Reading with family is fun at Dobbins

By SHAIYLA HAKEEM

shakeem@vindy.com

Reading was made fun at Dobbins Elementary where first-graders were able to play, listen and make reading gloves.

Dobbins Elementary hosted its seventh Family Literacy Night Jan. 14.

It is an annual event that brings students and parents out for a night of reading and literacy activities.

Cheryl Borovitcky, Dobbins Elementary principal, says this event is used to emphasize the importance of reading while demonstrating how fun it can be with family.

“Our students and their parents practice a variety of reading skills while having fun together,” said Borovitcky.

The night consisted of six literacy activities set up in different locations. Families were positioned at the literacy stations and rotated every 12 minutes.

The first station was sight word bingo. Bingo sheets were made of words rather than the traditional bingo sheet.

Station two was called word sorts. Students had to arrange large yellow letters into words that were spelled correctly.

At station three was a cookie and a book. Parents and students were able to relax with a snack and read a book of their choosing.

At this station, students could also act as a puppeteer and put on a short performance for their parents.

The fourth station was called story glove. Students decorated a personalized glove that they could take home and wear.

Station five was making words with sentences. Students, with the help of parents, arranged scrambled words into complete sentences.

The last literacy station featured a storyteller from the Poland Library, Linda Kucalaba. Kucalaba is a librarian at the Poland Library.

Information on how to obtain a library card was distributed as well as literature on various library activities.

A folder filled with bookmarks, reading pointers, suggested readings and worksheets were given to parents and students.

Family Literacy Night targeted the first-graders, but a few Poland Seminary High School students came out to give a helping hand.

“Family Literacy Night is our favorite time of the year,” said Borovitcky.