Literacy through the Arts 2021 Summer Camp

LTA grew this summer with new students, families, teaching artists, and art forms collaborating to bring literacy skills to over 45 families.

Here are some of the highlights from this year’s summer program and how they connected with ARTSiE’s overarching goals:

Goal #1: Improve reading comprehension

• Children read books, sang lyrics to songs, painted illustrations reflecting the lyrics, and created our own camp song book.

• Buddy reading promoted cross-age relationships to support reading interest, fluency, and understanding. This occurred between middle and elementary aged students.

• Children learned about basic music theory including musical notes and rhythms.

Goal #2: Heighten social and emotional awareness

• Reading aloud with children improved social-emotional skills.

• Giving children teacher assistant responsibilities eg., cutting paper towels to prepare for the next project enhanced their self-confidence and eagerness to participate in group activities.

Goal #3: Increase family engagement

• 45 families registered and they all attending the end of session picnic

• 98% of the registered families prepared and brought a dish to share to the picnic

• 98% stayed for the entirety of the picnic

• 98% of the children participated in the performance: they sang, danced and rapped!!

• Parents volunteered to supervise lunch and recess during the session.

In addition to meeting our overarching goals during this summer’s session, our end-of-session Picnic & Performance was the highlight of the program.

Some of our favorite moments from the picnic & performance were as follows:

• The middle schoolers had the opportunity to practice the DJ skills they’d learned during the session, taking turns selecting and mixing songs as a DJ.

• Various art forms were displayed and demonstrated by the children.

• Ms. Eleanor, Ms. Emily, and Ms. Corinne conducted an adorable performance by the children, singing, dancing/moving and clapping the rhythms they’d learned in class.

• Every child wore their hand-dyed t-shirts

• Families came together to enjoy their cultural dishes and share how they had prepared them.

This was such a special summer session, despite the many ongoing challenges due to COVID-19. We can’t wait to reconnect with all our camp participants during next summer’s session!