Teach 36 children with limited English to read

                       PENNDCO Literacy Master Map Program Spring 2016

The students in our Penndco Literacy Master Map Program are developing into confident readers and writers as a result of the way in which our educational objectives are implemented to foster comprehension and emotional growth through reading. Parents greet the teacher weekly with tentative smiles and ask to be assured that their child is doing well. Our students’ parents know that literacy matters even more than money is securing a bright productive future for their children.

Our donors’ commitment to literacy gave our students the opportunity to read Animal Farm, the 1945 classic by George Orwell. The students came to understand that this is not a simple fable, but a symbolic retelling of the tragic story of how totalitarianism corrupts, something that is very real to students whose parents came to this country from the former Soviet Union. Animal Farm dismisses the promise of violence as a way to find honor and repair social ills, a crucial lesson for our young people to affirm. The book was a natural opening to learning more about the history in their textbooks as well as the history of their families.

While wrestling with the themes of Animal Farm our students acquired 75 SAT level vocabulary items as well as an introduction to junior high school level sentence analysis and paragraph structure culminating in three-paragraph short essay production practice. In addition, the students analyzed the two film adaptations and presented their reasons as to which adaptation was most faithful to Orwell’s message.

Our next unit was an intensive grammar sentence analysis boot camp to strengthen students’ mechanics. Our students will not every confuse: their, there and they’re!

Our final unit of the year will give the students an opportunity to choose their own book and adapt a section as a play complete with stage notes. The implicit message of this unit is that literary skills are the most way to express the depth of imagination and the power of ideas.

Our weekly classes are thoughtful, productive and fun and continue to promote joyful, meaningful reading experiences at home as our Penndco Program supports the development of students whose verbal and written skills reinforce their emotional, social and academic growth.

On a personal note, the instructor is grateful for the trust of her students and their parents along with the devoted donors and supporters of the Penndco Literacy Master Map Program.