|
news
Children
reap the rewards of camps
CSULB may be empty of college students, but tons of elementary,
junior high and high school students storm the campus to enhance
reading, writing and science skills.
By Tanya Dellaca
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
School is out for
the summer and Cal State Long Beach’s youth summer programs
are in progress.
For students entering
first through 12th grade who are looking for a different way
to spend time during this summer break, CSULB offers numerous
on campus academic and sports camps.
The second session
of the Young Writers’ and Young Readers’ camps began Monday.
The Writers’ camp meets from 9 a.m. to noon, and many students
bring their lunch and stay for the Readers’ camp, which is
held from 12:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Both the writing
and reading camps conclude their sessions with a “celebration,”
in which the young participants reap the rewards of the many
weeks of their hard work.
“At the end of
camp, as a culmination, the writing camp has a publication
celebration, and each classroom produces an anthology. Each
student has at least one piece of writing in there so they
become real published authors,” Writers’ Camp Co-Director
Greg Tate said.
“For the reading
camp, they do a reading celebration where…they show what they
learned.”
The writing camp
? divided into groups of a maximum of 20 students ? is designed
to promote the growth of reading and writing abilities under
the supervision of teachers and assistants.
“What we try to
do is have a safe, fun and motivational environment where
kids can write,” Tate said. “We teach skills within the context
of writing. We might talk about the style of different genres
of writing and isolate problems to overcome any anxieties
that the students might have.
“The writing camp
focuses on the writing process: creating, drafting revisiing,
conferencing, editing, and then publishing.”
In smaller classroom
settings, the Readers’ camp is geared toward sharpening phonics
skills for grades one through three, while for grades four
through six it focuses on enhancing vocabulary and reading
comprehension. Students read silently, out loud or in small
groups and are then given a follow-up writing assignment to
connect reading and writing.
“We try to get
them excited about reading,” sixth grade teacher Rich Perkins
said.
The camp also tries
to give students strategies they can us in future classes
and when taking the SAT.
“It gives them
an extra boost for the next year,” Program Co-Director Lucy
Farmer said.
Now in its seventh
year, the Readers’ camp participants get college campus exposure
during field trips to the bookstore, science center and outdoor
classroom time.
“The college campus
exposure can give them a goal, something to work toward later
on,” Farmer said.
The Writers’ and
Reader’s camps are both part of the South Basin Writing Project,
which is a state-, federal- and university-funded program
to raise the quality of literacy and education by offering
professional training opportunities to teachers.
The project was
founded in 1977 and has attracted teachers from all over southern
California, such as Los Angeles, Torrance, Whittier, Garden
Grove, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos.
In addition, another
summer camp option still available is the Young Scientists’
camp. In its third year, the department of science education,
working with grant funds from the National Science Foundation,
has two main goals for this program.
“To get kids included
in hands-on, interactive science learning,” Crisanne Hazen,
Program Coordinator said, “so they can see just how fun science
can be.”
And the camp also
provides training to CSULB students working toward their teaching
credentials by having them contribute as teaching assistants..
“Originally our
goal was to interest people in teaching science, to get them
interested and excited,” Co-Director William Ritz said. “If
[students] are excited about looking at critters they can
also be excited about reading and writing about them.”
The camp uses fully
accredited mentor teachers working cohesively with pre-service
teachers in the classroom, Hazen said.
“[Student teachers]
can experience the value of teaching and can see how active
and exciting science can be,” Hazen said.
The Young Scientists’
camp, for grades fourth through eighth, is held from 8 a.m.
to noon beginning August 5.
Many other camps, including athletic
camps, will be offered on campus throughout the summer. For
information go to www.longbeachstate.com/local/camps.html
or www.csulb.edu/programs/cummer-camps.
Luis Pena contributed
to this story.
|
