DC TRUST Guide 1023 - Children & Youth Investment Trust ...

h. Program provides opportunities for participants to become competent and thoughtful
readers and writers.
i. Program activities promote skill development in reading and writing and highlight the
importance of these skills in life beyond the classroom and in effective communication.
j. When appropriate, staff models reading and writing strategies (e.g. written brainstorming,
outlining, active reading, questioning the text or author, chunking text, predicting,
paraphrasing, synopsizing, vocabulary building, differentiating between fact and opinion).
k. Program provides young people with opportunities for both group and individual reading
and writing.
l. Program provides young people with exposure to different formats and genres of writing.
m. Program provides young people with guidance in how to do a variety of both creative
and expository writings (e.g. poems, essays, testimonials, instructions, letters, biography,
sermons, marketing materials, business letters, speeches).
n. Program equips young people with opportunities to comprehend, interpret, evaluate and
appreciate a wide range of written texts.
o. Whenever possible, program provides a physical and visual environment that is text rich
and stimulates young people to read, think, express and explore.
p. Program uses rubrics and exemplary student work to help young people improve writing
skills.
q. Program attempts to connect reading and writing to activities that would not normally
be considered literacy-based.
4. Program provides opportunities for participants to become competent and
thoughtful speakers and listeners.
a. Program activities promote skill development in speaking and listening.
b. When appropriate, staff models speaking and listening strategies (e.g. active listening,
code switching, note taking, personal anecdote, vocal modulation, word choice, active
language, making eye-contact).
c. If resources allow, program assists non-native speakers in developing competency in
English and in their own languages.
d. Program provides young people with the opportunity to participate in and observe
various models of oral communication and discussion (e.g. presentations, debates,
interviews, speeches).
e. Activities highlight the role of speaking and listening to life beyond the classroom and
in effective communication.
f. Program provides opportunities for young people to read and respond to each other’s work.
g. Youth-led presentations offer young people the opportunity to both showcase and
practice speaking and active listening skills.
h. Program incorporates opportunities for oral presentation in other activities and projects.
5. Program provides opportunities for participants to develop mathematical
concepts, mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills.
a. Program provides young people with opportunities to estimate and calculate in order to
solve increasingly challenging problems.
Field Guide to OST Best Practices / High-Interest, Hands-On Activities / 15