Camp Read to be Ready provides students with a total reading experience where books take life in relation to our community. Students are given the opportunity to read, think, talk, and write about various texts in relation to our focus of learning. The first session of Camp Read to be Ready allows students to experience Camp Reading Rangers. Twenty four students have spent their first week becoming backyard naturalists. Students are learning about and discussing animals, insects, and plants in their native habitat. We have dug deep into the following books: Our Great Big Backyard written by Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hagar, Fireflies in the Night written by Judy Hawes, One Small Square: Backyard written by Donald Silver, and What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? written by Steve Jenkins.
The ultimate goal for Camp Read to be Ready is to make books come to life for our students. Co-directors Melisha Simmons and MaryBeth Young as well as Troop Leaders Lori Christensen, Kathy Gannon, Emily Hughes, and Joy Pope are working toward this goal by creating movements, songs, and art that relate to our books. Campers have created their own constellations and compared hot light from candles to cold light from fireflies. Troop leaders have allowed campers to evaluate animal parts in order to determine the animal to which the parts belong. Campers have also experimented with foods to see the types of animals that are attracted to meats, plants, or liquids.
We are partnering with Adams Memorial Library to ensure each of our campers and their families have library cards. Camp Read to be Ready travels to the Library two times each week so that campers have the opportunity to choose their own books to explore. Campers are also participating in the Summer Reading Program and weekly story time through Adams Memorial Library.
Camp Read to be Ready is also partnering with Huff & Puff Trucking. Through this partnership, campers are learning geography and map skills while they learn about where Cannon County is in relation to the world around us. Each day in camp, students experience a read aloud of Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. Huff & Puff drivers Mike and Dianna Watson have opened their truck up to Flat Stanley so that he can travel their delivery routes. Every day campers get to video conference with Flat Stanley and his drivers using Skype. Campers note the location of Flat Stanley and discover the states he has traveled through. Campers also ask Huff & Puff drivers questions about the geography, climate, time zone, and scenery of their current location.
There are some things you can do at home to help your child during the summer months. The single most important thing you can do to help your child succeed is to read with them for twenty minutes each day! Remember, the conversations you have with children about what they have read or heard are essential to their comprehension. The Adams Memorial Library offers story time at 1:00 every Tuesday. They also meet on Thursdays at 1:00 for activities related to the Summer Reading Program.
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