STACEY PLAISANCE / L’Observateur / March 10, 1999

NORCO – Teachers and students at Norco Elementary are working to improve reading and writing skills through an after-school tutorial program, the NEW Club.

The Norco Elementary Writer’s Club has been developed for students in need of developing their reading and writing skills, which are educational tools necessary for progressing in the school system. With test scoresreflecting a need for literacy improvement in grades 4-6, the parish approved a grant funding the writer’s club program.

Lyn Rochelle, a literacy teacher and NEW Club instructor, said the program was designed to carry out the district’s mission statement encouraging students to be lifelong learners. Norco Elementary’s latest schoolimprovement plan and results of last year’s diagnostic tests reflect a need for writing development in order to carry out that mission statement, she said.

“Reading and writing skills are necessary to being lifelong learners, and this program helps students develop their literacy skills,” Rochelle said.

“We selected students who were showing a need for support.”The NEW Club is being held each Tuesday and Thursday through March 25 in hopes of preparing students for upcoming diagnostic testing and their futures in education. The Louisiana Educational Assessment Program forthe 21st Century will require that students compose fully-developed essays, a task Rochelle said she hopes they will be prepared for.

The LEAP for the 21st Century writing compositions must clearly state or imply a central idea that is supported with details in a logical, sequential order, she said. In developing the composition, the student must focus onlanguage, concepts and ideas that show awareness of the intended audience and purpose, she explained.

“This can be so difficult for some students, and that’s why we are doing various assignments and exercises that will help the students develop their writing,” Rochelle said.

The mechanics of writing, such as punctuation, grammar, spelling and word usage, will all be evaluated in the tests and are necessary for students to master in order to progress their educational experiences, she added.

Rochelle said students are not required to attend the program, as the assistance is on a voluntary basis, but attendance has been fairly steady.

“Attendance tends to fluctuate, but it’s been stable,” she said. “What’sgood is that the students are enthusiastic.”Rochelle said the students have responded well to the program and show enthusiasm in the various literacy assignments. Because this is the firsttime the program has been conducted, she said it’s difficult to determine now what kind of effect it will have on the students’ test scores.

“We’re hoping the students will be better prepared than what they would have been without the program,” she said. “We’ll know more about theprogram’s impact after we see test scores, but right now I know they’re learning and enjoying what they’re doing.”Rochelle and co-instructor of the NEW Club Camille Aldrete have been trained in various areas of research-based instructional practices. Theseareas include the writing process, literacy strategies, frameworks and cooperative learning.

Using strategies that help students better develop their sentences and ideas is one of the main goals of the program, Rochelle said. The ability ofa student to develop and expand on ideas are necessary in the learning process, she said.

Deborah Corrao is a reporter for L’Observateur

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