Chapter 8 (Pg.2) – Training Volunteer Reading Tutors

 

Reading Tutor Training Session 2: Introduction - Welcoming Tutors

•	Congratulate them on the great job they have been doing.
•	Ask tutors if they are noticing any improvement in the children they are working with. Often, even a few weeks is enough time to see a difference, at least in confidence and attitude of the children.
•	Discuss any concerns that they might have. If tutors are not forthcoming with issues, ask a few pertinent questions such as, “ How are you finding discipline in the groups you have?”
•	Ask whether the strategy of Pause, Prompt, Praise is working effectively.
•	Ask whether they think the positive discipline is affecting the children’s confidence. This will remind tutors of the importance of praise. At Macquarie University Special Education Centre, praise is used extremely liberally as positive reinforcement. It is very important for the self-esteem of children who have been struggling with reading for a number of years.
•	Discuss the place of tutoring in the class reading program
•	It is important that the volunteers understand that the reading that they do with children is very important as it allows greater frequency of reading but that it is not the only reading that the children do. Briefly discuss the list of reading skills taught in the classroom so that tutors can see where their work slots in.

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Skills taught in a classroom include:

 

How much time does a teacher have to manage a wide range of groups in a class?

Point out that listening to children read and discussing what they read is very important. If teachers had to carry out this task without assistance it would take up a large part of the day. Reading tutors enable teachers to provide reading practice regularly and time efficiently.

 

STLD Individual Program:

The second tutoring session provides the STLD with the opportunity to demonstrate and discuss elements of the individual programs which some low-progress readers are following. If volunteers attending the meeting are involved in individual tutoring, this session will provide a refresher course for them. For those who are involved in text reading rather than sight word and word attack skills, this session will provide information about other aspects of reading which are taught.

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In order to provide volunteers with more specific training in reading group strategies, teachers model how to lead a group.

The volunteers are divided into groups of 5 or 6. The volunteers enact being children while the class teachers model being the tutors. The teacher follows the procedure on the reading tutor prompt card. He/she invites the group to predict the story from the cover and title, reads the summary on the back cover for more information, organises the reading of the story, asks in depth questions and so on. The second training session is an ideal time to develop questioning techniques so that inferential questioning styles develop along side literal.

We found that this was a particularly productive session and helped parents understand the process of leading a group.

 

CONCLUSION - What might reading tutors be doing?

You may be playing games.
You may be working on skills with one child only.
You may be listening to a group of children read for a variety of purposes.
You will be providing practice, developing skills and enriching a child’s reading experience.

Thank you for working with our children.

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What is the role of the teacher?:

Supervision and support of tutors:

The teacher is responsible for the learning, safety and discipline of the children at all times. In order for group tutoring or individual tutoring to occur in a safe, orderly and effective manner, the teacher should be able to see what is going on.

Ideally, in group work situations, the teacher would have enough tutors to enable him or her to walk from group to group observing what is happening and offering support and suggestions along the way. This, however, rarely happens.

The other alternative is to find spaces where the tutor can work within sight of the teacher. It may be that the whole class goes to the hall. It may be that you use your classroom and verandah. You may be able to negotiate that a group or two uses part of the library with the librarian keeping an eye and an ear on the group. It is important that you can see that tutors are speaking and behaving in an appropriate manner. You need to know your tutors.

In order to be able to supervise tutors and groups for at least part of the lesson, the teacher will need to take a group that is able work independently for some of the lesson. The children may be able to listen to a tape, read independently, have a worksheet or another activity to complete.

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Do all your tutors have a positive approach to children?:

Encourage all tutors to use praise instead of criticism. Point out that low-progress readers are likely to have low self confidence in reading and may be reluctant to attempt unknown words, may be less inclined to concentrate and may be either more cheeky or more sulky than we would like. Ask the tutor to try and change the child’s outlook by praising his/her efforts effusively. After a few weeks of tutoring , some volunteers may find that they are more comfortable helping in other areas of such as organising the book boxes, photocopying the worksheets, covering books.

Organisation:

The teacher needs to demonstrate his/her own commitment to the Project by being well organised. All of the materials need to be ready when the tutors arrive, otherwise everyone gets too frustrated and tutors feel as though they are wasting their time.

 

Train the children:

Because children often work with a number of tutors in a week, it is good practice to train the children in the routines they need to follow. In this way, the children can help the tutors keep track of the tasks they need to complete. Make sure that the children know the reading group rules. Make sure they know exactly what their tasks are. In this way, if a tutor is away, the groups can look after themselves to a large degree. Reading groups can therefore continue.

Train some of your more able and trusted readers to buddy up with your less able readers. This way, you can use peer tutoring strategies when necessary as well as volunteer tutor strategies. If you decide to use peer tutoring, the peer tutor must be someone who is liked and trusted by the low-progress reader being tutored. None of us like making mistakes in front of those who we feel might make fun of us.

Buddy Reading is another useful strategy for low-progress readers. Provided that the texts the children are reading are at an appropriate level, children reading the same book in pairs are usually able to help each other read the text. This strategy is most useful during independent reading sessions when low-progress readers are apt to look around the room rather than at their book.

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Maintaining a solid core of tutors:

Show Appreciation:

Remind the children to thank their reading tutors for working with them. At the end of each term, organise a certificate or a thank you note and a small gift such as a chocolate. Ask a child, the tutor’s child if appropriate, to present the gift at the end of a reading group session. Not only do the tutors enjoy a thank you but the children encourage parents to come to reading groups so that their parent can be acknowledged too.

Advertising:

Keep advertising in your school newsletter. Keep approaching parents. Don’t let up in your campaign.

 

 

Local schools:

If you are within easy walking distance of your local high school, approach the Principal in regard to tutoring opportunities. Many high schools have community involvement programs in which students participate. One of our primary schools was fortunate enough to have ten students at a time tutor our young children in Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5. The primary school children loved working with teenagers for a change. The staff of this school have been invited to contact the high school again in 2002. This year, they will be organised enough to run training sessions prior to starting the program rather than training as we work.

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Can we expect to have a constant number of tutors throughout the year?:

There will be periods throughout the year when the number of tutors will fall. The winter months are often more difficult than the warmer months. Term 3 is often difficult as tutors become more tired, find jobs or other commitments become demanding. There are some particularly busy times of the year when tutoring becomes difficult due to the interruptions of other programs such as music and dance festivals.

You need to be flexible:

•	If a tutor comes to you and says that he/ she can’t come any more, ask the tutor if a break might be needed instead of giving up completely.
•	If staff are stressing out over interruptions, cancel reading groups for a couple of weeks if it is going to save everyone’s sanity and goodwill.
•	Consider having the first and last week of term reading group free so that everyone has time to themselves.

So that you can be prepared for the times when tutors are not so readily available, it is imperative to use the early part of the year to train the children in reading group routines so that the more able groups can manage their own reading when necessary. It is also imperative to remember to give tutor priority to the low-progress readers so that their attention to reading and their reading skill development and accuracy are assured.

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What time should volunteer tutors work with students?:

First thing in the morning is the best time to hold reading groups. Children are fresh and parent tutors are usually available at that time also.

 

Individual Programs:

Morning is always the best time for learning and is therefore the best time for tutoring. Following up reading groups with an individual program in word attack skills and sight words usually works well. However, teachers and students need to work flexibly, particularly where a tutor is working with a child on an individual program. In other words, when a tutor is available, a teacher and child need to be available where possible. Tutors are too valuable resource to ignore. If a tutor is available in the afternoon session, make the reading session lighter and more relaxed. It can be a good time to let a child read the book they use for independent reading to a tutor. Reading games can be fun in the afternoon too.

Conclusion:

Reading groups are not the total class reading program. Reading in groups with the assistance of a tutor allows an additional reading session per day. Other sessions in guided reading, comprehension skill, word attack skills research skills and independent reading all take place along side reading tutor based groups and individual programs. Frequent reading of appropriately levelled, interesting material is the key to progress in reading skills and developing a love of reading.

Organising tutoring program is a lot of work. It takes time to train tutors. It takes time to organise reading materials. For those who are not used to it, reading groups and individual tutoring may feel less cohesive than whole class reading. However, the learning and enthusiasm that is generated from matching children to text and reading in small groups, in pairs or individually is incredible and makes the whole process worthwhile.

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