Themes and Summer Program Planning

Nancy ParkerDr. Ophelia Scott

Lighthouse Community CenterLouisville, KY

September 24, 2013

History of Lighthouse

About Lighthouse

• Opened in Sept. 1999 • Old Church Building• Added students and programs to build the

center.• Received 21st CCLC grant in 2009 (we are in

our 4th year of the original grant and 1st year of expansion grant.)

About Lighthouse

• We built a new building with a gym, classrooms, kitchen, offices, computer lab, library, etc. and moved in about 1 ½ years ago.

• Allowed us to expand our programs and take more students.

Partnerships

• Extremely important to build relationships• Go beyond what is expected to be the front

runner (i.e., volunteer to be part of pilot projects).

• Be a community liaison. Be around, get to know people, learn about what is available, and ask.

Ideas….

We are an off-site afterschool program but school buses bring students due to our partnership with the schools.

We are considered a faith based organization but seek help and funding from everyone!

Look to your churches for food, volunteers, to host fundraisers, throw a party for students, to give prizes, etc.

Partnerships we have developed:

• TARC for free transportation • Museums (always ask for free admittance and

settle for reduced prices).• Zoo• Colleges such as our Lindsey Wilson field trip• Frankfort/Capital trip (work it through your

Congressman)

Frankfort field trip

Frankfort field trip

Lindsey Wilson College Trip

Other Partnerships

• Government offices• Look for field trips self guided field trips that

don’t cost and then ask for someone to guide you through.

• Talk to your water company for a free tour• Ask your gas and electric companies for a tour• Look for free/researched based curriculum

(from KDE, from your government, parks department, etc.)

Ideas….

• You don’t always have to be the teacher!• Look at places that provide programming like:• 4H• Partner with your library to come read to

students and do activities• Extension offices• Arts teachers or community members who will

teach: music, art, drama, puppets, Karate, dance, and more.

Partnering and Sustainability

• Ask for speakers from all walks of life to come present a small talk to your students.

• Once they enter your building and see what you are doing, they just might be your biggest asset!

• The more people you can bring to your site, the more publicity you have for receiving funding.

Now that we have field trips….

• Now what?–From list of field trips•Use backwards planning•Brainstorm ideas for each station•Keep in mind career awareness,

STEM and other content areas•Use template for brainstorming

Field Trips from NancyWe had to pay for buses for out of town tripsCollaborated with TARC for in town tripsWeek 1 Elem- Louisville Science Center (at discounted rates) ; MS-Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, KYWeek 2 Frankfort, KY (State Capitol visit and free)Week 3 McAlpin Locks and Dam (FREE)Week 4 Louisville Zoo (Paid by Grant)

Garden Lab: (Science, Lang. Arts, Math, career awareness):

Computer Lab Activities (Technology, Lang, Arts, Math, Engineering, career awareness):

Research Lab Activities (Lang. Arts, Math, Science, career awareness):

Arts Lab (Art, Technology, Engineering):

THEME:

Field trip:

ALL ACTIVITIES ARE AS HANDS-ONAS POSSIBLE!

“Brainstorming “Template

Guiding Theme: Exploring New Horizons

• Or, “My Future’s so Bright, I need Shades”

Guiding Theme: Exploring New Horizons

• Or, “My Future’s so Bright, I need Shades”

– Each week we “explored” a different concept– Week One: Horizons; What is a horizon? – Week Two: What do we know about government?– Week Three: What do know about engineering?– Week Four: What do we know about the animal

world?

Basic Structure of program

• See handout• Four different stations for the academic block– Use of stations for rotation– Breaks participants into manageable groups– Different strand of activities at each station– Use the resources you have… and “Google” the

rest

• After lunch clubs for special interests

Overview of Summer Daily Schedule

9:00-9:30 Breakfast Snack, plans for the day, overview of day

9:30-10:00 DEAR TIME (Drop Everything and Read)record reading response in journal

10: 00- 10:20: Leadership and Team Building

10:20- 10:30 restrooms

10: 25- 11:50: Rotate in cross-age groups of about 25 (Red, Orange, Green, Purple) between four activity stations (Stop 1, 2, 3 & garden). Each station lasts about 90 minutes, from 10:30 to 12:00 noon. Build in restroom breaks as needed.

Overview of Summer Daily Schedule-continued

12:00- 12:30 LUNCH, debrief activities of day, restrooms

12:30-12:50 ----Get Moving, Get Fit: Organized gym activities or exercise video follow along or outside organized play activities. Restroom break

1:00- 2:00---Club Time: Students must sign up for the club of their choice weekly. They may switch clubs each week. Clubs will meet on varying days. They may choose from:

1. Art & Crafts Club 2. Reading, Game &Puzzles Club 3.Gym Rats-Three on Three Basketball, Volleyball or other organized Gym games, 4.Garden Club 5. Photography Club 6.Step Club 7. KEYBOARD Club

Middle School Group Sessions with therapists every Wednesday from 1-2 PM.

Overview of Summer Daily Schedule-continuedStation-1 (Computer Lab) Study Island/Success Maker (JCPS), Career Explorations, Theme related online games

Middle School -First 30 min- Career Awareness activities, then SI or SM, then activitiesElementary-First 30 min SI, SM or Skills Tutor, then activities

Station-2(Arts Room)Theme-related Arts and Crafts projects

Station-3 (Library) Elementary- First 30 min Career Exploration activity, then theme- related STEM/ Lang Arts/ Social Studies connections and activities.

Station-4 (Garden & Snack room) Career Exploration, Botany and gardening activities

1st 30 minutes of Research Station--The elementary children had pages from the Careers coloring book (in resources) so they talked about the career, colored the page, pasted in their journals and wrote about it.

Kentucky’s Academic Goals and Expectations applicable to center programming:

Goal: Students are able to use basic communication and mathematics skills for purposes and situations they will encounter throughout their lives. Goal: Students shall develop their abilities to apply core concepts and principles from mathematics, the sciences, the arts, the humanities, social studies, practical living studies, and vocational studies to what they will encounter throughout their lives.

Kentucky’s Academic Goals and Expectations applicable to center programming:

Goal: Students shall develop their abilities to think and solve problems in school/program situations and in a variety of situations they will encounter in life.

Goal: Students shall develop their abilities to connect and integrate experiences and new knowledge from all subject matter fields with what they have previously learned and build on past learning experiences to acquire new information through various media sources.

So how did this look in reality?Week One: Exploring Our Horizons (Lindsey Wilson College, Science Center)•Computer Lab Activities

– 6-8 Lindsey Wilson website activities, then can visit any of the sites below

– K-5 Virtual science museum trip at the Franklin Institute – K-3 Puzzled States ,3-5 News Hangman 5-8 What’s that word?

Kids can choose from either game•Research Lab Activities

– K-5 AIMS “Whet your appetite” , “It’s a Touchy Subject” “Bubble Clusters”

– 5-8 AIMS “Whet your appetite”, Taking Shape”, “Bubble Clusters”

•Arts Lab Activities K-8 Bubble Art •Garden Lab Activities

– K-8 AIMS “Eniviroscape” (observe a plot of ground and write about it) , visit outside garden.

So how did this look in reality?Week Two: Exploring our Government (KY State Capitol)Computer Lab Activities

– K-2 did not go to computer lab this week (4th of July week)– Grades 3- 8 will go to the Kentucky State Capitol website

http://capitol.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx– 6-8 also view and write about 5 different government jobs http://kids.usa.gov/government/government-jobs/index.shtml

Research Lab Activities– K-5 “Fairness and Diversity with One Vote”, “Future’s in the

Voters’ Hands”– 6-8 “Citizens are the Community,” “Next Steps”.

Arts Lab ActivitiesK-8 Tissue paper /Construction Paper Kentucky Flags and US Flag

Garden Lab Activities– K-8 AIMS “Down Under”(roots) , visit outside garden.

So how did this look in reality?Week Three: Exploring Engineering (McAlpin Locks and Dam)Computer Lab Activities

– K-2 Build your own roller coaster; Simple machines game – 3-8 Brainpop Coaster ; Goldburger to go!

Research Lab ActivitiesK-1 Straw Rockets

– 2-8 CSI Investigations (4-H collaboration) & Straw Rockets

Arts Lab ActivitiesK-2 Lego Set Building 2-8 Tracks and Balls

Garden Lab Activities– K-8 AIMS “Herb and Woody”(stems) , visit outside garden.

So how did this look in reality?Week Four: Exploring the Animal World (Louisville Zoo)

Computer Lab ActivitiesK-8 The zoo online ; Build an Online Habitat ; Zoo Breakout!

Research Lab ActivitiesK-5 How Animals Move; What’s My Animal; Make an Animal

Brochure; Shadow Animals 6-8 Plan your own zoo

Arts Lab ActivitiesK-8 Forest Collage art

Garden Lab Activities–K-8 AIMS “Observe a Tree” , visit outside garden.

Straw Rockets: An activity that can be adapted for grade level

Straw Rockets

• Materials: fat straws, skinny straws, masking tape, paper clips, scissors, measuring tape

• Fat straws form the fuselage and the skinny straw are the launchers. Bent the tip of one end of a fat straw over itself and seal as airtight as possible with tape. Slide onto a skinny straw and blow through the skinny straw to launch!

• How can this activity be geared up or down for different age groups?

Garden Lab: (Science, Lang. Arts, Math, career awareness):

Computer Lab Activities (Technology, Lang, Arts, Math, Engineering, career awareness):

Research Lab Activities (Lang. Arts, Math, Science, career awareness):

Arts Lab (Art, Technology, Engineering):

THEME:

Field trip:

In Summation:Start with a guiding theme

Seek cheap or free field trips, ask for discounts (“It’s for very needy kids!”

With field trip list in hand, brainstorm activities that support the field trip

Use a structure that moves the kids and provides for a different academic task each day

Use activities that can be adapted for varying ages

Have fun!

Thank you for your time!

Any questions?