Family Literacy Event Proposal

Submitted by:

Erin Melissa Butler

Elizabeth Hoffman-Lohmeyer

Janice Murray

Jean Marie Swalley

July 2009

School Description

Perkins Elementary School is operated by the Syracuse City School District in central New York. The school serves approximately 420 students in kindergarten through grade five. This west Syracuse community is characterized by poverty and a relatively high crime rate. In fact, this community was once deemed the twelfth poorest community in the nation. Because of these factors, the school community has tended to function as an extended family. Perkins Elementary School is located in a residential neighborhood with older homes that are situated very close together. There is very little open space for the children to play, with the exception of a nearby park.

The student body is comprised of about 50 percent Hispanics and about 40 percent African-Americans. Nearly 90 percent of the students are from low income families. Thirty-four percent of the students are identified as students with disabilities, with 9 percent of them being served in self-contained special education classes. Nearly 34 percent of the children were designated as being limited in the English language.

The school is staffed by one principal, one vice-principal, fifty-two certified teachers, twenty-six teaching assistants, and thirty support staff. There are traditional classrooms, bilingual classrooms, teachers of English to speakers of other languages (ESOL), self-contained special education classes, resource rooms, and an intensive reading specialist on hand.

Perkins Elementary School was identified by the New York State Education Department as a School Under Registration Review (SURR) in 2008 based on the performance of its fourth grade students on the English language arts assessment.

Event Title and Theme

The Family Literacy Event that Perkins Elementary School is sponsoring this year is titled Reading Under the Big Top. For this event, we are going to transform our gymnasium into a larger than life experience for the children and parents. We will have concession stands and small circus tents set up under which a variety of fun reading, writing and comprehension activities will be available for the students and their parents to participate in. A highlight of the event will be a visit by the author Bruce Coville.

Targeted Student Group

The family literacy outreach event will be targeting the K-2 classes and their parents. The specific academic needs of this group are varied, but mainly focus on developing skills needed for early reading development, phonemic awareness, developing writing skills, and working on reading comprehension. As part of the overall literacy program that we are launching, we are trying to strengthen the connection between home and school. Many times children bring home activities to parents who have poor literacy skills. This can be both confusing and intimidating to parents. To increase successful interaction between school and home, we are developing our literacy event to include a three-tiered program that the teachers at Perkins Elementary School will be encouraged to use that takes into consideration the needs of low-literate families.

The implementation of the three-tiered program will be used as a follow-up to the literacy event. In order for it to be successful and be consistently used throughout the K-2 classrooms, all teachers will all attend a workshop on this early in the school year.

Committee Members and Responsibilities

LMS - General oversight of event planning, theme development, budget proposals,

development of promotional and registration materials, scheduling, and contact and planning for special guest author, Bruce Coville.

Special Education Teacher - Decoration planning, event facility set-up and necessary

arrangements for Special Education or handicap needs.

ESL Instructor - Decoration planning, event facility set-up, necessary arrangements for

speakers of other languages including, but not limited to: 1. Obtaining a translator for various languages of participating families (request forms included with advanced registration), 2. Ensuring that promotional material, event forms, and various literature is available for necessary languages.

Reading Teacher - Pre-event in school publicity including announcements, readings of

theme oriented vocabulary and literature with students, displays in hallways, etc., PTO contact liaison, and work with LMS and PTO volunteers to distribute promotional materials and registration information.

Kindergarten Teacher - Age appropriate activity planning, planning and oversight of the

Reading Station with Bruce Coville, and planning pre-event projects for all kindergarten classes such as theme related readings and class activities and making decorations for the event to show parents.

First Grade Teacher - Age appropriate activity planning, planning and oversight of the

Comprehension Station and its related activities, and planning pre-event projects for all first grade classes including theme related readings, class activities and poster making for the event to show parents.

Second Grade Teacher - Age appropriate activity planning, planning and oversight of

the Writing Station and its related activities, and planning pre-event projects for all second grade classes including theme related readings, class activities and story writing to show parents at the event.

PTO Parent Volunteers - Food and refreshments, event facility set-up, ensure

promotional material is distributed to all students and their families, collect pre-event registration information, register families at event, prepare and hand out goody bags for students, and babysitting during event, including enlistment of high school volunteer assistants.

Agenda

Reading Under the Big Top will be held on Wednesday, October 7th from 5:30-8:30 pm in the gymnasium of Perkins Elementary School.

Timeline

Date / Task
Week 1 *August 31-September 4 / The committee convenes prior to the start of school to review the event data and time and to coordinate roles and responsibilities, Bruce Coville’s availability and participation is confirmed, the committee brainstorms ideas for activities for before, during, and after the event, and print promotional flyers and post around the school.
Week 2 *September 7-11 / The event is highlighted at Back To School Night where flyers are distributed to parents and children, reserve and place deposits on tents and food carts, order home literacy kits and goody bag supplies, and solicit local businesses for door prize donations.
Week 3 * September 14-18 / Introduce the circus theme into the classroom curriculum, begin reading and writing exercises based on the circus theme and the books from the Family Literacy Night reading list, identify volunteers for event night babysitting assistance, and finalize the event agenda and brochure and translate into Spanish.
Week 4 *September 21-25 / Continue incorporating the reading and writing exercises into lessons, involve the children in creating theme-related artwork, exhibits, and event signage and decoration, and print English and Spanish event brochures.
Week 5 *September 28-Ocbtober 2 / Continue incorporating the reading, writing, and artwork exercises into lessons, mail the event brochure to pre-registered attendees, complete all activity worksheets and support materials, decorations, and signage, and put together children’s goody bags.
October 5th / Re-confirm the event with Bruce Coville and decorate the library and gymnasium with student artwork, and post exhibits.
October 6th / Pick up/purchase food, receive delivery of tents and carts, install in gymnasium, arrange tables and chairs, and collect activity materials and registration forms.`
Day of Event
October 7th
4:30 – Arrival of all volunteers. LMS holds meeting before arrival of students, go over last minute instructions to all volunteers.
5:15 – Parents and students begin to arrive. Volunteers start food prep and open carts.
5:30 – Registration. Attendees register, are given the survey and goody bag. Introduction by Principal.
6:00 – Bruce Coville reading from Sarah’s Unicorn.
6:15 – Q & A with Bruce Coville.
Activity 1 Commences. Parents and students are instructed to follow the directions on their brochure inserts- the first letter of their last name determines which tent they go to first. More Q & A with Bruce Coville is available at the Bookmark Design activity. / 7:00 – Activity 2 commences.
7:30 – Activity 3 commences.
8:00 – An announcement will be made that it is the last call to turn in surveys with the raffle on the back for an autographed copy of one of Bruce Coville’s books.
8:15 – While the surveys are being placed into one container, free books and gift certificates are given away.
8:20-8:25 – Bruce Coville will draw the winning survey and the student will be able to pick the Bruce Coville book of his or her choice for the author to sign.
8:30 – Family Literacy Night concludes. Parents and students leave the gymnasium.

K-2 Activities for the Family Literacy Night

Writing Activities

Alpha Dough: This is an activity geared towards the Kindergarten and first grade

students. According to Duffelmeyer (2002), giving students the chance to interact with letters in variety of mediums helps to build letter recognition fluency. An important first step in learning to read and write is to be able to recognize letters by name and be able to form the shapes. This lesson gives practice in both areas, plus it is a great sensory activity.

Materials: Large laminated letter cards (upper and lower case), tub of play dough.

Process: A) Group leader shows various letter cards and asks for children to help identify

them. B) Group leader demonstrates how to take a letter card and use the dough to shape the letter on top of the card. C) Students and parents are allowed to take cards and practice making various letters.

Collaborative Stories: This activity can be used by all grades at the literacy event. Often the most difficult part of writing is developing ideas and getting started with the first sentence. This group process is wonderful because it supports less proficient writers by letting them contribute their ideas without being overwhelmed by the chore of creating each sentence on their own. (Clemens, 1999).

Materials: Chart paper, crayons, and markers.

Process: A) The group leader will review a popular story that is covered in the K-2

curriculum. Different story elements will be reviewed briefly like characters, conflict and resolution, setting, etc. B) The leader will ask for volunteers to contribute characters, setting, and a conflict. C) Using the chart paper, the leader will ask for volunteers to contribute to the story line by line. D) After the short story is completed, volunteers will be called on to help illustrate the story.

3. You’ve Got Mail: “Young writers need time and opportunity to use their developing skills in functional, realistic, non-artificial ways.” (Cambourne, 1988). In this activity, students will get a chance to write a note to a classmate, teacher, or administrator.

Materials: Writing paper, envelopes, pencils, stickers, cardboard mailbox.

Process: A) When students enter this station they will be guided to write a short note or letter to a classmate, teacher, or administrator. B) Using the materials provided the students will write a note, place in an envelope, put the person’s name on the envelope, and then deposit the letter in the cardboard mailbox. C) On the next school day the notes will be delivered to the appropriate people.

Reading Activities

Author Reading- A reading by Bruce Coville of one of his books, Sarah's Unicorn.
Q & A with Author- A brief question and answer period will follow the reading by the author.
Bookmark Design- Students will create a bookmark based upon their perception of the Bruce Coville reading.

Materials- Plain bookmark shapes (4"x12") cut from poster board by committee

member previous to event, hole punch, scissors, crayons, pencils, stickers, construction paper, and glue sticks.

Process- Students and parents will use provided materials to recreate a scene,

character, or illustration from the story on the bookmark. Students will be reminded of their reading experience with the author each time they read and will be able to recreate and re-imagine the story as they wish.

Reading Comprehension Activities

The reading comprehension activity will include group reading, sentence completion, and story line sequencing based on the book "Olivia Saves the Circus" by Ian Falconer.

Materials - one copy of the referenced book, 8'1/2" x 11" paper, pencils
Process - A) The group leader will show the book cover, reading the book title, and ask

the students and parents to describe what they think the story is about. For example, why does the circus need to be saved, and how does Olivia do it? The group leader will continue with reading the story and asking questions at strategic points to lead the audience in a discussion of story predictions. B) The group leader provides each family with several sheets of paper on which are images from the book just read and corresponding sentences with several missing letters and/or words. [Spanish language sheets will also be available.] The children and parents work together to fill in the missing information and complete the sentences. C) Once each family has completed the sentences, they arrange the sheets in the order in which the scenes occur in the story.

Attendance Incentive

Attendance for the Family Literacy Night will be encouraged by a combination of exciting promotional materials, a guest speaker, free items, and support services. The promotional materials feature bright colors and circus-theme graphics to reinforce that, although this is a school sponsored event, it is intended to be fun. The guest speaker, Bruce Coville, is a well-known author whose participation lends a prominence to the event that may be enticing to the parents. Free items provided at the event include food, balloons for the kids, door prizes of books and gift certificates, a home literacy kit for each family, and a goody bag of school supplies for each child. The support services provided at the event include babysitting services and Spanish language support.

Attendance Estimate

Perkins Elementary School has about 210 students in the target K-2 range for the Family Literacy Night. Since all students will not be able to attend the event, we have based our preliminary estimate at 175 students. In addition, we anticipate 200 adults will be attending with their children. This figure takes into account that, although some students will attend with both parents, in some cases the parent(s) have more than one child participating. We are further estimating that the ratio of primary English and Spanish speakers is 50/50 based on the schools demographic.

How the Event Will Be Publicized

The reading teacher will be responsible for promoting the event in school. Flyers, book displays and author displays will be set up in the K-2 classrooms and hallways of the school, the cafeteria, the library, offices and the gym. The event will also be promoted to the students ahead of time by the reading teacher and grade teachers with various theme related literature, activities, vocabulary and projects to show parents at the event. Publication materials and event details will be sent home with students and given to parents at Back to School Night.

Evaluation Method

Paper surveys will be given along with the registration materials. The volunteers will tell the parents about the surveys upon registration. The parents will also be told of the raffle on the back of the survey, which is for an autographed copy of one of Bruce Coville's books. Survey drop boxes will be placed at registration and at each individual activity. Bruce Coville will pick the winner and then the surveys will be taken for assessment.

Follow-Up Activities

The instructional plan follows three basic steps and allows for flexibility of materials while still adhering to a consistent format. According to Smith and Elish-Piper (2002), this three-tiered model can be used by teachers to help prepare students to share

their take-home reading activities with their parents or caregivers. The three steps are as follows:

Step 1: Preparation (This will be done over the course of 2-3 lessons.)

A. Choose a story or poem for students to read.

B. Prepare some questions that will generate interesting class discussions.

C. Read the selection to students.

D. Distribute printed versions of the story. Instruct students to echo read the selection (repeating one or two lines of the story after the teacher reads it).

E. In small groups, students will choral read (two or more students at a time) the selection.

Step 2: Plan a take-home activity

A. Give each student a journal. Place questions for students and adults in the front of the journal. Both students and parents should be instructed to answer the questions.