For three weeks this July, elementary students were invited to attend
the Summer Reading Intervention program as part of the “First Summer
Learning Collaborative: Teachers, Parent and Authors”. This institute
brought together South Country Central School District teachers and Long
Island University graduate students who, as certified teachers, were
completing their Literacy field work for their specialized study in
literacy at the Master’s level. Teachers worked together in their
classrooms collaborating, reflecting and learning together as they
supported students in improving their reading and writing skills in a
small group environment. Teachers facilitated students in their literacy
learning and further refined their own practice of teaching literacy.
Teachers:
As part of the collaborative, teachers studied and practiced
a peer coaching model with the Long Island University graduate students
and with their South Country Central School District colleagues.
Teachers examined and refined their practice around teaching elements of
the reading/writing workshop and also created toolkits for literacy
instruction that will be incorporated into classroom instruction.
Teachers focused their time on assessing students’ reading and writing
skills, while targeting their individualized needs with the benefit of a
peer, to help reflect on students’ progress and accelerate learning for
all learners involved in our Summer Learning Collaborative.
Authors:
Authors and presenters Barb Golub and Stacey Shubitz,
leaders in the field of literacy, engaged in valuable conversations and
modeled literacy strategies for our teacher participants. Barb Golub
presented work around Jennifer Serravallo’s book, The Reading Strategies
Book, a book all K-6 teachers will use as a reference in their literacy
instruction this school year. Ms. Golub conducted a lab-site where
teachers watched her demonstrate a lesson with a class and then modeled
small group instruction based on students’ strengths and needs.
Teachers had time to practice the strategies that were modeled
throughout the week in small group and then received feedback from other
teachers in the peer coaching model.
Parents:
Teachers developed three different presentations or
workshops for parents on ways to support their children’s literacy
development at home and engaged parents in practicing these strategies
with their child. The first parent workshop was created by teachers to
share with parents different aspects of balanced literacy, which is the
approach to literacy instruction their children engage in at school.
The second parent workshop consisted of “make and take” stations where
parents could learn about literacy strategies and then make “tools” to
use with their child at home. The final parent workshop was even more
interactive where parents were invited to attend with their child to
participate in different literacy stations created by the teachers.
Teachers demonstrated strategies and then provided time for parents to
practice with their children as teachers supported them in the
practices. A fun, enlightening, and valuable learning experience was had
by all.
Children:
Children were at the center of the minds and hearts of each
and every teacher during the Summer Learning Collaborative. While their
parents were learning about literacy during the first two workshops,
the children were having lunch and engaging in literacy activities with
the teachers from LIU. Children spent two and a half hours each day,
four days a week for the three weeks learning how to improve their
writing, by writing a narrative from beginning, middle to end. Children
proudly celebrated their published work in a white hard cover book on
the final day. In addition to writing, students worked in small groups
on reading strategies and improved their reading skills by thinking like
a writer, connecting their own writing with the many “mentor” authors
they read from during the reading instruction. On the final day of the
Summer Reading Intervention program, students were able to choose from
books to read for the remainder of the summer. The books were donated
by the book fairies and provided a resource to all children who
participated to use the goals that they set for their own summer
reading.