Clifton-Fine Literacy Olympics!

Clifton Fine Central School

Star Lake, NY

Saturday November 13, 2010 9 AM to 1 PM

HAVE FUN READING TOGETHER & TELLING STORIES

MEET AN AUTHOR & READ TO A DOG

GET A FREE GIFT BAG LUNCH INCLUDED

CONTACT [LIBRARIAN NAME] AT

315-444-5555 WITH ANY QUESTIONS

!

Share-A-Story Saturday

Assignment #2: Family Literacy Event Proposal

Group Members: Ginger Tebo, Susanna Hall, Steven Inzer

Saturday, November 13, 2010, 9:00am to 1:00pm

School Description

Clifton-Fine Central School is a small rural school in the northern part of the Adirondack State

Park. Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade is housed in one building. The school has an annual enrollment

of about 342 students, and employs 33 instructional staff. The building recently underwent a major

renovation project, which created a new multipurpose room, fitness room, elementary art room and

several new classrooms out of an unused section near the elementary wing. The school is located in Star

Lake, but also serves the communities of Fine, Oswegatchie, Newton Falls, Cranberry Lake, and

Wanakena. Although the school and hospital have high-speed Internet connections, this type of Internet

access is not available in individual homes, and there is no cell phone service throughout this district. The

school community is predominately Caucasian (95%), and an estimated 51-60% of students are from

families who received public assistance during the 2008-2009 school year. The school is classified as a

rural high-needs school. (New York State Education Department, 2010)

Target Group Description

The target group for this event is students in Pre-Kindergarten to 3rd Grade. There are 134 students

in the target group. In 2009, 96% of Grade 3 students met or exceeded learning standards for the State

assessment test of English Language Arts, and 100% met or exceeded those for Mathematics (New York

State Education Department, 2010). In previous years, literacy had been identified as an area in need of

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improvement, and a school-wide reading incentive program has been very successful for several years

now.

Clifton-Fine hosts an annual Academic Fair, in which the majority of families participate,

particularly at the elementary level. There is also a reading incentive program, which has also helped to

produce a widespread expectation of family involvement. During the 2009-2010 school year, a new

Family Involvement Center was created at the school, staffed by a part time Family Involvement

Coordinator. A Parent-Teacher Organization was also initiated this year.

Event Committee Description

Committee members will meet several times during and after this event, and all committee members will

be present and active during the event itself.

• Library Media Specialist

The librarian will be the Chair of the Event Committee. She will write event proposal and work with the

other members of the committee and the administration to coordinate the event. She will schedule

meetings, secure and communicate with all guests (author, dog trainers, and BOCES contact), and delegate

tasks as needed. In addition, the librarian will be responsible for creating the Survey Monkey

questionnaires and conducting focus group evaluations after the event.

• Family Involvement Coordinator

The Family Involvement Coordinator will collaborate with other members of the committee to design event

workshops that will meet the literacy needs of families. She will secure at least 5 Parent/Guardian

Volunteers for event and coordinate room set up/break down and reminder phone calls to parents.

• Classroom teachers, Pre-K - 3rd grade (9 total)

Teachers will collaborate with other committee members to design event workshops to meet the literacy

needs of students, particularly the students in their homerooms. They will disseminate flyers for event and

include event information in take-home newsletters. In preparation for Mary Amato’s presentation, they

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will use her books in their classrooms and work with students to create questions for the author. During the

event, they will be responsible for facilitating workshops.

• Parent/guardian volunteers, ideally one representing each grade level of target group (5 total)

Parents will collaborate with other members of the committee to design event workshops that are relevant,

fun, and accessible. They will assist the Family Involvement Coordinator with reminder phone calls to

other parents and room set up during the event.

Timeline

Spring 2010Announce plans for this event at Faculty meetingForm Event CommitteeHold an introductory planning meeting

Summer 2010Event Committee begins working on details of the eventContact and secure various participants:

• Mary Amato, children’s book author • Adirondacks High Peaks Dog Training Club• St. Lawrence-Lewis County BOCES Culinary Arts program

September 2010Meet with Event CommitteeRemind faculty at opening of school meeting. Ask them to incorporate Mary Amato’s books into their curriculum in early November in advance of this event.Include event on school calendar and website

October 2010Meet with Event CommitteeConfirm with Mary Amato, High Peaks Dog Trainers, and St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Remind teachers to read Mary Amato’s books and think of discussion questionsMeet with custodial and kitchen staff to secure tables, etc.Send Home Flyers with Pre-K to 3rd grade students

Two Weeks Prior to EventRemind teachers to include information about event in their weekly take-home newsletters

One Week Prior to EventMeet with Event CommitteeInclude information about event in morning PA announcements

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Make phone calls to parents reminding them of the upcoming event

Day Before EventSend home flyers with Pre-K to 3rd grade students

Day of EventSee ‘Activities’ section below

Monday After Event Send thank you notes to all teachers, administrators, custodians, as well as outside participantsBegin compiling 3-2-1 Evaluation results

Week After EventMeet with Committee to review 3-2-1 Evaluations and Survey Monkey results Conduct focus groups with students during lunch periodsBased on evaluation feedback, discuss plans to host a 2011 event with principal

Activities

Share-A-Story SaturdayShare-A-Story SaturdayShare-A-Story SaturdayShare-A-Story Saturday Day care

9:00 -10:00 am

Welcome

Activity: Author talk via Skype. Students have already read two of Mary Amato’s books in class and prepared questions.

Location: Auditorium

Activity: Author talk via Skype. Students have already read two of Mary Amato’s books in class and prepared questions.

Location: Auditorium

Activity: Author talk via Skype. Students have already read two of Mary Amato’s books in class and prepared questions.

Location: Auditorium Teen students provide day care in a separate room 9:00 – 12:00

Workshops:

10:15 - 10:45Station 1 10:45 -11:15Station 2

Activity:Read-Aloud Story and extension

Location:Library

Activity: Family Photo Stories

Location: Family Involvement Room

Activity: Read to a Dog

Location: Multipurpose Room

Teen students provide day care in a separate room 9:00 – 12:0011:15 –

12:00 Group Activity

Activity: Bookshelf painting and gift bag distribution

Location: Main gym

Activity: Bookshelf painting and gift bag distribution

Location: Main gym

Activity: Bookshelf painting and gift bag distribution

Location: Main gym

Teen students provide day care in a separate room 9:00 – 12:00

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12:00 –1:00 pm Lunch

Activity: Lunch and completion of 3-2-1 Evaluations

Location: Cafeteria

Library remains open for book checkout

Activity: Lunch and completion of 3-2-1 Evaluations

Location: Cafeteria

Library remains open for book checkout

Activity: Lunch and completion of 3-2-1 Evaluations

Location: Cafeteria

Library remains open for book checkout

Activity: Lunch and completion of 3-2-1 Evaluations

Location: Cafeteria

Library remains open for book checkout

Participants will gather in the auditorium for the author presentation by Mary Amato via Skype.

They are then free to choose two of the three stations to visit during the event. Each station will be

facilitated by teachers and parent volunteers. After the workshops, families will gather in the main gym to

decorate their own cube bookshelf to take home. They will be presented with the gift bags and a

Committee Member will explain what they contain and how to use it at home. To encourage families with

non-school aged children to attend, teen students will provide day care from 9-12. Lunch will be

provided in the cafeteria, catered by the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Culinary Arts program.

Family Photo Story Station

This station will focus on oral storytelling and writing. According to Griffis (2003), storytelling is a good

way to encourage family literacy, since even non-readers can learn to use picture clues to tell a story.

The goals of this station are:

1. Promotion of oral storytelling as a literacy activity2. Modeling the use of pictures/illustrations as clues to tell a story 3. Making use of shared writing activities to extend literacy development

This station will take place in the Family Involvement Center, which will introduce parents to the space

and encourage them to visit on their own. Activity at this station will proceed as follows:

1. Each family will bring in one photograph of themselves (or a member of their family) that has a funny, sad, or important story attached to it that they do not mind sharing publicly.

2. Participants will split into two groups. One adult will facilitate each group (teacher and parent volunteers from the Event Committee).

3. Storytelling: Families are given time to tell the story of their photograph to each other. 4. Writing: The adult facilitators address the whole group and tell them what to do next, and then

circulate to each family over the remaining minutes of the session.5

5. Next, each family works alone to write down the BASIC parts of their story onto the worksheet provided. The parents should begin writing the story, and, depending on the age of their child, the child should write some of the story too.

6. There will be a sample story available to show families what a completed story might look like. For example: This photo tells a [ADJECTIVE - funny, sad, important] story about our family. In this photo, you can see [describe who what where when]. Then write beginning, middle, and end of story (maybe 1-2 sentences each).

7. Each family will be provided with a frame. The written story (with both the student’s and the parent/caregiver’s handwriting on it) can be displayed with the photograph in the frame.

Materials: Photo frames, pencils, crayons, copied worksheets, sample story

Read-Aloud Story Station

This station will promote good reading habits and model simple literacy building activities for

parents, particularly interactive reading. According to Morrow & Temlock-Fields (2004), “it is the quality

of the interaction that occurs during reading that results in positive effects” (p. 88).

Our goals for this station include:

1. Modeling appropriate read-aloud behaviors to parents.2. Encouraging children to make predictions during the course of a story.3. Promoting narrative skills through story extension. 4. Promoting phonological awareness through the use of rhyme.

This workshop will take place in the library, which has a large group reading area and tables available.

Activity at this station will proceed as follows:

1. The primary facilitator at this station will read No More Water in the Tub! by Tedd Arnold, a book about a boy named William who is carried down the stairs of his apartment building and into the other apartments when the water in the bathtub overflows. This story is structured in a way that allows children to make predictions, provide rhyming words at appropriate times, and follow a sequence of events, all of which are key literacy skills.

2. The facilitator will model how to read using an expressive voice, as well as how to incorporate more interaction into family reading opportunities.

3. The story ends with the main character sailing his bathtub out the window on a new wave of water, leaving the reader wondering where he will go next. After the book has been read, the facilitators will help children extend the story. As a group, children will write their own story about what happened to the main character and what he saw. Facilitators will direct this activity by making sure that each child has the opportunity to contribute an idea and prompting children with directed questions when necessary.

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4. When the story is done, families will be given blank paper and markers with which to create illustrations for the story they just wrote.

5. During the read-aloud and activity, facilitators will briefly explain concepts like ‘phonological awareness’ and ‘narrative skills’ to parents, and clarify why they are important to their child’s literacy development.

Materials: Copy of No More Water in the Tub! by Tedd Arnold, extra-large piece of paper, markers.

Read to a Dog Station

According to Gloria Laube, creator of the Library Dogs website “Dogs are now being used in

many school and library settings to help motivate youngsters to read. The use of trained therapy dogs in

reading programs can result in children who feel comfortable reading out loud, read more often, attempt

more difficult books, and actually look forward to reading” (Laube, 2010). Because dogs are non-

judgmental, children feel a comfort level reading to animals and are less reluctant to make mistakes.

Children who read to dogs get excited about reading, and find reading to a dog more fun than reading

alone or to a parent.

Our goals for this station include:

1. Providing a fun and relaxed setting for children to read.2. Getting children excited to read.3. Encouraging reluctant or weak readers to give reading a try - it’s fun!4. Instilling in all participants a love a reading.

This workshop will take place in the multipurpose room, which can be sectioned off by partitions.

Activity at this station will proceed as follows:

1. Students and parents arrive in gym and are greeted by the facilitator of this station.2. She explains the value and benefits of reading to dogs (as well as other pets) to parents and then

introduces the President of the Adirondacks High Peaks Dog Training Club.3. The President introduces each club member as well as their dog.4. Students are divided into smaller groups and paired with a dog and owner. They proceed to their

own cozy corner of the room.5. Each child will be allowed 5-7 minutes with the dog, reading from a selection of age-appropriate

books. If the child is too young to read, they can pet the dog while being read to by a parent.

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Materials: Dog beds (provided by owners), area rugs, throw pillows, beanbag chairs, assortment of books

Attendance Incentive

Each child will receive a gift bag containing age appropriate books, a magnetic alphabet (Pre-K

only) or kids Magnetic poetry set (K-3 only), and activity suggestions to try at home from Reading

Rockets.org. In addition, kids will decorate and take home their own bookshelf to keep their new books

on. The bookshelves are two-section wooden shelves purchased from Wal-Mart (Appendix A).

Attendance Estimate

We expect a strong response from families, since current literacy initiatives like the reading

incentive program and Tuesday night story times in the school library are popular and supported by a

majority of parents. Of the 134 students in grades Pre-K to 3rd, we hope that at least 100 students will

attend. Our total attendance estimate, including parents, is 300 people.

Publicity

Families in the Clifton-Fine school district have limited Internet options, so many families have

slow connections or none at all. For this reason, we decided that the best way to publicize the event was

through the use of paper flyers (Appendix B) that will be sent home with students, rather than a web-

based announcement. Because of the relatively small target group, The Family Involvement Coordinator

and the parent volunteers will also make phone calls reminding parents of the event the day before. In

addition, the school has a regular section in the Bargain Hunter, a local advertising paper that is

distributed to residents of the area on Wednesdays. A smaller version of the flyer will appear in the

Bargain Hunter during the month prior to the event

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Evaluation

In order to assess the impact of this event, we plan to utilize three evaluative instruments. The

3-2-1 Evaluation Survey (Appendix C) will be distributed during lunch. Boxes for completed evaluations

will be placed in the cafeteria and main desk. Students in Grades 2 and 3 will complete online surveys

using Survey Monkey during their Library or Computer class time the following week. Students will be

asked to rate on a scale of 1-5 (1=low/5=high) various aspects of this event. Having students complete

their surveys on the computer promotes accuracy and honesty, and teaches students how to use an online

evaluation tool. Teacher feedback is essential, especially given the significant role they played in the

event. Providing teachers with a quick and easy way to provide feedback shows them that we appreciate

their support of this event, as well as recognizes how busy they are. Using Survey Monkey (similar to

students in Grades 2 and 3) is a fast way to elicit their responses. Survey Monkey can be accessed from

the classroom or from a home computer, if available. In addition, feedback from our youngest students is

as important as that from the older ones. However, since students in the younger grades (Pre-K,

Kindergarten and 1) do not yet have the computer skills necessary to complete an online survey

independently, we will conduct small focus groups during lunch to evaluate their response to the program.

The librarian will talk with students during the lunch period the following week. This will generate

helpful feedback from the students, but will also reinforce some of the lessons from the event.

Follow-up Activities

Teachers will help kids write thank you notes to dog owners and create a video thank you to Mary

Amato. The librarian will offer additional title and activity suggestions for home in the monthly school

newsletter and on the website, and Event Committee members will discuss the possibility of creating an

annual family literacy event similar to this one.

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Budget

Selection of age-appropriate books for each student. ($13 per student x 100 students) $1300

Magnetic alphabet letters/poetry sets, (100 @ $6 each) $600

8.5X11 Frames for Family Photo Story (100 @ $1 each) $100

Gift Bags (100 @ $0.25 each) $25

Bookshelves (100 @ $15 each) $1500

Paint supplies $50

Honorarium for author Mary Amato $200

Travel costs for Dog Owners (5 @ $50 each) $250

Food costs for 300 guests (labor provided free by St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES) $500

Day Care Workers (3 teens @ $25 each) $75

Paper and misc. supplies $100

Gift Cards for Event Committee Members (15 @ $20 each) $300

______________________________________________________________________________

TOTAL $5000

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References

Adirondack High Peaks Dog Training Club. (2008). Welcome to the Adirondack High Peaks Dog

Training Club! Retrieved from http://www.ahpdtc.org/index.html

Griffis, J. (2003). Family literacy programs in school libraries: Helping parents become their

child’s best teacher. Library Media Connection, 22 (1), 30-34.

Laube, G. (2010) Library Dogs. Retrieved from http://www.librarydogs.com.

Lonigan, C. J. (2004). Emergent literacy skills and family literacy. In Wasik, B. H. (Ed.),

Handbook of family literacy (57-81). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates.

Morrow, L. & Temlock-Fields, J. (2004). Use of literature in the home and at school. In Wasik,

B. H. (Ed.), Handbook of family literacy (57-81). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates.

New York State Education Department. (2010, January 29). The New York State school report

card: Clifton-Fine Elementary School. Retrieved from

https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb-rc/2009/28/AOR-2009-510401040002.pdf

Purcell-Gates, V. (1996). Stories, coupons, and the TV Guide: Relationships between home literacy

experiences and emergent literacy knowledge. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(4), 406–428. doi:

10.1598/RRQ.31.4.4

SurveyMonkey. (2010). SurveyMonkey. Retrieved from http://www.surveymonkey.com/

WETA Public Television & Radio (2010). Reading Rockets. Retrieved from

http://www.readingrockets.org.

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Appendix A

Sample wooden cube bookshelf. It can be used horizontally (as shown) or tipped on end and used

vertically.

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Appendix B

Share a Story Saturday!Clifton Fine Central School

Saturday November 13, 2010 9 AM to 1 PM

MEET AN AUTHOR& READ TO A DOG

HAVE FUN READING TOGETHER& TELLING STORIES

GET A FREE GIFT BAGLUNCH INCLUDED

CONTACT THE LIBRARIAN AT315-848-3333 FOR MORE INFORMATION

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Appendix C

3 - 2 - 1 EVALUATION SHEET

How did you like today’s event? Please tell us below!

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