Literacy Week 2023

I had the pleasure of organizing Literacy Week at my daughters’ school again this year. The easiest event that was highly successful was the reading buddies event. The kids brought a favorite book and blanket to school and at the end of the day they sat on the lawn in the sunshine at school. The kids loved it and got some good reading time in together.

I also hosted writing workshops for nearly every class at the school. We talked about what makes a good story and did two writing activities. The first was a group story chain exercise where students were broken into groups and had to write a line of story then pass it to the next person. We had some great laughs and they learned about story structure. My favorite part was when we gave “claps and snaps” to everyone who shared their group’s story. We also encouraged the students to provide positive feedback about the stories to build confidence and rapport among the group.

The second activity was all about brainstorming their own stories. Kids poured over my brainstorming boxes and created their own story outlines too. The last topic we covered was the importance of taking time to free write and let those ideas flow!

We also had local bookstore owner, Michelle Pierce share what it’s like to run a business of books. She shared some of her favorite books for kids and why literacy is so important.

Our most silly event was a dramatic reading of Mo Willem’s book, “Elephants Cannot Dance.” We had two moms narrating the book and two moms in Piggie and Gerald costumes I rented. We had so much fun acting out the book and could not believe the positive response from the students — all 300+ of them! I knew the young ones would like it, but was shocked the 4-6 grade students enjoyed it too. Such an incredible and fun moment! (And yes, I was Piggie!)

If you’re looking to share your ideas for literacy week at school or would like to hear more about what we did, feel free to comment below. Thanks! And happy reading!