Family Reading Night

(Better late than never)
Back on November14th , yes THREE months ago, my school held Family Reading Night.  Students and their families return to school for 2 hours of fun!
Each family was separated into one of four color coded groups and provided a schedule.  Each family attended the following events:

Meet the author:

This year we had author Wendy Pfeffer come speak with the families.  Ms. Pfeffer is the award winning author of over 48 children's books.  When looking for authors, I asked Wendy Pfeffer to come to help inspire students to read more non-fiction, Common Core related books. In Kindergarten the students all read "Sounds All Around" and "From Seed to Pumpkin" during their curriculum.  This year, second grade added her beautiful book, "Life In the Coral Reef" to their curriculum after learning about her visit.

Her visit was full of stories about how she writes, specific stories about her inspiration, and so much more.  Wendy Pfeffer was homely and listening to her speak was like listening to a family member tell a story that you are personally connected too.  Parents and students both loved hearing her speak and many had books signed at the end.  She hand wrote little notes to each child.  It was very nice of her.

Family Reading:

During the night, parents and students stop in the library to read together.  This is a great opportunity for students to show their parents our beautiful library and read their favorite books.  As a "reward" for coming, families are able to check out an additional library book beyond their usual circulation allowance.

Music and Storytelling:
One stop is in the music room.  This year our music teacher stayed and sang songs with the students and their families.  It is fun to go down to the music room and see the students excited to sing along with students of different grade levels.  This year the students sang and looked at pictures for an eye-spy interactive adventure.

Art Room:
Every year our art teacher develops an art project that relates to the visiting authors books.  Students love to stop in the art room and go home with something they created that night.