Leading in Literacy
Details are like flowers to our tree,” explains UNC Charlotte senior Caitlin McGennis to a class of third graders. For emphasis, she glides her arms open.
Smiling students are sitting in front of McGennis at Berewick Elementary School, located in south Charlotte. Curiosity and enthusiasm, characteristic of great elementary school classrooms, simmer. But there is a hint of concern as serious business must be addressed.
These kids are trying to save Fun Friday.
According to a letter the class read with McGennis the day before, Principal Kim King has canceled the beloved Berewick Elementary School pastime. It’s now up to the class to develop the moving pleas and savvy arguments that will convince the administration to restore the students’ right to relax at the end of the week.
McGennis, a dual elementary and special education major attending Charlotte on scholarship to teach reading, is leading her class in an interactive persuasive writing activity that will help them make their case. One that is an important part of the students’ journey to lifelong literacy and in their student teacher’s development of skills essential to success in the classroom.