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Math Curriculum:
The Youth Impact Program emphasizes the application of mathematics to real-life situations. Each lesson corresponds to a sports-related situation, and allows the boys to explore the information through teacher-directed instruction and hands-on exploration. The math curriculum consists of thirteen daily lessons and five math labs. A pretest is given at the beginning of camp and a post-test at its conclusion. The lessons cover integers, fractions, decimals, percents, ratio and proportions, measurement, graphs and charts, data analysis, expressions, and equations. The labs consist of extension activitiesdesigned to strengthen skills and utilize the concepts inside and outside of the classroom. The breakdown of the math curriculum was broken down into the following format:
"Locker Room" - introduction of concepts, stated goals, discussed new vocabulary, explained relevancy to game of football, and took a step-by-step approach to teach lessons (frequently checking for understanding and feedback from students and mentors)
"Practice Field" - creates an opportunity for students to apply their newly learned knowledge and ask questions, mentors and staff observe the classroom to determine if additional instruction was necessary
"Game Day" - gives the students a chance to apply the concepts to football and other recreational activities, students are arranged in small groups with staff available to answer questions
"Team Meeting" - addresses any problems and questions to determine if goals from the previous class were met
Language Arts/Reading Curriculum:
The YIP Language Arts program introduces young adult novels that middle school boys find interesting and engaging because the books are directly related to the sport of football. The curriculum is comprised of two components: Literature Circles and Writer's Workshops.
Literature Circles: The YIP curriculum places reading responsibility in the hands of boys, who are grouped to work together. Responsibilities are rotated daily for the Circle roles throughout the reading and discussion of the novel. There are five traditional roles, named with with football positions. This allows the boys to have a greater connection to te curriculum by applying to their interests. The roles are:
"Linebacker" = vocabulary enricher = on the lookout for at least two especially important words in the day's reading
"Center" = connector = find connections between the book and the outside world
"Quarterback" = character captain = think about and discuss specific personality traits of the characters within the book
"Running Back" = literary luminary = choose at least two sections of the chapters each day to read out loud to the team
"Tackle" = artful adventurer = create and share an artistic representation of something from the day's reading
Writer's Workshop: The Workshop allows the boys an opportunity to write about connections they make to the selected novels from happenings in their own lives. The boys are able to improve their writing skills in the six traits of writing: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. During each lesson, the staff and mentors work with the students to pay close attention to the basic writing skills of: vocabulary and word meaning, clear and concise writing, correct use of grammar, correct use of punctuation, correct use of capitalization.
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