Over 1,200 Valenzuela students with reading challenges to join 10-day learning camp
More than 1,200 students in Valenzuela City with reading difficulties will participate in a targeted intervention program to improve their literacy skills.
The 10-day reading camp, launched on July 10, aims to address the needs of students in Grades 3 to 6 who have been identified as struggling readers.
“This program is part of our continuing efforts to transform Valenzuela into a reading and learning city,” said Mayor Weslie Gatchalian.
The initiative is a branch of the city’s Education 360 Degrees Investment Program. It will provide participating students with assistive learning methods designed to strengthen their reading fundamentals and pronunciation skills.
To ensure the effectiveness of the program, 64 teachers underwent comprehensive training on specific techniques for working with struggling readers.
This training covered areas like phonemic awareness, which focuses on the sounds that make up words, and effective methods for accurate word reading.
“They would be assigned as the main facilitators for the upcoming Reading Camp,” explained Mayor Gatchalian, according to the Manila Times.
“[The teachers] were personally trained on specific techniques… as well as necessary methods to help their students to read words accurately,” he added.
The program will incorporate creative learning methods to keep students engaged.
She [Dr. Milwida Guevara, who trained the teachers] also emphasized the importance of being creative in teaching, by allowing their students to learn through activating their five senses, playing fun games and moving the body, the mayor said.
To further support the initiative, 128 teacher’s aides, primarily student volunteers from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela, have also been trained to assist with the program.
