When I went to the St. Patrick’s Fair on Friday, I noticed kids ranging from babies to high school age having fun in the fair environment, many rides, a ton of food, and a variety of literacy! I was also fortunate enough to get to see many of my students and their families enjoying themselves in a carefree environment, which I found very beneficial. From this experience, I learned that Dublin Elementary is comprised of people who are very family as well as community oriented. Coming to this fair is a tradition that they take part in every year and something they thoroughly enjoy. It was very nice to see that many of my students came to the fair together, and their parents were friends with each other, as well. This also provided the opportunity for my students and their parents to see me as a part of their community and outside of the teacher role. In fact, I spent 10 minutes talking to two dads about the upcoming football games. Although it was a brief conversation, I felt that this was valuable in that I made a connection – the parents were able to see more of me and less of my “student teacher” role. I feel that by starting to communicate with parents now, it will definitely help me when I am lead teaching. As Catherine Compton-Lilly discusses in her article about a study of students and their families, “I developed a heightened awareness of the ways parents view schools and realized the extreme importance of demonstrating respect for parents.” (Compton-Lilly, p. 457). Thus, through taking the time to get to know the parents of her students, a relationship was formed that benefitted the parents, the teacher, and most of all, the student. In my case, although I didn’t learn about the literacy in their home environments, I made the initial connection with parents that will help me feel comfortable for future conversations.
In regard to the literacy aspect of the project, I was surprised by how prevalent literacy was at the fair. I know that there would be a lot of print literacy, but as I started to focus on different literacy elements, I noticed how easy it was to find. For example, a fair setting is a perfect place for students to learn and use new vocabulary or words that are not normally used in daily context. Such as: merry-go-round, fun house, raffle, cotton candy and elephant ear! There is also a lot of print literacy – the names of the rides, the directions to games, the ticket amounts on each ride, and the menus for the food stations all have a literacy element that is specific to the fair atmosphere. Lastly, oral language was a major factor at this event. Whether it was parents communicating with their children, children laughing and screaming while running around with each other, or teenagers on their cell phones, oral language was everywhere!
Finally, this resource is a great way for me, as a teacher, to incorporate elements of the students’ life within the school setting. Since students of all ages attend the fair, it is something that can be incorporated in every grade. For instance, it could easily become a writing activity (write about your favorite ride), or an oral language activity (having each student share their favorite part of the fair), etc. I thoroughly enjoyed attending this community event and feel as though I learned a lot about my students that will help in the future!
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