| These ideas come to us from a past celebration at Waits River Valley School!
Opening Assembly – start your celebration with a school-wide assembly honoring both reading, writing, and the school community! Borrow Carol Royce’s idea of creating a faculty/staff poem from the sentence stem: “For me reading is…” Have each faculty/staff member read their line with enthusiasm! Readers’ Theater – this is another great one for an opening assembly. Gather a group of teachers and have them perform for the children! Waits River Valley faculty chose Double Trouble in Walla Walla by Andrew Clements. A hit for both the adults and the kids! Now the children will really understand how a readers’ theater is done and will be jazzed to do one of their own in any grade level! Teacher-Nap a Teacher Day – Here all of the faculty is included. Each class gets to “teacher-nap” a teacher. Teachers know they will be teacher-napped so have time to prepare a story to read aloud. When “napped” the teacher cannot leave the classroom until they have read their book aloud to the “napping” class! Dress Up as your Favorite Book Character – Children and faculty/staff members all dress up for a day! |
Poster Contest – Create a school-wide theme for the posters and invite students to submit artwork. Judge the artwork and award prizes. The winning artwork should be framed (if possible) and hung in a prominent place in the school or in the community at large.
Literary Edition of the School Newsletter – Highlight the literacy work of the school in this edition. Include, stories, book reviews, poetry, and artwork! Curl up with a Good Book Day – Pajamas are the dress of choice for this day. Reading times will be announced throughout the day for everyone to curl up with their book! Book Swap – Students and teachers bring in books that they would like to swap. When a book is brought in the book is collected and the giver receives a coupon good for a book to be chosen at the actual swap. This is a great way to get some great books circulating to new readers. Closing Assembly – Here is the time to showcase the student created readers’ theater performances. Students might want to try these proven books: Sideways Stories from Wayside School, I’m the King of the Mountain, Fairytale Courtroom, and Tom Sawyer. |
…promoting effective reading and literacy programs at all levels
