PRIME TIME at Green

Students are enthralled by the storytelling.

This fall, we’re excited to be joined by 27 families coming together for Prime Time with the mission of transforming Green Charter School students into life-long readers. In case you haven’t heard, PRIME TIME is a free, state-sponsored, six-week program of reading, discussion, and storytelling. For each workshop at Green, after a delicious meal provided by a local restaurant, our facilitators Natalie Williams and Freddi Evans conduct readings for children ages 6 to 10 and their parents. The goal is not to just tell great stories -- but to encourage parents to ask their children critical questions about the texts. After each reading, we talk about major themes, analyze the characters, and debate the message of each book. The award-winning children’s books introduce fairy and folk tales from around the world. They are stories that deal with questions and dilemmas children commonly encounter. For children from 3-5, we also offer pre-literacy activities and crafts.

Natalie Williams reading "Who's In Rabbit's House?".

We are fortunate for our weekly discussions to be facilitated by local author Freddi Evans and storyteller Natalie Williams. For our first session, we read the South African folk tale, Abiyoyo. Afterward, children and parents deliberated the idea of judging good people with bad habits. For our second session, after we dined on some authentic, freshly prepared Mexican food donated by Sarita’s Grill, our friend Sharon from the Children’s Resource Center came to talk about the New Orleans Public Library System and shared information about their children’s programs and events. Last week, we had red beans, rice, and jambalaya from Liberty’sKitchen, and read the classic tale of The Wren and the Eagle. After debating the merits of brains over brawn and the significance of ambition, several lucky students walked away with books and Walmart gift-cards from our weekly raffle!

This week, we’re going to be reading Odd Velvet, eating more locally-sourced food, and giving away more prizes to promote family literacy!

Paul Kramer is the Community Initiatives Coordinator at Samuel J. Green Charter School.  Check back regularly to hear more updates about his work at Green.