Pajama Rama

On Thursday Night, we celebrated our first ever Pajama Rama Family Night for 3rd and 4th Graders. The evening was a lot of fun. It was great to see so many families, and fun to see the kids (and their teachers) in their jammies.

We started the evening with a pizza party. After that students and their parents moved to stations with a pajama party theme. Teachers prepped a station for their classroom that involved a fun literacy or math activity. This year, we had:

Minnesota Mapping
Shadow Puppets
Math Dice Games
iPad Everyday Math Games
Go Noodle Fun
Snack Station (measuring)
Bonus Book Check Out in the Library
Estimation Jars
Flashlight Reading

Students moved to each station and did activities with their parents. After our stations were done, we had the students practice a song to perform for their families. Parents played a getting to know each other game. This was an activity to promote community within our school.


As the students came back, we did a raffle for Target gift cards for parent winners. After the song, we gave away Spring Book Fair Gift Certificates for a student raffle.

I can't wait for the K-2 Pajama Rama later this winter! Don't our students look great in their pajamas?!!

Brimhall Bonanza

Families learning together

November hosted our school's grades three and four Family Learning Night. This year, the "BRIMHALL BONANZA" was complete with our own theme song which we played over the announcements leading up to the event. (Hear our song here.) We worked hard to advertise, and it worked! Over 100 families (300+ people) attended the event. I planned the Bonanza with my coworker Melanie Groth (our reading/math coach).

It was a western wear optional evening--so notice how we are all dressed up!

Ms. McCormick with Blaze.

Our goals for the night were: to have students show their parents some of the things we do at school, for parents and children to have a fun learning based night, and for families to connect with one another. It was also a great way for me the librarian to showcase our library/collection and meet families. I think our goals were met.

We created and asked teachers to help create stations around math and reading. At the event-- families were welcomed with a free deck of cards and dice to keep to use for math games at home. A delicious dinner of tacos (sponsored by the PTA) was served to all. After dinner--siblings were taken to free childcare. We then had choice stations for kids to attend with their families:

1. Database Scavenger Hunt in the computer lab
2. Everyday Math Games--3rd grade room/4th grade room
3. Math Games on the iPad
4. Bonus library book check-out
5. Reading around the campfire with your parent (I pulled a lot of great picture books--and had a campfire up on the SMART board).
6. Make your own trail mix (measuring practice) (reading directions)
7. Estimation Jars
8. Symmetry art project

After our station time-- our kids all went to practice singing our school song. The parents all played a getting to know you BINGO game. We gave away gift cards to Target as prizes (this motivated the adults to leave their usual parent groups and meet new people).

Our kiddos then performed a quick song, and we did a raffle for gift certificates for the spring book fair. It was a busy and FUN filled night.

Hot Diggity Dog--A Poetry Picnic

On Tuesday Night, we invited all Kindergarten to 2nd graders to attend Brimhall's first Poetry Picnic. I originally saw the idea for a Poetry Picnic over at the Eliterate Librarian who had modified the ideas from A Year of Reading. I love great ideas that are shared!

We modified the Poetry Picnic to include some different stations, and we invited parents to join their children for a hot dog picnic as well as an evening of reading and writing poetry. We created an open house type format in which families moved from station to station, read the directions and then participated in the activity. Teachers had 2-3 stations set-up in their rooms and helped students and parents as needed.

Here is a list of the stations we had--again, many were ideas from the other Poetry Picnics:

• Read A Book or Two: Parents and children read poetry together.
• Ouch: Students read the poem "Sick" by Shel Silverstein, then wrote poems about things that hurt. (Thanks Nancy VandenBerge at First Grade W.O.W. for the great poetry idea!)
  

  
  

• One Inch Tall: Students watched this video of Shel Silverstein's poem "One Inch Tall"
   and then measured one inch with a ruler and drew themselves doing the activities in the poem as one inch tall.
• Tag Team: Families read the book Tag Team on the iPads, and then wrote a poem as inspired by the book.
• Roll a Word: Students use phonics dice to create word families.
• Poetry Splatter: Families used the Poetry Splatter Website to create poems on the Smart Board.
• Acrostic Poetry: Students use letter stampers to stamp their names down the side of a piece of paper. Families then brainstormed words that described their child
• Word Tiles: Students created magnetic poetry using word tiles.
• Poetry Placemats: Families read Meals and Snacks on the iPad. They then wrote rhyming words that they heard in the poems on a placemat.
• Fold Me a Poem: Families read "Fold Me a Poem" then created origami dogs together.
• Falling Down the Page: Families read poems from "Falling Down the Page" and then students created their own list poems.

If you would like any of the station directions or handouts, I would be happy to share...just leave a comment below.

Family Literacy Night

Last night we had a Family Literacy Night for grades K-2.  Over 100 families attended the event, with over 350 people in attendance. Parents and students came to school to read and learn about reading.  It was a lot of fun!

My coworker Melanie Groth and I collaborated and planned an evening for families to read and talk about reading.  Our goals were twofold.  One to reinforce reading skills learned at school and secondly to have families enjoy a night with their child at school.

Families were met at the door and given their schedule for the evening. They then enjoyed a free spaghetti dinner.  After dinner, younger siblings were dropped off at childcare while K-2nd graders and their adult traveled to two stations.

Station 1: Ms. Groth and I led sessions on the importance of reading picture books.  Families talked about the kinds of books they like to read together.  They then heard our brief (5 min) talk on the importance of reading picture books to your child throughout the primary grades.  Students then showed their parents how they checked out books in the library.  Students were excited to show their parents our library and they were thrilled to get to check out a bonus book.

Station 2: Teachers volunteered to lead a modeled reading.  Students listened to a picture book and modeled to their parents that reading is an interactive process--before, during, and after reading.

After our two sessions, the students went and practiced the school fight song while the adults had time to reflect and discuss the things they had experienced.

What a night!