An internship in Whitbourne Central High School to assist in reading program development : grade eight

Baker, Elaine Meredith (1973) An internship in Whitbourne Central High School to assist in reading program development : grade eight. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The principal and teachers of Whitbourne Central High School had requested that two graduate students in reading do their internship in the high school. The internship was concerned with improving the reading abilities of the students. For this intern, work was specifically oriented toward the grade eight students and teachers in order to improve the reading ability of these students. -- Little was known, at first, other than these students had reading problems. Before setting specific objectives for the internship, this situation was further assessed in order to gain information about the students, their problems, and the present reading program. From using various sources of information, such as a formal reading test, interest inventory, and observation of the community and school resources, the problem was further identified. -- Most of the grade eight students were reading below the appropriate grade level, had little reading material available to them, and had a negative attitude toward reading. There was no organized reading program in the school, and the teachers had little knowledge of reading, the basic skills in reading, or the reading and study skills related to the content areas. Selected as objectives for the internship were the promotion of recreational reading, the improvement of the students' vocabulary and comprehension skills, the improvement of reading instruction in the content areas, the encouragement of the planning of an organized reading program, and the provision of inservice education in reading to the principal and teachers. -- These objectives were implemented through such means as classroom demonstrations of lessons or skill activities, formal and informal meetings, written resource materials, and the placement of reading materials in the classroom appropriate to the reading levels of the students. -- Very little planning of an organized reading program was done for the following year. However, the principal and teachers expressed their intention to begin this planning in September, as they felt that now, as a result of the internship, they knew more about reading and their students.

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