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Highlands Today

Reading Camp Boosts Students' Skills

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Shanice Sterling reads a book during summer reading camp Thursday at Park Elementary School.

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By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: June 26, 2008

SEBRING — While reading a passage from the short story "The Dog Ate My Homework," a student read the word "restriction," after which Karen Smith asked her third-graders if they knew what the word means.

Among the four third-graders in her reading circle, Smith saw two hands go up and she called on one of the students to explain the word's meaning.

These students at Park Elementary School are among the 103 third-graders in the county who are attending the school district's Summer Reading Camps, which are also being held this week through July 23 at Woodlawn and Lake Placid Elementary schools.

The students are increasing their reading skills and an assessment test will be held at the end of the reading camp.

Smith has been teaching third grade for 20 years and has been summer reading teacher for about 15 years.

She encourages the students as they read, stopping them frequently to ask questions to find out if they are comprehending what they arereading.

"I like the way you are tracking," Smith told a student as his index finger followed the text.

Tracking helps the students keep their place on the text and helps with their reading fluency, she said.
As the students read "The Dog Ate My Homework," a story about a young student who continually lied to her teacher, Smith asked what's going on? Why is Kim so upset?

Other students read to themselves, working in a comprehensive vocabulary book that featured a story about an immigrant from South America who learns English and then resumes his profession as a teacher helping new immigrants learn English.

Director of Elementary Programs Joyce McClelland said with a 60-65 percent passing/success rate last year, the summer reading camp is continuing with the Voyager: Extended Day Reading Intervention program.

The curriculum begins each day with an "activator," a short activity and ends with a "debriefer," or sharing time. These activities help get kids involved in and connected to learning in a fun manner, according to the program's description.

New this school year at Park Elementary, students are using the UNRAAVEL reading strategy.
Smith said the mnemonic aid for students to remember a series of steps is helping them with their reading skills and with what they need to do on the state assessment test.

"For the FCAT my kids were underlining the title, numbering the paragraphs and underlining the key words in the questions."

The UNRAAVEL strategies are:
U – underline the title.
N – now predict the passage.
R – run through and number the paragraphs.
A – are the questions being read?
A – are the important words circled?
V – venture through the passage.
E - Eliminate the wrong answers.

Contact Marc Valero at mvalero@highlandstoday.com or 863-386-5826

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