1

School-Wide Engagement Event Rationale

Family Literacy Night:
Family Literacy Night will be held after school in the schools cafeteria and library. This
night will consist of different activities and presentations that focus on two areas of literacy:
fluency and text comprehension. By focusing on just two important elements of literacy, there
will be a greater reciprocity so that parents will be encouraged to use these techniques and
strategies at home (Yang, 2005). The goal is to emphasize everyday use of literacy so that parents
are more likely to use them (Ray). Family Literacy Night is one of a few school-wide
engagement events that we do throughout the year. Reading is very important in the elementary
grades so having a night dedicated to helping families in that area is crucial. This event will take
place in February, after the Winter PALS assessments. These scores will help teachers and
parents alike to see where a child falls in their reading ability and can then be used to help them
grow before the spring assessments. This night will give families ways to work on improving
their childs reading ability in a way that is fun and encouraging. On this night, there will be at
least one teacher per grade level. They will have an activity that is related to the content they are
learning in their class. They will then promote the activity by having the parents complete it
along with their child. They will then be given a tool or resource to use that will allow them to
duplicate the activity at home with other books. The library will also be open for parents and
students to go and visit with the librarian as well as the reading specialists to talk about specific
things they can do with their son or daughter to help them be a better reader. There will also be a
read aloud and a readers theater performed on stage before the families dismiss for dinner.
Dinner will be provided and families will eat what they selected from the menu slips when they
arrived. The options will need to be diverse enough so that all families are able to eat (Ray). This
means that there has to be an option not containing pork, an option that is vegan-friendly, and an
option that can be served with or without dairy. Meal considerations are important since families
in the area are so diverse. The meals however, will be options that children have for school lunch
every day. This allows parents to see what their kids are eating on a typical day and the kids a
chance to show their parents how school meals tend to be. In order to do this, announcements
would have to go out well in advance about the dinner options. Cafeteria workers would also
need to be notified about this event and asked to make extra meals for this event. The leftover

meals could be sent home with families. Letters home as well as school announcements will be
sent months in advance and then again two weeks prior to the event. I will remind my class every
week as the event approaches about Family Literacy Night. These reminders need to be in a
variety of forms and parents that asked for my number can even be texted. Having a meal
provided as well as strategies to take home at the end of the night along with a book for the
students will hopefully promote a high turnout. There are parents that will not be able to attend
so the information from the event will be sent home with the students that could not come. There
will also be videos of the read aloud and the readers theater posted to the schools website.
Other events throughout the year will occur at different times so that parents that tend to work
nights can attend something during the school day. Nights like this one will allow for teachers
and administrators to build relationships with the parents and show them that they care about
their child and how they are as readers which is something every parent wants (Education, 2012).
The event will have interpreters there as well as books in various languages. Books that will be
sent home will be developmentally appropriate and on the childs reading level. The intention is
that families will leave feeling encouraged about reading at home and know that the teachers and
administrators care just as much about their childs learning as they do (Lindle, 1989)

References
Davis, C. & Yang, A. (2005). Parents and teachers working together. Turner, MA: Responsive
Classroom.
Education, V.D. (2012). Tips and strategies for increasing parent involvement in Virginia
schools. Retrieved from doe.virginia.gov.
Grant, & Ray, (n.d.). Schoolwide family engagement activities.
Lindle, J. C. (1989). What do parents want from principals and teachers?