At Break-O-Day Elementary school in New Whiteland, students stuck around after the school day was over, playing board games, singing songs and getting on a computer.
The activities help 30 students look forward to an extra hour of learning twice a week, a reading camp put on by Clark-Pleasant Schools, as they prepare for the IREAD test, an annual exam administered by the Indiana Department of Education to measure foundational reading skills in third graders. With the 10-week camp, teachers hope to get students who may have fallen behind grade level in reading skills back on track before the test in March.
After a successful pilot program at Whiteland Elementary School last year, the district decided to implement the reading camp at all five elementary schools. Across the district, 150 students are involved, with third grade teachers receiving stipends to work after school.
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At the beginning of the hour, students gathered at the library. On game boards similar to Candyland, they correctly named synonyms to certain words to move their game pieces forward.
Next, they split into smaller groups to sing remixes of nursery rhymes and look for advanced vocabulary in those songs in order to learn new words. The other half went to take practice IREAD tests.
Camp teacher Hannah Riley said positive reinforcement and making lessons enjoyable are key for students to improve.
“I’m noticing the kids are more excited about coming,” Riley said. “They’re invested in their progress.”
Proficiency gaps occur due to a lack of engagement with reading material, rather than a lack of ability, Clark-Pleasant Director of Curriculum and Instruction Cameron Rains said. Getting students to read out loud and even perform reading material through song, for example, gets students more engaged with what they’re learning, he said.
“In terms of developing fluency, elementary age students’ gaps exist not because of a lack of skills but because they haven’t automatically developed deeper comprehension, so there’s a strong emphasis on fluency development,” Rains said. “(The lessons) are fun also. Who doesn’t enjoy performing some of those things? Teachers do a great job of injecting enthusiasm into lessons.”
Break-O-Day Principal Laura Shipp, who helped organize the camp with a coalition of third grade teachers and special education teacher Rebecca Graham, said she notices excitement from students as they look forward to the lessons. Those lessons center around fluency, development, comprehension and word work, she said. Word work includes antonyms, prefixes, words with multiple meanings and matching the beginning, middle and end sounds of words, she said.
“I noticed the excitement from kids,” Shipp said. “At the camp some of them turn their flashlights on during reading, they read with excitement and engagement. There was a kid who had yet to get a number score (on a practice test) and got a score at grade level and said ‘I think reading camp is really working.’ It’s a huge part of building confidence.”
Kaylee Stonebreaker, 9, said she enjoys reading camp because it allows her to understand more.
“I think reading camp is fun,” Stonebreaker said. “You get to be more fluent in your reading. You can learn interesting things when you’re fluent.”
