Literacy Tutoring 5

This has been the best tutoring session so far.  L was so great and chatty and he was comfortable talking and telling me about some of his favorite video games.  Even thought that wasn’t the subject, I was happy to have him practicing his English skill.s 

To start off, we did the survey assessment.  This week’s survey assessment was “Hearing and Recording Sounds.”  I had a protocol sheet to follow where I stated a sentence and then had L write down what he heard. The sentence was "I have a big dog at home. Today I am going to take him to school."  I would repeat the words after saying it at a normal pace to give L the opportunity to listen and hear what was said.  L did a great job of persevering through this test.  I could see him thinking about the sounds that the words make.  L got 14/37 on this assessment.  While there is a lot of work to be done, I would like to highlight the positives as well.  L was very good at catching the initial sounds of the words.  Often he would take a moment to think, reflect, and then write it down.  He did struggle more towards the ending sounds of words, but that is something that we can continue to work on.  This assessment was not easy for L, but he continued to work hard at it, which was very encouraging to see.  

L's Survey Assessment

After the assessment, I wanted to try to do a running record with L.  L saw a few words and seemed to be scared of them, so I decided that we would try again next week.  Perhaps I will pick a little easier passage so L is more confident to read some words.  

After the assessment, L and I read a book called Apples Here! During the reading of the book, I wanted L to use his fingers to sound out words.  We did that overtime we came across the word “apple.”  We also sounded out other words, such as fun, sun, and farmers using fingers to count the sounds.  L was very engaged during this portion of the lesson.  He seemed more confident when reading using his fingers to make the sounds.  I really enjoyed seeing the confidence that L had while coming across certain words.  This is a technique that I can really see being a simple yet significant tool in my future classroom.  Besides working on sounding out words, the book provided another opportunity to ask questions and help model how to be an active reader.  L was really into this book, which was a little surprising to me because it is a nonfiction book about apples.  I wanted to try out different genres with L, and I wish I had tried out a nonfiction book sooner on!  He really seemed to enjoy learning about it.  He was also having really great predictions about where apples grow and what they are used for.  L was really involved and an active participant during this lesson, which was so fun to see how far he has come in just 5 weeks! After the book, we had a little time to work on the ABC Thematic Unit Book.

As always, the main way to differentiate was through the book I chose.  This book had a lot of pictures and fewer words than previous books, and I think that was so helpful.  Having fewer words on a page seems to help L concentrate and not become overwhelmed with all that is happening.  I also helped L with sounding out words with an “I do, we do, you do” method, and I believe that was so helpful.  L is more confident sharing when he has examples, which is very understandable.  

My main goal for next week is to go over sounds!  I think that we could spend a lot more time working on blending sounds and putting words together.  L seems to know most of his sounds, but combining them to create words is a little bit of a challenge.