Enrichment Program
In an effort to enrich our students’ minds outside of the classroom, we offer “enrichment cluster” sessions for our third graders at John F. Kennedy Elementary School. These sessions meet for five Fridays twice a year, in the afternoon, and cover topics that our faculty and students have an interest in. The students spend forty minutes with a teacher learning and participating in an activity of their choice. Some of the activities include: sudoku, chess, instrument making, French, science alive, kite making, comic books, and many more. Cluster topics are ever changing.
We are offering these programs because we want our students to have opportunities to explore their interests beyond the classroom. We offer this as part of our mission that “All students are individuals and we respect their individuality.”
Multisensory Reading
First grade students at JFK are learning to read using the multisensory reading techniques. This type of instruction incorporates systematic, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness in which students are taught to orally identify and manipulate syllables and speech sounds. Particular attention is also given to letter-sound knowledge or phonics. Visual, auditory, and motor pathways are used in order to achieve instant sound-symbol association. Spelling is integrated with reading. Students learn to blend the sounds of letters into words using “finger tapping.” In order to blend words, students are taught to say each sound as they tap a finger to their thumb. In addition they pronounce and blend spelling patterns and retrieve sight words from memory. In order to build fluency, students develop speed and automaticity in accurate letter, word, and text reading. Finally, vocabulary building and text comprehension strategies are included.
Consistent practice using all modalities is vital to student success. Extensive reading practice in order to assimilate the skills being taught is most important. We appreciate parental support in order to foster the most successful growth possible.