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Mission:
To promote literacy by preparing and motivating children to read by working with athletes and community based organizations. To provide a fun and engaging classroom environment that fosters the love of reading.
Vision:
Tra & Alana's Reading for Life Program provides mentorship from athletes, celebrities and community based organizations that allow children to become literate citizens in society, foster positive attitude towards reading and learning, increase daily reading activity, improve attendance and academic achievement, and raise self-confidence.
Children in Tra & Alana's Literacy Program will learn the importance of reading and utilize reading strategies to improve reading fluency and increase reading comprehension. Tra & Alana's Literacy Program will inspire children to become lifelong readers and learners.
Reading aloud is an essential component of literacy. Reading to an athlete & celebrity and or members of the community increases confidence and generates excitement among students, which in turn will motivate children to read. Along with great books, discussions, and writing activities, the mentors will help children relate or make connections with the world they live in (reading strategy=text-to-world connection)
Participants:
Students in Ms. Kimmel's class will be invited to participate in Tra & Alana's Literacy Program.
A total of 28 fifth grade students at John J. Montgomery Elementary School will work closely with Tra Battle and Alana Ethridge to increase daily reading activity/skills that will transfer throughout the day (before, during, and after school). Along with Tra Battle and Alana Etheridge, other athletes and community based organizations will help impact positive attitude towards literacy.
Tra & Alana's Literacy Program will be a consistent and continual program at the school (in order to obtain measurable results and data). All students, activities, and events will take place under the supervision of one teacher, along with the support of the RSP/mentor teacher and principals.
Students' Responsibilities:
- Participants are required to show good attitude, behavior, and citizenship; obtain good attendance; strive for and maintain good academic achievement; and serve as role models/mentors on campus
- Students will show evidence of their reading by completing book reports, letters, oral presentations…etc
- Students will keep a record/log of their reading
Students' Responsibilities:
Teacher will keep a record of students' behavior and attitudes toward reading/literacy, anecdotal notes regarding reading comprehension, students' reading levels…etc.
Tra & Alana's Literacy Program :
The basis of the session: Once a month (30-45 minutes per class)
- Students read aloud/share their favorite book(s) with mentors
(or vice versa)
- Students have discussions regarding the books
- Students write about the books (book reports, ad, letters, skits…etc)
Essential elements of the program:
- Motivation to reading (internal and external incentives)
- Parent & community involvement
- Provide books for students to keep at home (to build their own mini library)
Tra & Alana's Program Expected Outcomes:
- Increase positive attitude/behavior towards reading/literacy and learning
- Increase daily reading activity
- Increase reading comprehension
- Increase confidence and self- esteem and confidence
- Improve grades, test scores, and focus
- Increase attendance
- Increase good citizenship in and out of school
- Build lasting relationship with mentors
- Provide an engaging learning environment for students
Accountability:
The classroom teacher and other staff members/volunteers will monitor all students. All Students will monitor their reading activity on a daily basis (in class /homework) and students will keep track of the books they are reading in their Reading Logs. Students will be reading Accelerated Reader (A.R.) books and will be required to take the A.R. tests on the computer to display their reading comprehension before selecting a new book.
The students will be required to pass 3 comprehension tests at each level before they can advance to the next level. The A.R. levels directly correlate to the grade levels they are reading at. This will help the 5 th grade students prepare for the California Standardized Tests (CSTs), which take place in late May/early June.
What Are California Standardized Tests (CSTs)?
The CSTs are developed by California educators and test developers specifically for California. They measure students' progress toward achieving California's state-adopted academic content standards, which describe what students should know and be able to do in each grade and subject tested.
Who Takes the CSTs?
Students in grades two through eleven take multiple-choice CSTs in various subjects. Students in grades four and seven complete a writing assessment as a part of the CST English–language arts test.
What Components Are Included in the English Language Arts Section of the CSTs?
The English Language Arts Section is composed of the following five strands:
- Word Analysis
- Reading Comprehension
- Literary Response and Analysis
- Writing Strategies
- Written Conventions
Montgomery Elementary
Reading Program Kick-off for Mrs. Kimmel's (aka Mrs. Ballinger) 5 th Grade Class
Tra & Alana went to Mrs. Kimmel's 5 th Grade Class to kick off their reading program, along with Steven Haynes (President of AFE), Patty Hill (Program Director of Alana's Achievers), and also joining them were San Diego Chargers Jeromey Clary & his wife Breanna, as they were rewarding a single mom & her children nominated to receive tickets for a Charger game through Jeromey's program “Clary's Crew”.
Tra & Alana each read an excerpt from a book of their choice and then went on to discuss the importance of reading. These 5 th Graders were a little shy at first but then came alive when they were able to ask questions of Tra & Alana. Mrs. Kimmel showed Tra & Alana the goals they had set up through their Accelerated Reader Program to help them improve their reading test scores, reading levels and reading comprehension in accordance with “Tra & Alana's Reading for Life Program” as all teachers and students are responsible for the statistics with the results from each student. You just had to be there to feel the joy and excitement in the room!
Here is a heart-warming story about this visit that happened a few weeks before : One of the students in Mrs. Kimmel's class was going to be removed from her foster care so she was very upset having to leave her friends and her school so Mrs. Kimmel called Steven to ask if there was anyway Alana could call this young lady as she was a big fan of Alana's from “Are You Smarter than a 5 th Grader,” so Alana's mom was able to make this happen as the window of opportunity was very short that day since Alana was also in school. Alana called and spoke to this young lady for as long as she could before the young lady had to leave. Mrs. Kimmel said that there tears, yet, tears of joy as Alana made her student's leaving a little easier as Alana's call gave her some hope. Click on a photo below to open a larger version
| Tra & Alana - Montgomery Reading Kick-off |
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