Operations – How Read-Aloud Works.
OVERVIEW
At each school, Read Aloud assigns a coordinator who works with the school administration and teachers to organize the program.  Teachers in K through 2nd grade nominate students they feel will most benefit from the one-on-one reading experience.  They are asked to provide notes about the particular student and reason for nomination to the coordinator.  Parental permission slips are obtained.  The coordinator then matches students with reader/volunteers according to the school schedule, their knowledge of the volunteers’ personalities along with the teacher notes.

Each school in the Read Aloud program maintains a library of books divided into Gift and Non-Gift.  The Non-Gift books are typically one of a kind, hardbacks.  They are purchased whenever possible wholesale, obtained through book fairs, library sales, and many are donated.  The Gift books are high quality paperbacks purchased in bulk through Scholastic Books, warehouse sales and other educational vendors.  Some are also donated.

The coordinator at each school organizes the RAVP library.  We try to maintain a wide variety of genres at various age and comprehension levels.  Genres include:  picture books, stories, fairy tales, poetry and rhymes, science, nature, social studies, ethnic including bilingual books, chapter books, learning to read books, popular series such as Curious George, Mercer Mayer, Clifford, Franklin, Madeleine, Arthur etc.

 Each week the coordinator fills one binder for each student/reader pair from the library attempting to provide a selection that matches the student’s abilities and interests.  The student is allowed to choose from the binder those books they want read.  Twice a month, the student chooses a gift book to take home.  The reader records the selection of books read and gift books, making comments on likes, dislikes, appropriate level etc.  The coordinator can then improve the selection and avoid duplication throughout the school year.

 One reader spends 30 minutes with each student.  Any number of the books may be read and additional books are made available from the library by the on-site coordinator if more are needed or the selections are inappropriate.

Seasonal books and light snacks are provided at holiday times and at the end of program, which occurs in early April to avoid conflict with annual testing.

 Finally, readers are asked to complete a brief evaluation form for each child, noting improvements in comprehension, interest level, behavior etc.  These evaluations are shared with the teachers, who are also asked to provide an evaluation of the students’ progress.  In this way, we attempt to evaluate the impact of the program on the students' literacy level.

Read-Aloud Volunteer Program: #5 Alvarado Square: San Pablo, CA 94806: 510-237-0735