the global COVID-19 pandemic which closed Ontario schools since March, plus the summer break, could leave students suffering from both the summer slide, and the “COVID slide” – a double whammy of knowledge loss. 91��ɫ’s experts say the key to combating this issue is to infuse learning in the everyday lives of kids to help foster their literacy and math development.

is a professor of language and literacy in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education. She says building resiliency is paramount if kids are going to bounce back from any COVID or summer slide in academics.

“Parents working to lay a strong foundation for learning at home need to be reminded that all learning happens best when children feel a sense of belonging and well-being, and are engaged in the world around them,” she says. “We need to encourage kids to question, to experiment, to reflect and review, and to evaluate multiple sources of information as they construct knowledge.”

An educator for 37 years, Krasny began her career as an elementary school teacher in Winnipeg and served as Manitoba's Provincial Language Arts Specialist. Currently, she teaches courses for prospective and current teachers including Early and Family Literacy, Adolescent and Children's Literature, Teaching English in the Intermediate Division, and Teaching English in the Intermediate-Senior Divisions.

Krasny can share literacy summer slide and COVID slide tips for parents, including:

Make it fun. Fingerplays, skipping songs, counting rhymes, chants, camp songs and books with rhyme, rhythm and/or repetition, such as author Bill Martin Jr.’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Bill Martin Jr.’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, are engaging ways to foster phonemic awareness and word recognition. They also offer predictable sentence patterns that engage kids in writing and illustrating their own songs and stories.
Understand the early predictors of reading and literacy success. That includes alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, word recognition/sight word vocabulary, and word knowledge. While no single approach operates independently from others in building the ability to read and comprehend, phonemic awareness, or the ability to identify and differentiate between sounds in words, is the leading predictor of reading achievement.
Bring books to life through dramatic play. For example, author Jan Brett’s offers activities and craft ideas including book making and character masks for dramatic play. Her book, The Mitten and the Hat, brings to life a Ukrainian folktale in which one by one, woodland animals make their home in a found mitten. The book teaches sequencing and important comprehension skills when kids use masks or stick puppets for story retelling.
Play popular games to help with word recognition and knowledge. Kids can benefit from word games like Scrabble, Hangman, word searches and online favourites, Wordscapes and Friends with Words.
Invent new games. are generally regarded as the 315 most commonly used words in children’s books. Parents can play memory games with their kids by matching these sight words, or help with letter recognition by matching lower-case with upper-case letters.

is an associate professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education who teaches mathematics education courses. She says her main concern with the summer slide and COVID slide phenomenon is that kids may lose the fundamental math skills – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

“Research tells us that kids learn these skills gradually over time. It’s like brushing your teeth,” explains Rapke. “Children should do a little bit of fundamental math skills spaced out over time. With classrooms closed for just over five months, some kids haven’t had the opportunity to practice math as often as they should.”

Rapke teaches five math courses at 91��ɫ and has conducted extensive research on strategies to enhance the learning and teaching of mathematics. This summer, she worked with math coaches at the Toronto District School Board to develop and host a series of to help kids from Grades 1 to 10 practice mental math at home, and give parents the tools to help them.

Rapke can share math summer slide and COVID slide tips for parents, including:

Practice mental math. Take a math problem (such as 17 subtract 9), display it physically (using anything from Lego pieces to candies) and work with children to develop a strategy to solve the problem. Doing even two or three times a week, for 10 minutes or less, should make a difference.
Talk about math with kids. Discussing a math problem is key to finding the solution. In classrooms, kids often solve math problems with their peers and compare how they calculated the answer. At home, parent should model active listening and ask questions about what their children have said.
Play board games and card games. Playing games like Monopoly and Chutes and Ladders are a great way to engage kids in learning, and almost any game can be adapted to focus on math. For example, the card game Go Fish, can be played with a twist so instead of asking for the number 10 card, players can ask for two cards that add up to five plus five.
Use a recipe to bake. Finding math in everyday activities is key. When baking, parents can have their kids read the recipe and count out the ingredients to gain a better understanding of fractions (such as ½ cup of sugar and 1¾ of flour).
Adjust the attitude about math. Parents can set a positive attitude by not saying things like “I don’t like math” or “I’m not a math person.” Parents should make it clear to their children that making mistakes is OK. Celebrate the process of solving a math problem and not just the final answer.

91��ɫ champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91��ɫ is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 647-654-9452, vthomps@yorku.ca

The post Back to School Prep: 10 tips for parents to make reading and math fun appeared first on News@91��ɫ.

Should parents be worried about the “summer slide”?

roshanp — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 14:06:23 +0000

91��ɫ experts available to discuss summer learning loss

TORONTO, June 24, 2019 – Student learning should not fall by the wayside just because school is out for summer break.

That’s the advice of two 91��ɫ educators who agree the summer slide phenomenon is real. Research has shown that students can lose about two months of reading and mathematics skills over the summer, resulting in an achievement gap when they return to school in the fall. This is particularly pronounced in lower-income and at-risk student populations.

91��ɫ’s experts say the best way for parents to combat this summer knowledge loss is to keep students learning. The experts are available for interviews on their research and work in the areas of reading, math and online learning. They can also provide summer slide tips for parents, to help their children from losing academic ground.

is a professor in the Faculty of Education. She has conducted extensive research on literacy education, early childhood education, literacy learning, education assessment and online learning tools to improve literacy. Murphy wrote and co-wrote several journal articles including and authored a chapter in the book , both published last year. Currently, Murphy is writing a book for teachers with strategies and tactics for teaching, as well as evidence-based practices in language and literacy.

She can share literacy summer slide tips for parents, including:

Provide books to children at home, especially in pre-primary and primary grades
Choose books that interest children, ensuring there is a good flow to the words
Encourage children to re-read their favourite books
Leverage digital technologies through electronic books and apps

is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education. She teaches mathematics education courses to current and prospective teachers and has conducted extensive research on strategies to enhance the learning and teaching of mathematics. Rapke has also worked with elementary schools in Ontario to develop videos to help parents do math and talk about mathematics with their children. Currently, Rapke leads a program in a GTA-based school to address parental concerns about math education and develop practical strategies to help students learn basic arithmetic, through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant that supports connections between home and school learning.

She can share math summer slide tips for parents, including:

Practice math as a family in fun, easy and meaningful ways
Consider math games to support children’s math studies
Leverage kids' everyday questions about time, money and play dates to practice basic skills and solve math problems

91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 647-654-9452, vthomps@yorku.ca

The post Should parents be worried about the “summer slide”? appeared first on News@91��ɫ.