About Reading Corps
Reading Corps is part of AmeriCorps, a national service organization often referred to as the “domestic Peace Corps.” The overall goal of the program is to get kids reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade. (The idea is that before 3rd grade, kids are learning to read; after that, they are reading to learn.) Reading Corps began in 2003 and serves 30,000 kids in Minnesota’s elementary schools and preschools.
I was in a small pilot program in which tutors go not to schools, but to licensed family childcare providers. This was the program’s fourth year, and we started out with nine tutors visiting 27 providers. (The numbers changed a bit throughout the year.)
I was in a small pilot program in which tutors go not to schools, but to licensed family childcare providers. This was the program’s fourth year, and we started out with nine tutors visiting 27 providers. (The numbers changed a bit throughout the year.)
During each visit, we held a daily meeting and also worked with kids individually or in small groups. The key component of the meeting was the Repeated Read Aloud. We read the same book every day for a week, with the provider reading the book on days we weren’t there. Every day we learned three new vocabulary words (15 a week) and talked about different aspects of the book (prediction, real-life connections, feelings, and so on). In addition to the Repeated Read Aloud, we did a greeting, daily message, journaling, and sign-in (teaching kids to write their names). We also included a number of “transition songs” in which we gave kids quick little doses of learning.
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Three times a year we administered benchmark assessments (to kids 3 and up), which were short standardized tests in the areas of picture naming, rhyming, alliteration, letter names, and letter sounds. Reading Corps is very much a research-based program, and research shows that kids who reach certain targets in these areas have a much higher likelihood of being able to read at grade level in 3rd grade.
Another essential element of the program was coaching. Every tutor was assigned a coach, who was present at our visits once or twice a month, observed what we were doing, gave us feedback, and was readily available to answer our questions. The coaches also worked separately with the providers. In my experience, the entire program was solidly structured around the idea of support. The tutors supported the kids and providers; the coaches supported the tutors and providers; a master coach supported the coaches and tutors; and a program manager supported us all in regard to logistical concerns. But the kids and their needs were always at the center of it all. Those are the nuts and bolts! To learn more, please visit the Minnesota Reading Corps website. And I hope you will consider applying to become a tutor yourself! |
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