Getting Ahead of The Class

"If you were in that cave," Ditmore said, recalling the story they had read, "and the water is rising in the cave, you may remember clearly that you were afraid that you would not get out, or that it was very cold."

Those were the kind of details she wanted, she said, but she would not let them start writing their stories until they had put down enough items to enrich the final product.

This was, Ditmore explained later, also a way to help students remember the meaning of words and not just how they are pronounced. During the reading, she said, one student had read the word "headlamp" but had no idea what it was. Then he saw the picture of a cave explorer with the device on his head, and got the connection.

Another morning, Neal was in Room 121 at Long Branch, the same classroom in which she teaches first-graders during the regular year. She watched her students draw pictures of animals with teeth -- the theme of the week. The students had read an article about the kinds of teeth different animals have.

Students who chose to draw herbivores pasted round pieces of noodles on their animal pictures to represent teeth; carnivore drawers got thin, sharp noodle pieces to do the same. Marisa DellaBella, an intern studying for a master's in education at George Washington University, helped students with the glue while Neal encouraged their efforts.

"You are going to want to get a brown crayon. You're doing great," she told one child. To another she said, "I think the whole bear looks great. You're doing good."

"A pink bear?" she said to a third child, examining the drawing.

"Pink ears," the child insisted.

"Okay," Neal said.

Dawn Feltman, the principal of the Cora Kelly summer school, which has 240 students, said attendance has been good. Since most of the students are those who need the extra time, the teachers can focus on their common weaknesses.

"Then you can really meet their needs," she said.