Virtual Soccer & Literacy Program

On Monday, June 15th, Final Third Foundation's Virtual Soccer & Literacy eight-week summer program began. Three times per week, F3 works with youth participants in the Urban Resurrection Community Development summer camp.

For the past six weeks, the children have been fully engaged in the footwork and soccer skill exercises that last for 30 minutes each day. Afterwards, Leiah Groom-Thomas, F3 Director of Education, reads the Jamie Johnson series novel, Born to Play, and engages with the children using the Born to Play Teaching curriculum. 

Areas of focus include:

• Peer-to-peer reading and writing
• Vocabulary and Comprehension
• Group discussions about literary elements and character development
• Life Lessons and critical thinking
• Cross-curricular connections

"One of the most valuable aspects of this program has been facilitating reading and literacy instruction through discussion-based pedagogy based on what we are reading. Our conversations have been rooted in various life lessons and experiences that a lot of kids can relate to, regardless of their individual background knowledge or prior experience. Kids are engaged with the reading and therefore have a vested interest in discussions. We talk about how to handle adversity, how to engage in problem-solving activities using critical thinking and reflection, using textual evidence to support claims, and contextualizing new vocabulary and learning concepts to bolster reading comprehension. So far, it has been a wonderful experience and I look forward to continuing this work in the coming weeks," says Groom-Thomas.

Sandra Harris, Executive Director of Urban Resurrection Community Development Corporation stated, "The Final Third Foundation Soccer & Literacy Program has been outstanding with the planning and execution of their literacy lessons and soccer skills instruction. All of the responses have been appropriate and they have made adjustments as needed in this new virtual environment we are currently having to deal with. F3 is very respectful of the children and conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. The kids seem to really be enjoying the program."