"Can We Read Another One?"

Madelyn working with a student
on letter sounds.

Blog post written by Madelyn Schoonover, Iowa Reading Corps AmeriCorps Member at Cornell Elementary.

The first student I take early in the morning, John*, has never been very excited to read. Although he is actually one of my best readers, he lacks a lot of confidence and reads quietly, slurring his words a little bit as if he doesn't care if they’re right or wrong. He never sounds enthused and often asks if he can stay in daycare instead of practicing his reading skills with me because he feels like he’s missing out on fun opportunities. Sometimes I feel like the bad guy for not letting him have time to run around or to watch a movie with other kids, but I know that what we’re doing will benefit him a lot more in the long run.

However, last week he started to get really excited about the passages we were reading. He really connected with them and was interested in what he was reading. Since his comprehension was kicking in, he even made fewer reading errors, sometimes making none at all for a whole section. The passage that interested him the most was one about garter snakes. He was excited because he had seen and caught one in real life and wanted to know more about them.

At the end of the twenty minutes, I was about to mark where we had left off on the garter snake story so we could pick up there the next day, but as soon as I reached for my pen he said, “Can we read another one?” It was so fantastic to know that he’s really starting to care about what we’re doing and enjoy reading as an activity. I let him read another section and he left smiling and feeling confident. I have high hopes that he’ll continue to grow and achieve now that he understands how much fun reading can be.

*Name has been changed to protect student confidentiality.

"Smiles All Around"

Blog post written by Ann Black, Iowa Reading Corps AmeriCorps member at Neil Armstrong Elementary.

My first great story not only focuses upon the growth for one of my kindergarten students with letter sounds, but also touches upon my own, personal growth. I start each day by walking to one of our kindergarten classrooms. Anna* sees me at the door, smiles and runs toward me. We talk on our way to my room and then she sits right down to work on her intervention. She listens intently to the instructions and then we get right to work with letter sounds. She works through the five, letter-sound flash cards and as we substitute two new letters, she has a huge smile on her face. When I first tested Anna's knowledge of letter sounds, she recorded a score of 0. However, she is now able to identify 17 letter sounds and I am proud of how far she has come in the short time that we have been doing the interventions. I knew when I became an AmeriCorps member that this would be a rewarding experience, but I could not have imagined the personal growth that I have experienced in one short month. This experience is incredible and I can’t wait for each school day to begin.

I am also blessed to be at Neil Armstrong with a returning Internal Coach who gives me encouragement every day. Even though she is very busy, she takes time to check-in and answer any questions that I might have on a given day. Neil Armstrong is a very caring community and I have learned so much from everyone at the school. Just watching the interactions between teachers and students has been rewarding and has helped me strengthen my own interactions with students. There have been some challenges, but we have worked through them as a team. I am excited to be a small part of this team and an AmeriCorps member.

*Name has been changed to ensure confidentiality.