August 2010 Tutor Group Notes - Focus: Basic Literacy

Based on the needs of the group, discussion this month was directed toward Basic Literacy. Though we sometimes have a planned topic, if tutors who attend prefer to discuss different subject matter, we adjust to the needs of the group. This is a fluid, flexible meeting.

Language Experience Approach
This is a great ice breaker for a new student, or a nice confidence booster for experienced students.

• Have the student tell you about something that happened that week, or a favorite subject/hobby/TV show...etc
• Write down word for word what he/she says
• Read it back to the student
• Have the student read the story
• Pick out the challenging words - either write them on little pieces of paper or index cards, or make a copy of the story and cut up the words
• Review the words out of context - individually
• Have the student read the story again

In "Tutor - A Collaborative Approach to Literacy Instruction" you can read about this in more detail on pages 48 - 53.

Learning New Words
Prepare in advance by choosing a piece of literature and writing the challenging words on a separate piece of paper, grouped into methods you can teach them with (as listed below). You can review the 'challenging' words together using the techniques below, and later have the student read the paragraph(s) that contain the words.

Reading the piece AFTER you have gone over the individual words will help reinforce what they have learned, and give them a little more confidence, since they will have experienced these words in advance.

• Sight words are words that people simply 'recognize'
• Context clues are ways to help a student figure out what a word is based on the other words in the sentence
• Phonics is the relationship between how letters sound combined with each other
• Word patterns can be used to see relationships between groups of letters and finding that they are common in many words (rhyming words, for example)
• Breaking words out into syllables is a practice to help recognize patterns and prounounce words

In "Tutor - A Collaborative Approach to Literacy Instruction" you can read about all of these techniques in more detail on pages 53 - 75.

Writing - Very Basic - Capitalization
If you have a very basic student, you may wish to work on the use of capital letters. Some great examples of how to practice are

• Have your student write a list of names using the correct capitalization- one for every letter of the alphabet. (ex. Amy, Brad, Cliff, etc.)
• Have your student write a list of states and cities using the correct capitalization. See if you can follow the same format (one for every letter of the alphabet.)
• Provide a written paragraph, or write one with your student where he/she will circle the first letter of every sentence to enforce the idea of capitalization at the start of a sentence.