Utica Elementary School will hold "Literacy Night" on April 7, featuring two teachers who have published children's books.
Bobbi Maleszewski, a fifth-grade reading and writing instructor at Utica Elementary, and Barb Almendinger, an eighth-grade language arts teacher, will be on hand to read and sign copies of their books.
Other teachers will read passages from their favorite children's books, Maleszewski told the Mount Vernon News.
Students will also be given the chance to write their own stories. They can take a book home with them, and parents will receive coaching tips.
“Parents will be given handouts about how to question when you are reading to your child to help them be more engaged and make connections with the books they are reading," Maleszewski said.
Almendinger's book is titled "Scout goes to School.”
"It's about the adventures Scout has while he is at school, being a therapy dog," Maleszewski said.
Maleszewski's book is "No Nap Noah," about a little boy who imagines that his mom and new baby sister are doing all kinds of fun things while he is trying to take a nap.
"So he comes up with a lot of excuses about why he can't take a nap," said Maleszewski.
She encourages her students to read at least 20 minutes every night.
"We're hoping that through these questioning techniques that we are going to give parents, and having them see how much fun reading can be, that students will start picking up books on their own," Maleszewski said. "Academically, it helps them to see new words and then ask what those words mean, and then they can use context and clues to figure out the words, which then helps them understand what they are reading."
Reading is different than simply decoding the words, she said.
"Reading allows you to make connections with yourself, the world, another book, another character from another book," the teacher said. "It allows you to visualize and become part of that book as opposed to just decoding the words. One of the things we do here at our school is teach students how to go beyond just decoding to become part of the story."
A love of reading books can lead to a love of writing, Maleszewski said.
"At least in fifth grade, we have quite a few students who enjoy writing," she said. "They enjoy writing stories. They like to write in their writer's notebooks. Some will write the bare minimum. Others will keep writing and writing."
.webp)
.webp)
