Fall 1999
Tutoring 101
Although ACEE members often work directly in the classrooms assisting teachers, their primary objective is the individualized instruction of two to six students (called Focus Children). Each Focus Child receives a minimum of two half-hour tutoring sessions per week, which are aimed specifically at improving the student's literacy level.
The tutoring sessions vary depending on the grade and level of the student, but all sessions have the same basic components. Reading is the most important aspect, and is therefore essential to every lesson. It is incorporated in three different forms: the read aloud, shared reading, and supported reading. In a read aloud, the ACEE member reads the book, pausing for comments from the child, or to ask questions that increase the child's comprehension of the story. Shared reading uses books with easy, predictable text which are read repeatedly over an extended period of time. As a result, the child becomes familiar with the story, memorizing at least certain parts, and can read aloud with the tutor. Supported reading is a student's attempt to read on his/her own, under the tutor's guidance.
In addition to reading, the tutor devotes a portion of the session to word study. For emergent readers (pre-readers), word study involves learning to recognize, name, and write the letters of the alphabet, as well as distinguishing their different sounds. Early, or beginning, readers practice sight words, which are simple words that the student must learn to recognize immediately in order to read on grade level. They also receive instruction in word families and tricky word constructions, such as blends and words with a silent -e. Many word study activities incorporate games, to let the children know learning can be fun.
The final component of a tutoring session is devoted to writing. The writing can be a response to the earlier reading, either written or dictated by the student. Or, a favorite of many, sometimes the tutor and child make little books for the student to take home and read. There are many different ways to incorporate writing, even if it is simply by using a dry erase board or writing in a journal.