Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1) Category:
Project
3) Objectives:
Help boys in difficulty acquire a taste for reading by appealing to their interests. Provide these students with male role models who like reading. Foster family-school ties and use parenting skills for establishing an extracurricular partnership project. Broaden the concept of reading by, among other things, diversifying literacy tools. Rekindle the motivation of male students enrolled in a Bachelors program in preschool and primary-school education to complete their degree. Make the university students aware of the diversity of family reality.
4) Environment:
The home
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5) Target Group:
Boys from 8 to 10 years old who do not like reading Significant male adults (father, grandfather, uncle, stepfather, etc.) (N.B. A woman if there is no significant male in the boys life) Male students in a Bachelors program in preschool or primary-school education
6) Key Words:
Lire avec fiston, curaction, school-family-community partnership, project, reading, boys, EDHD, motivation, interest, male role model, parenting skills, innovative practice, self-esteem, academic perseverance
7) Description:
Lire avec fiston is project to develop a taste for reading in boys in Cycle 2 of primary school who do not like to read or who have reading difficulties. The project consists of pairing a boy and a significant adult (preferably a man) with a male B.Ed. student to form a masculine trio for various reading-related activities. The boys interests are the centrepieces of the activities. In 2007, France Beauregard, a professor at Universit de Sherbrooke, joined forces with fellow professor Isabelle Carignan to establish the Lire avec fiston project. Researchers gave the participants free rein in organizing the meetings. As long as the activities were chosen on the basis of the students interests, the trio was free to decide where, when and how the reading sessions took place. However, the university students had to commit to not giving up midway. No outcomes were required, whether in terms of the young students motivation or grades.
8) Steps:
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. Invitation to students to participate in the project. Screening of boys in difficulty by a remedial teacher in the classes in which teachers wanted to be part of the project. Invitation of the parents of the students selected. Preliminary meeting. Reading meetings. Mid-term meeting between the university students and the teachers. Continued supervision. Final meeting of all the participants in order to take stock of the activities.
9) Activities/Actions
In all, there were six meetings over four months lasting between one hour and two hours so as not to overload the university students. The meetings were scheduled according to the participants availability, at a predetermined time and place. Most participants opted for home meetings, but there were activities at school and at the library as well.
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The first meeting took place at school. The students and teachers met with the principal, the school teachers and the remedial teachers. The principal then presented a profile of the school. The school teachers and the remedial teacher then went on to describe their students strengths, weaknesses and interests. This step made it possible for the university students to begin the project knowing something about the students and their families. Soon after, the parents joined the meeting. After introducing themselves, the university students visited the childrens classrooms and the school. This is when the trios were formed. In the meantime, the teachers explained the project to the parents and discussed what was expected in terms of the roles of the participants. The members of the trio exchanged contact information and scheduled the next meeting. The following meetings took place every two to three weeks. Given the leeway extended to the university students, the nature of these meetings varied considerably from one trio to another. The reading material used was highly diversified, ranging from joke books to instructions for board games. However, the students interests were the core of every project. When a student lost interest, another course of action was automatically tried. At the request of the school teachers, an extra meeting was set up to provide them with information about the activities that were taking place and the response to them. The children were not at this meeting. The sixth and last meeting brought all the participants together. The meeting was an opportunity to glean what the participants thought of the project, to talk about the changes they had seen in the students, and to indicate the projects strong points and shortcomings and suggest improvements. The students were given the gift of a book and a certificate attesting to their participation in the project.
Financial resources:
Parent:
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o o
participates in the reading activities; ensures that the university student carries out and arranges for reading-related activities, without teaching reading per se. recruit the students; liaise between the school and the university students; work with the coordinator and the principal; coach the university students in reading and collaboration. identify the students who have special needs; present the families and the students to the university students. establishes the family-university partnership; solves any problems that may crop up along the way. tasked with getting the resources needed to establish the project (participants forming the trios, expense budget, etc.).
Professors: o o o o
Principal: o o
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A similar project was carried out in Sainte-Ccile-de-Whitton. However, in this case, retired male teachers were used instead of university students. The outcomes were just as worthwhile.
o o o o o
The information contained in this factsheet was taken from an interview with France Beauregard and from: o o http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/viepedagogique/154/index.asp? page=horsDos_3; http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/200410/7423-fra.htm .
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15) Contacts:
France Beauregard, Ph. D. Researcher, CRIR-IRD, and Professor, Universit de Sherbrooke Faculty of Education Department of preschool and primary-school education 2500, boul. de l'Universit, local A7-122 Sherbrooke (Qubec) J1K 2R1 Tel.: 819 821-8000, extension 62479 Toll-free: 1 800 267-8337, extension 62479 Email: france.Beauregard@USherbrooke.ca Isabelle Carignan, Ph. D. Researcher, CRIE and CRIFPE, and Professor, Universit de Sherbrooke Faculty of Education Department of pre-school and primary-school education 2500, boul. de l'Universit, local A7-123 Sherbrooke (Qubec) J1K 2R1 Tel.: 819 821-8000, extension 65340 Toll-free: 1 800 267-8337, extension 65340 Email: Isabelle.Carignan2@USherbrooke.ca
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