Program helps K-6 readers stay sharp

When Bob Williams sets out some books on a table this week in a Des Moines Area community College-Newton Campus hallway, he’s got a lot of variety on display.

“From letter recognition, to novels,” Williams said, describing the range of books.

With the help of three teachers, all of who are earning their reading endorsement in elementary education, Williams is helping about 40 Newton-area students retain and advance their reading skills this summer. Through a two-week program, with a $10 materials fee as the only cost to parents, the Buena Vista University program is giving teachers a type of on-the-job training while helping raise the bar for some young area readers.

Monday marks the start of the second and final week of the two-week program, which meets in DMACC classrooms.

“On the first day, we assess each student,” Williams said. “And we adjust as we go, based on needs. We really have a wide range of abilities here, but the starting point is generally high.”

During one of last week’s one-hour sessions, there were three student-teachers working with different age groups. Jerry Roby tried to focus a very young trio of readers on basic rhyming, Paul Forristall was training his mid-elementary group to recognize context and use it to help define words, and Laura Breckenridge was showing four older, more low-key students the ways words and ideas form sentences and passages.

The table in the hallway is free for the picking, as student get to take home a new book of their choosing each day.

“Each student leaves the group each day with another book,” Williams said. “The main thing is just to get books in their hands — books they actually want to read.”

Williams said the Buena Vista University program is not meant to pay for itself through fees or tuition. The key is to plant seeds that will last a lifetime, for most readers.

Breckenridge and Roby both seemed to have relatively driven, quiet groups during one of last week’s afternoon sessions. Forristall, on the other hand, seemed to have a larger, highly vocal, high-energy group that blurted out answers and enjoyed making animal noises.

Parents have the option of dropping off their children for an 11 a.m., 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. session. Williams is hoping that in 2016 — and every year — parents will take advantage of any small-scale program that will help preserve academic fundamentals over the summer months.

“Kids who read a lot tend to make appropriate choices,” Williams said. “We just try to use a myriad of ways to remind students about the massive importance of reading.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com