First Day of Brain Gain

Today was the first day back after being closed for staff development.  In the Education Center, as part of our summer programming, we went through the rules and expectations of the program.  Once these were explained, members were told about the importance of continual learning in the summer months.  Because we, at Jerry Gamble, believe that much learning instruction can be lost during these months, we have created our summer programmming with that in mind.

In the Education Center, members were put into their literacy teams and I distributed a notebook to each member where they will record their work each week.  Each day, members will make their way through six stations centered around literacy.  These stations all have reading, writing and comprehension skills in mind, and are at the core of their learning.

 The reading station is where members read articles, books, and poetry and analyze these for main ideas and purpose.  In the writing center, members journal their ideas about a certain daily writing prompt.

 Next, in the art station, members created an All About Me poster that highlighted their special and unique characteristics.

When members made it to the computer station, they were able to play educational games from pre-selected sites.

In the vocabulary station, members have specific vocabulary words they will learn each week through creative word play.

In the educational board game station, members have a choice in what games they want to play such as Chess, Checkers, Brain Quest, UNO, and Scrabble to name a few.  Members spent approximately twenty minutes in each station and then switch to the next one with their team members.

At the end of the week, to reward those who work hard, those members who have completed each station thoughtfully and purposefully will receive an incentive prize from my prize box.

Overall, it was a great first day and I was proud of our members' hard work and dedication!