Reading Rockets: Kindergarten Camp.
Our kindergarten camp runs every morning this week, from 9-11:30. Each day follows the same schedule: center time, group craft, snack, and read aloud (Monday's story: If You Take a Mouse to School) and playground. Highlights of the week include a visit to the cafeteria (Tuesday), a short bus ride (Wednesday), and a story read to the group by the principal (Friday). The kids divide up differently each day and by the end of the week, they will have spent a morning in each of the K classrooms.
Our kindergarten teachers use K camp as a way to get to know the kids and form classes for this year. While some of the K kids have a brother or sister already at our school, others are there for the first time. Some have been in preschool for three years, others never went. Some are reading; most are not. One by one during the week, the teachers bring a child into the hallway for a quick assessment. Measures of alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness will provide good information about literacy preparedness, as will measures of print knowledge and concepts. Good old-fashioned named writing tells a story also (see Chapter 2 of this report for an explanation of the skills and abilities linked to later outcomes in reading, writing, and spelling).
