Tutoring Tips Volume 1, Issue 2, October 2016

Help Me Help You Questions or comments?

Email Kathy Smith at kasmith@mississippi.edu.

Reflection logs 1

through 5 are due

October 15. Please

begin completing

the reflection logs

before the due date

just in case you

have questions or challenges com-

pleting the logs.

Reflection Log Completion

10/7— 1 Million AmeriCorps Members Milestone

10/7-10/8—Praxis Workshops in Chickasaw County

10/15—Reflection Logs 1 –5 Due

10/21-10/22—Praxis Workshops at Jackson State University

10/22—Make a Difference Day

10/27—Read for the Record Day

Fun Facts Can you think of fun ways to incorporate these interesting facts into

your tutoring sessions?

DID YOU KNOW?

October is…

Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

American Pharmacist Month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Clergy Appreciation Month

Computer Learning Month

Cookie Month

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Eat Country Ham Month

International Drum Month

Lupus Awareness Month

National Diabetes Month

National Pizza Month

National Vegetarian Month

National Popcorn Popping Month

Sarcastic Month

Seafood Month

October 2016 Daily Holidays and Special & Wacky Days:

1 International Frugal Fun Day - first Saturday of the month 1 National Homemade Cookies Day 1 World Vegetarian Day 1 World Card Making Day - first Saturday of the month 2 National Custodial Worker Day

2 Name Your Car Day 3 Techies Day 3 Virus Appreciation Day 4 National Golf Day 4 National Frappe Day 5 Do Something Nice Day 5 National Kale Day - first Wednesday of October

5 World Teacher's Day 6 Come and Take it Day 6 Mad Hatter Day 6 Physician Assistant Day 7 Bald and Free Day 7 World Smile Day first Friday of month 8 American Touch Tag Day

9 Curious Events Day 9 Fire Prevention Day 9 Leif Erikson Day 9 Moldy Cheese Day 10 Columbus Day - second Monday of month 10 International Newspaper Carrier Day

10 National Angel Food Cake Day 11 It's My Party Day 12 Cookbook Launch Day 12 Emergency Nurses Day- second Wednesday of month 12 National Fossil Day 12 Old Farmer's Day

12 Moment of Frustration Day 12 National Gumbo Day

12 Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day -Second Wednesday of month 13 Friday the 13th 13 International Skeptics Day 14 Be Bald and Free Day

14 National Dessert Day - take an extra helping, or two 14 World Egg Day - second Friday of month 15 White Cane Safety Day 15 Sweetest Day Third Saturday of month 16 Bosses Day 16 Dictionary Day

17 Wear Something Gaudy Day 18 No Beard Day 19 Evaluate Your Life Day 21 Babbling Day 21 Count Your Buttons Day 21 National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day find a recipe, too.

22 Make a Difference Day 22 National Nut Day 23 Mother-In-Law Day - fourth Sunday in October 23 National Mole Day 23 TV Talk Show Host Day 24 National Bologna Day 24 United Nations Day

25 World Pasta Day 26 National Mincemeat Day 27 National Tell a Story Day - in Scotland and the U.K. 27 Navy Day 28 Frankenstein Friday - last Friday in October

28 Plush Animal Lover's Day 29 Hermit Day 29 National Frankenstein Day 30 National Candy Corn Day 30 Mischief Night 31 Carve a Pumpkin Day - no surprise here 31 Halloween

Holiday information provided by http://www.holidayinsights.com/.

FreeReading

Activities and scripted mini-lessons that address print concepts, phonological

awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, & writing

Weekly lesson plans with step-by-step guidance—Browse the lessons for access to

reading passages and helpful audio.

Letter Sound Activities

Fun Kids English

Printable phonics board games—Scroll down to view consonant & vowel and di-

graph board games. Click download, then right click. You can save as a picture file

and then print, or copy the game image and paste into Microsoft Word document

and print.

Teachers Pay Teachers

REGISTER and search for FREE printable resources by grade level, subject area,

and skill.

WatchKnowLearn.org

Free educational videos—Search the directory on the left of the home page to find

videos organized by skill.

PBS Learning Media

Tips from the Playground Videos—Engaging videos that feature short phonics and

reading lessons for the cool kids. Browse the website to find more educational

videos correlated to the standards as well as teaching videos. You can also search

for videos by keyword in the search bar.

Scholastic Word Workshop

Make your own flash cards, labels, and word lists with fun fonts and borders. Be

sure to check out the pre-set Ready-to-Go word lists. Thank Dr. Jessica Ethridge

for sharing this fun resource!

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

İColorÍn colorado!

Reading tips sheets for parents of English Language Learners with English and

Spanish versions.

Mississippi Department of Education

Resource guide for families with tips and activities to help students master skills

at home

Parent Read-at-Home Plan—You can share this with parents and/or use some of

the activities in your tutoring session.

October Spotlight

Tools 4 Reading

FREE West Virginia Phonics weekly lesson plans arranged by skill level

ARM appreciates our local first respond-

ers and all individuals who help keep our

communities safe. ARM members cele-

brated these local heroes by hosting

school assemblies, inviting officers to

speak to students, providing gifts and

refreshments to first responders, and

letting them know how much they are

appreciated. Some great project photos

are pictured below, and you can view

more in the community service photo

gallery on the ARM website. Thanks for

planning and implementing awesome

service projects! Keep up the great

work!

USM Asst. Regional Coordinator Kasey Keith; ARM members Destani Arrington, Kimberly Myrick, Markeesa Ulmer, and Armesha Shelby; & first responders participate in the service project at Maddox Elementary School

ARM member Keena Pegues and local police officers at Holly Springs Primary School

On October 22nd, volunteers from all

over the country will unite for Make

A Difference Day, one of the largest

days of service nationwide. For over

20 years, volunteers and communi-

ties have come together on Make A

Difference Day with a single pur-

pose: to improve the lives of others.

Begin planning your Make a Differ-

ence Day project now, and be sure

to share photos of your project with

your Regional Coordinator. Remem-

ber to get approval prior to imple-

menting your project. Visit http://

www.makeadifferenceday.com/ for

more infor-

Let’s Make a Difference

ARM members and students at Fair Elementary School visit a local nursing home for Make a Difference Day 2015

Students and first responders at North Pontotoc Elementary School

Click Here to view a special 9/11 Day of Remembrance video created by the

ARM members at Jefferson County Elementary School.

You can also visit the ARM website at www.americareadsms.org and click the

Community Service tab for more photos from this year’s 9/11 Day of Remem-

brance projects.

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record® is

a national campaign that was

launched to address the educational

inequities that leave too many chil-

dren unprepared for kindergarten.

On Thursday, October 27th, chil-

dren and adults will gather to learn,

laugh, and read this year's campaign

book, The Bear Ate Your Sand-

wich by Julia Sarcone-Roach, as

part of the world’s largest shared

reading experience.

All ARM members will participate in

this event, and more information and

copies of the book will be provided

soon. You can visit www.jstart.org/

campaigns/toolkit for reading guides,

activity kits, certificates, games, and

much more. Please do not register

until you receive specific instructions

from ARM. We will NOT register from

the national Jumpstart website.

Reading for the Record

Happy October! I hope you’re

having an awesome time at your school

working with your students. ARM mem-

bers should have received their list of

assigned students and begun tutoring by

now. Your Regional Coordinator will be

visiting your school soon to meet with

you and perform observations of tutor-

ing sessions. These observations are

designed help give you important feed-

back on things you’re doing well and

offer areas of improvement. Here are

some ways you can plan for your up-

coming site visit and observation:

Dress appropriately to the school cli-

mate

Wear your ARM AmeriCorps name

badge

Stay on task during your tutoring ses-

sion

Plan for your tutoring session

Utilize appropriate resources and

strategies during your session

Give clear and focused instructions to

students

Communicate effectively with students

Keep students engaged

Demonstrate a good rapport with stu-

dents

Provide evidence that the lesson ad-

dresses students’ needs

Be able to provide tutoring records

(lessons plans, tutoring logs, etc.)

Please contact your Regional Coordina-

tor if you have questions about your

upcoming site visit.

Upcoming Events

What to Expect on Your

Upcoming Site Visit

Be sure to administer the Student

Attitude Survey within the first week

of tutoring your assigned students.

After administering the survey to

your students, enter students’ nu-

merical responses on the survey

spreadsheet that was emailed to

members in September. The email

also included helpful articles and tips

for using the survey results as you

tutor your students.

The Student Attitude Survey spread-

sheet should be emailed to the ARM

Literacy Specialist as soon as possi-

ble. Please contact your Regional

Coordinator or the ARM Literacy Spe-

cialist if you have questions about

the Student Attitude Survey.

Administering the Student

Attitude Survey

Upcoming Service Opportunities

Starring You

Honoring Those Who Serve

Jefferson County Elementary School recently

crowned Mr. & Miss America Reads. These stu-

dents were nominated by the ARM members at

the school and participated in the program during

the 2015-2016 program year. Members chose

these students to represent America Reads-

Mississippi because they showed academic im-

provement, were dedicated to becoming proficient

readers, and were always excited to participate in

the ARM program.

Mr. & Miss America Reads were crowned at the

school’s annual Coronation Ball as part of the

Homecoming Week festivities for the Jefferson

County School District.

Mr. & Miss America Reads

Resources Roundup Check out the websites below for some great lessons,

games, and activities to use during your tutoring sessions.

You can adapt some of these activities to the mate-

rials you already have so you will not have to print

them. Be creative!

Upcoming Training Opportunity

SCALE Behavior Management Webinar

Friday, October 7, 2016

11 a.m.—12 p.m.

This training will provide an overview of positive

reward, academic coaching, modeling and ignoring

techniques that will help tutors to encourage in-

creased learner motivation and an increase in posi-

tive learning behaviors. The webinar will address

both one-to-one and small group settings.

Click here to register. Select the Member option when registering. Be sure to

get prior approval from your Regional Coordinator and Site Supervisor if you

plan to view the webinar at your school site.

More Great Resources

12 Books That Inspire Kids to Make a Difference—This is a wonderful re-

source in preparation for Make a Difference Day!

Publish a FREE hardbound book with your students. This

is a great writing activity, and can address many of the stu-

dents’ College and Career-Readiness writing standards.

NEW

WOW!