College conducts extension activities to 4 schools

Team and the presentation of the CAH Research and Extension Program given by Dr. Domiga S. Tomas. Dr. Tomas highlighted the purpose of the extension activity, how the participants would be benifited, and the expected follow-up activities.

Klondykes Elementary School (Twin Peaks, Tuba, Benguet)

By Vanderlee M. Batalier

Atok National High School (Central Atok, Atok, Benguet)

By Candice Grale K. Belgica

As part of its extension activity, the College of Arts and Humanities conducted the Needs Assessment on Teachers’ Reading Instruction and Students’ Reading Skills last October 28, 2022 at Atok National High School, Central Atok, Atok, Benguet. The activity was prepared for the High School students (Grade 7) and English and Filipino Teachers and other subject teachers whose medium of instruction is English and/or Filipino. The activity was organized in cooperation of the ILI-Philippines (Indigenous Learning Initiatives) and Atok National High School (ANHS).

The whole day event was represented by selected faculty members of the College: 1) Dominga S. Tomas, as the Overall Overseer of the extension activity and leader of the leader of the Reading Needs Assessment of StudentsFilipino; 2) Yvonne P. Buasen-Balansi, leader of the Reading Needs Assessment of Students-English; 3) Tyrene Joy B. Basal, facilitator; 4) Jennie M. Bito, leader of the leader of the Reading Instruction Needs Assessment of Teachers-English; 5) Samantha Caine I. Guinabang, leader of the leader of the Reading Instruction Needs Assessment of Teachers-Filipino; 6) Candice Grale B. Macli-ing, documenter of the activity; and 6) Hoover Agyao, member of the Board

Furthermore, Mrs. Mary-ann Santos, faculty of ANHS, presented the results of the Phil-Iri reading assessment. At 10:00 A.M., headed by Yvonne P. Buasen-Balansi, the reading assessmentEnglish for the 39 participating Grade 7 students was conducted while the reading assessment in Filipino followed, headed by Dominga S. Tomas. For the afternoon session, at 1:00, the needs assessment on the teachers’ reading instruction was conducted as spearheaded by Jennie M. Bito. The presentation of the current practices of the faculty members on instruction and on reading interventions were shared by the host. The said activity was conducted in a Focus Group Discussion with questions from the faculty members of CAH. The results of the Phil-Iri Reading Assessment and its implications, solutions, and future extension activities also highlighted the discussion. As part of the assessment, a checklist of the needs assessment on teachers’ reading instruction, which was introduced by Tyrene Joy Basal was administered to the participating teachers of ANHS. The retrieved needs assessment instruments were later clarified by the participants through question intervention by the team. The participants further identified areas of their instruction needing training and assessment.

The group, with six members and one driver, departed from the meeting area at about 7:45 am. and arrived in Klondykes Elementary School at about 9:00 am, with the school Principal Ms. Erlinda T. Cosil. Upon arrival, the pupils were still having their class. Thus, the Host and the BSU team had short introduction and initial discussion on the rationale of the activity.

Afterwards, Ms. Cosil shared some academic struggles experienced in school. She emphasized the problems on the reading and comprehension of the learners. The specific reading needs of students, current practices or interventions conducted by teachers, suggested interventions to address the needs of students, and future plans that can be conducted with the college .

After a productive discussion on the reading needs and interventions for future extension service, Ms. Cosil suggested if the school could possibly be adopted as a part of the extension program. This received positive response from the BSU team.

While in short break from the discussion, the group had interaction with the pupils. Ms. Laking and Ms. Tullay assessed the reading competence of some learners by having them read words/ sentences and recognize some sounds. It was observed that some of the learners have good recognition level but they need improvement for the inferential or comprehension level.

Moreover, at 9:30 A.M., the activity commenced with a prayer, led by Abril Tad-o and a welcome message by the Principal of ANHS, Mrs. Gregoria Lipa-od. Mrs. Lipa-od further introduced the participating teachers of ANHS. This was followed by the introduction of the Extension also a language teacher. The team was encouraged to rest for few minutes before the start of the program.

The event concluded at 4:15 P.M. with the acknowledgment messages from the participants and the Principal emphasizing their expectation of future extension activities.

Based on the experiences during the extension activity, it is then recommended that the Reading Program of the host be analyzed by the team including the instructional materials of the English and Filipino teachers.

Also, Ms. Cosil mentioned that possible early donation of books would be of big help during the Brigada Pagbasa, which is conducted yearly. If there would be books to be given this November, both parties ( Host and BSU team) may opt to meet in a certain place and books be turned over or Ms. Cosil may come in BSU.

Grateful to the assistance brought by the team, Ms. Cosil invited the group to join a school program in December.

In addition, the group was led to the current reading area of the school where some books and other learning materials including some PCs were kept. It was observed that many of the books were intended for learners in a higher level, even college level Thus, reading materials for the target learners are really needed.

The program started with a prayer led by the School Head. Then, she followed it with her welcoming message for the Welcome Remarks and the introduction of the language teachers in the school. The host consisted of four language teachers and the school head. Afterwards, Ms. Cynthia T. Lubiton, the overseer of the team and English Department Chairperson, introduced the team to the host. Ms. Noriebelle O. Jimenez then presented the College of Arts and Humanities Research and Extension Program to the host as well as the rationale of the activity. The program was facilitated by Ms. Mildred L. Takinan.

November and December of 2022. The communication papers are to be communicated through Ms. Susan C. Pio who is also an Advanced Studies student of the university. Also, the communicators of the host and the team are Ms. Janice S. Dionisio and Ms. Mildred L. Takinan. Aside from the reading program, the school head requested for a Memorandum of Agreement for the implementation of other programs between the school and the university.

Marcelo Marquez National High School (Ansagan, Tuba, Benguet)

By Noriebelle O. Jimenez

The BSU team met in front of the Administration Building of the university and the travel started at around six in the morning. The travel time was more than the duration of the expected travel time due to the unforeseen road condition and capability of the vehicle provided for the trip. The road has uncemented parts with the tire path lower than the middle part of the road making it hard for the vehicle to travel smoothly. Moreover, the vehicle had to make a few stops to avoid overheating due to the steepness of the road.

On the way to the site, one of the residents voluntarily guided the team the way. Since he was on his way to the junction where the road to the site and road to where he is bound to meet, he suggested that he should join the team in the vehicle to guide the way and for the reason that it is seldom for cars to travel in their place.

The team was welcomed by one of the teachers who led the team to the office of the School Head, Ms. Janice S. Dionisio. The team was welcomed with snack personally prepared by the Home Economics teacher who was

After the introduction of the host and team, the host presented the results of the reading assessment they have conducted using Philippine Informal Reading Inventory Assessment Tool and Cordillera Administrative Region-Reading Interventions to Uplift and Accelerate Learning materials. The team and host then started the discussion on the results, present interventions, and future plans for the improvement of the reading capability of the Grade 7 students. During the discussion, the team also asked if they could see the materials used during the assessment and the host presented these materials. The discussion was led by Mr. Joseph B. Quinto, Ms. Cynthia T. Lubiton, Ms. Mitche A. Aglasi, and Ms. Lyn-lyn B. Alodos.

The results of the needs assessment using Phil IRI and CARRITUALS present that the reading level of the students is in the Frustration level in English which is the lowest level. In Filipino, the students also have low level of reading comprehension as presented in their scores ranging from three to nine points only out of a total of twenty points.

According to the discussion, the present interventions of the teachers include reading activities after class but it was seen unworkable. This is because the students have to go home early for their houses are far from the school and it takes a lot of time for them to reach their houses. The school also conducts peer reading but the students with low reading comprehension lack the motivation to read with their peers. They even run away from them. According to the Filipino teacher, she lets the students read first for them to improve their reading ability and to know the appropriate reading material to be used.

The team and host concluded the discussion with coming up of a 5-Day Creative Reading Program to be conducted on Saturdays. The plan is to start the program around January of 2023 and the planning stage is

Piminggan Elementary School (Ansagan, Tuba, Benguet)

By Frances Mae Diase

On October 28, 2022 (Friday), the members of the Piminggan Elementary School extension team traveled to Ansagan, Tuba, Benguet to conduct the Needs Assessment on Teachers’ Reading Instruction and Students’ Reading Skills.

Packed with the determination to help the respondents, the team set out from Benguet State University at 6:30 in the morning. The journey to the destination took more than 3 hours due to its distance and most especially the very challenging rough road that the team had to endure. Alas, at 10:00am, Piminggan Elementary School warmly welcomed the team.

The delightful and fresh atmosphere greeted the extension team led by the Teacher-in-charge Ms. Aileen D. Adones. She gracefully accommodated everyone and offered refreshments before the program proper. At 10:25, the program started with the preliminaries followed by the presentation of Ms. Adones on the results of the Phil IRI (Philippine Informal Reading Inventory) study at Piminggan Elementary School from Grades 3 to 6. She discussed the process of Phil IRI in conducting the reading assessment which started from the Group Screening

Test, analysis, intervention, and the post test. The results show that among the students that participated in the pretest, Frustration is the highest recorded level. Ms. Adones also cited the common observations among the learners. These are the following:

• The learners can answer literal questions.

• The learners are struggling in answering inferential and critical questions.

• Most of the recorded miscues in oral reading are omission, substitution, and mispronunciation (English).

• Most of the learners have slow reading speed especially those who are under frustration level.

Also discussed were the other observations which included learners complaining about reading long passages and the Grades 5 and 6 learners still enjoy reading stories aloud.

The focus group discussion facilitated by Dr. Jhordan T. Cuilan, Dr. Penelope F. Tica-a, Ms. Lory Rose B. Supsupin was joined by the teachers of PES: Sherill D. Bestre, Delia G. Marquez, Lyn A. Baclili, Aileen D. Adones, and Aureline D. Marquez. The needs that came out include Teacher Development (teaching and reading strategies), Story books development, Reading comprehension modules, games to assist in reading and in reading comprehension.