TIPS FOR VOLUNTEERS

For Open Books Buddies and other reading mentors:

The mission of Open Books Buddies is to help young students become fluent, confident, enthusiastic readers who can comprehend and discuss what they read; to develop a supportive, mentoring relationship between student reader and adult volunteer; and to foster a lifelong love of reading in children and adults. With those goals in mind, we offer these tips for our Big Buddy volunteers.

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If you have teaching or tutoring experience and would like to offer more suggestions, we're all ears! Let us know.

Special thanks to our partners at Chicago HOPES and WITS (Working In The Schools) for sharing some of the information below.

10 Things To Do During An Open Books Buddies Session

1. Greet your Little Buddy with a big smile and a high five, and allow for a little conversation before you start reading. Ask how your buddy is doing and how things are going in class and at home.* Ask about the books your buddy has been reading since you last met. (*NOTE: If a child tells you something of concern, please speak with the Open Books site leader and/or the child's teacher.)

2. After choosing a book with your buddy, read the title, author, and illustrator together. If there is information on the back of the book or dust jacket, bring the author to life with a short biography. ("Ooh, imagine you are an author like Stan and Jan Berenstain someday! What kind of books will you write? What will your biography say?")

3. Ask your student what they think the story might be about and discuss what clues gave him or her that idea.

4. Encourage your student to be expressive when reading and change voices for different characters. Draw attention to exclamation, question, and quotation marks. Go ahead and be silly!

5. Let your student look at the illustrations and remind him or her to take hints from the pictures when struggling with unknown words or concepts. (For example: "Hmmm, a long word that starts with E. Do you see anything in the picture that it might be?" "Do you see any clues for what might happen next?... OK, let's turn the page and find out if you're right!")

6. If you take a turn reading, go slowly enough for the child to build mental pictures of the story -- but make sure to read at a fluent pace, not the child's pace. Your Little Buddy needs to hear what successful reading sounds like!

7. Stop reading a book and pick a new one if you feel it is too difficult for your Little Buddy, especially if he is getting frustrated. You can say, "Does this seem more like a 4th grade book to you? Let's save it for another day after we've practiced more!" That way you demonstrate that reading takes practice while also giving the child a challenge to look forward to.

8. Ask questions that help your student connect the story with their own life or other books he or she has read. (For example: "Does this story remind you of anything that's happened to you?" "What characters from other books do these main characters remind you of? Tell me about them.")

9. Allow time for discussion after the story and encourage your child to talk about the book. (For example: "What would you have done if Brother Bear was teasing you?" "What would happen in your family if you didn't share like Franklin?") Try not to turn the discussions into quizzes about basic facts in the books. Instead discuss whether your Little Buddy's initial predictions came true, and why or why not.

10. Always end the session with lots of enthusiasm and high fives (or a little hug, if initiated by the student). Ask your Little Buddy what he has planned for the coming week and encourage reading at home. ("Next week I'm going to ask you about what you've been reading, so make sure you have some good books to tell me about!”) If your student says he or she has no books at home, please feel free to bring some new or used books, if you have any extras at home.

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For Creative Writing Field Trip volunteers and other writing mentors:

The goal of Open Books' field trips is to excite and empower young people through writing. The free, 2-hour memoir and poetry workshops give students in 5th-8th grades a chance to better understand how writing is used in every job and in everyday life, to express themselves through memoir and poetry, and to feel someone cares about and is listening to what they have to say.

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12 Tips for Open Books Field Trip Volunteers

1. You don't want to feel rushed or stressed before working with students, so try to budget time for CTA delays or to look for a parking spot. (FYI, metered street parking is available near Open Books but can be scarce. We recommend taking the El to the Chicago brown/purple line stop and walking two block north on Franklin to Institute Place.)

2. When a group arrives at Open Books for a field trip, greet students with lots of smiles and enthusiasm! Introduce yourself and shake hands as a sign of mutual respect. Tell the kids they are in for big fun, and please remind them to turn off and put away any radios, cell phones, or other distractions.

3. Please be a model of active listening. Follow along on printouts when a workshop leader or student is reading aloud. Quietly encourage students at your table to read with you if they seem distracted.

4. Be a model of active participation, too. If the workshop leader asks a question and no one responds after a few seconds, please raise your hand and answer. (Sometimes it just takes one brave volunteer to get the ball rolling!)

5. Some students will want to listen with their heads down. Please gently encourage members of your table to sit up and pay attention. Usually it just takes one (or two) friendly but firm requests to curb disrespectful behavior. (Other examples include talking while others are talking and scribbling on printouts or the table.)

6. If students are writing away on their own, let them be. You can quietly say, "Wow! You're writing so much! May I take a sneak peek over your shoulder while you keep going?”

7. If a student can't think of something to write about, ask some simple questions. (For example: "Is there anyone you love who has died? You could write what you remember about that person.... Has a friend or family member ever hurt your feelings or done something that made you very happy?... Can you remember a favorite teacher or a favorite holiday or birthday party?”) After asking 2-3 specific questions, tell the student you'll check on some other kids and then come back to find out what he decided and to read his beginning.

8. If students have ideas but aren't sure how to start, look at the examples the workshop leader used. (For example: "I remember... ," "It was a Thursday in October... ," "The happiest/saddest/funniest day of my life was when... ," or "It started as a normal day... ")

9. In the very rare event that a student curses, is unacceptably rude, or refuses to participate after multiple encouragements, please go straight to the teacher or workshop leader. As a field trip volunteer, your job is to have fun with student writers, not argue with or discipline them.

10. Praise students' writing honestly and specifically. The same goes for offering constructive suggestions.

11. If a student is torn between writing about an emotional memory and a frivolous one, gently encourage the student to write about the deeper situation. While stories about egg fights and accidentally dropped underpants are fun and welcome, many students have serious concerns lurking beneath the surface and need someone to listen. Writing can be a way to let out and resolve emotions. (NOTE: If you are uncomfortable or feel ill-equipped to handle the topic a student chooses, please let the workshop leader know so someone else can help. Remember, we want volunteers to have fun, too!)

12. Last but not least, a writer's work is never done! Students love to declare, "I'm done!” When you hear those words in a prose field trip, read the student's work and encourage her to add more details, elaborate using the 5 senses, expand on the meaning of the piece, add a conclusion about why she chose to write about the particular day, what she learned from it, etc. You can also have the student double check for punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar.

Want to take these Field Trip tips with you?
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OPEN BOOKS AND ADULT LITERACY

At Open Books, we are proud to refer volunteers to our partners in adult literacy programming: Literacy Chicago, Blue Gargoyle, and Christopher House. We are also excited to be researching and planning our own adult literacy classes and workshops, with tutor training from Literacy Works and support from Chicago Cares, among others.

If you have ideas or suggestions for adult programming, would like to be an adult literacy tutor, or know another adult literacy organization that would make a great partner for Open Books, please e-mail volunteer@open-books.org or call 312-492-4079.

If you know an adult or teenager who needs literacy services such as basic education, GED prep, job skills, or computer training, call our literacy department at 312-239-6629 for a program referral.

Are you a GED, ESL, ABE, or other tutor for adult students? Below are some resource links with tips, hints, and suggestions.

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PROGRAMS AND PARTNERS

All around our fair city, government and community groups are working to help Chicagoans develop stronger skills for literacy and life. If Open Books doesn't offer the program your family needs, we hope we can connect you with an organization that does. Below are some of our favorite resources. If you know of more, let us know and we'll add them to the list!

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