Tutor Session: March 13, 2014

Time: 1.5 hours

Plan: Before our last session together I assigned some homework for my two clients. They were to read an article of their own choosing and present it to the class. I required them to do four things in their presentation:

-       - Summarize the article that you read.

-       - Describe your own opinions in regards to the article.

-       - Find two new vocab words and teach them to the class.

-       - Supply discussion questions.

I will give the students 15 minutes at the beginning of class to prepare or finish their homework. Then we will begin their presentations.

Actual: Wub went first. She introduced her article, which was about the differences between men and women.  Cake read an article about some strange inventions around the world, including some from her home country of Thailand. Both students summarized their articles very well and talked about which parts they agreed/disagreed with or liked/disliked. Their discussion questions were pretty generic (ex. “So what do you think?”) but they were effective nonetheless. We had some very intriguing discussions about each article.

Each student also taught two new vocab words to the class. They used the “Word Study” exercise as a guide and gave us synonyms, examples, sentences, and illustrations to help us understand each word. The words they chose were quality words, although one of them was possibly not as useful as the others.

Changes: My plan for this class was pretty relaxed so there were no real changes. I basically let the students use the entire hour and a half in whichever way that they wanted. I did help to guide discussions, especially when they got too off topic. I also helped to clear up confusion or add information about the new vocabulary words.

Analysis: I think I am a genius. This was a great way to finish our tutoring sessions together. The students were able to find articles that they enjoyed and, without realizing it, practiced all of the strategies that we had used during our sessions.

I was somewhat worried that both students would chose articles that were extremely easy, just to get the project finished. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when I saw that both students had read fairly difficult articles. This shows that they are gaining in confidence when it comes to their reading skills. This is great to see!