[readerabbit]

Just got word that I am suppose to come up with a family read night for August. Any ideas floating about? This is a new administration so they are game for alot of stuff but at the same time this is a low social eco school. I say that not to offend my good parents but to say limited buget. I know years ago in March we did Dr. Suess. But I think they are wanting something that is totally school wide K-5
We do AR . If that is any help. I would appreicate any thoughts
Thanks!

[Eydie]

We do our Literacy Night during the school year. Each teacher has a game or activity like at a school carnival only reading related. The most popular event is Sight Word Bingo. We teachers pool our scholastic bonus points and get that box of 100 books for 1000 points. We give the books as the bingo prizes.

[Socks]

We had ours in October this year. The kids came back to school in the evening in their pj's. Each grade level was offering a different author. In second grade we did David Shannon. We read a story (How I Became a Pirate), did an activity (this is where the parents got involved), then each child got a David Shannon book (A Bad Case of the Stripes). Then we all met down in our dining room and the principal read everyone a picture book while we enjoyed juice and cookies. We have a scholastic warehouse two streets down from our school and we borrowed their Clifford costume. The little kids really LOVED this (K, 1, and young siblings mostly).

This setup was good for us because we could be very picky about which books we used and they were all appropriate for our grade level. I think first grade did Marc Brown, and I know fourth grade did Roald Dahl. I can't recall the authors the other grades did. It was very successful and lots of fun for the kids and their parents!

[tbsrwilson]

This year my school held Family Friday on the last Friday of the month. It was scheduled for the first half hour of the morning. Parents and/or a relative was invited to come into the rooms and spend a few minutes just reading with their child. Several parents who had more than one child in the school, spent just a few minutes reading w/ each child. No little siblings were supposed to be allowed. It was meant to be just a bit of time focused on reading. It was easy to coordinate and many of the parents and kids looked forward to it.

[Sam5]

My daughter did an awesome one. She is a college student and at the suggestion of a principal she did a "We're Game to Read Night." It was for 3-6th I think. They set up several rooms where someone read a part of a book that used a game in it and then had the kids play the game.

An example was- Chasing Vermeer- played with pentominoes
there is a Laura Ingalls Wilder book about making a checker board- then the kids played checkers


On a different night she did "Wild About Reading." This was for younger kids and they read animal stories and did some crafts.

You might look at Highsmith Publishing. They have a lot of ideas for reading programs. One that might work well for summer is Camp Read A Lot.

[fun_friend]

My kids' elementary school has this kind of night. The kids arrive in pj's and everyone enjoys a light supper of hotdogs and chili. Then the pk-2 go to the media ctr and the 3-5 kids go to the gym. They are read to by guest readers books that are appropriate to their ages. I went in the room with the younger kids now for 2 years. This year the new superintendant read his fave book from childhood. Then an African American woman read a few books by African American authors (it took place during Black History celebrations). This lady was dressed in authentic kente cloth and was great at holding the kids' attention. Then a grandmotherly lady read to them. The kids were starting to get a little antsy about sitting still and being quiet. To culminate the evening, there was a small fire outside and an opportunity for the kids to roast marshmallows and drink cocoa. The fire dept. had a truck and the kids really enjoyed pretending to drive it.

Whatever you do, I hope you will remember that it is a school night and that moms and dads will want to get kids in bed at a reasonable time. I would try to end the activities no later than 8, but to start winding down even earlier.

[buster]

Our school has a "literacy luau." One of our wonderfully "dramatic" teachers performs the story, Where the Wild Things Are, in the gym with a spotlight shining on her. We also served nachos, cookies, and a drink. Each teacher had a powerpoint or center games set up in their classroom to show the parents what skills we are working on in literacy and how they can help at home.