Spring Reading Festival
The Spring Reading Festival is one of our signature events of the year that promotes a love of reading! The 2024 festival theme is "Reading is my superpower!"
The festival takes place March-April and includes a variety of events and activities:
READ-A-THON
Get ready to read, read and read some more as part of our annual Read-a-thon! 2024 marks our 17th year organizing this event, which will take place March 4-17. The OTES Read-a-thon encourages students to have fun reading, while raising funds to support PTA activities
and our school.
During the two week Read-a-thon, students track how many minutes they read each day, or how many minutes someone reads to them. They are also encouraged to collect pledges for the amount of time they spent reading, with all proceeds benefiting the PTA and our school. (Fundraising, however, is optional.) All students who record and submit any number of minutes (on paper or online) will be entered into a prize drawing! Class prizes will also be awarded!
For more information on how to participate, download the 2024 Read-a-thon Packet. The packet contains the Ocelot Tracks Reading Log (for tracking minutes), the Pledge Sheet (for those who are also fundraising), and Reading Slips (only needed if your student is not recording minutes online).
Click here to create an online Read-a-thon page for your student(s).
BOOK SWAP
The Book Swap is a great chance to both give and receive books, all for the cause of reading! During the Book Swap, families are invited to donate gently used books, then come to Oakland Terrace on a Saturday to select books of their choice. Books can be dropped off at school March 5-8, during arrival and dismissal. Donations also can be dropped off any time beforeMarch 8 at 2801 Jutland Rd (place books on the covered-porch
facing Bentley Ln).
The 2024 Book Swap takes place Saturday, March 9 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the OTES All-Purpose Room (cafeteria), as part of the PTA's Family Reading Morning event (see below). You can donate books for the swap by dropping them off at school during dismissal and arrival March 5-8. To sign up to help collect books, click here.
FAMILY READING MORNING
Students are invited to wear their pajamas or favorite superhero costume to our Family Reading Morning, which takes place Saturday, March 9 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the school All-Purpose Room (cafeteria). Students will have an opportunity to listen to stories read to them in both English and Spanish from volunteer readers (both students and parents), and participate in other fun activities (including the Book Swap!). The PTA will provide donuts and coffee! Click here to see the event flier in English and in Spanish. Click here to sign up to volunteer during the event. Click here to sign up a 5th grader to read during the event.
AUTHOR TALK
To encourage child to be authors and to help them learn about the book making process, the PTA sponsors a talk by a children's author. In 2023, we were proud to welcome bilingual children's author and illustrator Lulu Delacre to share with our students about the writing process. In 2024, we are excited to have Oakland Terrace parent and children's author Lesley Younge share her experience writing books with our Ocelots! The "author talk" will take place in April, with book sales to proceed the event, which will take place during the school day.
STORYWALK
In collaboration with Noyes Children’s Library Foundation, the PTA organizes a springtime stroll and story, posted on large signs. This year, the StoryWalk will take place in the Oakland Terrace courtyard March 1-22 and feature the bilingual book What Can You Do With a Rebozo?/¿Qué puedes hacer con un rebozo?