Posts Tagged ‘summer sessions’

This summer New Haven Reads Summer Literacy Camp was full of learning and fun! With support from the Woman’s Seamen’s Friend’s Society of CT we were able to bring Mystic Aquarium to our Kindergarten and Pre-K camp five times this summer! Students learned about many aquatic animals including penguins, crabs, lobsters, snails, turtles and more. During each visit students learned about a specific animal and its habitat, while getting to touch various live animals! In addition, students brought home a brand new book each week that focused on a sea animal! 

When we were not enjoying visits from Mystic Aquarium our rising 1st graders worked on phonics, sight words, and comprehension each day, while focusing heavily on short vowels and decoding leveled text. While focusing on literacy, we also provided math instruction based on Common Core Kindergarten and 1st grade standards. We also included a variety of art projects and hands- on activities throughout the summer. 

Our rising Kindergarten camp ran on a shortened, age appropriate version of the morning schedule. Every day students enjoyed a story, letter of the day instruction, and an art project. 

This year we tested our campers in the beginning of camp to gauge their individual starting points and to tailor our instruction to their specific needs. In 5 short weeks, we saw improvement in 100% of our campers in one or more categories! Our rising first graders improved in letter recognition, phonetic spelling, short vowel sounds, consonant sounds, digraphs, and sight word knowledge. In addition, our rising first grade students collectively improved their score in phonetic spelling and short vowel sounds by more than 50%! 

66% of our rising kindergarten students made improvements in at least 6 of the following categories: letter identification, letter sounds, book knowledge, concepts of print, and beginning sounds. Collectively our rising kindergarten students improved their letter recognition, letter sounds, book knowledge, and concepts of print by more than 50%! 

Ultimately, campers had a great summer experience and learned so much! Our youngest students are ready for kindergarten and first grade this coming school year!

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Name: Hope McCormack
Hometown: Branford, CT
College and Major: Western Connecticut State University, Elementary Education
Tutoring Site: Dixwell, Bristol
Clubs: Math II, Arts and Crafts Club
Favorite Childhood Books: The Giving Tree, By: Shel Silverstein

I knew that I wanted to work with kids over the summer, so I started looking for jobs that involve working with kids. I had heard about New Haven Reads from a friend of mine, and thought this would be the perfect job for me. I applied for the job, and handed in my resume and letter. I awaited the response and when I finally I got the call that I got the job, I was was so excited! I knew that this would give me more experience in my field, and make up for lost time due to Covid

I am currently working with New Haven Reads this summer at the Bristol and Dixwell locations. I am a tutor and I run Math II and Arts and Crafts Club. I am learning how to format lesson plans, and adhere to my students individual needs. I have noticed that some students need more challenging problems in my Math II club than other kids. I adapt my lesson plans to accommodate the students individual needs. Breakout rooms have been very helpful for accommodating my students. I am able to work with one group of kids in one room, and another group of kids in another room. Being able to work with groups individually is very helpful for adhering to everyone’s needs. In my math club I have been doing multiplication and division practice with the kids. I decided to incorporate some other activities involving fractions, arrays, measurements, and money into our activities in order to engage my students. When teaching the students in my math club, the best feeling is when I explain something, and I see the “aha moments.” The students really enjoy using Prodigy. They also very much enjoy playing math Kahoot games as well! In my arts and crafts club we create fun and engaging activities for the kids to participate in. So far we have done slime, bowl knitting, paper plate faces, painting, and drawing. The best moments in arts and crafts club are seeing the students engaged and having fun with the activities we plan for them. One highlight from arts and crafts was when the kids were excited to paint the sea shells I collected for them! My tutoring experience with New Haven Reads has been amazing. Knowing that you are making an impact, and helping the kids improve in their skills is the best feeling!

For the short time I have worked at New Haven Reads, I noticed how friendly, supportive, and caring the staff is! Whenever I need help with my clubs or with tutoring, I am not afraid to ask because I feel that I am in a safe, supportive, and loving environment! I am sure that this is how the kids feel when they come in for clubs and tutoring as well! The kids have a loving, supportive environment to come into where they don’t have to be afraid to make mistakes or ask for help. Everyone is here to help!

I am so grateful that I was able to work with New Haven Reads this summer! Thank you to the First Niagara Foundation in partnership with KeyBank for giving me the opportunity to make a difference in these children’s lives, and for giving me an opportunity to practice my future field!

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Every summer New Haven Reads has amazing fellows from different universities and colleges join our team. This year we are lucky to have three fellows that joined us from Harvard University, University of New Haven, and YALE College.  Our fellows help with tutoring, summer clubs, and special projects. Help us welcome our 2021 fellows by learning about them below!

Josh is currently a rising sophomore at Harvard University originally from Branford, CT. At school, he is studying Physics and Mathematics with a language citation in Spanish. As a child, his favorite book was “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster.

Melina is originally from West Haven, Connecticut. She is a sophomore at Yale College, where she studies comparative literature and psychology. Growing up, she loved reading the Magic Tree House series.

 
 
 
 
 

Faith is from West Haven, Connecticut and attending the University of New Haven. She is studying Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Investigative Services. As a child, her favorite books were The Magic Treehouse series. She is currently enjoying the memoir by the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, called Becoming.

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Hello, my name is Abigail and I am the new Willow Street Assistant Site Director! It has been a busy time here at the Willow Street location. Setting up for the summer session after this building had been empty since March 2020 was a huge undertaking but Carol and I are finally reaching the end of that long to-do list. Our first week back was consumed with creating learning packets for the students, sorting books, scheduling tutoring sessions, and finally, organizing the space to facilitate learning and comply with COVID-safety protocols.

The building was painted, light bulbs were replaced, and everything was cleaned- this was much needed after the space was vacant for a whole year and a half!

Shown is one of the new air purifiers set to filter away germs and allergens.


This summer, we are offering both in-house and online tutoring for students. Some families have chosen to stay remote for tutoring and we look forward to seeing these students’ faces online, wherever they are logging in from. NHR has instituted a new program called myON to help students find digital books tailored to their interests with much more ease. We have also simplified the number of activities to complete during the hour-long session in order to reduce any technical difficulties previously experienced by students. This way they can focus on the best part of NHR – reading with their tutors!

New books carefully selected by Carol for students to choose from when arriving during the first days of summer session.

 As for the families who have chosen in-person tutoring, we are thrilled to finally see the kids! It will be so nice to get a little closer to the warm, fun, and dynamic tutoring atmosphere. The building will be filled with the buzz of students reading, laughing with their tutors, and playing choice-time games. All this will be happening through masks as people remain 6 feet apart from one another and air filters hum in the background. Additionally, thorough cleaning will happen in between sessions. 

We are excited to start our summer session and to see students at New Haven Reads once again – both in-person and online!

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