Fall 2026      Volume 54, Number 4

Family Engagement in Literacy: Screens, Scrolls, and Society: Bridging School and Home Literacies in the Age of Algorithms and AI
By Julie Hoffman and Cindi Koudelka

Document: Column  

Introductory Paragraph:   As the leaves start to change and there is a crisp bite to the air (which may feel very welcome after the dog days of summer), time outdoors decreases for our students, and they may find themselves with more screen time. Before we start lamenting about how these kids today do not read enough or find ways to engage their imagination, let’s take a look at how we could leverage the positive aspects of the digital landscape to support students’ digital literacies, build their critical thinking skills, and create opportunities for reading as a shared family practice. Our role as teachers is to not only help students transact (Rosenblatt, 1938/1995) ethically and efficiently with texts, but also to communicate how families can nurture such transactions when students are away from the safety net of school content filters and management tools. In doing so, we must remain mindful that our role is not to interrogate or evaluate a family but, rather, to inform and to be a bridge toward helpful resources.

DOI:   https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.54.4.2026.41

Page Numbers:   41-44