Mentors help kids tackle reading

AIKEN --- A treasure hunt to "capture" words guided children on a reading journey Wednesday as part of a tutoring program with the Aiken Boys and Girls Club.

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Kendrick Brinson/Staff

Trebor Banks (left), 9, reads alone while University of South Carolina Aiken secondary education student Emily Harris reads along with Dynisty Lawrence, 7, at the Boys and Girls Club in Aiken. The USC Aiken students were mentors as part of the Camp Sharigan Project.

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Kendrick Brinson/Staff

DaShawna Hicks (top), 7, and Janaya Parker, 9, practice spelling with help from a USC Aiken student. The children move through different learning groups at their own pace.

The Camp Sharigan Project offers children hands-on reading lessons and allows volunteers to tackle children's reading issues through positive reinforcement.

Started seven years ago by Elaine Clanton Harpine, the program moves children through several groups as they accomplish tasks at their own pace.

"We encourage them to read, but it's done with intrinsic motivators where we reward students with things other than candy or prizes," Mrs. Clanton Harpine said.

Rewards include creating an afternoon puppet show and pop-up books.

Volunteers for the weeklong program came from a University of South Carolina Aiken class taught by Mrs. Clanton Harpine, but she also takes the camp on the road. She's supervised focus groups in Texas, Florida and Illinois, where children's reading comprehension continues to improve even a year after she leaves the camp, she said.

The lessons are taught with a four-step approach: Sound the word out, write the word, use it in a sentence and learn the definition.

After children work through words they struggle with, they add it to a vine where they "capture" the word. At the end of the week, the children have a visual of what they've accomplished.

"Each child moves on their own, so we're counseling to find out what motivates them while we're educating them," Mrs. Clanton Harpine said.

USC Aiken volunteers said they weren't sure what to expect. Many education majors saw a chance to learn new teaching techniques.

"At first I thought we were just going to read them stories, but this has turned out to be more hands-on than I imagined," said Crystal Norris, a junior.

In Ms. Norris' group, children learned to properly sound out words one letter at a time.

"We learned that if it's a big word, we can put our finger over it and move it back to look at one letter," said Kendra Mazone, 8.

Camps are available throughout the area, Mrs. Clanton Harpine said.

Reach Julia Sellers at (803) 648-1395, ext. 106, or julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com.