The Perfect Literacy Partnership TEens as teachers The Perfect Literacy Partnership Crystal Giles, NBCT Petal High School crystal.giles@petalschools.com

Where the idea came from... The Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival 2013 Reading Focus Students (struggling readers) Common Core State Anchor Standards Study on a similar “Teens as Teachers” program Petal School District Mini-Grant

How to BEgin... Purchase class sets of children’s books at various lexile levels Scholastic Grants Used copies on Amazon Ask elementary teachers

Model the Process... It is important to make sure the students are WELL- PREPARED! Model reading the book Practice voices and reading with enthusiasm Practice holding the book correctly Model the lesson Practice, Practice, Practice Video Tape the lesson and critique the “performance”

Speaking of Practice... One of the best ways to increase a student’s fluency is to have them do repeated readings. This is NOT EASY with the high school students’ “one and done” thinking. HOWEVER, they will practice for this real world purpose.

IDeas for practice (keep it new and fresh) Partner reading Video reading Record into phone and send to teacher PVC pipe whisper phones Type up the words, send home, and have students practice with a parent or younger brother/sister

When you go... Create badges for students Walk through procedures such as how to act in the hall Pair students with no more than 4 kids, if possible Make sure they have an early finisher activity Leave evaluations with the teacher If possible, go to PreK-2nd grade; no higher

After reading reflection... Students should reflect on what they can do better next time. They will want a chance to talk about the experience. Use the same book several visits to different classrooms, so the students are constantly getting better and rereading. Step up the level of books throughout the year.

Questions/Troubleshooting... What if I have a really low reader? (ESL, ELL, SPED) Transportation? How do I get the elementary involved? How do I organize a visit? How long do visits usually last? Anything else?