When Martha Hamre worked with us last summer she developed health literacy resources for NWT Literacy Week. Since returning to study at the University of Guelph she’s volunteered with a unique literacy program. We’re delighted she had time during her Christmas break to write about it.
The Running and Reading program involves exercising your mind and your body. It was founded on the knowledge that better learning is possible when you lead a healthy lifestyle. This fall, I volunteered with this program at Willow Road Elementary School in Guelph Ontario. It was a great break from the study grind, and so rewarding to watch the children improve and show off their skills.
Each weekly session starts with groups of students rotating through a circuit of strength and flexibility exercises before transitioning to the running portion. To keep the students engaged, the program leader shouts out a variety of movements such as ‘high knees!’ or ‘lunges!’ so everyone stays focused.
The children run for approximately 15 minutes. The goal is to be able to participate in a five-kilometer run at the end of the 32-week program. Once the running time is up, the children organize themselves into their groups to learn the word of the day. The word is read aloud, and then children raise their hands to guess the definition or to give examples of how that word has been used in their lives. One week, for the word ‘progress’, a young girl excitedly raised her hand, and described how she was getting better at running, and could run faster and longer than she could at the beginning of the program.
Each child gets a healthy snack next, usually an apple and a granola bar to boost their energy. During this time they get together in small groups to talk or play games (‘Would you Rather’ being one of the most popular choices). When snack time is finished and all the children have cleaned up, the tubs of books are taken out, and each group goes to a corner of the gym to fill in their progress binders with the word of the day and the length of running time, before settling in to read.
The students can read by themselves, or in small groups with each other or with a Running and Reading leader. During the last session before the winter break, I sat with a small group of children and at their request began reading them Charlotte’s Web. Several pages in, one of the girls asked if she could try reading the next page. I was delighted that she wanted to step up and practice her reading skills, and was happy to sit back and listen along with her peers as she carefully read about Wilbur the pig.
Running and Reading is a great program that melds physical activity and literacy skills. Being involved in this program was a nice continuation of the work I did during my time as a summer student at the Literacy Council this past summer, especially with health literacy the 2014 NWT Literacy Week theme. I am passionate about working to promote good literacy skills and I look forward to continuing my involvement in the Running and Reading Program in the future.
