“He has found a joy in reading, and that's a wonder.” That’s how one mother described the effect Penn State Harrisburg's Summer Reading Program had on her son.

This past summer, 15 students from area public and private schools, and 15 teachers who were completing their master of literacy education degree at Penn State Harrisburg came together for the six-week Summer Reading Program.

The children participating in the program ended the summer with more confidence and skills which they could carry forward into their classrooms this fall, according to program director Beth Scott. The teachers for the program were learning as well; the Summer Reading Program is their master’s program capstone course, in which they apply what they learned during their coursework at Penn State Harrisburg.

Ellen Burgess, a third grade teacher at Southwest Elementary School in the Lebanon School District, said she learned strategies she could apply immediately.

“There have been semesters where we have been introduced to an idea in class, and on my drive home I was already revising my lesson plans to incorporate teaching strategies and methods I thought might benefit my students,” she said.

About the Summer Reading Program, she added, “I really enjoyed how we motivated students to read at home over the six-week period, and I have already begun discussions with my principal about how we can incorporate something similar at my school.”

Scott said the thinking processes teachers develop during the summer program are applied in their classrooms or as reading specialists when they return to their schools in the fall. “The key is, these teachers are better prepared to deal more effectively with students who have not yet reached their potential as readers,” she said. “They can analyze classroom data and student work and develop instructional plans that are more finely tuned to students’ needs.”

Scott described the program as rigorous. The teachers agreed.

Kristin Danner, a first grade teacher at East Pennsboro Elementary School, said it was “a lot of work and tough” but she “absolutely” saw progress in her students.

The summer program is unique in that each teacher works with only one student. That's a luxury not often afforded to classroom teachers during the school year. The teachers and students, ranging from first to seventh graders, met three times a week, for three hours a day.

During the program, the teachers gathered at 8 a.m. every day to plan. Teachers with students in similar age groups worked together to develop a positive, motivating environment. While each student was assigned to one teacher, students also had plenty of opportunities to interact with one another. At the end of the day, after the students left, the teachers compared and received feedback on their instructional plans and reviewed and peer-edited the case studies they were writing.

The first two weeks of the program were devoted mostly to assessing each student’s abilities to determine what they needed. The teachers developed five instructional goals for each student, and marked their progress.

One student was bright, but had trouble decoding words and needed targeted work on phonics.

Another was able to read the words smoothly, but struggled with comprehension. A third could read smoothly and answer facts about the readings, but had trouble making inferences or drawing conclusions.

To help build students’ confidence, the teachers built their instruction on the students’ strengths. This required  more from the teachers than sitting at a desk and doing drills with the students; it required creativity. Some teachers had their students write words in shaving cream. One teacher wrote words on circles on the ground, and instructed her student to jump on a specific word. They used a variety of strategies to keep the children motivated. Teachers made regular trips to the library and guided students in choosing books that interested them.

The teachers also spoke daily with parents to keep them informed and involved, and offered them suggestions for working with their children at home. The children, their parents and guardians, and the teachers worked together for the benefit of one another.

The reading program only helps if the students keep at it during the school year. During the celebration at the end of the Summer Reading Program, the students performed during a “readers’ theater.” Each age group read from a script of a short play on a stage in front of proud family and friends. One group read from a poem titled “The End,” which Scott used to make a point about the importance of making reading a habit.

“Actually,” she told parents and students, “what your child has learned during the Penn State Harrisburg Summer Reading Program is really the beginning of what we hope will be a lifelong love of reading.”