Community Volunteer Training

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Community Volunteer Training

• Minnesota Reading Corps
• Preschool

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Welcome

• Thanks for being here!
• Sign-in
• Introductions
• Name
• How you learned about this program

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Agenda

• Importance of Literacy
• Overview of the program
• Child Confidentiality
• Mandated Reporting
• Dialogic Reading Training
• Orientation

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• Consequences of Illiteracy
• Illiterate youth and adults account for
• 75 of the unemployed
• 85 of juveniles who appear in court
• 60 of prison inmates
• 40 of minority youth
• 33 of mothers receiving Aid to Families with
• Dependent Children
• (Orton Dyslexia Society - cited in M. Adams,
  1990)
• D. Howe 2005

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The Importance of Reading
The psychological, social, and
economic consequences of reading failure are
legion. It is for this reason that the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development
considers reading failure to reflect not only an
educational problem, but a significant public
health problem as well. (R. Lyon, 1997) D. Howe
2005
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The Importance of Reading
Approximately 75 of students identified with
reading problems in the third grade are still
reading disabled in the 9th grade. (Shaywitz
et al., 1993 Francis et al., 1996).
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We Can Beat the Odds We estimate that the number
of children who are typically identified as poor
readers . . . could be reduced by up to70
percent through early identification and
prevention programs. those who read below the
25th percentile on currently normed reading
tests. Lyon, Fletcher, Shaywitz,
Shaywitz, Torgesen, Wood, Schulte, and
Olson, Rethinking Learning Disabilities,
2001 D. Howe 2005
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Program Overview
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Minnesota Reading Corps is

• Designed to support schools in making every child
  a reader by grade 3
• Provides supplemental assistance to students age
  3 to grade 3 who are at risk of or are
  experiencing reading difficulty

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What Is AmeriCorps?

• Domestic Peace Corps
• Members serve up to 2 years, 1700 hours per year
• Educational Award for completion of service

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Minnesota Reading Corps Members

• Coordinate community volunteers
• Work with pre-school children one-on-one or in
  small groups
• Complete specific intervention tasks with
  students
• Assess students to monitor progress

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Preschool MRC Service Model

• Deliver early literacy intervention services
• 30-60 minutes of intervention time per week to
  each student
• Service students
• who scored below target for Kindergarten
  benchmark
• who arent currently receiving a service
  (Special Education, Title 1)

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Preschool Interventions

• Interventions characteristics
• Research driven
• With training can be learned and delivered
  reliably by non-teachers
• Interventions focus on
• Vocabulary building, rhyming,letter names,
  letter sounds, and alliteration

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Measuring Student Progress

• How do we know if tutoring is working?
• Members monitor each students early literacy
  skill progress using the standardized IGDI test.
• Members share this information with volunteers.

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Child Confidentiality
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Ethical Considerations

• While working with children in a school setting
  it is important, to maintain professionalism in
  order to
• Effectively support student learning
• Provide a good role model for children
• Insure private student information is kept
  private
• Insure issues of concern are reported only to the
  designated personnel in the setting

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Confidentiality

• The most important aspect of ethical practice is
  maintaining confidentiality regarding the
  students and families.
• All school staff are required by law to keep
  student and family information confidential.
  Information regarding the student should only be
  shared with teachers and staff who work directly
  with the student and have a need to know.

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Professional Boundaries As a Volunteer

• Speak with parents in a professional manner
• Do not mention the names of the children you work
  with to
• Other Adults
• Other teachers (that are not the childs
  teacher)
• Direct parent or community member questions to a
  Minnesota Reading Corps member
• Especially questions regarding a childs progress

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As a VolunteerNeed to Know

• IGDI Scores
• Specific intervention tasks to focus on
• Age of student

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Mandated Reporting
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You Are a Mandated Reporter

• Selected portion of MN. Statute 626.556
• A person who knows or has reason to believe a
  child is being neglected or physically or
  sexually abused, or has been neglected or
  physically or sexually abused within the
  preceding three years, shall immediately report
  the information to the local welfare agency,
  agency responsible for assessing or investigating
  the report, police department, or the county
  sheriff

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Reporting

• Communicate your concern about a child to a
  Minnesota Reading Corps member
• You may be asked to complete a report that is
  submitted to the proper authorities
• The act of filing a report and the report itself
  are considered confidential and private
  information

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Dialogic Reading Training
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Dialogic Reading

• What is it?
• A way to read to children to develop their early
  literacy skills.
• Children are active participants.

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Dialogic Reading

• Researchers indicate that when children are
  regularly engaged in repeating, correcting, and
  expanding their use of language around a book
  they improve their
• Language literacy skills

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Techniques for Dialogic Reading

• PEER sequence is how you ask questions
• P prompt
• E evaluate
• E expand
• R - repeat

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Prompts

• C completion
• R recall
• O open ended questions
• W Wh questions who, what, where, when, why
• D distancing relating the story to the childs
  life

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Prompts
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Steps
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Practice

• Prompt What is that? A cat
• Evaluate Did the child answer? Was the answer
  correct
• Expand Yes, its a big orange cat. Can you say
  that
• Repeat A big orange cat

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The Magic of 3 Readings
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MRC Volunteer Routine

• (Read to large group)
• Read to small group or individual (10-15
  minutes).
• Use the PEER sequence
• CROWD prompts
• Surround book reading with
• Vocabulary building, writing, conversation,
• Activities dramatic play, rhyming, alliteration

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Practice

• Volunteers work in groups of 3
• Every volunteer practices being
• The tutor
• Student
• Observer with the dialogic reading checklist

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Orientation
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A Typical Volunteer Session

• Parking
• Signing-in
• Tutoring Materials
• Meeting Students
• Tutoring location in classroom
• Being prompt
• Site Specific information

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End of Session

• Praise, Praise, Praise
• Session Review
• Collect all materials
• Escort child back into class
• Return tutoring materials
• Sign-out/Check-out
• First Session

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Questions

• Any questions, please ask!