As pages were turning with families huddled reading books together, Woodstock Elementary turned literacy into an interactive story as students and parents gathered for the school’s annual literacy night. The event was the opening chapter for a weeklong read-a-thon aimed at building excitement around reading.

From comprehensive games to book recommendations, the third annual literacy night was designed to immerse students in the language of reading while bringing families into the learning process, said literacy coach Sarah Waddoups.

“The biggest goal of literacy night is involving our families with our literacy goals,” she said. “We know involving families is always going to benefit kids, no matter how, it’s proven when we involve families, we help kids, period.”

Throughout the school, classrooms and hallways transformed into literacy stations. Students practiced reading strategies through games and activities tailored to different grade levels and at the same time, earned their first hour of reading toward the read-a-thon.

At one station, paraeducator Leanne McKenney guided families through a reading game called, “Roll a Phrase” where players rolled the dice, selected a phrase to read aloud and then tried to get four in a row across a board.

“We hope it helps them to understand the importance of reading and that reading can be fun,” she said.

Students received a packet of information to take home, filled with literacy games matched to their grade level. Thanks to donations from parents, PTA, community members and local supporters including Morgan Stanley, every student left with a brand-new, grade-appropriate book. 

“We want kids to have books and be able to build up their home library,” Waddoups said. “That’s a huge part of why we do it.”

Families also practiced reading strategies together, including DYAD reading, where students and parents read together. She said it helped parents experience the techniques used in the classrooms.

“This gives parents a better idea of what we're doing here at school. It just helps them see what their student is working on. It's also a great way to engage with teachers,” Waddoups said.

Across the building, teachers introduced games designed to strengthen comprehension skills.

“We actually have two activities going on here — the spy master game and the comprehension cube,” said third-grade teacher Hunter Pope. “The spy master helps students be able to express their thoughts and ideas better and retell details they’ve read from a story. The point of the comprehension cube is to encourage students to ask themselves questions as they read, to deepen their understanding of what they’ve read.”

As a student came up, Pope rolled the cube. The first question was, “What is something you’d ask the author?” A second question followed, “What is something you can figure out about the story the author didn’t tell you?” The student enthusiastically answered.

“That’s what we want, for them to get excited about reading,” he said.

For families like Heidi Rogers and her daughters, literacy night was an extension of habits already established at home.

“I like they’re connecting with friends over reading and books,” she said. “We read a lot at home.”

Her second-grader daughter Eleanor said the games made reading more fun and was looking forward to playing her grade-level activity.

Her older, fourth-grade sister, Cordelia, shared a favorite title she recommended during the event.

“I recommended, ‘Smile,’” she said. “I like it’s based off of the author’s personal life. I like fiction and mystery books.”

Science teacher Keith Foust was taking book recommendations in the library.

“We like when they bring in recommendations, they’re sharing their love of reading and perhaps a classmate or family member will read that book,” he said. “On Friday of the read-a-thon, we’re having a ‘Drop Everything And Read’ time so I’ll bring my class here to get recommendations then challenge them to read at least 10 pages then and I’ll do the same.”

Other families also were enthusiastic to attend. Parent Lia Taylor said her first-grader Clara was “so excited to come and I think it’s good for my preschooler (Everett) to do these activities too.”

At home, reading is already part of their routine as Clara likes to curl up with a “Dogman” book.

“They read 20 minutes independently and then I read to them every night,” Taylor said.

The literacy celebration also launches the school’s biggest fundraiser of the year — a PTA-organized read-a-thon that encourages students to log reading minutes for the week. For each 100 minutes read, a paper LEGO brick will be added to a hallway display, which organizers hope will wrap around the school.

An added incentive, lunch for 50 students at Woody’s with Principal Missy McQueen, was donated by owner Peter Wooden.

“He’s excited to help get the kids excited about reading; he’s super generous and an amazing supporter,” said PTA President Sara Hess.

In mid-March Hess reported the students read 195,910 Minutes, or 3,265 hours.

While the funds raised will help support PTA-sponsored programs ranging from field trips to arts programs, Hess said the real goal goes beyond fundraising.

“Read-a-thon is a way for PTA to promote literacy,” she said. “We have over 500 students here and the more they read, the bigger their brains grow and we want to help them learn reading is fun.”