tennessee governor, first lady stop by lipscomb's literacy camp
kim chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
summer time is a time for children to spend time with their family, have fun with their friends and for a group of students at j.e. moss elementary school, it’s a time to enhance their reading skills.
through the 世界杯2022预选赛录像回放 college of education’s camp explore: reading and writing in nashville, rising first through third graders at j.e. moss elementary, an urban and title i school in nashville, have been increasing their reading skills in a variety of fun learning activities.
tennessee governor bill haslam and his wife, first lady crissy haslam, stopped by the camp june 30 to read books with the students and to encourage them to develop a love of reading. they visited several classrooms and listened to children reading some of their favorite books. then, the haslams met with all of the students in an assembly in the school’s gym where they talked about the importance of reading.
“the reason we are here today is to encourage you to do what you’re doing this summer which is to really work on reading because we saw with our own kids that the better they learned to read, the better they did in everything else,” gov. haslam told the children. “reading is something that is one of the main things that is going to help you no matter what else you do in life.”
crissy haslam talked to the students about what their favorite kinds of books are.
“it’s so important to read all summer long so you don’t slide backwards in your reading,” she said. “you want to go back to school as strong readers. your teachers are going to be so surprised and so impressed with you when you get back to school. we are here to say keep up the good work and keep reading.”
the haslams read “the knowing book” by rebecca kai dotlich to the assembly. the story is about a young rabbit who travels through the wide world, experiencing joy and sorrow and all the wonder that the world has to offer. along the way he chooses a path, explores the unknown and ventures along trails on and off the map. at the end of the journey, braver and more confident, he returns home, the place he can always count on and will always know.
they also talked to the children about what they wanted to be when they grow up and how reading plays an important role in every career.
“thank you for letting us come and spend time with you,” governor haslam said to his young audience. “we are so proud of you guys for doing this this summer. i can’t wait for you to go back to school next year and for your teachers to ask you, ‘wow, how did you get so good at reading?’”
the haslams also brought each child a book to take home to add to their personal libraries.
“it was very exciting to see the kid’s excitement and what they’re learning over the summer,” said crissy haslam. “this whole program was about improving literacy and improving their learning over the summer, and we could see it happening right here today. this is something that is so important to tennessee. over half of our students are behind in reading proficiency, and we want to do what we can to improve that.”
“as a state we’ve made tremendous progress in education,” said governor haslam. “we’re the fastest-improving state in the country, but our reading scores are still behind where they need to be. reading proficiency by third grade is foundational.”
lipscomb’s camp is one of 20 summer reading programs across the state to receive a read to be ready grant funded by a $1 million donation from the dollar general literacy foundation and funds from the department of economic and community development. twelve of the programs were chosen in a blind review from 224 proposals. the other eight are programs in distressed counties funded by the community development department. the summer programs are part of tennessee’s statewide read to be ready campaign to move third grade reading proficiency to 75 percent by 2025.
approximately 40 rising first through third grade students were intentionally selected to participate in camp explore: reading and writing in nashville based on low and achieving reading and language proficiency data. about half of the students participating in the camp are young english language learners. students attended camp for four weeks, monday through friday, from june 20 to july 15.
j.e. moss was been strategically selected for its strong commitment to partnerships and family and community involvement. j.e. moss elementary school is one of the larger elementary schools in the mnps district, serving 888 students. of those, 94.4 percent are economically disadvantaged and 54.3 percent are english learners. camp explore aims to increase achievement in reading and writing for 40 elementary students and build upon their strengths as readers and writers.
“literacy is such an important skill that can open doors for students. when children increase reading and comprehension skills, each academic area is positively affected. being able to encourage literacy in young people and their families and to equip teachers with the tools and strategies needed to be successful in the classroom is one way the resources and expertise in lipscomb’s college of education can serve the community,” said jeanne fain, lead faculty for lipscomb’s english language learner program and associate professor of education. fain wrote the grant proposal for camp explore. “the program seeks to enable participating low and moderate income students to maintain skills and encourage reading in the months between the spring closing of schools and the fall beginning of schools.”
students participated in a variety of activities at the camp that reinforced concepts of print, alphabetic principle, basic conventions of writing, focus on phonics, word recognition, fluency and comprehension, integration of writing standards. interactive read-aloud, guided reading, mini-writing workshops, music, art, dramatic arts, interactive games and literacy integrated into science and technology.
sarah duncan and julia osteen, lipscomb college of education faculty, helped fain coordinate and carry out camp explore along with lipscomb alumni leslie deakins, jennifer kimball and jennifer margolis; lipscomb graduate students emily pendleton and heather robinson; and j.e. moss teachers kirsten clark and elizabeth ross (also a lipscomb alum). laura delgado, program director for lipscomb’s pionero scholars program, coordinated four pionero interns to support the teachers during the literacy camp.
camp explore was also visited by state of education commissioner candice mcqueen, statewide education organization score and denine torr, director of community initiatives at the dollar general literacy foundation.
for more information about lipscomb's college of education, visit education.lipscomb.edu.
—photos courtesy jed dekalb, chief state photographer, state of tennessee