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Smart Kids at CAMP-US
By Richard Sinatra
A summer literacy program gets inner-city kids off the streets and into books
Online Extra: Books Relating to the Three CAMP-US Themes click here.
Here a CAMP-US-goer writes, in his own words, what he learned about writing.
It's no surprise that involvement with gangs, drugs and alcohol prevents youngsters from reaching their full potential, forging and maintaining healthy relationships and leading productive adult lives. Parents, educators, communities and governments are becoming increasingly aware of the need to provide for the well-being of economically disadvantaged youth during out-of-school time.
As educators, we're in a unique position to help these children; to give them somewhere to go where they can be active and productive.
The CAMP-US way. Since 1997, I've been the project director of a summer literacy, athletic and computer program called CAMP-US. Each year, CAMP-US serves approximately 500 children in 10-day sessions. The first half of each day is devoted to literacy and computer instruction, while the second half is spent engaging in recreational activities such as swimming, soccer, softball, tennis, basketball and chess.
A CAMP-US teacher (left) and student (right) work to hone the student's writing skills.
CAMP-US receives financial and administrative support from the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), which provides affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the five boroughs of New York City; the After-School All-Stars (formerly known as the Inner City Games Foundation), which encourages inner-city youth to participate in sports as well as educational, cultural and community enrichment programs; St. John's University, which provides classrooms, athletic equipment and computer labs for CAMP-US and the New York City Board of Education.
The CAMP-US literacy plan focuses on three themes: the dangers of substance abuse, respect for the community and environment and striving to be a good person and citizen. The children's books that we use in the program focus on situations that mirror ones the children are likely to encounter in their lives.
About the Six Rs. The literacy plan is backed by what we call the "Six Rs" – Read, Retell/Reconstruct, Reason, Rubric, (w)Rite, Revise.
- Reading begins with a read-aloud of a book, followed by shared oral reading. New vocabulary words are put on lists that will be used by the athletic staff during the afternoon activities.
- Retell/Reconstruct is aided with the use of concept maps – compare/contrast maps, cause/effect maps, steps-of-a-process maps, etc.
- Reason includes questioning and discussion during and after the reading. Children interact with the text, the teacher and one another as they talk about the theme of the book, new vocabulary and their personal reactions to the book.
- Rubric starts with a discussion about writing and how reading can provide ideas to be developed in writing. Children are then given the four-point weighting scale of the state's rubric scoring system, with the components written in language the kids can understand. The teachers discuss each point on the rubric, which the children refer to as they write and revise.
- (w)Rite occurs after the children view either a group-constructed map or a map they filled in themselves as they were reminded of the qualities of writing displayed in the rubric. Teachers interact with the children as they write, often answering the children's questions such as, "Does this sound good?" or "Is this correct?"
- Revise involves a fun, motivating activity connected to the book the children read. For example, the culminating activity when the children read The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam, 2001) was to rewrite their stories on the slats of a paper picket fence.
Below, author and professional wrestler Mick Foley (who wrestles under the names "Mankind" and "Cactus Jack") reads one of his own books to CAMP-US attendees.
Once revision and editing are completed, the children share their writing with the group and the piece is then posted on a bulletin board.
A different perspective. At the end of the 10-day session the children were asked to complete a written evaluation of the CAMP-US program. Many of them noted that they read, wrote, used computers and learned about the dangers of drugs. They'd internalized many of the program's objectives and were able to express that in writing. In the words of 11-year-old CAMP-US attendee Donasia: "I've learned many things about character development. I've learned more about how people have different personalities and that I should understand and respect that. I have also learned about being myself. CAMP-US has helped me to look at people from the inside and not the outside."
Starting your own summer enrichment program
It's a good idea to start by getting an idea of what's already going on in the expanding "out-of-school" movement. These websites can help you in your quest for funding and program information:
www.afterschoolalliance.org
www.afterschoolallstars.org
www.tascorp.org
Some of the first questions to ask yourself are:
- Who will be the sponsors and partners of this program?
- Where and when will the program occur?
- What is the program's content?
- Who will provide the services?
You'll need funding in order to hire staff, provide materials and snacks, etc. Sponsors can be found in unlikely places – check with your local universities, parks and recreation department, Boys & Girls Club, police department, even local athletic clubs.
In getting CAMP-US off the ground, I found it was very important to offer activities outside of a traditional academic setting., otherwise interest – and attendance – drops. Try alternating blocks of instruction time with blocks of fun activities like cooking, music, theater or sports.
Online Extra: Books Relating to the Three CAMP-US Themes click here.
Richard Sinatra is the project director of CAMP-US, Queens, NY chapter.
May 2004, Vol.35, No.8
