Summer school program acclimates new students, reinforces learning

Getting the hang of things

Fun themes and familiarity with the surroundings will help incoming kindergartners this fall after attending California Elementary Summer School. Kendra Hall's class was one of four kindergarten classrooms and had about 20 of the more than 300 total summer school students.
Fun themes and familiarity with the surroundings will help incoming kindergartners this fall after attending California Elementary Summer School. Kendra Hall's class was one of four kindergarten classrooms and had about 20 of the more than 300 total summer school students.

Inside their sleeping bags, "reading" by flashlight, incoming kindergartners may have not suspected they were learning.

The first two weeks of California Elementary's Summer School have been a camping theme in teacher Kendra Hall's classroom. One of four kindergarten classrooms with about 20 students each, the goal is to acclimate the little ones to the routines and expectations of the school atmosphere.

At the same time, Hall emphasized the need to make the hands-on learning fun, especially during these 19 days in June. For example, Monday's lessons focused on the letter "n" using nocturnal animals as a reference.

"A fun theme helps them remember," Hall said.

"Their skill levels are all over the place," she added. "That's what summer school is good for - to find where everybody is at."

A few of the more than 300 elementary students in summer school are from surrounding school districts, which do not offer a summer program.

California High School students earning their A+ program tutoring hours are a help to many classrooms, especially the younger ones.

"I like being the one that gets them going; they have such a love for learning," said Hall, who is in her sixth year teaching kindergarten at California.

But the transition is tricky, going from the incoming first-graders leaving her class in May knowing how to read and write to the first-timers who may not even know how to sit still, she said.

Next door to Hall is Teresa Dusenberg's pre-kindergarten room, where the experience is new for both the four-year-olds and the teacher. This is the 24-year teaching veteran's first time teaching pre-school.

"I love this age; so I'm willing to learn," Dusenberg said. "It's good to try new things."

Her focus is to help the little ones learn routines and school environment; "the things we take for granted but they come in and don't know how to do," Dusenberg said.

For example, the schoolwide terms for hallway behaviors include "marshmallows," "bubbles" and "glue." That is, quiet feet, sealed mouths and arms stuck to their sides.

"We're all in this together," Dusenberg said. "I want to make this first experience a positive one, to give them a good foundation."

At the other end of the elementary building, Reading Specialist Lana Dicus and the federally-funded Title 1 Reading Program embrace the extra weeks to reinforce the improved phonetics and comprehension skills.

Multiple computer-based programs challenge students at their own skill level. At the same time, the Title 1 teachers use classwide activities like small group lessons, flash cards and songs set to motion.

Throughout the regular school year, the program has seen great successes. For example, the fourth-grade class only had five students in the advanced level at the start of the year; by the end, that number had reached 24. Similarly, at the beginning of the year, 23 were below the basic level, and in May, the number was down to five.

"That's pretty significant," Dicus said.

Summer school continues that work for another month, before students are away for two.

"So much is lost May to August unless they read over the summer," she said. "This is one way of keeping their scores where they are."

All students are encouraged to read throughout the summer weeks, particularly getting involved with the library's summer reading program.

"The number one way to improve your child's reading is to read," Dicus said.