Burch’s Literacy Cafe Serves Up a Love for Reading

Robert J. Burch Elementary’s Literacy Cafe brings families together to sharpen skills.

The heart of the workshop was an initiative to bridge the gap between school curriculum and home practice. Instead of a traditional presentation, the school designed an interactive experience where families actively practiced reading strategies alongside the teachers.

“We wanted this event to feel like a warm, welcoming night out for our families, so we hosted it as the ‘K-5 Literacy Cafe,’” said Burch’s Title I Parent Liaison Dr. Gloria Jones.

Workshop session classrooms were transformed into mini-restaurants featuring different facets of literacy. The teachers designed the workshop following the theme created by Dr. Jones. They facilitated the workshop sessions by demonstrating how to engage in the activities and the hopeful take away.

The Bears served up a full menu of learning. For the starter, there was a pizza dinner to bring families together and fuel them up. For the main entrees and desserts, families found workshop sessions named after restaurant favorites. Parents could visit the ‘Fluency Bistro’ in one room for smooth reading expressions, then pop into ‘Communication Cookies’ to learn sweet ways to build vocabulary at home, among other options.

All together, they offered 7 sessions to engage and empower parents with tools to use at home with their child. Every family left with a doggy bag toolkit packed with access to books, literacy strategies, games, and resources from the Parent Resource Center to keep the momentum going at the kitchen table.

“We are serving up a love for reading at Burch,” said Jones.