Nothing quite captures summertime memories like the first-hand accounts of the people who've lived them, Leslie Kraft, the literacy coach at Pottsville Area School District, said Thursday.
Keeping a journal can also help young people prepare themselves for educational challenges that lie ahead in the 2014-15 school year.
"With the new Common Core standards, there is a very rigorous writing component that will go into effect for grades 3 through 8 next year. While this is something we're doing for a lot of different reasons, from giving the children something interesting to do over the summer and encouraging family and community involvement, it's also something that will support that change in the curriculum," Kraft said.
With that in mind, Kraft and representatives of the Schuylkill County Visitors Bureau have started a John S. Clarke Summer Writing Journal Program for elementary students at Pottsville Area.
Kraft recently developed the 37-page journal, printed 200 copies and handed out 110 of them at a Family Bingo Night in the school district May 7.
The other 90 will be available to Pottsville Area elementary students tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Pottsville Area School District Art Show at John S. Clarke Elementary Center. It's first come, first serve, and Kraft predicts the journals will quickly be snapped up.
"This journal is a way for you to record your summer adventures while strengthening your brain at the same time. Planning for and composing journal entries will help you to practice recalling events, summarizing, making generalizations, developing main ideas, using supporting details, organizing your thoughts, evaluating your experiences and so much more," Kraft said in a note to students printed in the journals.
"The journal is structured to allow you to add art to illustrate your narratives and create something that you will want to keep for years to come. The pages can be completed in any order you choose. Directions for how to complete the pages are located on the back of each page," Kraft said.
Some of those directions encourage good grammar.
"For example, we encourage them to use vivid adjectives," Kraft said.
There are a few reasons why she initiated the project.
"We were getting together some resources to share with parents for our summer reading program, and I tried to come up with something neat and different to go along with that," Kraft said.
Kraft said the journal pages include lines the students can write on and areas where students can either draw or paste pictures from their summer adventures.
"We also wanted to do something with family involvement, something that students can do with their families over the summer that's connected to the school," she said.
Kraft contacted Regina Gargano, executive director of the Schuylkill County Visitors Bureau, for advice on how to include local attractions into the project.
Some local attractions gave them permission to include coupons in the journals. For example, there's one for a "free hour of canoe or kayak rental" at Sweet Arrow Lake County Park, Pine Grove, but "an adult over 18 preferably a parent or guardian must be present to sign the boat rental form," according to the coupon in the journal.
"The last few pages of this journal contain day trip ideas within Schuylkill County and the surrounding areas. Along with the ideas are special offers from local businesses and attractions - discounts and free offers - that are available to students who bring their JSC Summer Writing Journals along to complete while visiting. Offers are valid June through August 2014," Kraft said in the journal instructions.
"We're hoping it helps keep children and families connected to what's available in the county. And I'll always be happy to be a resource for Leslie or any other school district who does something like this," Gargano said Thursday.
Elementary students who have completed a minimum of seven pages of their journals are encouraged to turn them in to their homeroom teachers when they return to school in late August and enter a contest.
"Winners will be featured by the Schuylkill County Visitors Bureau and receive an award," Kraft said. She said she and Gargano were still discussing what honors and prizes would be given.