Family+Literacy+&+Reading+Night

We did something like this for a night. How we managed crowd control was to have several stations, when they entered the bldg., I gave them a map with one location highlighted. We asked them to go there first and then they could go where they wanted to go. It worked fairly well. We stacked the maps so that the first 5 people went to A, next 5 to B etc.  would show off what electronic resources you have by incorporate the electronic resources as one of the stations. For the younger kids we have Tumblebooks and for the older kids we have Teaching.net with lots of books for older kids. The parents might ask about the other electronic resources and you could tell them more, give them at home passwords for these and other books.  If you have any ebooks they could access, you could have them access at school and tell how they can access at home. This would pave the way nicely for electronic resources for research!  It could be way fun and educational too!  When Reading Counts was new on our campus, we had a reading night. I had a variety of picture books pulled, from 0 lexile to 800. Parents and kids would read one and then take the test. I set up QUEST accounts for parents with only 5 questions (for time sake). They were SO surprised that they missed someanswers!! Gave them a new appreciation for what the kids did.  I bought cute book marks to give to all that participated. – We’re a PK-6th school  I host a DEAR Night once each semester (I use to do them monthly but quickly wore out) and have done it both ways. I have had the library simply open and the parents and child(ren) pick books and read, last year I had the police chief bring his robot and do a Halloween safety program followed by them getting their picture made with the robot which I simply printed off my color printer and sent home the next day. During pictures they were able to read books. I have had guests come and set up tents and the kids could move from tent to tent and hear stories being read and last year I set up a station where they could make a book of their own and then they could read. I have thought about trying other crafty things like fancy bookmarks, making special Valentine’s for someone, etc. You might even consider letting the older kids read to the younger ones. It is a little more work to do more than just read but I remind myself that we don’t have a public library within 10 miles and many of our parents come here. Take lots of pictures, make a big poster and put out in the hall. Our teachers, students and parents love to stop and look at them each time ( I leave them up all year). I also usually serve simple refreshments like juice and cookies and knock on wood in nine years have only had a couple of spills. My best advice is to do whatever makes it the most enjoyable for you and your kids. Many times when I have thought of discontinuing a student will come up and ask when the next one is and that makes is worth the effort. Have fun! Why don’t you have the classroom teachers either read a story, or showcase a reading strategy that parents can do at home with their kids? Or plan make & take activities associated with the read alouds. The strategies can be framed by large hearts made of construction paper. The stations are the teachers’ classrooms.  Have a finale in the library with a special guest reader(s) and bookmark, or treat the kids take home with them.  Simple, fun, inexpensive and not all on your shoulders. <span style="color: navy; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> please share your list when you get one together. What about showing the parents how to access the K12 databases? <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Diane, I used to coordinate Family Reading Nights at our middle school. We used to have teacher volunteers dress up as characters in selected books. We had stations where the characters would read the book to the kids and parents then they could go test on the book in the library. It was so much fun… One of our elementary librarian’s had a Magic School Bus night ..She had a school bus parked for one of the stations and had a teacher dressed as “Ms. Fritz”(I think that is her name) read the book to kids. The kids loved this! Good Luck! <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> I’ve hosted family reading nights and the extra work is worth it, but you need a team to help you so the responsibility is not all on you. We had a registration table set up so that parents were put into one of 3 or 4 groups, depending on the number of activities we had planned. That was really the hardest part—assuring that the numbers were spread evenly between the groups and everyone had a clear idea of where to start. One room had paired reading, with the parent and child reading a selection together. One room had “Readers Theater,” with parents volunteering for roles and reading to the audience. One room had a storyteller. Because one of your sessions is for older children, scary stories around a pretend campfire would probably substitute for either the paired reading or the storyteller. Each activity was planned for a twenty minute period with a five minute travel period in between. After each group had attended all three sessions they gathered in the cafeteria for punch and cookies. If you happen to have a book fair scheduled for one of the weeks, one of the sessions could be the book fair. We also had a handout at each session: a pencil in one, a sticker that said they had been read to, a note for parents about the advantages of reading aloud to children. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> There was a really good article in a Fall ,2009 issue of BookLinks (I believe) that provided a suggested outline for such a night. If you search for it on the databases with a 09/09 to 12/09 date, I'll be you'll find it. <span style="color: fuchsia; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Although stations can be a lot of work, they give people choices and a variety of experiences. For Valentine theme, try a word hunt station, a computer station where they create a Valentine card. <span style="color: fuchsia; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Another great activity is the Klutz Build-a-book activity (sponsored by Scholastic). You can do your own without them. I have done two and they were resounding successes. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">I think doing stations would be good for the students. I would suggest one station be something they can take home and use again. For example, you have a list of questions printed out on colored paper, such as “Who is the main character?” and “Where does this book take place?” Basically, generic questions that can be used with any book, TV show or movie. Then, you can encourage parents to take them home, and use them any time they read, watch TV, etc. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">You are making a bit more work for yourself, but you can save anything you make and reuse it next year! <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">I have always hosted a Family Reading Night. It is a HUGE success! In fact, it became a well loved tradition and the schools that I have left, continued the tradition. I normally chose a theme and develop stations to go along with the theme. I do try to include some stations that integrate technology and movement (a Book Walk -- like a Cake Walk). I give a sheet that lists the stations and their locations when families walk in the door. Teachers man each station. I do create everything and have the stations ready to go for the teachers. Families can travel to the stations that they wish to go to in any order. (A hint - don't do anything with paint -- they have to walk around holding whatever they created. Wet paint is not fun.) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">In February I always make time in my classes for the kids to make a valentine for their favorite author and then I decorate the library with them. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">You could also have a poetry theme. If you publicize ahead of time, students could read their own poetry or choose their favorite poem from a book. You could introduce it by reading a Dr. Seuss rhyming book that they could test on later, as well. <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> We got a Target grant one year for a literacy project for Family Reading Nights. We bought a lot of teddy bears and and called it "Parents and Pillows, Books and Bears: Family Night at the Li'Bear'y". There were no strings attached...no stations, no requirements, no tests...students just brought their parents (or aunt, uncle, brother, sister, grandparents, etc.) and sat and read to each other snuggled up with pillows and bears. No rules...they could read anything they wanted, come when they could and leave when they wanted. We had refreshments and and had a drawing for a free book at the end of the night. We ran it for several months with some teacher volunteers and it was a big success.<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">