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Students in the spotlight
By CAROL DREILING, Sentinel Staff Writer
December 12, 2005

Students in Molly Gentz's first-grade class at Lincoln Elementary School were featured in the spotlight at the Family Literacy Night event on Thursday.
The 6-year-olds demonstrated how they worked in class to improve their reading. They showed the activities and manipulatives they use to increase their comprehension, to sound out words, to spell words correctly and to identify syllables.
After the demonstrations were finished, the students -- along with their parents and sometimes their grandparents -- moved throughout the room completing a variety of reading activities.
Gentz, who is in her fourth year of teaching, created the Family Literacy Night as a project for her master's program. She prepared a resource book for the parents to use with their child. It is a book that provides creative ideas for reading fun; she designed it to complement the reading activities the students do in the classroom.
The family reading event is one example of how No Child Left Behind has impacted the curriculum in USD 418 schools.
Gentz began working on the resource book and the project in September; she used artwork by one of her students to illustrate the book. Avery Gabel's art is even included on the cover of the book.
Parents were encouraged to take the resource book home and use it with their first-graders as well as with other children in the family.
As part of her master's project, Gentz asked parents for feedback to be included in her January presentation to a panel at the University of Kansas.
Gentz wanted the evening to be fun-filled, so she arranged for child care for families during the hour-long event. With the support of local businesses, she was able to give door prizes to families who participated. She also had the support of LES principal Debbie Hamm.