Ministries
The early years set the stage for later learning. Without the ability to read, excellence in school and beyond is unattainable.It's a fact: If children are not on track to be readers by the end of third grade, the chance of their success in school is very low. An outreach ministry of St. Johns's, the Reading Club has been meeting regularly to rave reviews from parents and kids.
Fifth Annual Reading Club Summer Camp Takes Reading Skills to a Higher Level!
The Reading Club curriculum uses six activity-based learning centers: phonics, decoding/encoding, strategies, comprehension, writing, and pleasure reading. For three hours each morning during camp, small groups of students rotate in groups of three or four through these centers spending thirty minutes in each. Most of the centers are set up on the floor, use materials that are different from those used at school, and include lots of hands-on activities and games. The goal is to build skills, self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment to make the experience as “unschooly” as possible. These children have built defenses to protect themselves from failure and our goal is to break down those defenses and build success in their place. It was most rewarding to realize that two campers have improved their reading skills two grade levels since last year’s camp!
The afternoon activities included lots of chances to practice reading skills and to have fun. All of the activities were planned around the theme of “The Art of Reading’ and offered numerous opportunities to experience the arts. The week included team building activities and rock wall climbing at Life Adventure Center, making tie-dye t-shirts, constructing Chinese lanterns under the direction of UK students from the Confucius Center, a week-long project making a windsock and wind catcher, two wonderful dance sessions, a trip to the Art Village to make a project using recycled materials, a chance to observe and sketch insects and other creatures at Buckley Wildlife Center (see frog on front page), and painting a ceramic monkey at iPotter. There was a chance to make your own snack in a cake-filled ice cream cone, a visit from a local published author, an architecture feature scavenger hunt down Main Street on the way to a scavenger hunt at the Woodford County Historical Society and a trip to UK on Friday for a voice demonstration in the Singletary Center and a drawing tour at the UK Art Museum. Everyone left with “See Blue” UK stickers!
Each child received a bag containing their work for the week including a journal that they’d written in every day, books appropriate for their reading level to enjoy over the summer, simple art supplies to continue exploration of their creative talents and several other surprises.
Reading Club Graduation - May 11th
On May 11, The Reading Club once again held graduation ceremonies for its fifth graders. It is a bittersweet time in that we get very attached to our kids! We spend a week each summer with them and then meet every other Wednesday after school during the school year. We work on all areas of their reading and writing but have lots of fun as well, as you might be able to see from these photographs.
A Christmas Party
This year we celebrated Christmas by eating tubs of ice cream and baking Christmas cookies.
During the Reading Club Christmas Party, the kids painted cards to include in care packages to soldiers sent by Military Missions.
Reading Club Camp 2010
Our fourth Reading Club summer camp was a smashing success. Twenty-eight fourth and fifth graders filled the building and grounds with their laughter, their song and most of all, the sound of their reading aloud. Several of the children gained such confidence in their reading that they asked to put on a play for the other children - an absolutely amazing accomplishment for a child who is a reluctant reader! We had a group of over 25 teachers and other volunteers as well as six teenagers who lent their enthusiasm to the program. The children received breakfast, two snacks and a healthy lunch every day. A new partner this year, the Woodford County school system, picked up and dropped off those children who needed transportation to and from camp. We couldn’t do it without everyone of these volunteers!
One of the most encouraging moments came when we were told that the mother of one of our graduates sent word to us that Reading Club had changed their family. They had all but given up that their son would become the good student that they longed for him to become. He didn't want to read, wasn't interested in reading, and his grades indicated that he wasn't a good reader. His mother credits Reading Club for changing his attitude and giving him the skills to improve and excel in reading and other areas of study. Now their battle with him is not getting him to read but rather turning out his light and putting his book away each night when it is time to go to sleep.
The Reading Club curriculum uses six activity-based learning centers: phonics, decoding/encoding, strategies, comprehension, writing, and pleasure reading.
For three hours each morning during camp, small groups of students rotate in groups ofthree or four through these centersspending thirty minutes in each. Most of the centers are set up on the floor, use materials that are different from those used at school, and include lots of hands-on activities and games. The goal is to build skills, self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment to make the experience as “unschooly” as possible. These children have built defenses to protect themselves from failure and our goal is to break down those defenses and build success in their place.
Both the Phonics and the Decoding/Encoding centers work on sounds of letters, blends, word families, etc. with more emphasis on auditory skills in the Phonics center and visual clues emphasized in the Decoding/Encoding center. The goal of the reading Strategies center is to give campers the “tools” or “strategies” to solve difficult problems in reading. There are eight basic strategies: * Does it make sense? * Look for key words * Listen to how it sounds * Look for little words in big words * Look for something you know * Try a popper! (What word pops into your mind!) * Back track * Skip it and go on. In the Comprehension center the students read both factual and fictional materials, available on differing reading levels, and are then guided to answer questions and/or respond to the material they have read. Poor readers usually avoid writing. The Writing center gives our campers an opportunity to work on this skill. The focus is on ways to make writing both interesting and attainable. Poetry has proven to be a particularly popular form of expression for our campers. Pleasure Reading is a place where stories and poems are read to the campers in a warm and comfortable setting. We help individual children select books that are appropriate to their reading level and then have the campers read with an adult on a one-to-one basis. Extra adults, especially men, are recruited to help in this area.
The afternoon activities offered a chance to practice reading skills, have fun, and learn about nature, the theme for 2010. Monday afternoon the group visited Life Adventure Center and played games to learn each other’s name, scaled a climbing wall, and faced challenges which required teamwork to surmount. Tuesday afternoon was a rotation of making terrariums and rock people, painting wooden creatures and painting book bags, and making walking sticks. Then it was off to Big Springs Park to investigate the status of the water in the creek by catching and evaluating the creatures in it. Wednesday afternoon was a visit and tour of the UK Arboretum, a visit to the Kentucky Geological Survey, and a stop by the administration offices to pick up UK stickers. Thursday afternoon began with a visit from the folks at Buggy Kentucky who introduced various types of bugs, taught songs, and told stories about various insects. This was followed by a field trip to the church’s backyard to gather and investigate the insects there. It was just a short walk to Nostalgia Station to see the trains running and then back down Main Street to iPotter to paint some really cool inch worms. Friday afternoon was a trip to Salato Wildlife Education Center in Frankfort including a scavenger hunt in the Center and a walk around the various animal exhibits.
One parent remarked about half-way through the week, “They sure are sleeping good,” to which the staff responded, “So are we!”
Reading Club Graduation
Wednesday, May 5 was Graduation Day for another great group of Reading Clubbers. Every graduate received a poem written just for them about their own individual talents and skills, a certificate of accomplishment and a backpack of reading materials. They were also each given a tearful invitation to return when they are 16 to help other kids learn to love reading.
Pizza Party!
The first Reading Club meeting in January has become the traditional ‘Frog Gigging Day.’ Throughout the year, these energetic fourth and fifth graders come barreling into Hosea Hall every-other Wednesday after school, looking for a snack and a fun time improving their reading skills. One program that is used is ‘Great Leaps,’ a program of timed readings of phonics, phrases and stories. This program requires one-on-one work with the kids and is perfect for The Reading Club. Completion of each goal earns the reader a paper frog in a paper pond. Once the group earns 50 frogs, it’s pizza time with soft drinks and ice cream (well beyond the healthier snacks which are the usual fare). Students are usually limited to one frog per session as they continually strive forward but when it is ‘Frog Gigging Day,’ they can read any story and any number of stories for as many frogs as time permits. The pond was filled to overflowing and in fact, exhausted our supply of frogs (83 frogs, to be exact!). It was a great start to the new year for both the all-volunteer staff as well as the students.
