RMS

If you have some time to spare, a good grasp of English, and if you enjoy spending time with children, we would love to have you spend time supporting emerging readers by practicing with them. Just a few hours of you time can make a big difference to a child's reading ability, confidence and enjoyment.

Volunteer Reader Instructions:

Thank you for reading with our students! Here are a couple of guidelines during your time here:

Check in with Becky or Kristina in the office. If they are not there, you can wait either on the bench in the office or in one of the blue chairs in the hallway.

Office will let Elementary know you are here and begin sending children from Elementary

Each child gets 15 minutes with you using the sand timer to keep track of time.

Each child will be at a different reading level. Keep in mind that reading to oneself versus reading out loud are two different skills. Allow the child to choose a book from the basket or bookshelf. Typically, the back or front of the book will tell you what concept is being taught (e.g. short vowel sounds, the vowel blend “ee” or “ea”, etc.). Let the student know, “you’ll be practicing the ____ sound today. Let’s see how many times we come across that word.” (or something to that affect)

Let the child read through it. If they struggle with a word, allow them to sound it out first. If they ask you, “what’s this word?”, ask them to sound it out by saying something like, “what’s the first sound of the word? What’s next? What do these two sounds make together (e.g. ‘s’ and ‘h’ make the sound sh)?” If they still cannot sound it out, give them the word.

When they finish the book, put it away. If there is still time, they may choose another book.

When the timer is out of sand, please walk with the student back to Elementary and tell Ms. Ana or Ms. Lauren that you are ready for the next student.