Since I began my work as a media specialist after fourteen years as a classroom teacher, I’ve been promoting literacy through the lessons I teach both to the students and teachers at our small rural school in Randolph County, North Carolina (serving 482 students in Pre-K through 5th grade). I knew, though, that I was missing an important group of stakeholders for our school: our parents. Understanding the importance of parental involvement in the development of reading skills, I created a new outreach program called “Family Afternoon Reading Fun” for parents and students in PreK-2^nd grade.

We are a Title I school, which requires us to host a certain number of parent events “to provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement” (U.S. Department of Education 2004). These sessions are usually focused on math, reading, and/or learning about new federal programs. I designed the outreach program to align with the Title I requirements and the mission of our school, which is to grow students in a caring environment where every student and every minute counts. The program consists of hour-long afternoon sessions that start off with me or a guest reader reading a couple of books centered on a favorite author or character. Then we move into literacy centers for the parents and children to enjoy together. These centers include puppet making, sequencing, drawing and writing, readers’ theatre, fluency practice, and more. Here, I’ll share my process of planning and hosting my first session, with some tips for starting a reading outreach program at your school.

Planning the Event

To decide on the first theme, I used circulation data of favorite picture books. Pete the Cat, an all-time favorite character of this age group in my media center made the top 10 books checked out during the months leading up to the event, so Pete the Cat seemed a good choice for our first event.

I wanted to talk to the parents not only about reading with their children but also sharing activities to support reading comprehension. Wanting to make sure that the activities that I planned were centered around what the students needed, I went to the kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers and had informal vertical planning sessions with them. I decided to have three stations, each designed so that parents could duplicate the activities at home:

Station 1: Retell

• Create a Pete the Cat paper bag puppet
• Children retell the story to their parents as Pete the Cat

Station 2: Sequence

• Using pictures of the story, place in the correct order to show what happened

Station 3: Writing and Predicting

• Create original page of the story predicting what would happen to Pete’s shoes if he stepped into various things (following the events of the original, where Pete steps in strawberries, blueberries, and other things)
• Contribute a page to a group flip book called “We Love Our Shoes”

The Event

About forty students and twenty-five parents attended our first afterschool event. I wanted the students to really get excited about being there so I dressed up as Pete the Cat. I welcomed the parents and took the first couple of minutes to show them the electronic resources on our school web page for ideas for reading activities at home.

I then turned my attention to the students and we did a shared reading of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. The students read and sang the story with me. After reading the book, I explained the stations to the students. During this time I also explained to the parents each station’s reading strategy and how they could duplicate the practice at home. As the activities began, the media center was buzzing with creativity and excitement. The puppet-making station was by far the favorite of the students and parents alike. Watching them design their Pete the Cat puppets and then retell the story made the entire event worthwhile! The students and parents moved through the stations at their own pace.

Responses to Reading Event

As parents were leaving they were asked to complete a survey. The verbal and written responses were encouraging. Here are some quotes from the afternoon.

• We had lots of fun. Mrs. Mitchell put together a great program. We look forward to the next one. –Kindergarten parent
• Thank you for including everyone. It was a treat for brothers and sisters to be included. –Kindergarten parent
• Mrs. Mitchell I had so much fun yesterday. When are we doing this again? – First grader

Useful Tips in Creating Literacy Events

To start an event like this at your school, planning with administration is crucial. Avoid schedule conflicts with other events so that more families can participate. You also will have the chance to have more teachers volunteering to help. Reach out to your public library and see if they would like to participate in the event, as connections between the school library and the public library are another way to promote literacy for our students.

Another important part is to reach out to all families in your school. Make sure that all staff understands what the event will be about and when it will be so they can answer questions if you are not available. They will also be able to help promote it. Ask the ELL teachers and/or translators to reach out to the ELL population at your school.

If your school has an electronic message system through email or phone, promote the event as much as possible so that it will stay on the minds of parents and students. Send RSVP fliers home with students several weeks before to help in the planning of materials needed. The week before the event, send a reminder home with any last-minute information that might be needed. On site, have handouts that will offer parents tips on how to help their child with reading at home, and emphasize the importance of regular reading together.

Works Cited:

Litwin, Eric, and James Dean. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. Harper, 2010.

U.S. Department of Education. "Parental Involvement: Title I, Part A Non-Regulatory Guidance." http://www2.ed.gov/. April 23, 2004. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/parentinvguid.pdf.