Literacy Resources for Families
Your Guide to Supporting Reading Success at Home
We believe families are key to developing literacy. This page has resources to help you encourage literacy at home. It also has info to help you partner with your student's teacher and school staff in supporting your student's literacy progress in reading and writing.
Reading and Writing at Home Resources
Stay informed and engaged! Discover fun ways to support your child's reading with Virginia Literacy Partnership (VLP) Family News.
This page includes resources in Spanish and Chinese
Curriculum
Instruction in Virginia's public schools is guided by the Standards of Learning (SOL). The standards describe the expectations for student learning, assessment, and achievement in grades K-12.
View the curriculum by quarter
Words to Know
Alphabet Knowledge
This is knowledge of letters and letter sounds.
Comprehension
The ability to understand what is being read.
Decoding and Encoding
Decoding is the ability to read words.
Encoding is the ability to spell words.
Fluency
Reading with few errors at an appropriate pace, with suitable expression
Phonemic Awareness
The ability to identify and play with individual sounds in spoken words. It is part of phonological awareness.
Vocabulary
Knowing what words mean and how to say and use them correctly.
Family Resources
Here are some websites with age-based activities and information.
- Benchmark Advance Family: Tools to help you support your child's learning.
- Virginia Department of Education Literacy Resources for Families and Communities: Literacy resources organized by grade level.
Frequently Asked Questions
These links take you to the Virginia Literacy Partnership website.
- How Can My Child Listen to Books at Home?
- How Can My Child Play Computer Games to Help Improve Literacy Skills?
- How Can I Help My Child Play with Sounds?
- How Can I Help My Child Learn Their Letter Names and Sounds?
- How Can I Help My Child Read and Spell Words?
- How Can I Help My Child Learn New Vocabulary?
- How Can I Help My Child with Reading Comprehension?
- How Can I Support My Child's Language Development?
- How Can I Support My Child's Writing?
- How Can My Child Read Online Books at Home?
- How Can I Help My Child Read with an Appropriate Pace and Expression?
Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS)
The Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS) is a tool used to assess reading skills for kindergarten through third-grade students in Virginia.
VALLSS Score Report
Using the data from the score report, a Reading plan will be developed for students demonstrating high risk in partnership with you (the family) and your child’s teacher. Reading plans may be developed for the following areas:
- Alphabet knowledge - Alphabet Awareness is the awareness that words are made up of letters and letters represent speech sounds.
- Decoding/encoding - This is our ability to correctly match letters and sounds when we reading and spell.
- Fluency- Fluency is out ability to read automatically and accurately. Fluency also includes our ability to read like we speak.
- Vocabulary/Comprehension- Vocabulary and comprehension includes our ability to know the meaning of the words we read and make sense of the text we read or hear. Students can improve their vocabulary and comprehension with texts they read and texts they hear.
Brochures
These PDFs are from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).
Reading Plans
The Virginia Literacy Act requires any student needing extra instruction in specific skill area(s) to have a reading plan. Families are invited to help develop their child's reading plan.
Which Students Need Extra Instruction?
Grades K-3
Students in Kindergarten through grade 2 take the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS). Some grade 3 students will also take the VALLSS. Based on the results, students in the “high risk” category will have trouble learning to read and write without extra help. These students will get a Reading Plan with goals based on their VALLSS assessment. They will get extra time (2.5 hours each week) to learn reading.
Students in the “moderate risk” category could have some trouble learning to read or write because they need extra help with a specific literacy skill. These students will get extra teaching in the specific skills they need help with, based on the VALLSS Instructional Indicators. Even though these students are not in the high risk category, it’s important to get them the extra help they need so they can move down to the low risk category.
Students in the “low risk” category don’t need extra help learning to read and write. They will continue to get regular classroom teaching.
Grades 3-6
Students in Grades 3-6 take the iReady assessment. Based on the results, students are “high risk” if both:
- iReady: 14th percentile and below
- failed the previous year’s Reading SOL.
These students will receive a reading plan that will outline the intervention, goal, and progress monitoring for each student. Progress monitoring will be updated quarterly.
Students in the “moderate risk” category may show some areas for support in certain areas along with areas of strength. These students will have opportunities for additional support during their English/Language Arts time and/or intervention time.
Students in the “low risk” category may not need additional intervention. These students will receive grade level instruction and possible extensions.
Where Can I Find My Student's Reading Plan
Reading plans will be available in ParentVUE.
Parent Teacher Conferences
This conference is a time to ask questions and share your ideas and any concerns with your child’s teacher. At the conference, your child’s teacher will talk to you about:
- Your child’s reading and writing skills
- How the school will support your child’s reading and writing progress
- Reading and writing activities you can do at home
If your child needs extra reading support, their teacher will be talking about how the school plans to support them and also ways you can help at home. Thank you for partnering with us to help your child become a strong reader and writer!
Family Academy
Explore more ways families can learn and get support for their child's school journey