The Learning Zone

By Daisy CoronaBEEP 4384

East Branch Library

This is where I did my service learning…

The Learning Zone

• The Learning Zone provides free tutoring and homework support at no cost.

• There are various resources available, such as books, manipulatives, and games.

• The last half-hour is spent playing educational games.

First Session

During my first field experience I had the opportunity to work with Belen , alongside my classmate, Yesenia. We worked with both phonics flashcards and sight word flashcards. I feel as though I got a better grasp of the importance of contributing to the community. I grew up in the same area where many of these children live and I think it’s really important for them to interact with people who look like them and value education.

Second Session

During this session I had the opportunity to meet and work with Eduardo. We worked out of a phonemic awareness booklet. think that one of my strengths is making children feel comfortable. Eduardo was initially quiet, but by the end of the session he was smiling and talking more. We had just talked about the importance of lowering the affective filter in class that week. My goal is to have a classroom where the affective filter is always low so that student learning and growth can take place.

Third Session

During this session I worked with Carolina. First, I helped Carolina practice her spelling words. Then, we worked with multiplication flashcards. Carolina read me The giving Tree. I was truly impressed by how fluently Carolina read!

Fourth Session

On this session I worked with a smart and cute little girl named Brea. The first thing we worked on was her spelling words. Then, I helped her with a punctuation handout and an addition worksheet. Brea used colored counting rods as manipulatives for the math worksheet. It’s great that the Learning Zone has tools that make learning fun!

Session Five

During this session I met and began to work with my assigned student, Angela. Once she learned that I spoke Spanish she began talking to me in Spanish, her native language. I'm glad this made her feel comfortable. I helped Angela with her homework, a handout on character analysis.

Session Six

I listened as Angela read the book A Day at the Fair. Angela did a great job reading. As she read I noticed that she self- corrected several times. We used this book to complete a handout that she had for homework. The handout consisted of filling in the title, setting, and listing the main events in a sequential order. Angela didn’t have any trouble with the sequencing but she needed a little help with the wording of the sentences. After completing this assignment we worked on her spelling-writing the words three times each.

Session SevenMinh let me know that Angela, my assigned student, was not coming because she was sick. I worked with Kimberly, a third grader. Kimberly greeted me with a warm smile. She had already began working on her

homework, but told me he was having difficulty. Her homework assignment consisted of using contractions such as wouldn’t in a

sentence. I explained contractions and gave her several examples. I was impressed by how quickly she grasped the concept.

Session Eight

During this session I worked with Carlos because Angela didn’t make it to the Learning Zone that day. When I arrived he was already working on his social studies homework. It consisted of coloring a map of the United States with map pencils. As we colored, I asked him questions about some of the states. I was happily surprised because he knew a lot. He especially knew a lot about the state of Alabama because he had done a report on this particular state.

Session Nine

Angela and I read the book Hansel and Gretel together. She did a great job reading. After we read the book, we began to work on a story sequence handout. We discussed the events in the story as Angela filled in the blanks. During game time , we played the game that Carrie and I created for class. It was a hit!

Session TenThis experience at the learning Zone has been

truly rewarding. Each child is unique and has something special to contribute to our classrooms and our lives. I’ve learned firsthand the importance of welcoming every child with open arms and being genuine. I look forward to working with children this awesome in the future.