Payton Blair

Foundations of Literacy

Dr. McCracken

Story Boost Reflection

This semester I had the privilege of participating in a program called Story Boost at

Francis Slocum Elementary. I read to two different kindergarten groups every Monday morning

at 8:40 and I enjoyed getting to know each of my students personally. Story Boost was created in

order to help young students become better readers by having someone read books aloud to

them. I think this is a great strategy and I definitely saw growth in my students throughout the

semester. I am so thankful I was able to participate in Story Boost and make somewhat of

difference in my student’s reading experience.

My first reading group contained one female student and when I first met her she was

very quiet and reserved. The first time we met I tried to ask her about herself and things she liked

to do and she would barely talk to me. She would listen to me read and was never disrupted but

when I would ask her questions about the story or have her respond while I was reading she

would barely say anything. I could tell it was going to take a while for her to warm up to me and

feel comfortable sharing her thoughts. As the semester went on, she became more verbal and we

started having conversations with each other about the stories we read and other things as well.

She started being able to retell the books we read with more accuracy than before and I could tell

she felt more confident in her answers at the weeks went on. It has been great to watch her grow

and begin to trust me enough to open up and try to read herself. Toward the end of our time

together, she even started to recognize letters in the books that she was learning in class. I
specifically remember her pointing out the letter F and its sound when I was reading a book by

Dr. Seuss and I was so proud of her in that moment.

My second reading group contained two female students and they were a lot more

outgoing than my first group. Student 1 would constantly try to play with my hair and she always

wanted to be the first person to answer the questions I asked. Student 2 was a little more reserved

and would get talked over by Student 1 but she never seemed to mind. If I wanted to get a

response from Student 2, I would have to specifically call on her because she would never just

blurt out an answer or respond while the story is being read. Both of these students were always

well behaved and excited to see the new books I would bring each week. I also saw lots of

growth in these students and by the end of the semester they were able to answer deeper level

questions about the books I would bring. I would often bring two books that had similar themes

or messages and we would talk about which one they liked better and how they were the same.

For instance, I read two books one week that had a central theme about friendship and we spent

time having them retell each story and talk about why the characters were good or bad friends.

Both of these students started recognizing sight words throughout the books I would read toward

the end of the semester as well. I remember when I read No David to them they instantly pointed

out the word “no” and were able to read along with me because they knew one simple word. I

loved getting to work with these girls and I’m glad I was able to form a friendship with them

through Story Boost.

Through this process, I was able to see how much of a difference reading aloud to

students can make. I know that only reading to them for 20 minutes once a week isn’t that much

time, but it was enough time for them to become more confident in themselves and show me how

they had grown from week to week. Each week I learned something new about my students and
saw their reading skills jump to a new level. I hope a program like this exists at the school I work

at one day because I think it is definitely beneficial.