El Bichito: Week 4

Week 4- Week of May 27th 

Last week we focused on basic reading and writing, but we were worried that some of the children may not have fully comprehended what they were reading.  We decided to go more in depth and make this week’s theme writing and reading comprehension. We came up with several activities that would help promote this learning. 

One activity was to increase the children’s vocabulary with words that might be beneficial to them in everyday life.  Such words included grateful, earn, friendship, conserve, honesty, kindness, and loyalty.  We wrote each of the words on the board and worked in teams to figure out the definition. They would write the definition down and then give an example sentence including the word.  We are hopeful the lesson got the children to think about new words, their meanings, and how to use them to resolve conflicts. 

Another group lesson focused on reading comprehension and following directions.  We created a treasure hunt and told them they were going to be pirates for a day.  We gave them the first clue.  It was written on a 3 by 5 card and had a sentence which they need to read and understand the instruction.  They then had to figure out where the clue was leading them and locate the next clue.  Each cards instruction was different from the last to exercise their thinking.  We gave hints, directions, and even had them count their paces to the next clue.  They hunted all over the building and surrounding property.

We included a picture of our participation rewards program that we implemented in week one.  We have started to see the positive impact this has had on the children, and their motivation to learn.  You can see the draw it has on the children from the picture as they receive their daily participation sticker.  It has amazed us to how such a small reward can really foster learning.  The children can receive one sticker a day if they participate in the activity, complete homework at facility, or are engaged in reading a book at the facility. 

Progression in reading has maintained its consistency and has been a joy to see.  Included is a picture of two of our star reading students Flor and Ina.  This picture was taken after Flor had finished a book and subsequently written a book report on it.  Her report joined the rest of the book reports on the wall.  We felt we had an extremely productive week and hope to foster more learning in the coming week.

Dane Smart

Brennan Howick