ADVANCING LITERACY

Utilizing VolunteersUtilizing Volunteersto to

Advance Literacy:Advance Literacy:The BasicsThe Basics

Presented by:Sherry Comerchero, CCC-SLPSpeech-Language Pathologist

2004 Literacy Champion

ADVANCING LITERACY

Why Do This?

• Four out of 10 children in kindergarten through grade 3 are at-risk in literacy

• Forty percent of 4th graders in the United States scored below the basic level on the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress

• The majority of at-risk children respond to tutoring and other interventions

ADVANCING LITERACY

The Unique Benefits of Utilizing Literacy Volunteers

• Literacy volunteers provide individualized attention to help address identified problems and gaps in a students language and literacy development

• They are a supplemental resource for teachers with large class sizes of students with varied literacy levels

• Students working with literacy volunteers might otherwise fall “between the cracks”, as they read below grade level but do not have “glaring” literacy deficiencies

ADVANCING LITERACY

Starting off...• Examine where the need exists – a school (public or private),

after school program, library program, etc. by asking others (e.g. principals, teachers, learning, reading specialists, community leaders, etc.)

• Research funding sources through local community organizations, school PTO’s, personal donations, local businesses and charitable foundations

• Schedule a meeting with the program/school administrator to discuss your interest and plan to utilize literacy volunteers to help students who are reading below grade level but not receiving professional reading support

ADVANCING LITERACY

Recruit Volunteers• Announce literacy volunteer opportunities through local newspapers and

in newsletters of social outreach organizations• Sign-up parents at beginning-of-school-year open houses, PTO events and

through teachers-parent meetings• Speak at religious services regarding “epidemic of illiteracy”• Word of mouth through friends, neighbors, business associates, family• High school students interested in community service• Create an “ad” for volunteers to post at libraries, city hall and on any

community bulletin boards• Recruit seniors at activity centers and retirement communities

ADVANCING LITERACY

Provide Volunteers with Training

New Volunteers:• Five basic literacy components (phonological

awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension) as well as writing and oral language

• Description of a typical session: 30-45 minutes once a week throughout the school year

• School/program procedures – CORI, sign in, reading locations, notification of absence

• Access to literacy materials when reading with student

ADVANCING LITERACY

Returning Volunteer Training

• Retain volunteers and support their efforts with beginning of the year training sessions on topics of relevance, such as:– Literacy Needs of English Language Learners– Fluent Voices– Comprehension Strategies– Working with our Youngest Readers– Effective Prompting Strategies– Strategies for Success: What Good Readers Do

ADVANCING LITERACY

Before Working with Students…

• Schedule an on-site visit to introduce the volunteer(s) to the school/program staff and site

• Arrange a teacher-volunteer breakfast (keep it simple) to help volunteers learn about their assigned student’s literacy needs

• Establish a start date, volunteer-student meeting day/time and method of maintaining ongoing communication (e.g. note in mailbox after sessions, e-mail, exchange phone numbers)

ADVANCING LITERACY

Now You Are Moving Along!

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH VOLUNTEERS• Via e-mail, a periodic phone call, a brief newsletter, and/or a

mid-year networking meeting to share experiences and discuss challenges and possible solutions to issues that may be impacting volunteer effectiveness

• Plan an end-of-year social gathering to acknowledge volunteer efforts for the current school year

• Devise some type of feedback survey for teachers and volunteers to complete at the end of the school year

ADVANCING LITERACY

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

• Contact leaders of existing volunteer literacy groups in your area, obtain free U.S. government pamphlets/books on literacy supports for parents and tutors, check out the numerous on-line free literacy sources, go to library book sales for very inexpensive books

• Create a program that is unique to your needs – whether utilizing a few or many volunteers; there are no rules – do what works for you and your students

ADVANCING LITERACY

By the way…

• Don’t assume that “upscale towns” do not have the need for utilizing literacy volunteers – their current funding may be more restrictive than school districts in low income areas; English language learners may be more prevalent as well (e.g. Asian languages)

• Personal connections work well in starting-up a program – having a “teacher friend” is a wonderful “in” to a school or classroom

ADVANCING LITERACY

In this age of texting, twitting, iPods,and iPhones ……

Isn’t it time to get back to basics? …READING!

ADVANCING LITERACY

Some Valuable Resources1. On the Road to Reading – A Guide for Community Partners – Archived

Information/America Reads Challenge, Derry Koralek and Ray Collins, A Joint Project of the Corporation for National Service, the U.S. Dept. of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, E-mail: rcollins@acf.dhhs.gov

2. Put Reading First – The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read – Kindergarten Through Grade 3. National Institute for Literacy website at www.nifl.gov

3. We Both Read – series of shared level reading books. Treasure Bay, San Anselmo, CA4. You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You – Very Short Stories to Read Together by Mary Ann

Hoberman, www.lb-kids.com5. Readers Theater, My Personal Dictionary, “Packaged” after school programs – Pathfinders

and Trailblazers (for elementary grades), Reading Explorers (for middle school grades). Benchmark Education, www.benchmarkeducation.com

6. The READ WRITE NOW! Partners Tutoring Program, Training DVD and free books at the end of the year through their grant with Verizon. Hadassah, communityoutreach@hadassah.org

7. First Books – a program that provides free and “almost free” books for students from low income families

8. Reading with TLC Lively Letters – Poem, Activity Book and CD9. Learning Links Literature-Based Reading – excellent study guides related to various levels

and types of literacy materials. www.learninglinks.com

ADVANCING LITERACY

Sherry ComercheroTel: 978-975-0006

sherrycomerchero@yahoo.com

ADVANCING LITERACY

ADVANCING LITERACY

ADVANCING LITERACY