The focus of this summer’s curriculum is reading, complete with lessons and activities designed to capture students’ attention. For instance, during a unit on insects the youngsters made their own version of caterpillars. They stuffed stockings with a mixture of dirt and grass seed. The sprouting seeds pushed their way through the stockings’ mesh, creating a green, fuzzy appearance to which the students added eyes, antennae and legs.
A section on teeth was the perfect opportunity for dental hygienist Vicki Rentmeester, known as “Tooth Fairy,” to drop by summer school. Venuti also is working with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to show the youngsters teeth from the state’s wildlife.
Students qualified for summer school based on the results of grade-appropriate word-recognition tests. A test at the end of the program will indicate each student’s overall reading improvement. In between, a number of approaches reflect day-to-day growth with each youngster aware of his or her goal.
“Summer Success” is one of the programs used during summer school. It is designed to immerse students in literature and, through intensive instruction, give the youngsters what they need to become skilled readers.
“Read Naturally” is another program being used. First and second graders do a timed reading of an unfamiliar paragraph, listen to it read to them three times and then reread the paragraph. The improvement between the first and second time the students read the paragraph underscores the importance of reading something more than once and the value of being read to.
“They all know where they are and where they should be,” said Venuti, as she helped students select an appropriate cheer to celebrate another student’s success in reaching a reading goal.
Summer school faculty is comprised of teachers from West Homer Elementary School, Ninilchik School, Chapman School, Kachemak Selo School and Voznesenka School. The program ends June 30, with a performance by Tamba! Marimba.
Will that finally be the end of a teaching career for Venuti, who was with the district for 28 years?
Surrounded by youngsters, a smiling Venuti looked up long enough to say, “I don’t know.”
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
“This is why I like summer school,” Venuti said, referring to the pupil-to-teacher ratio and its resulting sense of community. “It’s gives me a holistic approach, seeing all the ages and how they’re tied together.”
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