Literacy and Technology Night
Theme: "The Middle School Survival Guide"
Activities: Botjoy, Podcasting, Snacks, and Book Fair
Difficulties to Overcome: Snow date (think rain date), wind chill warning, school had been canceled for the next day
Menu: "Sliding Through the Halls" Hawaiian sliders, "Chex Me Out" snack mix, "Cookie Therapy" cookies, and "Drowning in My Tears" water
On Display: Student art work
Outcome: Success!
Every year in conjunction with the Scholastic Book Fair at our school, we host a Title 1 Literacy and Technology Night. This year's theme was "The Middle School Survival Guide." We featured books about surviving middle school: How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart and The Middle School series by James Patterson. We served snacks prepared by FACS2 students and displayed art students created during first semester.
Podcasting: The Middle School Survival Guide
We used Anchor to record students and parents as they gave advice on how to survive middle school. We'll edit the audio clips and share it as the first CMS podcast.
Botjoy
I learned about Botjoy from Mason Mason at the Google Innovator Academy in Stockholm, Sweden. During Literacy Night, students and their families created robots on the back of dominoes as part of an international art project to help promote positive support of others. These "bots" will be handed out as reminders to be brave, kind, joyful, creative, and inspirational. Learn more about Botjoy HERE.
Themed Snacks
Our FACS2 students developed themed snacks for the evening. They planned the menu, named the items, created the shopping list, and prepared the food. They'll add their work to their FACS portfolio to submit for state-level recognition projects.
Book Fair and Book Swap Table
Students and their families had a chance to visit the Scholastic Book Fair, which is super exciting because the closest book store is an hour and fifteen minutes away. We also hosted a book swap table for students to "Take a book, leave a book." We collected book donations ahead of time and had the table well stocked prior to the event. We made sure we had enough books for each kid to take one, even if they didn't have a book to trade in during the evening. We take the extra books to our local Little Free Libraries.
Does your school host a Literacy Night? What types of activities do you include?