TTC_05_09_18_Vol.14-No.28.p1-12

Happy Halloween
May 9 - 15, 2018 www.TheTownCommon.com Page 3
Leveling the Playing Field in Literacy
Continued from page 1
and literacy skills.”
More simply, St. Peter said,
“Dialogic reading opens the door to
wonderment (in the child).”
Students are asked to predict what
is going to happen, or how could
the student change the ending of
the story, she said. The adult may
begin a sentence and let the student
finish it. The adult may ask the
student to recall what happened in
the story and how it might relate to
something in their life. (Students
call that Text to Self.)
The teacher or patent may point
to an illustration on the cover or on
a page and ask the student to predict
what the story is about or what will
happen in the story. St. Peter, who
is expanding on the research by
Dr. Grover Whitehurst and others,
introduced Thinking Maps and
Venn diagrams to encourage the
students to do critical thinking
about the stories they read or heard.
Two years ago St. Peter took her
research to Hill View Montessori
Charter Public School in Haverhill.
She worked with 12 kindergarten
students in two classes. About 30
percent were considered at risk from
initial testing.
She created two groups of six
Continued from page 1
careers and families, they had never
thought about owning the club. But
after talking with Woodman and
fellow owner, former Mayor Byron
Matthews, they realized they had the
resources to “give back to the club
and the community,” Colden said.
Woodman and Matthews built
the six-court facility in 1973
when Newburyport, as Woodman
described it last week, “was a hole in
the wall.”
Matthews, as mayor and
leading champion of revitalizing
Newburyport, asked a homebuilder
if he would sell them the five acres he
owned on Low Street. The builder,
who was planning to construct
homes on the property, was not
thrilled with the proposal, but when
Matthews told him he would do
whatever it took, the homebuilder
acquiesced.
“We were building an all-around
community,” Matthews said. “There
was a lot of emphasis on recreation.
We needed a tennis facility.”
Woodman, a prominent architect,
who has Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis, apologized to the crowd
of about 45 people who came to
celebrate the changing of the guard.
“I’m sorry I can’t play tonight,” he
said.
He and Matthews had hoped to
own the club for 50 years, he said.
“In all those years, we never had a
bad word,” Matthews said, calling
students each. One was a control
group that received no additional
attention and the other was an
intervention group that was exposed
to dialogic reading. Both groups
were tested before and after she
worked with the intervention group
for 12 weeks.
At the start, the six students in
the control group averaged a level of
4.78 years. After the 12 weeks, the
average expressive language age of
the control group had risen to 5.81
years. All students progressed, and
one student who started at 5.1 years
rose to 7.2 years, the highest of any
student in the control group.
The six students in the intervention
group started out with an average
level of 4.37 years, a half year lower
than the control group at the start.
After working with St. Peter and
the kindergarten teacher using her
dialogic reading program five days a
week for the 12 weeks, the average
of the students was 6.55 years –
nearly a year higher than the control
group.
That meant they progressed a year
and a half in about three months.
One student, who started at a
5.5-year level progressed to 7.8
years, a strong third-grade level. Two
students, who started the program at
the very tall Woodman “a gentle
giant.”
“We had lots of options (for the
5 acres on Low Street,)” Woodman
said. “But we wanted to keep it a
tennis facility. We looked for the
next generation (of owners) to take
it to the next level. We found that in
Daryl and Gary. They are committed
to tennis, to the city.”
The tennis club, which is changing
its name to Newburyport Tennis
Club, has been up for sale for several
years at an asking price of $3 to
$4 million. Colden and Gastman
declined to say how much they are
paying for the club.
They plan to make improvements
in infrastructure, particularly fixing
the roof that leaks in rain storms and
when the snows melt. The common
areas, including the locker rooms,
will be renovated with new furniture
and paint. The courts this summer
will be resurfaced. The court fee
system will be upgraded to include
accepting credit cards.
The club has about 500 members
with 200 being regulars, said
manager Mike Perrotta.
“We have great members, great
coaches,” Gastman said.
Colden suggested that the club
might add a Friday night mixed
doubles event. And they plan to
work to bring more youth players
into the club.
The new owners said regulars
should expect a modest increase in
less than 5 years of attainment, rose
to 7.1 years.
“It is amazing what a five-year-old
can do,” St. Peter said. “It makes me
jump up and down for joy.”
Asked why she tried dialogic
reading in kindergarten, she said
she “felt” that five-year-olds could
do more in language than they were
being asked to do in traditional
classes.
St. Peter concluded from her
research that “dialogic reading
can increase oral language skills
and early literacy skills in children
(who are) initially assessed during
kindergarten screening as ‘at risk’
for learning.”
While excited about the test
results, she believes that she has
only begun to understand the power
of dialogic reading to help young
children achieve greater results in
literacy, writing and reading.
St. Peter wants to share her passion
for dialogic reading with teachers
to enhance the reading experience
for their students. She is offering
training programs and consulting
with teachers and schools to add
dialogic reading to their literacy
programs.
To contact St. Peter, email her at
kstpeter39@gmail.com.
Popular Tennis Club Sold to Avid Players
court fees, the primary source of
revenue for the club. Courts rent
now for $30 to $40 an hour.
Gastman said they plan to hold
focus groups to determine what
other improvements are needed.
For more information, call 978-
462-3121.
Sea View Retreat
-Since 1954
An extended Care Community
www.seaviewretreat.com
Come in for a visit and compare!
(978)-948-2552
•Private & Semi-Private Rooms
with Baths and Beautiful Views
• Medicare/ Medicaid certified
The
• Social
Town
Services-Speech,
Co
Physical, Occupational, &
Massage Therapies
• Full Activity Program
• and much more...
The North Shore’s Largest Independent Co
MANSION DRIVE • ROWLEY, MA • JUST OFF ROUTE 1A
GiuseppesFineFood.com
check out our:
PRO
SHOP
now selling:
Skateboard, BMX
and Scooter gear
Thelocalflavortastesbetterthanever.
Route 1, Portsmouth • 436-0717
www.dinnerhorn.com
www.bratskellar.com
New Dining Room
Full Bar
Italian Deli & Marketplace
Take out
Grab & Go
The Town
Party Trays
978-465-2225
257 Low St . Newburyport
Fi
A Paint
birthdays
Ask us! We are experts! Potte
Danvers Agway F
9 Wenham St Adu
Cla
(978) 774-1069 CLAY
Also in Waltham, MA at 72 Miro
978-948-8696 • www.thetowncommon.com • adver
Call for 54 a tour Emerson (603)379-1898 Rd
www.sanctuarycarerye.com
(781)894-4880
ww
rentals
private lessons
$20 Family Deal
New England’s Premier
Skate and Bike Park
www.RYEAIRFIELD.com 603.964.2800
Palmer
Cleanouts & Disposal LLC
JUNK Visit REMOVAL Your SERVICE
WE DO ALL THE LOADING
single item to whole house cleanout
Friendly Neighborhood 10 & 15 yard dumpsters available Garden Center!
60 Turnpike Road
Ipswich, Ma 01938
(978) 3566342
Call for
Free Estimate 603-770-7551
gerrypalmer@palmercleanouts.com
www.palmercleanouts.com
104 Eastern Ave.
Gloucester, Ma 01930
(978) 2814480
www.wolillgardencenter.com
•
•
•
•
Veggie & Flower Seeds
Bark mulch/loom
Daily deliveries
Organic soil and more
Looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift?
Greg De
is your Advert
77 Weth
Rowley, M
Telephone:
Fax: 978
advertise@theto
88 Elm Street
Salisbury, Ma 01952
(978) 4653542
*New Location!*