Schools of Hope Tutor Resources

Welcome to the new and returning Schools of Hope tutors. For those of us who like instant gratification, this is a great way to spend an afternoon. Yulupa uses the PALS (Peer Assisted Learning Strategies) from Vanderbilt University. You can read about the program here. We use a slightly different version of PALS but the principles  are the same.

When many of us went to school, the most used reading method was Whole Word (the Dick and Jane days). If you would like to review the letter sounds, you can go to Alphabet Sounds. Spring Creek Elementary made a video of a tutoring session. They do no use the same materials as Yulupa, but it gives you some idea of the flow.

If you need some additional insight check out this  Advanced Tutor Training by MaryAnn Nichol. She is a professor at Sonoma State and is part of the team doing research on Schools of Hope.

Finally, for more ideas to help you with your students, just click on the Schools of Hope tag at the bottom of this post or in the left hand column on this blog.

Sight Words

Yulupa uses a phonics based reading program, but there are plenty of commonly used words in the English language that do not follow the the “Rules”. These words are called Sight Words: the, and, see, come, go, know; you get the drift. By the end of first grade a child should know over a hundred of these words.

 This Reading Mama has a great article about the development of word learning as it pertains to sight words. Most of the students we see in Schools of Hope are in the second phase. These learners typically know basic letter sounds but not more complex ones like sh or th; they do not have strong decoding skills and rely on pictures and cues like the first and last letter to read words they don’t know.

Sight words are  introduced in the classroom gradually. Schools of Hope tutors review current sight words with their students every week. There are fun ways to do this. I have a couple of Sight Word Bingo games and a Picture Word Bingo game.

I found these games locally back when we had a teacher store in town but they are available like almost everything else, at Amazon. Another game that kids like to play is Pop for Sight Words. There is a second version appropriate for late first grade and second grade.  I found the original game here in town but it both are also available at Amazon.

The Reading Mama, Becky Spence, has more than a dozen free printable sight word games here. Scroll down to the list under sight words and click on any of the games that interest you. All of these games are far more fun than drilling with flash cards while accomplishing the same goal.

Children’s Book Week 2015

May 4-10, 2015 is Children’s Book Week the 96th year of celebrating books for young people and the joy of reading.

This year’s poster is by Grace Lin, author of the Newbery Honor book When the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Leroy Kinker Saddles Up

 

Leroy is meant to be a cowboy. He has boots, a hat and a lasso; what he doesn’t have is a horse. He answers an ad for a horse for sale. Maybelline is a particular horse, she likes sweet talk, she eats  lots of grub and she gets lonesome. She is past her prime, way past actually. It is love at first sight for Leroy and Maybelline. Leroy learns to take particular care of Maybelline and they are getting along well until a thunderstorm comes along. Like in all love stories, Leroy’s true love is lost but he finds her again. And they live happily ever after.

Leroy appeared in the third book of the Mercy Watson series by Kate Di Camillo, Mercy Watson Fights Crime. Mercy and hot buttered toast make an appearance in Leroy Ninker Saddles Up. It is illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. Several copies and formats are available at the Sonoma County Library.

Dory Fantasmagory

Dory is the youngest child in her family,. She is curious and has plenty of imagination. All she really wants is to be invited to play with her sister, Violet and brother, Luke. They think she acts like a baby and  find her annoying. All they really want is for Dory to leave them alone. Violet and Luke tell Dory about Mrs. Gobble Cracker, who is 507 years old with very sharp teeth and steals baby girls. They have heard that Mrs. Gobble Cracker is looking for Dory so she’d better stop acting like a baby.  Dory and her imaginary friend, Mary, concoct schemes to evade Mrs. Gobble Cracker which continue to annoy her siblings. After vanquishing Mrs. Gobble Cracker, she saves the day (or the doll)  which keeps Violet and Luke from getting into trouble. In gratitude she is invited to play.
Dory Fantasmagory is written and illustrated by new author Abby Hanlon.  There are several copies available at the Sonoma County Library. A sequel, Dory and the Real True Friend will be published on July 7, 2015. My six year old granddaughters love this book. It is a great read-a-loud book, too.

Thought For Today

Hat tip: Imagination Soup

Free Money!

Last year, James Patterson, author of numerous books for adults and children gave one million dollars in grants to independent bookstores. This year he has pledged 1.25 million for school libraries. You can find the details and application here. Scholastic will match each dollar of the grant with bonus points for the classroom.