Making Brains Physically Fit: RtI Boot Camp
West Jr. High's RtI Boot Camp was initiated this year to introduce Tier 2 and Tier 3 students to their RtI interventionists and the types of activities they would participate in for two hours per week. Our main goal was to build excitement about being chosen for Boot Camp so their initial experiences would be fun and positive. Several days before Boot Camp began, students received a written invitation at school to "Report to Duty" on a specific date, time, and location. Upon reporting "to duty," they participated in a physically active, fun team-building game, discussed character attributes, shared and journaled. For one hour for five consecutive days, approximately 20 seventh grade students reported to camp to learn more research-based instructional routines and practice the character lessons shared on the first day. Each student received a folder to save handouts and paper for journaling which occurred each day. Several mini-mysteries were incorporated into the activities to maintain a high level of interest. On the final day, the students and interventionists celebrated their week of hard work and team building. The same procedures were applied to the eighth grade group.