How to Host a Family Reading Night at School

This post originally appeared on the blog Buzzing with Mrs. B.

Every yr, my school hosts a Family Literacy Night event. Information technology's ane of the things we exercise to bring parents into the schoolhouse for a fun evening of stress-gratis learning.

Recently, I was talking to one of my friends who is new to coaching, and she asked me, "What'south the Get-go thing you practise when you plan a family night?" It took me a petty thinking, merely I think I've narrowed down my family night planning to 11 easy steps! I know that sounds ridiculous, but I wanted everything to exist very clear.

To start with, let'southward institute that family nights are a nifty manner to bring in the community. Get your parents involved in learning nigh the things your kids are working on every mean solar day!

Some parents are very hesitant to visit schools; peculiarly those parents who don't speak the language of the school or who have little educational experience (or poor educational experiences) themselves. It'due south a stressful state of affairs for many parents. Family Dark events are a depression-cardinal way to have parents participate at any level they can.

Hither is the process I follow when I program a family unit night for whatsoever content area (literacy, math, etc.)

one. Decide on your purpose.

Possible purposes:

• To engage families in fun activities at school to help them enjoy the fourth dimension they spend in that location.
• To teach families easy things they tin exercise to help their kids at home.
• To help families create activities they tin exercise at dwelling house.
• To inform families about didactics on your campus or in your country.
• To aid families learn and think about their future plans for their child's didactics.

The purpose you have will determine the kinds of activities families participate in!

2. Choose a theme.

Parents love a expert theme! And it actually helps when yous're thinking of fun means to approach the activities.

Themes I've done in the past include…

• Dreaming about the futurity
• Our time to come'south so bright
• Camping
• Superheroes
• Pirates
• Movies
• And the latest: Space!

Why not? I know one small company who provides bags for each family (just simple colorful plastic party bags), and nosotros've had our loftier schoolhouse and academy provide items for prizes. A local organisation that provides free books to kids often donates books so each one of our kids can leave with a new book! Which leads me to my next point…

4. Incentivize information technology!

How will you lot incentivize attendance? At our school, every kid who attends a family night event gets a "Free Dress Pass" when they leave. This ways they can vesture free dress rather than the uniform the next twenty-four hour period. You could as well do a "No Homework Pass."

Food is too a great incentive. For our Family Dream Night at the terminate of the yr, every instructor brings a bag of hot dog buns and a package of hot dogs. Our admin pitches in to go the rest. The coaches grill everything up and we give out i to each person that night! Huge turnout every year!

Another fun style to incentivize is to host contests. For our Coil Out the Red Carpet theme, we had kids and parents design a candy bar wrapper. One winner from each grade level won a movie night basket full of popcorn, processed, and sodas for a movie night! Our parents become pretty competitive, and so this is a fun way to get them to participate!

v. Think of the experiences you desire kids to have with their parents.

I unremarkably approach these as stations. Stations are an piece of cake way to brand sure that there'southward something for anybody to practice and people don't spend too much time waiting for an activeness.

To get started, I recall well-nigh the different kinds of things I'd like kids to practice with their parents, normally considering the literacy domains: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. (Then I add the other important one: creating!) For example, when I'm planning a literacy night, I desire families to do the following things:

Write something creative together:

• Brand a fun game they can play at home to practice accuracy
• Read something together to practice fluency
• Play an interactive game
• Brand a fun craft to get them talking and develop creativity and oral linguistic communication
• Make a snack while following a procedural text – our people show upwards when nosotros feed them!
• And obviously, read, read, read!!

I commonly end up with about six-7 stations. Each station needs near 2-four people to man information technology. Manifestly, crafts and snacks take a few more people than something elementary like reading.

six. Figure out staffing.

I send out an e-mail to teachers well-nigh three-four weeks before a family effect asking who will attend. On our campus, teachers rotate, taking turns coming to our Family Math Night and Family Literacy Night. Everyone comes to Dream Board Dark at the cease of the twelvemonth.

Teachers answer to my electronic mail and I outset identifying who will work at each station. Afterwards I have everything figured out, I send anybody an email explaining where they will get that evening and what time they should go far. I usually endeavor to continue grade levels together, to give people time with their closest buddies, but sometimes we mix it up out of necessity!

 

seven. Program & build your stations.

What will each of these things look like? Expect to your theme for inspiration! An easy way to find ideas is to spend some time googling "pirate word list" or "superhero give-and-take list". Hunt on Pinterest for ideas related to your theme that y'all could integrate into a station.

After you know what stations you desire, create materials for each station. These include the directions, which I impress out and brand into posters, and any handouts or graphic organizers people volition need to participate in the activities.

viii. Make a map.

I map out the areas I will be using for Family Night. We use the front end entry in the school for bag and book distribution, the scientific discipline lab for the snack station, the gym for several stations, and the cafeteria for several more. Noisy activities should exist separated from quiet activities; messy activities need an piece of cake-to-clean space. I try to recollect about the menses of traffic and how we're going to become people to motility from infinite to space.

I provide the map to the custodians who assist me past setting up the tables, chairs, etc. It's besides useful to aid me remember how to set up the tables the afternoon of the event and to direct teachers to the right spot.

9. Make a list of materials you lot need.

Gauge the number of people and then examine your stations. How many of each textile will you need for that many people? Make a list with quantities. If y'all need to buy information technology, buy information technology! If yous need to make it, go far!

Sort all of your materials. To organize your snacks, it helps to provide each student with a little bag of everything they'll need. I as well make a sample of each station activity to assistance teachers, kids, and parents know what they're expected to do at that place.

10. Organize everything on a cart.

This is a lifesaver. Instead of having boxes and piles everywhere, I set everything up on a multi-level cart. For example, everything I demand for my outset station (sentence strips, crayons, and pencils) go on the summit level of the cart with a sticky note that says "Station I".

This makes setup a breeze. I wheel the cart down to the gym and cafeteria, and pull things off my cart as I become to the correct spot!

11. Send out invitations!

A week earlier the outcome, I send an invitation out to each student on colored newspaper. We announce information technology every day over the announcements, and nosotros put information technology on the marquee as well. You could besides send out a half-sail the mean solar day before the event to remind parents.

I also put together a handy-dandy video, showing you the different types of stations that I create for family unit nights and giving you some tips for setting up your own effect!

Here'due south a video I made that walks you through the steps I've outlined in this blog post!

HAVE FUN!

***

Chrissy Beltran is an elementary school instructional double-decker who spends her school days working with teachers to appoint their students in quality reading and writing experiences, and her evenings creating resource to support teachers in planning and delivering exciting lessons! She also makes time for a handful of hobbies: reading, gardening, walking the dogs, and teasing her husband. Check out Chrissy'south TpT store, blog, Facebook, and Instagram for more pedagogy ideas (with an occasional side of sass).

pardoyousintor.blogspot.com

Source: https://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/11-steps-awesome-family-night-event/

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