THE HUNT IS ON

Students participate in treasure hunt at Garfield Elementary for Saturday School prior to Ohio State Testing

Young pirates sailed the seas of Garfield Elementary School, 200 W. 31st St. in Lorain, hallways, discovered hidden treasure and fired cannons at enemy ships during the school’s first Saturday School of the academic year Sept. 7.

The first of five, the program provides an opportunity for the school’s third grades to sharpen their Early Learning Assessment and prepare for Ohio State Tests, according to dean of academics Staci McDaniel.

With the Early Learning Assessment coming up in the next six weeks, McDaniel said it’s important for the program to exercise as many skills as possible in a short amount of time.

“We focus on reading but we also focus on testtaking strategies, because it’s a two-day assessment,” she said. “It’s a lot for them to sit through, so we want to get them used to knowing what to expect and what test-taking strategies to apply when and trying to get their reading up as quick as possible.”

Some of those exercises include reading strategies like PQR, or previewing the text, questioning and reading, conjugation and

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“One of the things that makes Garfield amazing is that the teachers really care about the students...” —Staci McDaniel, dean of academics

basic vocabulary, which were presented as challenges to accomplish for

gold and treasure.

Students traveled on ships in small groups with volunteers, parents and teachers with the school to five different stops to perform tasks for their fair share of the treasure.

If two ships crossed paths in the hallway, each team quizzed each other and fired their cannons when questions were answered incorrectly.

McDaniel said all 36 third grade students were

invited, 21 signed up and 20 were in attendance.

She also said many of the supervisors’ time involved in the program was volunteered.

“One of the things that makes Garfield amazing is

that the teachers really care about the students ... It’s not about the money, it’s about doing what’s right for the kids,” McDaniel said.

Third grader Tatina Ferrer, 8, of Lorain was one of the attending students and

is currently transferring enrollment back to Garfield for the remainder of the school year.

As for her favorite part of the day, she said she liked “doing the work and having fun.” PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY

PHOTOS BY JORDANA JOY — THE MORNING JOURNAL Garfield Elementary students spent an extra day at school firing cannons, collecting treasure and practicing state testing skills during the school’s first Saturday School, Sept. 7at 200W. 31st St. in Lorain.

JORDANA JOY — THE MORNING JOURNAL Parent volunteer Stacey Crutcher, second from left, help Garfield Elementary students complete test taking skill practices during the school’s Saturday School,Sept. 7at 200W. 31st St. in Lorain.

JORDANA JOY — THE MORNING JOURNAL Garfield Elementary students spent an extra day at school firing cannons, collecting treasure and practicing state testing skills during the school’s first Saturday School, Sept. 7at 200W. 31st St. in Lorain.