ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 1996 TAG: 9607300090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
THE TITLE I CLASSES use an Olympic theme to make learning more interesting.
Fifth-grader Shonda Thomas is making a discovery this summer.
"Math looks hard, but it really isn't," she said. "I understand it better now, and I like it."
After she finishes five weeks of intensive tutoring in a federally funded summer program for disadvantaged children in Roanoke, Shonda is confident she'll do better in math when she returns to her regular school this fall.
Shonda, who attends Huff Lane MicroVillage magnet school, said her teacher in the summer program is helping her understand math concepts.
"I learned more about dividing and multiplying," she said. "I didn't like math before."
The summer classes are designed to help elementary children from schools in mainly low-income neighborhoods catch up in math and reading skills and raise their test scores.
The city has offered the classes in the past, but this summer they are part of a coordinated effort to improve the standardized test scores for all students.
The children were tested before the summer classes to identify weaknesses.
"We know what areas each child needs help in, and we concentrate on that," said Sonny Richards, a teacher. "It's like prescriptive teaching. We focus on skills that the child needs help with."
At the end of the five-week session, the children will be tested to determine their progress. If there are areas where they still need help, Richards said, the teachers will send a report to their home school.
Two-hundred children from a dozen elementary schools are enrolled in the Title I summer program, named for Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the funding source.
Carolyn Patterson, principal for the summer program, said the children needing the most help were given first priority in filling the 200 slots. The program, which includes children in preschool through the fifth grade, is being held at Virginia Heights Elementary, but the pupils come from many sections of the city.
To ensure that children get individual attention, each class has a teacher and a professional aide. Classes have 16 or fewer children.
"This enables the teachers to work with each child and to better deal with their specific needs," Patterson said.
Richards said the teachers try to use a "hands-on approach" to motivate and stimulate the children's interests. In math, for example, Richards uses a card game that involves math principles and a dice game to help teach multiplication.
Dion Moore, a fifth-grader at Huff Lane, said the card game has been especially helpful to him. "I've learned about decimals and things I didn't know before."
Shannon Roundtree, a fifth-grader at Forest Park Elementary, said her teacher helps make math easier.
In reading, teachers will sometimes use materials that have a special appeal to youngsters. Richards said his class has read biographies and newspaper stories about the Dream Team, the U.S. basketball team in the Olympics.
This approach has even whetted the interest of some immigrant children. Deni Kurdic, a Virginia Heights fourth-grader from Bosnia, said he has enjoyed reading about the team. Deni, who has lived in this country for two years, said he studied English when he was in school in Bosnia.
Dolores Johns, director of Roanoke's Title I program, said the summer classes are particularly important for economically disadvantaged children because they tend to lose their skills when they are out of school.
"Research shows that our target group loses ground quickly." Johns said. "This is why summer school is important to maintain these skills."
When the summer classes end Friday, Patterson said, each child will be given a "carry-over maintenance package" with recommended daily drills and lessons.
"We don't want them to lose any ground between now and the opening of school," she said.
The children also use computers and technology in their summer classes.
The preschoolers, kindergartners and first-graders work on keyboarding skills. While playing a computer game called "Kid Keys," the children see funny creatures and pictures that correspond with each letter of the alphabet.
For the upper grades, teachers work on math skills by reinforcing the children's basic knowledge of addition and subtraction principles through a computer game called "Turbo Math."
Two counselors also work with the children to build social skills and self-esteem.
"We try to build up their self-confidence as we improve their math and reading skills," said counselor John Allman. "We try to create a family atmosphere here."
Counselor Anita Price said the emotional needs of the children are just as real in summer as during the regular school year.
"They are ongoing, and we are able to help them because they are in school."
The theme of the summer session centers around the Olympics, with each grade level denoted by an Olympic sport or event, such as the Dream Team for the fifth grade, Sprinters for the first grade and High Jumpers for kindergartners.
As part of the Olympic link, John Carlin, a news anchorman for WSLS (Channel 10), spoke to the children Monday about his experience as one of 10,000 people across the country who helped carry the Olympic torch.
Carlin recounted the historical background of the torch tradition and quizzed the children about Olympic history and facts. One child knew his Olympic history well: He answered correctly that the United States has won three times more medals in swimming than any other country.
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. Amanda McClung and Beverley Cross,by CNBboth 6, work through problems in a math book during kindergarten
classes Monday at Virginia Heights
Elementary. color.