Elizabeth Owens-Schiele / Pioneer Press
This excerpt was originally published in the Chicago Tribune on July 7, 2017. Read the full article.
The three-week "Lit Camp," designed by national literacy expert Pam Allyn, who co-authored the book, "Every Child is a Super Reader," lasted three hours each weekday earlier this summer at District 25.
Four teachers led 20 students first in campfire songs, then a read aloud and drama sketches that brought the text to life, as well as vocabulary and writing lessons, school officials said.
"This is a class that is designed for all reading levels, struggling readers to advanced readers," said District 25 Literacy Coordinator Sharon Nelles. "Our goal was to provide a class that would specifically target the summer reading slide and provide an experience that students would be enriched and involved in books. The special part of Lit Camp is it has that interactive summer-camp approach with singing and making it more of a camp-like experience."
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Student Jack Lepold, 7, said he'd written six books in the last couple weeks because of the Lit Camp.
"I got the idea from Captain Underpants. He inspired me to make these comics," said Lepold, sharing his stories and illustrations outlined on notebook paper stapled together. "I liked all the books. Plus, I got to be in a second-grade class on the second floor and I found a penny in a locker."
Read the full article in the Chicago Tribune.