Goal: reading fluency

I just completed a very interesting course, Ethics for Library and Information Professionals, taught by Kay Mathiesen. This is one of the core courses required for a Masters degree from the School of Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona.

For the final paper, we were assigned to

·      investigate the policies and practices of an organization that collects, stores and distributes information,

·      perform an ethical evaluation of these policies and practices using one of the theories that we studied during the semester, and

·      propose any changes that may improve the ethical standing of the organization or help prevent ethical breaches.

I chose to focus on Reading Seed, a program of Literacy Connects, since I have always wanted to learn more about it and thought this would be a good opportunity to do so. Its mission, to help children in Pima County learn to read so they can read to learn, complements the work of public libraries, which is the area of study I am pursuing.

During the course of my interviews and, after attending a Reading Seed volunteer orientation, I thought that I would like to be a Reading Coach during the 2012-2013 school year provided I could work with students at Desert Winds Elementary School, located in Picture Rocks, less than 10 miles from my home.

Not only do they have a need at this particular school for coaches, the demand is probably going to increase due to the adoption by the State of Arizona of legislation titled Move On When Reading. The law states that if a student reaches the third grade and can not read at grade level, he/she will automatically be held back. In order to ensure that their students are prepared to hit the required benchmarks, schools will be looking to programs like Reading Seed to provide additional support for children who are struggling.

The inviting entrance to the library.

In order to begin preparing for my assignment, I attended a training session on fluency at the Martha Cooper Branch Library in mid-town Tucson. Fluency is defined as being able to read the text correctly, quickly, smoothly and with the proper expression and comprehension. Reading Seed staff member Tamara McKinney, aided by an intern from the University of Arizona, presented some strategies to promote fluency – and we got to try a few of them. We took turns reading a story from Toad and Frog by Arnold Lobel. These stories are perfect because the two main characters have very different personalities (so it is easy to adopt a distinct voice for each one) and they are silly, filled with jokes and illustrated with great drawings. We also practiced being very dramatic (watch out Dame Judy!) by reading a Shel Silverstein poem. Mine was called “The Voice”:

There is a voice inside of you

That whispers all day long,

“I feel that this is right for me.

I know that this is wrong.”

No teacher, preacher, parent, friend

Or wise man can decide

What’s right for you – just listen to

The voice that speaks inside.

Held monthly except in June and July, these trainings are optional but staff may want to reconsider and think about asking each coach to attend a training once a quarter (or three a year since the summer is “down time”). Several of the coaches that I met at the session have been volunteering for more than five years, but I know from their comments that they all learned something new. Besides, it is fun to meet other coaches and, for us newbies, get pointers from the experts!