Authors inspire kids at Literacy Night
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Teachers know that getting parents involved is one way to help students learn, so many schools plan evening events that appeal to the entire family. At Old Wire Elementary School, the first Literacy Night of the new school year attracted about 300 people of all ages.
Not only were there games, face painting and food, there were also two real authors who wanted to share details of their careers with the students.
"I want to inspire kids to write and to read," Arkansas author Alexandra LaFaye said. "I started writing in sixth grade, so I'm the proof that kids can follow their dreams."
Her novel for young people," Worth," was given the Scott O'Dell award. She spent the day talking to the students and spent the evening signing books.
"Worth"is the story of a young boy, crippled in a farm accident, whose father adopts another boy from the orphan train, LaFaye said. She did a lot of research about the orphan train when she was writing her story.
Across the hall, Richard Clark was introducing a brand new children's book that may become a series," Riski Rat: The Wannabe Pirate."
Clark based his story on his own life growing up with an abusive father and living on the streets. He based the character of Bubba, a lovable sidekick, on his brother who was killed in a motorcycle accident.
"Our goal was always to get old enough to do something positive for kids," he said. He plans to donate the proceeds from his book to a project that will benefit children, although he hasn't yet decided what project to support.
"I want the characters to inspire them - to influence them to be writers," he explained about sharing his book at Old Wire School. His next book will be a doit-yourself book, with readers supplying the text around his illustrations.
In the cafeteria, students played "Sight Word Bingo"to win books they could take home and keep, literacy coach Deborah Goff said. Sight words are the words that students should know without trying to sound them out, she explained. The younger students did very well in the Bingo game, she said.
"It's important for kids to have books at home," she explained. The school's PTO helped with the costs of literacy night.
Students also lined up for an old-fashioned photo booth and waited patiently for the printer to spit out sets of four photos. Kids, Goff said, love to have their pictures taken.
Teachers from each grade
"The students were very excited," Goff said," so it accomplished our goal to get kids interested in writing."
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