ReadWriteServe Tutor Training

1. ReadWriteServe Tutor Training ReadWriteServe Programs of the Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC Charlotte

2. RWS Tutors Provide • Homework Help • Reading Support • Mentoring A note about our terminology: Tutors-----UNC Charlotte student /staff volunteers Learners----the grades K-12 students receiving tutoring

3. The RWS Commitment • Set a time commitment that is reasonable and stick with it. We ask that you commit to meeting with a learner once a week if possible. Whatever your schedule, please keep your commitment to our student partners. • Be ethical and responsible in all that you do in your work with student partners. You are mentors and role models. p. 2

4. Have questions? Need help? • Check out the ReadWriteServe Tutor Blog at rwstutoring.wordpress.com • Get tutoring tips • Learn about upcoming events and trainings • Ask questions & join a conversation

5. Before we get started…

6. Jumping Right In Do’s & Don’ts of Tutoring

7. Scenario #1: What’s a Tutor to Do? You begin tutoring with a book. What do you do?

8. Scenario #1: What’s a Tutor to Do?

9. Scenario #1: What’s a Tutor to Do?

10. Scenario #1: What’s a Tutor to Do? • You’ve just begin working with Alex, a 2nd grade student who struggles a bit with reading. You sit down with Alex and open up Flat Stanley at Bat, an I Can Read Level 2 book. • What do you say? What do you NOT say? • What do you do? What do you NOT do? • How do get started in tutoring Alex?

11. DO’S: Tutoring Tips • Let the child hold the book and turn the pages • Let the child set the pace • Take time to look and talk—look at the pictures and talk about the book • Listen, listen, listen • Talk about their ideas and check your predictions from the picture walk • “What did you like?” • Talk about other good books and reading

12. Assessment Overview of Tutoring Meeting the Learner Setting Expectations Evaluating the Learner Planning Tutoring Sessions p. 5

13. Informal Assessment Assessment gives us information about what learners strengths and areas of need—what they can do and what they need help with. Here are some informal methods of assessment: • Interview • Learner Surveys • 5-finger assessment • Read Alouds • Retellings p. 10

14. Guided Reading & Learning Guided Reading & Learning is a type of instruction in which a tutor guides at student (learner) through the process of reading. Tutors are mentors to students. They help students (learners) move from reading with help to reading independently.

15. p. 14

16. Example 1: Sam in 7th Grade p. 18

17. Example 2: Rachel in 3rd Grade p. 19

18. Scenario #2: Planning for Sam

19. Scenario #2: Planning for Sam • You’ve been working with Sam, a 5th grade student who loves science but struggles a bit with reading. Sam has difficulty remembering what he reads and finds new words challenging. • Plan a lesson for Sam using Fossils as your book. It’s one he’s picked out and seems like it’s not too difficult.

20. Scenario #2: Planning for Sam

21. Scenario #2: Planning for Sam

22. Scenario #2: Planning for Sam

23. Lesson Activities & Mini-lessons Here are some useful lesson activities and mini-lesson ideas: • Book Walk or Picture Talks • Guided Reading & Learning • Dictating Stories or LEA • Word Families & Word Sorts • Sight Word practice • Teaching Strategies p. 17

24. Book Walks & Picture Talks • Tutors guide students through a book by looking at the cover, title page, and pictures in the book. Point out a few key words and ask the learner questions like, “What do you think is going on in the book?” and “What do you think will happen?” During the guided reading and learning session (the heart of the tutoring process), the tutor can check with the learner to confirm predictions. p. 17

25. Basics of the Book Walk, Picture Talk • Start with the cover. • Look at the picture • Read the title and author • Ask, “what do you think this book is about?” • Take a picture walk. • Without reading the words ask the child to turn the pages one at a time. • Point to the pictures and ask, “What do you think is happening?” • Use the 5 “W” and “H” questions

26. If time allows…try a book walk • If you have a book available, do a quick book walk or picture talk with a partner. • Talk about pictures • Make predictions • Point out the title and a few words you think are important to the story

27. Picking Texts to Read Comprehension Word Work: Vocabulary & Sight Words Fluency Decoding p. 21

28. Picking Texts to Read p. 22 You can use any type of text to tutor from; however, if you get a chance to read for enjoyment, pick a good book (one that your student picks) that is not too difficult and enjoy reading for pleasure. Together with the student, you can choose reading material that interests the student and is at an appropriate reading level. One method for choosing a book is the five finger method. Remember • Whenever possible, pick books that are interesting to the learner • For tutoring, pick books are that at their Instructional Level (not too easy, not too hard) • For independent (personal) reading, pick books at the Independent Level.

29. Picking books at the right level “Just right” book but when time is short use these strategies for finding a book that isn’t too challenging: • Ballpark it! Working with a struggling 3rd grader? Pick a book that looks like a 1st or 2nd grader could read it. • Don’t worry. Just read it! Don’t worry if it is a “just right” book. Read aloud and talk with the child. • Five Finger Rule. A quick and simple way to match a book to a kid.

30. Five Finger Rule • As you or the child reads a page from a book, have them put a finger on any words they don't understand. The number of fingers used helps indicate the reading level. • 0-1 fingers - too easy (Independent level) • 2-3 fingers - just right (Instructional level) • 4-5 fingers - too hard (Frustration level) • Too easy is okay. Too hard isn’t. Remember that this is just a “quick & dirty” test. p. 13

31. What to focus on in tutoring There are four key areas that we most often focus on in literacy tutoring. • Comprehension • Word Work: Vocabulary & Sight Words • Fluency • Decoding

32. Comprehension • Comprehension is the “so what” of reading. Readers who comprehend understand and can answer questions about what they’ve read. Here are some strategies that help with comprehension: • Say Something • Double-entry Journal • ThinkPairShare • KWL • 3-2-1 • Talking Drawings p. 22

33. Comprehension Strategies Say Something KWL Chart Take turns reading and… Make a prediction Ask a question Clarify something you read Make a comment Make a connection p. 23-25

34. If time allows… • Take a couple minutes and review pages 23 through 27 in your RWS Tutor Handbook. • Think about the comprehension strategies and how you might use them. • Look back at the lesson plan you created (if we had time) and think about strategies you might add. • What strategies could you have used in tutoring in the past? Which strategies do you think you’d use in the future.

35. Word Work • Sight words are the most common words that make up our spoken and written language. Fifty percent of all text is made up of the most common 100 sight words. Some examples of these important words are a, is, the, of, and, that, in, you, I, and to. • Vocabularyrefers to the meanings of words, not their spelling or pronunciation.  Vocabulary is important to a reader’s success because comprehension breaks down when readers encounter too many words they do not know.  Vocabulary words are new words that students must learn.   p. 28

36. Vocabulary Vocabulary strategies help readers with words they don’t know and need to learn. We don’t expect them to have to memorize these words like we hope readers will do with sight words. Readers need strategies to include but go beyond teaching definitions and include pictures and connections to the real world. p. 28

37. Sight Words & Vocabulary Repetition is the key to teaching sight words. Try this: • Play Sight Word bingo • Make sight word flash cards and review them each Here are some strategies that help teach vocabulary. Note that they move beyond simply teaching definitions. • Vocabulary Cards • Vocabulary Self-Awareness Chart • How Well Do I Know These Words • Teach common pre-fixes and root words

38. Vocab Cards & How Well Do I Know p. 30

39. Fluency • Fluency is the ability to read accurately, effortlessly, at the appropriate pace, and with expression. Because fluent readers do not have to concentrate on figuring out the words, they can focus their attention on what the text means.  In other words, fluent readers recognize words and comprehend at the same time. • Less fluent readers, however, must focus their attention on figuring out the words, leaving them little attention for understanding the text. p. 30

40. Fluency Strategies Here are some strategies to help with fluency: • Rereading. This is one of the best ways to help improve fluency. • Echo Reading. Echo reading is a rereading strategy designed to help students develop expressive, fluent reading. In echo reading, the tutor reads a short segment of text (sentence or phrase), and the student echoes back the same sentence or phrase while following along in the text. • Paying Attention to Punctuation. Some students read through periods. Point out end punctuation, model reading it, and have the learner reread.

41. Phonics & Decoding • Phonics has to do with looking at the letters of a word, figuring out what sounds those letters make, and putting the sounds together to read the word. During phonics instruction we teach children the letter or letters that make each sound. Phonics instruction can also focus on patterns, such as the –ight pattern and all of the words that you can make from that pattern (flight, knight, light, might, night, plight, right, sight, and tight). Spelling is similar to phonics except that instead of reading, you are writing. p. 34

42. Decoding English has many irregular words. Consider these two: Ate and Eight However there are many word patterns you can teach. Here are a few: • Spelling Rules. Late: the /e/ makes the /a/ say it’s name • Word Families. –ightwords, -ate words (late, fate, crate), -ad words (mad, bad, had) Note: Don’t spend too much time on decoding. Be sure to help with comprehension, vocabulary and fluency.

43. Decoding/Phonics Strategies Word Family Sorts Sticky-note Word Family Books p. 34-35

44. Go-to Strategies: use these often • Comprehension: use Say Something plus KWL or Stickies • Vocabulary: Vocab Cards • Sight Words: Flash cards (practice each time you meet) • Fluency: Repeated readings and timed readings (same thing) • Decoding: Word families, a few spelling rules (magic E, vowel blends)

45. Tutoring Scenario You’ve just begun tutoring a new learner, Jose, a fifth-grader. You observe the following: • Jose reads the words on the page well but as he says, “I just don’t get it.” You ask Jose to read aloud and his reading sounds fine but when you ask him to do a retelling he has little to say. • He also says that some of the words in his science book are difficult. What can you do?

46. Getting to Know the Learner Setting Expectations Evaluating the Learner Our Approach (Planning) p. 5

47. Getting to Know the Learner At the first meeting or two, the tutor and learner need to get to know one another. This initial session is an important step towards building a positive rapport that will underlie the tutoring and learning experience. Use this first meeting to: • Establish rapport • Setting expectations • Get to know your learner p. 6

48. Ice Breakers Ice Breakers are games or activities we use to get to know a learner or “break the ice.” Here are a few of these activities: • Acrostic Name Poem • The Memory Game • Two facts and a lie p. 5-7

49. Acrostic Name Poem p. 7

50. More than the sum of its parts Once in the land of Serenity there ruled a king called Kay Oss. He wanted to be liked by all his people. So onx day thx bxnxvolxntdxspotdxcidxd that no onx in thex country would bxrxsponsiblx for anything. Zll of thx workerxrsrxstxd from thxirdzilylxbors. "BlxssKzy Oss," thxyxxclzimxd. Now, thx lzwmzkxrswxrxvxrywvsx. But zswvsxzswthxywxrx, thxydxcvdxdthzt thx bxst form of govxernmxntwzsnonxztzll. Zstvmxwxntqo, thx kvngdqmogKzyqssbxgzntqsplvtzt thx sxzmszndvtlqqkxdlvkxthvs: Bexdqufghjklzmnqxpqqtrqstvqxwxxzbqxcdqfghzjkqlxmnxp. The Kingdom Of Kay Oss