Family Literacy Event Proposal
Submitted by:
Erin Melissa Butler
Elizabeth Hoffman-Lohmeyer
Janice Murray
&
Jean Marie Swalley
July 2009
IST 668
Literacy Through School Libraries
Dr. Renee E. Franklin
Syracuse University

Literacy Event Proposal 2
Perkins Elementary School is operated by the Syracuse City School District in central New York. The school serves approximately 420 students in kindergarten through grade five. This west Syracuse community is characterized by poverty and a relatively high crime rate. In fact, this community was once deemed the twelfth poorest community in the nation. Because of these factors, the school community has tended to function as an extended family.
Perkins Elementary School is located in a residential neighborhood with older homes that are situated very close together. There is very little open space for the children to play, with the exception of a nearby park.
The student body is comprised of about 50 percent Hispanics and about 40 percent African-Americans. Nearly 90 percent of the students are from low income families. Thirty-four percent of the students are identified as students with disabilities, with 9 percent of them being served in self-contained special education classes. Nearly 34 percent of the children were designated as being limited in the English language.
The school is staffed by one principal, one vice-principal, fifty-two certified teachers, twenty-six teaching assistants, and thirty support staff. There are traditional classrooms, bilingual classrooms, teachers of English to speakers of other languages (ESOL), selfcontained special education classes, resource rooms, and an intensive reading specialist on hand.
Perkins Elementary School was identified by the New York State Education
Department as a School Under Registration Review (SURR) in 2008 based on the performance of its fourth grade students on the English language arts assessment.

Literacy Event Proposal 3
The Family Literacy Event that Perkins Elementary School is sponsoring this year is titled Reading Under the Big Top . For this event, we are going to transform our gymnasium into a larger than life experience for the children and parents. We will have concession stands and small circus tents set up under which a variety of fun reading, writing and comprehension activities will be available for the students and their parents to participate in. A highlight of the event will be a visit by the author Bruce Coville.
The family literacy outreach event will be targeting the K-2 classes and their parents. The specific academic needs of this group are varied, but mainly focus on developing skills needed for early reading development, phonemic awareness, developing writing skills, and working on reading comprehension.
As part of the overall literacy program that we are launching, we are trying to strengthen the connection between home and school. Many times children bring home activities to parents who have poor literacy skills. This can be both confusing and intimidating to parents. To increase successful interaction between school and home, we are developing our literacy event to include a three-tiered program that the teachers at
Perkins Elementary School will be encouraged to use that takes into consideration the needs of low-literate families.
The implementation of the three-tiered program will be used as a follow-up to the literacy event. In order for it to be successful and be consistently used throughout the K-2 classrooms, all teachers will attend a workshop on this early in the school year.

Literacy Event Proposal 4
LMS - General oversight of event planning, theme development, budget proposals, development of promotional and registration materials, scheduling, and contact and planning for special guest author, Bruce Coville.
Special Education Teacher - Decoration planning, event facility set-up and necessary arrangements for Special Education or handicap needs.
ESL Instructor - Decoration planning, event facility set-up, necessary arrangements for speakers of other languages including, but not limited to: 1. Obtaining a translator for various languages of participating families (request forms included with advanced registration), 2. Ensuring that promotional material, event forms, and various literature is available for necessary languages.
Reading Teacher - Pre-event in school publicity including announcements, readings of theme oriented vocabulary and literature with students, displays in hallways, etc.,
PTO contact liaison, and work with LMS and PTO volunteers to distribute promotional materials and registration information.
Kindergarten Teacher - Age appropriate activity planning, planning and oversight of the
Reading Station with Bruce Coville, and planning pre-event projects for all kindergarten classes such as theme related readings and class activities and making decorations for the event to show parents.
First Grade Teacher - Age appropriate activity planning, planning and oversight of the
Comprehension Station and its related activities, and planning pre-event projects for all first grade classes including theme related readings, class activities and poster making for the event to show parents.
Second Grade Teacher - Age appropriate activity planning, planning and oversight of the Writing Station and its related activities, and planning pre-event projects for all second grade classes including theme related readings, class activities and story writing to show parents at the event.
PTO Parent Volunteers - Food and refreshments, event facility set-up, ensure promotional material is distributed to all students and their families, collect preevent registration information, register families at event, prepare and hand out goody bags for students, and babysitting during event, including enlistment of high school volunteer assistants.
Reading Under the Big Top will be held on Wednesday, October 7th from 5:30-
8:30 pm in the gymnasium of Perkins Elementary School.

Literacy Event Proposal 5
Date Task
Week 1 *August 31 - September 4
Week 2 *September 7 - 11
Week 3 *September 14 - 18
Week 4 *September 21 - 25
Week 5 *September 28 - October 2
October 5th
The Committee convenes prior to the start of school to review the event date and time and to coordinate roles and responsibilities,
Bruce Coville's availability and participation is confirmed, the
Committee brainstorms ideas for activities for before, during, and after the event, and print promotional flyers and post around the school.
The event is highlighted at Back To School Night, and flyers are distributed to parents and children, reserve and place deposits on tents and food carts, order home literacy kits and goody bag supplies, and solicit local businesses for door prize donations.
Introduce the circus theme into the classroom curriculum, begin reading and writing exercises based on the circus theme and the books from the Family Literacy Night reading list, identify volunteers for event night babysitting assistance, and finalize the event agenda and brochure, and translate into Spanish.
Continue incorporating the reading and writing exercises into lessons, involve the children in creating theme-related artwork, exhibits, and event signage and decoration, and print English and
Spanish event brochures.
Continue incorporating the reading, writing, and artwork exercises into lessons, mail the event brochure to pre-registered attendees, complete all activity worksheets and support materials, decorations, and signage, and put together children's goody bags.
Confirm the event with Bruce Coville and decorate the library and gymnasium, and post exhibits.
October 6th Purchase food, receive delivery of tents and carts, and install in gymnasium, arrange tables and chairs, and collect activity materials and registration forms.
Day of Event
October 7th
4:30 - Arrival of all volunteers. LMS holds meeting before arrival of students, going over last minute instructions to all volunteers.
7:30 - Activity 3 commences.
8:00 - An announcement will be made that it is the last call to turn in surveys with the raffle on the back for an autographed copy of one of Bruce Coville's books. 5:15 - Parents and students beginning to arrive.
Volunteers start food prep and open carts when done.
5:30 - The registration desk opens. Attendees register,
8:15 - While the surveys are being placed into one

Literacy Event Proposal 6 are given the survey and goody bag. Introduction by
Principal Welsh. container, free books and gift certificates are given away.
6:00 - Bruce Coville reading from Sarah's Unicorn.
8:20 - 8:25 Bruce Coville will draw the winning survey and the student will be able to pick the Bruce Coville book of his or her choice for the author to sign.
6:15 - Q & A with Bruce Coville.
6:30 - Activity 1 commences. Parents and students are instructed to follow the directions on their brochure inserts the first letter of their last name determines which tent they go to. More Q & A time with Bruce
Coville is available at the Bookmark Design activity.
8:30 - Family Literacy Night concludes. Parents and students leave the gymnasium.
7:00 - Activity 2 commences.
Writing Activities
1.
Alpha Dough: This is an activity geared towards the Kindergarten and first grade students. According to Duffelmeyer (2002), giving students the chance to interact with letters in variety of mediums helps to build letter recognition fluency. An important first step in learning to read and write is to be able to recognize letters by name and be able to form the shapes. This lesson gives practice in both areas, plus it is a great sensory activity.
Materials: Large laminated letter cards (upper and lower case), tub of play dough.
Process: A) Group leader shows various letter cards and asks for children to help identify them. B) Group leader demonstrates how to take a letter card and use the dough to shape the letter on top of the card. C) Students and parents are allowed to take cards and practice making various letters.
2.
Collaborative Stories: This activity can be used by all grades at the literacy event. Often the most difficult part of writing is developing ideas and getting started with the first sentence. This group process is wonderful because it supports less proficient writers by letting them contribute their ideas without being overwhelmed by the chore of creating each sentence on their own. (Clemens,
1999).
Materials: Chart paper, crayons, and markers.
Process: A) The group leader will review a popular story that is covered in the K-2

Literacy Event Proposal 7 curriculum. Different story elements will be reviewed briefly like characters, conflict and resolution, setting, etc. B) The leader will ask for volunteers to contribute characters, setting, and a conflict. C) Using the chart paper, the leader will ask for volunteers to contribute to the story line by line. D) After the short story is completed, volunteers will be called on to help illustrate the story.
3. You’ve Got Mail: “Young writers need time and opportunity to use their developing skills in functional, realistic, non-artificial ways.” (Cambourne, 1988).
In this activity, students will get a chance to write a note to a classmate, teacher, or administrator.
Materials: Writing paper, envelopes, pencils, stickers, cardboard mailbox.
Process: A) When students enter this station they will be guided to write a short note or letter to a classmate, teacher, or administrator. B) Using the materials provided the students will write a note, place in an envelope, put the person’s name on the envelope, and then deposit the letter in the cardboard mailbox. C) On the next school day the notes will be delivered to the appropriate people.
Reading Activities
1.
Author Reading - A reading by Bruce Coville of one of his books, Sarah's
Unicorn.
2.
Q & A with Author - A brief question and answer period will follow the reading by the author.
3.
Bookmark Design - Students will create a bookmark based upon their perception of the Bruce Coville reading.
Materials - Plain bookmark shapes (4"x12") cut from poster board by committee member previous to event, hole punch, scissors, crayons, pencils, stickers, construction paper, and glue sticks.
Process - Students and parents will use provided materials to recreate a scene, character, or illustration from the story on the bookmark. Students will be reminded of their reading experience with the author each time they read and will be able to recreate and re-imagine the story as they wish.

Literacy Event Proposal 8
Reading Comprehension Activities
The reading comprehension activity will include group reading, sentence completion, and story line sequencing based on the book "Olivia Saves the Circus" by Ian Falconer.
Materials - one copy of the referenced book, 8'1/2" x 11" paper, pencils
Process - A) The group leader will show the book cover, reading the book title, and ask the students and parents to describe what they think the story is about. For example, why does the circus need to be saved, and how does Olivia do it? The group leader will continue with reading the story and asking questions at strategic points to lead the audience in a discussion of story predictions. B) The group leader provides each family with several sheets of paper on which are images from the book just read and corresponding sentences with several missing letters and/or words. [Spanish language sheets will also be available.] The children and parents work together to fill in the missing information and complete the sentences. C) Once each family has completed the sentences, they arrange the sheets in the order in which the scenes occur in the story.
Attendance for the Family Literacy Night will be encouraged by a combination of exciting promotional materials, a guest speaker, free items, and support services. The promotional materials feature bright colors and circus-theme graphics to reinforce that, although this is a school sponsored event, it is intended to be fun. The guest speaker,
Bruce Coville, is a well-known author whose participation lends a prominence to the event that may be enticing to the parents. Free items provided at the event include food, balloons for the kids, door prizes of books and gift certificates, a home literacy kit for each family, and a goody bag of school supplies for each child. The support services provided at the event include babysitting services and Spanish language support.

Literacy Event Proposal 9
Perkins Elementary School has about 210 students in the target K-2 range for the
Family Literacy Night. Since all students will not be able to attend the event, we have based our preliminary estimate at 150 students. In addition, we anticipate 200 adults will be attending with their children. This figure takes into account that, although some students will attend with both parents, in some cases the parent(s) have more than one child participating. We are further estimating that the ratio of primary English and
Spanish speakers is 50/50 based on the school’s demographic.
The reading teacher will be responsible for promoting the event in school. Flyers, book displays and author displays will be set up in the K-2 classrooms and hallways of the school, the cafeteria, the library, offices and the gym. The event will also be promoted to the students ahead of time by the reading teacher and grade teachers with various theme related literature, activities, vocabulary and projects to show parents at the event. Publication materials and event details will be sent home with students and given to parents at Back to School Night.
Paper surveys will be given along with the registration materials. The volunteers will tell the parents about the surveys upon registration. The parents will also be told of the raffle on the back of the survey, which is for an autographed copy of one of Bruce
Coville's books. Survey drop boxes will be placed at registration and at each individual activity. Bruce Coville will pick the winner and then the surveys will be taken for assessment.

Literacy Event Proposal 10
The instructional plan follows three basic steps and allows for flexibility of materials while still adhering to a consistent format. According to Smith and Elish-Piper
(2002), this three-tiered model can be used by teachers to help prepare students to share their take-home reading activities with their parents or caregivers. The three steps are preparation, planning a take-home activity, and sharing their experiences.
The first step, preparation, is done over the course of 2-3 lessons. A story or poem is chosen for the students to read. The teacher prepares some questions that will generate interesting class discussions. The story is then read to the class. After the students are given printed versions of the story, an echo reading exercise is conducted by the teacher
(repeating one or two lines of the story after the teacher reads it. Finally, students will choral read (two or more students at a time) the selection.
The second step is planning a take home activity. Each student is given a journal where questions are included for both parents and students. The journal is taken home along with the story or poem. The students will read the story to their parents and they will answer the questions together. Responses can be written (in English or their native language) or drawn. The teacher should take care in modeling how to answer the questions before the students take this home.
The last step is for the students to share their experiences with their teacher and classmates. The discussion can help the teacher assess whether or not the students benefited from the activity so that future take-home activities can be implemented.

Literacy Event Proposal 11
Students will be provided with incentives to continue the skills development introduced during Family Literacy Night at home. Students and parents will be asked to track the books that they read together as a family on the back of their bookmarks. Once students have ten books recorded on the back of their bookmark, they will bring it in to show their teachers. Students completing ten books from the recommended Family
Literacy reading list by the February 1st deadline will be treated to a pizza party on
Friday, February 26th.
In addition, every family that attends the event will be provided with a home literacy kit to continue their literacy skills development at home. Both English and bilingual kits will be purchased from Hoopoe Books, and will include the following: 1.
The book "The Lion Who Saw Himself in the Water" by Idries Shah. 2. A CD reading of the book, both with and without page-turn signals. 3. A newsletter with activities related to the book for parents to do with the children at home. 4. A list of guidelines on how parents can promote literacy. 5. A questionnaire for providing feedback to the school.
Approximately half of the $5,000 budget for Family Literacy Night was set aside for materials directly related to supporting literacy skills development, including the activity supplies, home literacy kits, journals, and school supplies for the children. Since getting the children and parents enthused about participating in this and future literacy events is a high priority, we allotted a significant portion of the budget (around $1500) for exciting and fun circus-theme decorations and promotional materials and a prominent

Literacy Event Proposal 12 guest speaker. The remainder of the budget was used for the purchase of food and the rental of the hot dog and popcorn carts. The books, gift certificates, or other prizes distributed at the event will be donations by local businesses. In addition, support services for manning the registration desk, food stations, and babysitting center will be provided by volunteers.
Food &
Drink
Decorations
Speaker
Literacy
Materials
Prizes
(Donated)
Promotional
Materials
Item Description
[for 150 children, 200 parents, 20 staff]
Popcorn Machine - Old Fashioned Cart (one day)
Popcorn and Oil Combo (serves up to 400)
Popcorn Bags (100)
Hot Dog Cart (one day)
Hot Dogs/Buns (donated by local grocery)
Soda, Ice, Condiments (per person)
Paper Plates, Cups, Utensils, Napkins (per person)
Follow-Up Pizza Party (Feb. 26th - per child)
Quantity Cost per item
1
1
4
1
500
370
370
75
$94
$45
$6.50
$100
$0
$0.75
$0.50
$2.50
Tent Rentals (20' X 20')
Helium Tank Rental - 400 Balloons (one day)
Balloons (50 pack)
Decoration Supplies (streamers, sign materials)
Guest Author Fee
3
1
6
1
1
$285
$150
$12
$100
$200
Goody Bags for Children
Extra Journals (for non-attending children)
Home Literacy Kits (English)
Home Literacy Kits (English-Spanish)
Activity Materials and Supplies - Misc.
Books (Sample from Reading List)
Gift Certificates for Local Bookstores
Flyers and Event Brochures
150
250
75
75
1
10
4
400
$4.50
$1
$10
$10
$100
$0
$0
Total Cos t
$94
$45
$26
$100
$0
$278
$185
$188
$855
$150
$76
$100
$200
$675
$250
$750
$750
$100
$0
$0
$150
Total Cost $4,972

Literacy Event Proposal 13
References
Clemens, S.G. (1999). Editing: Permission to start wrong. Early childhood research and practice.
Volume 1, number 1, Spring. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from http://ecrp.uinc.edu/v1.n1/clemens.html
.
Duffelmeyer, F. (2002). Alphabet activities on the Internet. The Reading Teacher, 55(7),
631-635.
Routman, R. (2000). Conversations: Strategies for teaching, learning, and evaluating.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann.
Smith, M.C. & Elish-Piper, L. (2002). Primary grade educators and adult literacy: Some
strategies for assisting low-literate parents. The Reading Teacher, 56(2), 156-165.