El Bichito: Week 3

May 20 post from Dane, who is an intern at El Bichito: 

In the past several weeks we have observed that the children may be lacking in reading skills.  While several of the older children enjoy reading very much, some of the younger children aren’t as engaged or confident in their reading abilities.  We decided that the theme of this week should be focused around reading, writing, and spelling.  In hopes of improving the children’s reading abilities, we engaged the children with several educational activities.

One activity we did was a sentence hunt game. Before the activity we took sentences out of several books and wrote each sentence on the board one by one.  The children had to work in teams, use reading skills, and problem solving skills to narrow the search and find the sentence in each book.  Our goal for this lesson was to get these younger children to open the books and read sentences to find the answers. It turned out very well; they were actively and energetically involved in the hands on task. 

Another activity we did was spelling game where we used dice.  The children would each take turns rolling a pair of dice. Whatever number they rolled they would be given a word containing that many letters. They would then write the word on the board and get it checked off once it was correct.  If incorrect, we would assist them in the corrections.  They were also very engaged in this activity and filled up the white board 3 times before we finished.

We also wanted the kids to get practice reading out loud in a group setting.  We chose two books that we felt were relevant to their need. We chose a book about better eating habits, and another on working together.  We sat together and took turns reading each book and then discussed the meaning and how we each could apply it into our own lives. 

As mentioned before some of the older girls seem to really enjoy reading.  Understanding they have already been involved in reading and book reports we wanted to continue their progression at that level.  We have continued a reading rewards program that rewards them for reading books.  We decided that challenging them to read books over 100 pages would further benefit their reading skills.  Once they have finished their book they can do book report to receive an award for their hard work. 

This week they have shown improvement on both attendance and requesting homework assistance due to our participation rewards program.  We reinforced positive work ethic and promoted positive behaviors by showing that their actions would pay off.  We are starting to settle in and have a better feel on how we can be assistance in the progression of the children’s lives and helping them reach their goals.