YMCA Reads!
Afterschool KidzLit
The AfterSchool KidzLit program is a reading enrichment program designed specifically for use in out-of-school settings, though it is also successful in the classroom. It increases young people’s motivation to read and builds their literacy skills. At the same time, it develops core values of helpfulness, fairness, personal responsibility, and respect for others.
Site Coordinators and volunteers use a five-part process in which children hear engaging books read aloud and make connections to their own lives. In each activity, leaders build and develop children’s literacy skills. Leaders introduce the story, read and talk about it and help young people see how it relates to their own lives. Throughout this five-part process, children learn to use new words, identify and discuss big ideas, make predictions about text, keep journals, draw pictures, and talk before writing and recording their ideas. They express their feelings and grapple with big ideas through discussion, drama, art, movement, and writing. The program is aligned with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) standards.