This document provides an overview and agenda for an America Reads tutor training session. It covers topics like paperwork, expectations, literacy challenges, and strategies for tutoring. Risk factors for low literacy are discussed. Sample lesson plans are provided that include components like instructional reading, word study, writing, and independent reading. Reading levels, essential skills, and strategies are defined. Resources for tutors like online materials and behavior management techniques are also outlined. The overall goal is to prepare tutors to effectively support students' literacy development.

1. Facilitated By:
Cynthia Kellett – Civic Leader in CCESL
Makayla Pydych – Civic Leader of Literacy
Information drawn from:
Intervening for Literacy: The Joy
of Reading to Young Children.
By: Charles Temple
& James MaKinster
America Reads Tutor Resource
Manual
By: Hannah Hood WS ‘12 MAT ‘13

2. Training Topics
 Who’s Here?
 Rules & Paperwork
 Who Are You Working With?
 Why Are You Here?
 History
 Mission
 Expectations of AR
 Risk Factors/Literacy Challenges
 What You Can Do to Help

3. Work Eligibility & Timesheets
 All tutors must complete NY wage notice to work
 *Lyons site paid differently*
 First time student worker?
 I-9, W-4 must be completed to work – HR in Gulick
 Confused about your status? Ask!
 Timesheets online
 Two week pay periods
 Rounding hours to .25, .50, .75, .00

4. Online Timesheets
 Your coordinator will walk through this with you
 Read the attached PDF “How To” guide we emailed to you
 Trouble submitting hours for AR? - contact HR
 Please submit hours correctly and promptly
 Coordinators will confirm your attendance…
 They cannot verify or approve your hours
 …it’s up to you!

5. Why Are We Here? – Tradition and the Future

6. Literacy Programs at HWS
•Volunteer Student Literacy Corps began in 1988 – 30 years ago
•Evolved into America Reads in 1996 with federal funding
•HWS devotes >31% of its FWS $ to service-work
•4x the law, which mandates minimum 7%
•One semester, ~3-4 hours/week, one-on-one tutoring
•FWS students paid $11.10/hour - Volunteers Rock
•Work with 2nd – 5th graders at 4 sites in 2 districts
•Trinity Church - Homework support with a literacy component
•Students are usually below grade level in reading ability

7. AR Mission & Goals
Help motivate children to read
Improve children’s literacy abilities
Provide greater access to books and
opportunities to read with an adult
Support literacy development at home

8. Tutors
Community Partner / School
Children

9. Tutor Expectations
 Positive attitude about reading/working with your student
 Adapt to your student’s needs and interests – show
initiative and creativity
 Remember your paperwork & Engage curriculum
 Punctuality
 Reliability
 Attendance
 Use resources to help you succeed
 Engage, your peers, your coordinator, Makayla, Katie
 Communicate with your coordinator
 Respect
 your coordinator, your fellow tutors, the school/its students

10. Appropriate Tutoring Relationships
 Limit physical contact
 No pictures – privacy is important
 Refrain from exchanging phone #s/emails
 When your tutee needs a bathroom break,
stay outside
 Avoid in depth conversations about mature,
adult, topics (i.e. partying, romance, politics)
 DO talk about hobbies, family and friends, etc.

11. Rules and Policies
 Attendance: No absences
 except for an emergency
 Give coordinator, Makayla 24 hrs advance notice
 Dress appropriately / follow dress code
 Cell phone usage ≠ Active Reading
 Acceptable Post-reading activities:
 Crosswords, word searches
 Scrabble or literacy related games
 Not: Hangman, coloring, etc.

12. HWS Tutor Learning Outcomes
 Tutors become more connected to local community
where they tutor (91%)
 Tutors can connect to what they are learning about in
their classes (54%)
 Tutors are more aware of challenges and opportunities
facing local youth (92%)
 Tutors’ experience in AR gives them a clearer sense of
possible career options (43%)

13. Stress Points for Kids and Teachers
 State testing and ‘Common Core’ standards
 Budgets
 Bullying
 Limited unstructured/play time
 the relationship is as important as the tutoring

14. Alex
Evan
Emily

15. Which risk factors cause
low literacy?

16. Professional
Families
Working-Class
Families
Families on Welfare
Words spoken to the child
per hour
3000 1,400 750
Total words addressed to
a child in the first 4 years
50 Million 30 Million 15 Million
Verbal encouragements
from parents
750,000 300,000 100,000
Verbal prohibitions from
parents
130,000 170,000 280,000
One fifth of Geneva mothers giving birth in 2013 did not have a high school degree.
~60% of children eligible for free or reduced lunch (~$33,000/yr. for a family of four)
~25% of children in the rest of Ontario County
The graduation rate in Geneva was 71% in 2012, and ~83% in 2018

17. RISK FACTORS causing low literacy
Poverty
~$25,100 for family of four in 2018, 43 million+ out of ~328 million
Being a person of color/part of a minority cultural group
Attending a racially concentrated, often urban, low resourced school
An under-supportive home literacy environment
Speaking a first language other than English
Professional
Families
Working-Class
Families
Families on Welfare
Words spoken to the
child per hour
3000 1,400 750
Total words addressed
to a child in the first 4
years
50 Million 30 Million 15 Million
Verbal encouragements
from parents
750,000 300,000 100,000
Verbal prohibitions from
parents
130,000 170,000 280,000

18. Effects of Low Literacy
 “Matthew Effect”: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer
 If a child’s early literacy concepts are in short supply, she will struggle to
acquire each new ability that literacy demands (Temple, MaKinster, 2005)
 88% of low achieving readers in 1st grade still low in 4th
 The older you grow, the harder it is to catch up
 More likely to drop out/struggle to find meaningful work
 Large-scale studies in the U.S. have shown that as a whole adults’ earning
levels rise and fall in lock-step with their reading levels (Temple,
MaKinster, 2005)
 Higher risk of incarceration
 70% of US prisoners rank in bottom levels of reading ability
 60% considered ‘functionally illiterate’

20. Geneva’s Advantages
 Diversity – more than 28% of Geneva’s population is of a
diverse background; 41% of kids under 17
 Ontario County without Geneva – 8% diversity…
 Higher Education Partnerships – FLCC, HWS
 Tens of millions of $ of economic impact
 Tens of thousands of hours of service
 Research and community building efforts
 Innovation – Neighborhood Initiatives, Community
Gardens, new Lakefront Playground
 Tourist destination helps local economy
 Your positive experiences with Geneva…

21. You Can Make A Difference
• Parents from all income brackets and education levels are
getting the message that reading to their children is beneficial
• Scores improving across all education/income backgrounds
 between 1 and 4 reading levels per child per semester
• College tutors have amazing power: if your message is
“Reading is cool and fun,” they believe you.
• Encourage them to achieve at reading
• Have literacy materials available
 Collegiate Link tips, activities specific to the child’s interests, encourage
them to bring in books, check Geneva Public Library, etc.)
• Read with and to your student.

22. See You Next Time
Date Time Place What?
Wed Jan 30
OR
Thurs Jan 31
7:45-9:00 AM
OR
4:30-5:45 PM
Sanford
Sanford
Session 2
Session 2

23. Facilitated By:
Makayla Pydych – Civic Leader of Literacy
Cynthia Kellett – Civic Leader
Information drawn from:
Intervening for Literacy: The Joy
of Reading to Young Children.
By: Charles Temple
& James MaKinster
America Reads Tutor Resource
Manual
By: Hannah Hood WS ‘12 MAT ‘13

24. Tell a story…

25. Training Topics
 AR Lesson Plans
 Reading Essentials, Levels, & Strategies
 Working with (Site) Words
 Behavior Management 101
 Online Resources
 Further Trainings
 Semester Schedule

26. Sample AR Lesson Plan: 50 minutes
1. Instructional Level Reading: (22 minutes)
2. Word Study Activity: (8 minutes)
3. Writing: (5 minutes)
4. Independent Level Reading: (8 minutes)
5. Preview Instructional Level Reading: (7 minutes)

27. Reading Levels Defined
 AR uses alphabetically leveled books (A-Z)
 Level you write on top of lesson plan is instructional, bottom is
independent
 Based on teacher recommendation/communication with you
and your coordinator
 Use the “Five Finger Rule”
Word Recognition
(per page)
Reading
Comprehension
Who’s Reading?
Independent 95% At least 90% Student
Instructional More than 90% At least 70 – 89% Tutor & Student
together
Frustration Less than 90% Less than 70% Tutor (models
fluent reading)

28. Instructional Level Reading: The first book you read with your student will be at his or her
instructional level and should be previewed during the previous session. As your student is
reading, assist with unknown words and ask questions about the material to promote
comprehension. Use the reading strategies listed on p. 14-15 to assist you. Write down words
that your student in struggling with. During this time use pre- and post- reading activities to
enhance the understanding of the story.
(22 minutes)

29. Word Study Activity: While working with your student at the instructional level, you should
compile a list of words that were challenging. Reflecting on these words, develop a list of
similar words or patterns of words to practice with your student. Use the strategies listed
under literacy activities for working with words on p. 24. (8 minutes)
How did it go?

30. Writing: Complete a short writing activity related to the book you read with your
student. There are multiple activities that may be used in the Instructional Level
Reading strategies found on p. 14-15. You may also have a written conversation with
the student. Write down a question, have your student respond through writing.
(5 minutes)
How did it go?

31. Independent Level Reading: Read a book at your student’s independent level. This
should be an easy read to promote fluency and build the student’s confidence in his or her
abilities. The independent reading book should be new each session.
(8 minutes)
How did it go?
Independent Level: This should be a new book at the student’s independent
independent level. It should be an easy read to build fluency and develop
develop confidence. Continue to ask questions and assist the student as needed.
needed.
Book:
_________________________________________________
Level: ________
Was your student reading fluently?
Estimated words correct:
___________________________________

32. Preview Instructional Level Reading: Preview a new instructional level book that will
be read during the next session. Read the book to your student if there is time in order
to demonstrate fluent reading and engage the student with the material.
(7 minutes)
Is your student flying through the books and not
making any mistakes? Is he or she struggling with
a few words here and there, or struggling with the
entire book?

36. My favorite book this week was ____________________________ and my
favorite part was (write a few sentences or draw a picture)...
Family
Update
America
Reads
Books We Read…
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Words I need help with…
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________

38. The Five Essentials of Reading
Comprehension
Fluency
Vocabulary
Word Recognition
Writing

39. #1: Word Recognition
 Occurs in three ways
 1. storing the word’s meaning/recognizing
on sight
 2. using phonics when reading new words
(decoding)
 3. using context clues to read new words

40. #2: Vocabulary #3 Fluency
 Knowledge or
understanding of specific
words
 Each word is a chunk of
meaning or label for a
concept
 Students will have
different exposure and
therefore different range
of vocabulary
 The ability to read smoothly
and automatically
 Repetition
 Reading Rate
 Accuracy
 Intonation
 Phrasing
 Bedrock that
comprehension grows from

41. #4 Comprehension #5 Writing
 The act of understanding
what is being read
 Background knowledge
 Vocabulary
 Summarizing
 Making inferences
 Relating ideas to previous
information
 Complements reading
 Helps students develop an
understanding for words
 Reinforces phonics and
word structure
 Develops the other four
essentials
 Allows students to
respond to literature,
think about being their
own authors

42. Reading Strategies
(Feel free to use these during any phase of the lesson plan)
 Pre Reading:
 Preview
 Pre-teach Vocab
 KWL Chart
 Prediction
 During Reading
 Scaffolding
 Directed Reading Thinking
 Vocab Strategies
 Praise
 Think Aloud
 Visualizing
 Question Strategy
 Comprehension/Concrete –
 Who? What? Where? When?
 Analysis/Inference – Why? How?
 Apply to Real Life – direct, indirect

43. Reading Strategies – Post-Reading
 Retelling/Summarizing
 Discussion (specifics, surprises?)
 Story Map
 Semantic Map
 Character Development
 Letter to the Author
 Comic Strip
 Epilogue/New Ending?

44. Dolch Site Words & Sound Boards
 Dolch Sight Words are the foundation of teaching,
reading, and writing English -- over half the words you
read in a typical English document appear on this list.
 The list contains 220 commonly used words that should
be recognized by "sight" for fast or "fluent" reading.
 Many of the 220 Dolch words do not follow the basic
phonics principles, so they cannot be "sounded out."
 Use your Sound Boards - build the words with the tiles

45. When Your Student Doesn’t Know A Word…
 Break word into parts
 Sound out each part or phoneme.
 Read to the end of the sentence, go back, ask
 Use words that the student does know
 Sound out parts of the word
 Use a Sound Board / Dolch Site Word list
 Last Resort: tell the student the word

46. Keeping Your Student Engaged
 What are your student’s interests?
 Read with an animated voice
 Make connections to real life
 Bring relevant activities
 High Expectations
 Reward Good Work / Praise
 Provide Choice / Be Flexible

47. Behavior Management
 Start with positive behavior reinforcement
 Praise, stickers, etc.
 First Session – coordinator will outline protocol
 If behavior becomes distracting or inappropriate
 use “three strikes” method
 “David, this is one” – then move on, don’t dwell on it
 If behavior persists, give second warning – “this is two”
 If still unsuccessful with your lesson, say “David, this is
three – we are going to talk to the coordinator”
 Try to resolve issues w/ coordinator, but find coordinating
teacher or principal if needed

48. The Trail of
Good Days
Only give a sticker
if your student
had a good day
and did not need
any warnings

49. Online Resources
 Engage: https://hws.campuslabs.com/engage/
Organizations  America Reads (“Join Organization”)
 Scroll down, see “Documents” for specifics like…
 Activities & Games
 Articles on Literacy
 Behavior Management
 Resources
 Websites
 Training Archives
 Also where you’d find extra activities to print out
ahead of time if your lesson plan finishes early.

50. Engage &
Ongoing
“Paths”
Training
Tasks

51. Select
Correct
“Path”
=
Spring 2018
America
Reads

56. Wed Sept 12 9:30 am Trinity 210 NSS 2nd Grade M/W
Wed Sept 12 9:15 am Trinity 109 NSS 3rd Grade M/W
Wed Sept 12 2:20 pm Trinity 210 St. Stephen’s M/W
Wed Sept 12 3:30 pm Trinity 210 Trinity M/W
Thurs Sept 13 9:30 am Trinity 210 NSS 2nd Grade T/R
Thurs Sept 13 9:15 am Trinity 109 NSS 3rd Grade T/R
Thurs Sept 13 2:20 pm Trinity 210 St. Stephen’s T/R
Thurs Sept 13 2:30 pm Trinity 109 Lyons T/R
Thurs Sept 13 3:30 pm Trinity 210 Trinity T/R
What’s Next?
Mandatory Site Meetings

57. America Reads Training/Semester Schedule – Fall 2018
Training Team meetings Session begin/break/end Optional
Date Time Place Team
Week of Sept 17 TUTORING BEGINS THIS WEEK ALL TEAMS
Week of Sept 24 Coordinator
Scheduled
Meet w/ Coordinator
Literacy Concepts
ALL TEAMS
Week of Oct 1 Coordinator
Scheduled
Meet w/ Coordinator
Literacy Activities
ALL TEAMS
Mon/Tues
Oct 8-9
NO SESSIONS FALL BREAK
Week of Oct 15 Coordinator
Scheduled
Meet with your
Coordinator
Behavior
Management
ALL TEAMS
Sat. Oct 20 12:00 – 4:00 Days of Service dos@hws.edu
Week of Oct 22 Coordinator
Scheduled
Meet w/ Coordinator
Education & Social
Justice
ALL TEAMS
Week of Nov 12 Coordinator
Scheduled
Meet w/ Coordinator
Wrap Up, Saying
Goodbye,
AR Evaluations
ALL TEAMS
WEEK OF NOV. 19
HAPPY
THANKSGIVING NO SESSIONS

58. Good Luck Next Week!
 You have the opportunity to make a difference.
 Try to remember when you thought reading was
fun…or not fun (and make it better for your child).
 Use the Tutor Manual and “Big Five”
 You are now a role model. Be present.
 Seek out your coordinators, Makayla, or Jeremy as
resources – we are here to help you.
 Thank you!