Volunteer Information:
We appreciate any help you can give us in and out of class. However, the
following may help answer some questions you have when working with the
children during centers.
- When are reading groups?
- What if the kids are missing materials (pencils, glue sticks, crayons, etc.) ?
- Where can I find extra supplies?
- What if I finish my center early?
- How do I handle discipline?
- What can I do to help (job descriptions)?
When are reading groups?
Reading groups generally run for an hour Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 9:30-10:50. Please arrive 5-10 minutes early so we can
explain what we'll be doing.
What if the kids are missing materials (pencils, glue sticks, crayons, etc.) ?
We have an area by the teachers desk full of supplies the kids
might need (glue sticks, scissors, rulers, crayons). If they need
a new pencil, they can go to our pencil hospital and exchange it
for a sharpened one.
We also have pencils in our student store which they can buy with
their credits.
Where can I find extra supplies?
We will have the materials you need prepped by your center. If
you need anything else, please feel free to ask us.
What if I finish my center early?
Here are some ideas, but please feel free to come up with your
own:
1. Work on any unfinished work in their class folder
found in their desks.
2. Read from their AR books.
3. Do an Anchor Activity
3. Play a game like I spy, guess the ______ (give clues
until the kids figure out what you were thinking of), blend and
separate letter sounds to make words, tell math stories (3 teddy
bears walked to the store, one went away, how many are left
shopping?)
How do I handle discipline?
If a child is not behaving at your center, feel free to remove
him/her from the table, let the teacher know and we will take it
from there.
If a particular child or group of children do an excellent job at
your center, please let us know. We love giving extra praise!
What can I do to help (job descriptions)?
Room Parent - Plan holiday parties (appx. 1 hour) including centers
and coordinating other parent volunteers. We will help distribute
information and supplies. We will also ask this parent to help
communicate with other parents about school and or classroom
activities.
Life Lab: Volunteer 1-2 times per month using
lesson plans provided by the life lab coordinators. We can work
around your schedule as long as other classes aren't already
using the garden. This will be monitored through the life lab
coordinators.
Art Docent: Volunteer about once per month teaching the class
about various artists and their styles. Lesson plans are provided.
You DO NOT have to be an artist!
Timed Test Corrector: This job can be done at home. We have timed
tests on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will send an envelope home
with your child. Please correct tests Tuesday night to return on
Wednesday and Thursday night to return on Friday. This position
requires strict confidentiality. If we hear that scores are being
discussed with other parents, we will terminate the position.
Reading Groups: We hope to meet for reading groups Tuesday and
Thursday mornings from 9:30-10:50. This involves working with a
small groups of students to enhance their leveled reading skills.
Whether we include reading groups into our program is determined
whether we have volunteers.
Math Groups: We hope to have math groups once a week on
Wednesdays from 9:30-10:50. This involves working with a small
group of kids to enhance their developmental skills. Like reading
groups, this program is implemented based upon parent help.
Computer Lab Helper: We visit the computer lab once a week on
Thursdays from 2-3 p.m. You will assist the teacher to make sure
the students are able to follow directions as they enhance their
basic technological knowledge using word processing, Accelerated
Reader and other educational web sites.
Library Book Puller: This job can be done on your own time as long
as it's done before we go to the library on Tuesdays (2-2:30) and
during library hours. It is difficult for second graders to use
the library catalog and find an appropriate leveled AR book. This
volunteer will be given a book list for each child and will choose
a book from those lists for every child. This will take
approximately 1 hour of your time each week.
Monday Homework Folders: Papers will be ready, they just need to
be filed and placed in Homework folders every Monday. If you can
stay longer, we'd love for you to work with individual kids to
catch up on work, or help with remediation.
Friday Folders: We accumulate so many papers throughout the week,
that this parent may want to do this at home. Either a
parent can come in on Friday morning to file student work and put
it in their folders, or we can send home our crate and you can
file it throughout the week, making sure it's back to us by
Friday. This takes a trustworthy parent who we will hold to
confidentiality not to discuss other student work. We will not
send home private information with a parent volunteer. This will
be handled and filed by the teachers.
Language Arts Book Prep: This can be done at home and is a one
time volunteer opportunity. We have two workbooks per student
that need to be torn, collated and stapled for each story we
read throughout the year.
Jr. Acheivment: This is another opportunity for you to teach the
class using a predetermined lesson plan. Lessons focus on the
community and how a business/city function. All in all, teamwork.
Prep Parent: We can always use someone to help prep art activities
and/or copy for us. If we know when you'll be at school we can
have it ready for you. Just let us know what works for you.
PTA Rep: Our PTA does so much for us! However, we cannot attend
every meeting. We'd appreciate if someone could fill us in on
things that either we need to know, or that should be passed on to
the other parents.
Music Docent: As you know, our music program was cut. If anyone
has a musical talent they'd like to share and teach our kids, we
know they would love it. This has no boundaries. We are hoping
someone can do it at least once a month if not more.
We know you all are busy with work, kids and overall life, and we
understand if just don't have the time. But if there is a time you
can break away from life's routine, we'd love to hear from you. If
you have a talent or job that goes along with any of our themes
(check the year long plan from Back to School Night), we'd LOVE
to schedule you in.
Thank you for all you do.
