— Teacher Frequently Asked Questions —

What is required of the teacher?

Teachers will need to provide a designated space for the bin containing the student books and a small area in the back of the room for the volunteer to work one-on-one with the students. Teachers will also need to attend a brief 30-minute program orientation with our SWB team and schedule a brief classroom presentation for the students to explain how the program will work.

Each school will need to designate a school site coordinator who will be given extra training and will have added responsibilities to help coordinate and organize everything else. This takes the pressure off the classroom teachers.

How much does it cost?

Please inquire with Linda LoBue at lindalobue@sightwordbusters.org or Contact Us for more information regarding program costs. Grant funds may be available for assistance.

How long does the program last?

Volunteers work in the classroom from September through May. The program is individualized, therefore some students may complete the program by March while others may take longer.

What is the impact on the classroom instruction taking place while the Sight Words Buster volunteer is working with students?

There is minimal impact. Teachers do not need to alter their lesson plans to accommodate the time volunteers are in the room. The first student is trained to immediately go to the volunteer when he or she enters the room. Upon finishing the two-minute session, the student quietly taps the shoulder of the next student to signal his turn. Students are engaged with the Sight Word Buster volunteer for two minutes or less per session. The volunteer works with every student in the classroom.

Who will oversee the volunteers and ensure things are running as planned?

The school site coordinator will be responsible for monitoring the program and assisting the volunteers.

Who trains the volunteers?

Your volunteers will attend a one-hour Orientation and a two-hour Training Session with our SWB training team before beginning in the classroom. The school site coordinators will receive extra training from the training team.

What kind of data is collected regarding student progress?

Each classroom has a small clipboard where the volunteer checks the appropriate box each time a list is completed. Teachers can access this clipboard at any time to check the progress of their students. At the end of the school year the school site coordinators collect this data and send it the SWB executive team for analysis. After the data is compiled, the SWB executive team shares the results of each student’s progress with their corresponding classroom teacher.

Would this program be appropriate for Special Day classes?

Yes, if the students have language skills and are capable of memorizing words.

Would this program be appropriate for resource teachers to use?

Yes, if there is daily repetition with the program. It would not be appropriate if the resource teacher only sees the child once or twice a week and there is no follow-through on the other days of the week.

Could this program be appropriate as an intervention for a Title I school?

Absolutely, if there is daily repetition with the program.

Is SWB based on research?

Linda often gets asked, and understandably so, if our program is based on research and best practices. The answer is absolutely yes.

There are numerous approaches and philosophies to teaching children to read. All agree that word recognition is a foundational skill. Word recognition enhances reading fluency and comprehension. 

All approaches also agree that both guided practice and repetition are critical for reading success. 

The Sight Word Busters’ guided practice sessions are structured around short explicit exercises, where one new high frequency word is introduced and then practiced with other already mastered words on a short list. 

In addition to using these best practices, our one-on-one sessions encourage reading confidence and provide the security of knowing that the ‘nice volunteer’ is going to help the child persevere until each word on the page is mastered, no matter how long it takes.

Our custom designed sight word books contain high frequency words taken from standardized sight word lists, including Shefelbine’s irregular words. The words are the most frequently used words in printed language. For that reason the students' mastery of these words provide a significant boost towards overall reading success. 

Linda is frequently asked about phonics instruction and welcomes the opportunity to explain that, while students need as many tools in their decoding toolbox as they can collect, phonics instruction is best left to the expert - the classroom teacher.