Franklinton Tutoring Tutor Information Session Saturday, February 23, 2013 Sarah Pubal College and Career Ready Instructional Reading Teacher

 The Common Core Standards are the new national standards for the United States.  The standards ask that we focus more on: 1.Non-fiction (informational) texts 2.Asking text-dependent questions 3.Using higher level, complex texts Common Core Standards

 Reading comprehension is understanding what we read.  After reading, does the child remember details about what they just read? Comprehension

At the end of reading each paragraph, stop and have the child describe to you what happened in the paragraph. (If the child is unsure, describe for them what happened.) Comprehension Idea

Have the child visualize in their head what is happening in the story. At the end of each page, ask the child to draw a picture of what is happening in the story. Comprehension Idea

Story Comic Strip The student can draw a picture of what they visualize from each page of the story and create a “comic strip” of the book.

At the end of reading a story, have the child write down what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Comprehension Idea

Beginning, Middle, End The student can fill in each of the boxes with ideas that happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the book. Beginning Middle End

Comprehension Idea Use sticky notes while reading with the child. The child can use the sticky notes to write down interesting thoughts, new ideas, or questions while reading. Stick these on the pages as you go, and return to them at the end of the reading.

Ask the student text-dependent comprehension questions during the reading and after they are finished reading. (Remind the child to look back at the story if they can’t remember the answer!) Comprehension Idea

 Text-dependent questions are questions that can ONLY be answered with evidence from the text.  Can be literal, but must also involve analysis of the story.  Ask yourself, “Would the child need the story to answer this question?” What are Text-Dependent Questions?

Text-Dependent Questions  How do you think ______ felt in the story when ______ happened?  Why did ______ do _____in the story?  Look at the illustrations on page ___. Why did the illustrator include these details in the drawings?  What lesson can we learn from this story? What makes you think this?  What makes _______’s experience with _______ humorous?/sad?/exciting?  What specific events in the story lead to (a problem)?

 Personal questions  Do you like cats?  Describe a time when you played with a friend.  Discuss a time when you felt like someone did not treat you fairly. One or two of these types of questions ARE OK to build relationships, but not for the whole discussion of the story! NOT text-dependent!

Vocabulary  Vocabulary is the study of words.  Does the child struggle with knowing the meaning of words while reading?

Vocabulary Ideas  Make flashcards of key words with the child  Write the word on the front, definition and the word in a sentence on the back  Have the child write the word, the definition of the word, and draw a picture that reminds them of the word

WordDefinitionDrawing Have the child write the word, the definition of the word, and draw a picture that reminds them of the word. Vocabulary

 Fluency is the rate/flow/expression of the reading.  How does it sound when the child reads? Does it flow at a good speed, or is it choppy and slow? Fluency

Read books aloud to the child to model fluent reading. Fluency Idea

Choose a book that is easy for the child to read and have the child read the same book to you every week. Switch to a new easy book every month. This will help the child to practice reading fluently. Fluency Idea

Read one or two sentences of a story aloud to the child, reading at a good pace and exaggerating the expression (such as the pausing, dialogue, etc.). Then have the child read it aloud to you, modeling your speed and expression. Fluency Idea

Give the child a chance to write for an actual purpose.  Ask the child to write a letter to your spouse, sister/brother, or friend and then have that person write a letter back to the child Writing Idea

Have the child write a letter to the author of a story to ask them questions about why they wrote certain details. The child can also write a letter to a character from the story. Writing Idea

 To help students practice writing longer, more detailed sentences, play a “Price of the Sentence Game”  Each capital letter is worth 5 cents  Each period is worth 10 cents  Each word with 1-3 letters is worth 50 cents  Each word with 4-10 letters is worth $1.00  See how expensive they can make their sentences! Writing Idea

Work together on writing pieces with the child so that the child can practice writing, but also see someone model the proper way to write. Go back and forth and take turns writing sentences. Writing Idea

 Create a poem together with the child. Sometimes poetry can be less intimidating for struggling writers, and can be fun for creative, artistic students.  Come up with a creative theme for the poem  After reading a story, have the child write a “poem version” of the story  If the child really struggles with motivation to write, it would be helpful to use a pre-made poem template with the child Writing Idea

Although it may be difficult to decide what to work on with a child that is struggling with reading/writing, choose one area from this presentation at a time and work on it. With work in each of these areas, It will all fall into place for our children!

The following sites can help you find more ideas for reading tutoring:     Reading Internet Resources