Summer Reading Academy
What started off as a conversation on what the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Alabama BGCNAL could do to help improve our Club members reading scores, became a reality this summer. On July 6, 2011, BGCNAL launched its inaugural Summer Reading Academy. The program consists of students who are entering kindergarten through third grade. Also, it employs five certified teachers. The goals of the program included but were not limited to increasing reading skills in the areas of letter identification, phonemic awareness, fluency, and comprehension.
In the beginning of the program, students were given the DIBELS Next assessment and Dolch Word assessment to determine the areas of their strengths and needs. Throughout the program, the teachers worked on various reading skills to address specific needs. At the end of the program’s seven weeks, students were given another DIBELS Next assessment and Dolch Word Assessment to determine the amount of reading skills gained from the implementation of instructions delivered in the program. In addition, progress reports were sent one month after the program started to inform parents of their children’s progress. We are hoping parents use the progress reports as a tool to help their children to be successful in school and to assist their new teacher’s awareness of the skills the children were exposed to during the Summer Reading Academy.
Students receive incentives for consistent attendance and a daily snack. Weekly, they received a prize from the treasure box. For students with consistent attendance, a field trip to Roller Time Skating Rink was provided as a way to say CONGRATULATIONS for all their hard work this summer. In addition to the field trip, a ceremony was held and students received a certificate of participation. One student from each grade level received a gift certificate to Toys R Us for having the best overall attendance.
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Kindergarten: 50% improvement in alphabet letter naming and 58% improvement in first sound fluency
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1st grade: 66% improvement in letter sounding and 71% improvement in Dolch word identification
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2nd grade: 54% improvement in oral fluency and 60% improvement in Dolch word identification
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3rd grade: 66% improvement in Dolch word identification and 67% improvement in story retell.
This program operated smoothly and efficiently with not only the expertise of the certified teachers but also with the skills and tools the volunteers from our community.