What People Are Saying
One Thousand Pages
Joanne Andrews, Experience Corps member
Two days a week I tutor a couple of third graders. One day their teacher informed the class that the school year was half over and before it was finished they had to read 1,000 pages.My student, Ben, started complaining about this, and said, "No one ever told me life would be this difficult!"
I explained that 1,000 pages for the rest of the year figured out to about 10 pages a day. I knew he could do that. On Valentine's Day, they played Bingo and had a choice of any prize. When Ben won, he picked a book. Definite progress!
Reading is a Whole Lot Easier
Julie A. Plumer, Experience Corps member
I have been working with third graders who all read below grade level. We work on phonics and use "Accelerated Readers" to practice reading fluency, test for comprehension, and verify progress.
A few weeks ago, I heard Thomas call me from down the hall, "Julie! Julie!" As he came running up to me he had an incredulous look on his face. He practically shouted, "Julie! I don't know what's going on!"
I was somewhat concerned. "Why? What do you mean, Thomas?"
With a voice full of excitement and wonder he said, "I don't know what's going on! All of a sudden, reading is a whole lot easier!"
It was very gratifying to see that he had finally had his "AHA" moment when everything comes together. Thomas is still working hard in the group and has progressed from a 1.9 to a 3.2 reading level. I feel privileged to have helped him learn to love reading and to have shared his moment of revelation.
The Best Email
Diane O'Keefe, Experience Corps member
John is a timid first grade boy in the tough inner city school where I tutor. When I began last fall, he had no reading skills whatsoever. On the weekly spelling tests, getting one or two words right was cause for celebration.
After drilling and coaxing and encouraging for three months, he has begun to correctly sound out words and is working hard on identifying long vowel sounds. I showed him the Dolch word list, and he was excited to discover that he already knew many of the words. His excitement is contagious, and we are both looking forward to working on the higher levels in the coming weeks.
I bring in my old Dick and Jane reading books for some extra reading practice with John. He loves the books and does surprisingly well reading them. I think the constant repetition of words in the different stories provides him with more opportunities to recognize words, and it helps build his confidence and self-esteem as well as his reading skills.
Several weeks ago I began drilling students on their weekly spelling words so they could be more successful on the Friday tests. Despite this help, John continued to get just one or two words right. Last week, for the first time, John correctly spelled five out of the ten words on the test, and one of them was in the harder category! His reward was to eat lunch in the classroom with the teacher and the other students who did well. He was so excited by his achievement that he insisted that the teacher email me at home to tell me. That may have been the best email I've received in many weeks.
We'll Just Spend a Little Time Reading
Diane Ruffin, Experience Corps member
I know I'm not supposed to have favorite students, but I can't help it - Daygin is one of my favorites. When I first met him, he always had an excuse why he didn't want to read.
"I have a stomach ache," he'd say. Or "headache." Or sometimes an "arm ache."
We would talk about his aches, about his weekend or what he did the night before. Then I would tell him, "Well just spend a little time reading."
At first the teacher had specific books for us to read. Daygin struggled and was very frustrated with them. He struggled with each word. I believe he truly hated the time we spent together reading.
One day I asked, "Do you know the alphabet?"
He said, "No."
So, we started with the alphabet. I wrote letters on the board and we said them. Then he wrote them, and I noticed that he liked being in control and writing the letters. Sometimes we even sang them.
I praised him constantly with "Good job! You got it!" He responded with a smile, a really big smile. Daygins smile goes from ear to ear when he is praised. And after a while, I noticed that the head did not hurt as much and the stomach stopped hurting.
Daygin wants to be a fireman. He has an uncle that is a fireman and he has visited the firehouse with his uncle. This may or may not be true - not all of the kids tell the truth about their lives - but I told him that it is wonderful job and that he will need to read to be a fireman, or to have any job.
"A fireman needs to read directions," I said. "They need to write reports and read about different chemicals. It's very important that they know how to read."
We talked about when he couldn't read and how much progress he's made. I said, "Your attitude has changed since we first started reading together. When you have a good attitude, people will look at you differently."
His smile got bigger and bigger, and I saw a twinkle in his eye. Maybe someday I will see Daygin on a fire truck.
A Chart for Assad
Norma Brown, Experience Corps member
In the inner city charter school where I tutor, about 90% of the students in K-3rd grades have families who have immigrated from Somalia or Ethiopia.
Assad was a new second grade student last fall. The first day I met him he pushed into the room, banging the door, and flopped into a chair with his arms folded and an angry pout on his face. He didn't have to say the words aloud to communicate his message: "Don't touch me! Just leave me alone!"
His reading skills were very poor. There was no fluency in his reading because he knew so few words, but whenever I offered help with a word, he would shout, "Don't tell me! Why did you tell me?!"
No one knew the source of his anger, but it was clear that he had a strong desire to do well and was frustrated that he couldn't. Other students were making progress and their colorful progress charts were posted on the wall to demonstrate their success, but Assad's chart remained in the folder.
For many weeks the teacher and I tiptoed around his trigger points, trying to find ways to work with him and help him achieve. Nothing was working.
One day I thought of making a "fake" progress chart for him. I asked the teacher if I could make one that looked like all the others but was coded so that we knew it was not the real chart.
She said, "Well, its not the textbook solution to tutoring a recalcitrant reader, but lets try it."
I colored in some lines on the chart and showed it to Assad.
"See - you are making progress," I said. "You're doing a good job, Assad!"
The sour expression on his face transformed into a glowing smile! And wonder of wonders, he soon began to allow me to provide a little bit of carefully worded help. A small opening in the armor was all I wanted.
Now he is really, finally beginning to read with more fluency and I can legitimately give the encouragement he so desperately needs. He is nowhere near reading at grade level and he still doesn't have a chart posted on the wall, but we are hopeful that it will be hanging there by the end of the school year.
Top Ten Everyday Experiences of Reading with Children
Florence Johnson, Experience Corps member
I can best describe the pleasures and benefits of reading with children by listing my "top ten."
10. "I love to read!" This unexpected announcement came from shy Annie as she grasped my hand, walking quietly down the hall to our enticing book-lined room
9. "What is a baby kangaroo called?" Josh and I both learned something new, and something to remember, as he read to me about kangaroos. Later that week, out of the blue, he quizzed me on what that baby is called. Luckily, I knew - Joey - and we both laughed.
8. "How many books have I read?" Artie asked as he looked at my reading tallies. He struggles with his simple little books, but there were titles of 34! How proud we both were.
7. "You've read 32 pages without a mistake!" It was a day when I read with a more advanced student in the class. When he told his teacher, she smiled and whispered, "Lets just keep that quietly to ourselves." And we did.
6. "No, don't write that word down." Usually, difficult words are jotted down for review. But David insisted it wasn't a hard one, so I willingly erased it from the list.
5. "Let me see how many letters I've moved up," said Mattie. She had started with "D" books and now was proudly choosing letter "J"!
4. "This is a secret between us two," I told Teresa as she acted out her story, reading and dancing around the table, having fun with a book.
3. "I think this poem sounds like a song," Lynette chirped. She needed no persuasion as together we crooned our own special tune.
2. "You never ask me to read any more." Apologetically, I explained to Neva that he reads so well that I give priority to those who need more help. But his turn would come again soon.
1. "Don't, don't tell me," Julius pleaded as he struggled to pronounce a word. But it was worth the wait as each syllable came slowly out and he proved what he could do.
Extremely Effective Literacy Assistance
David Branch, principal, Lucy Craft Laney Community School
I feel that Experience Corps members are integral members of my teaching team. The members provide vital one-on-one classroom assistance, as well as small group tutoring. I believe the training the Experience Corps members receive makes it possible for them to provide extremely effective literacy assistance for Lucy Laney students.
She Makes the Day Work
I honestly don't know what I would do without the Experience Corps member who helps in my classroom. She's what makes my day work for my students. My students wouldn't be able to learn nearly as much without her!
A Letter of Thanks
AnnaMarie Erbes, principal, Frost Lake Magnet School
To All Experience Corps Members,
Many people do not understand the need and value of tutoring in an elementary school. They have not experienced the tug of the pant leg for attention, or the tug at one's heart when children genuinely share their excitement to see you, to be read to, to understand complex addition and subtraction computations.
Many people have not experienced the genuine gratitude of teachers who rely on tutors to help meet the diverse needs of their students, adults helping adults to enrich the lives of children.
Do not underestimate the role that you play to support public education, to support the future of today's youth, and to influence the future of society. Somewhere in our country, in an elementary school, does sit the next president of the United States. He or she deserves the best. Thank you all for doing your best to impact our collective future.
The Need for a Program Like This
Val Jackson, Experience Corps member, Lucy Laney Elementary School
"I started back when the whole idea of seniors in schools was an experiment.
The longer I've stayed, the more I've seen the need for a program like this."
Such a Devoted Volunteer
Karen Larson, Teacher
I have been teaching for 24 years and I have never had such a devoted volunteer. She has had such an impact on my students academically and socially. I do not have any students (except for my special ed students) in the red (below grade level) this year. Most of my students are in the green (at grade level) or only a few away from green. This is one of my best years for student achievement and I give Mary credit for helping make that possible.
