The middle

Practice, practice, practice! At the heart of the accelerator is practice time – and lots of it! There are four types of practice time.

Practice at family workshops

Teams must practice all together. Parents and teachers must practice together at least four times through workshops—virtual or in-person—during the 5-10-week FELA. During family workshops, teachers briefly model an instructional strategy, then families get 20+ minutes to practice that strategy with their children. Meanwhile, teachers circulate and provide feedback. For every hour that a teacher leads a family workshop, parents deliver ~25 hours of tutoring at home! Workshops are typically a whole group experience, with make-up sessions as needed. Springboard’s weekly family workshops average 91% attendance — and these are the caregivers of over 10,000 struggling readers in 14 urban school districts.

Practice all together resources

Facebook live sessions

If you watched Springboard's short videos and want to go deeper, check out these virtual family workshops led by superstar facilitators!

practice independently and with a family member.png — Practice independently & practice with a family member

At home, children should practice daily for at least 15 minutes, if possible. An analysis of nearly 10 million students found that 15 minutes seems to be the “magic number” for substantial positive gains in reading achievement. Children should practice with the support of a family member as well as independently.

Practice independently & with a family member resources

Practice time tracker

This template is a tool to help families log their minutes read at home—both independent practice time and time spent practicing with a family member.

Reading plan

Springboard’s family resource page features a 4-week learn-at-home plan. This includes a reading strategy of the week (by video), instructions on how to use the tips in English and Spanish, daily lessons, and corresponding e-books.

Springboard Connect

Springboard Connect is a web app that provides tips, resources, and reminders to support parents as reading coaches for their children.

YouTube reading tips

Check out this library of short videos in which parents demonstrate helpful reading strategies with their kids.

Practice with your teacher

Students should also practice with their teachers for at least 30 minutes per week. This instructional time can be embedded into the school day, or you can do it during out-of-school time.