By Elise Schack
HOUGHTON, NY – Houghton College recently welcomed local first through fourth grade elementary school students to campus for its fourth-annual Literacy Day activities.
Literacy Day, which began in 2015, is designed to immerse students in an experience where they can engage in word study through exploration and be encouraged to become excited and engaged. This year, 21 Houghton College education majors worked with more than 200 local students over the course of two days – Fillmore Central School on April 24 and Belfast Central on April 26 – to facilitate a day of fun and learning.
Through interactive writing activities, the creation of read-alouds, and small-group word study centers, education majors engaged students in activities that fostered wonder and curiosity about reading. Through assessment data provided by the local teachers, majors currently enrolled in the Language and Literacy for Diverse Learners course worked collaboratively in order to develop responsive instruction to fit the needs of these learners.
Annie McConnell, a junior at Houghton, shares that “Planning for literacy day enabled me to reflect on how deeply my experience this year has shaped my thinking about education and learning. The theories and practices that we have learned are integrated, not separate pieces of knowledge.”
The partnership between the Houghton College Teacher Education Program, local schools, and the classroom teachers has modeled a professional learning community, fostering growth of a learning network. Dr. Sunshine Sullivan, associate professor and chair of education, remarks that “The teachers’ willingness to give an entire precious day of their instruction for the students to be immersed in literacy in ways that are fun and empowering is a sign that they value this opportunity for their students as much as I value it for mine.