Local author, James Vincent, reads from his book, “Not For Now, But So” with his wife, Susan. Mr. and Mrs. Vincent visited Fletcher School for its Family Literacy Night to hold a group read aloud.

Families in Corey Brown’s and Maryellen Reynold’s third-grade classrooms visited for Thanksgiving but instead of turkey and stuffing, parents received a Close Reading lesson by using an informational passage about how the history of cranberries began in the Thanksgiving tradition. The passage outlined how the Native Americans utilized the berries and in turn, introduced them to the Pilgrims.

Close Reading is a strategy used regularly in ELA. When a child uses the Close Reading strategy, they become deeply connected to the text through repeated reading, annotation, and identifying text-based evidence.

“We wanted to give our families an opportunity to learn and practice this strategy with their child,” said Mrs. Brown. “The goal is to build a solid connection between school and home. We thought that including families in the curriculum that their child is being exposed to would encourage that connection. It is essential that our students build a positive relationship with their classroom and school. Including our families in our classrooms will facilitate that growth.”

As part of Fletcher Elementary School’s Family Engagement goal, each grade level has planned several events that will engage parents in building their skills and understanding of what their child is learning, and how they can support their child at home. For example, the first grade team is doing an activity this month showing parents how to incorporate math by creating gingerbread houses. The second grade team completed an activity with parents focusing on a reading and the grade level’s Social Studies topic, the Greeks. Parents then helped with a “marathon” race at Fletcher School. More grade-level family engagement activities will be coming throughout the school year.