The Literacy Outreach Program forms part of the curriculum for LaFetra College of Education’s teacher preparation programs. Teacher candidates work one-on-one with children who are struggling readers in grades K-12 from communities all over California. As pre-service teachers, candidates must meet state requirements for practicum hours for accreditation and develop their assessment taking skills and lesson planning. The Literacy Outreach Program fulfills these requirements by providing candidates from the La Verne, Bakersfield, and online campuses weekly opportunities to provide individualized literacy instruction for struggling readers.
The nature of the program allows for essential community engagement and relationship building. Struggling readers often benefit from individualized instruction and children of the program are no exception. Children in the Literacy Outreach program receive free instruction with the option of engaging in virtual or in-person sessions. Literacy profiles developed throughout the program reveal student advancement, and participants often do not even realize the work being done due to the lessons developed around their needs and interests. One child shared he “liked the reader’s theater because it makes reading fun.” Another child raved about the slime she made with a partner, barely noticing the sequenced reading practice she was experiencing while reading through the directions.
In designing focused lessons to support their reading and writing needs while simultaneously ensuring to integrate aspects of novelty into each individual session, candidates in the Literacy Program fulfill our mission of inclusive and accessible education for all.
If you know of a child that could benefit from participating in the Literacy Outreach program, please share the following links with their teacher to complete:
In order to be nominated, a child must be in K-12th grade and be reading at least two grade levels below grade level.
For more information, please contact Carolina Menéndez.
