This past Sunday, the READ USA team had the pleasure of hosting a training with 50 teen tutors and 15 teachers as we prepare for the start of our new Literacy Tutoring contract with Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) this month! (You can read more about our DCPS contract, announced last week, here.)

At READ USA, we conduct multiple trainings with our teen tutors by using evidence-based instructional methods to set them – and by extension, the young minds they tutor – up for success during the Literacy Tutoring program. The Literacy Tutoring program not only has an impact on the elementary school students who receive tutoring, it also positively impacts our teen tutors, who are paid a living wage of $15/hour for their tutoring services. Hear directly about this impact from one of our recent teen tutors:

Thank you to all the teen tutors and teachers who joined us on Sunday! You are doing important work to help achieve grade-level reading proficiency in Duval County!

Check out some photos of the training session here:

Illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Jaqueline Woodson’s first book, The Day you Begin, tackles finding courage and strength when you discover you’re different. Her second book, The Year We Learned to Fly, is just as special. This time Woodson’s story continues with a little girl who learns resilience from no one better, her grandma! Grandma helps her and her little brother imagine their way out of boredom on a rainy day. Later, the sibling pair learns to use their imagination to “fly away” from trouble. As a result, they learn that “flying away” was a skill perfected by their ancestors long ago when hope was hard to find.

Submitted by Tabetha Cox, Tutoring Program Director

Education Corner - What is Phonemic Awareness?

Every word in the English language is made up of a combination of individual units of sound, known as phonemes. For example, the word ‘crab’ is made up of four individual units of sound; c/r/a/b. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate these individual units of sound.

The first step in language acquisition for early learners is the ability to recognize each unit of sound. Here are a couple activities to get started with phonemic awareness.

Game: I’m Thinking of a Word

Rules and Description:

The adult sings a song with spelling out the sound syllables of each word. For example, “I’m thinking of a word named /c/ /a/ /t/, /c/ /a/ /t/. What is my word?”

The kids respond by singing back, “Is that word that you’re thinking called cat?”

Game: In My Box

Equipment Needed:

• A small box
• Cards with pictures of familiar rhyming words, e.g., cat/mat, box/socks, bear/chair.
• Have enough pictures so that everyone has a turn.

Rules and Description:

The game is for kids who are familiar with the concept of rhyme. The object of the game is for children to take turns in coming up with rhyming words.

The kids sit in a circle. For an easy start, choose a child that is good at rhyming. Choose a card. If the card contains the picture of a bear, for example, say, “In my box, there is a bear.”