Oral Reading: Getting All the Words Right
Check out these great ideas from Project Read Tutor Roger Williams, and feel free to share your own ideas.
“Cold” Reading
You are asked to read something that you have not seen before. It’s like taking a video driving test. You just know that suddenly there’s going to be a hog in the road. So you’re on alert. You’re careful. You’re reading [Read on...]
Building Comprehension
Below is a list of a number of strategies that you can use to help boost your student’s comprehension skills. Each of these strategies helps your learner read a paragraph, figure out how to better understand it, and take action to remedy difficulties. Try some of the suggestions in each of the different strategies until you determine what works best [Read on...]
Just Write! Guide
After two years of research, Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL) has released a guide that helps adult basic education teachers with evidence-based writing instruction. This guide has many interesting ideas that are aimed at promoting and improving writing, the thought process around writing, and how to enhance overall instruction. Click here to go to the guide online.
Click here to [Read on...]
Getting Information into Memory, continued
Learn By Doing
Many teachers have a feeling that people learn better by doing, but what evidence is there? Five experiments where people heard words, watched an experimenter do something, or did something themselves, showed that “doing” has a powerful effect on learning. Those who “did” remembered from 1/3 to 2 times more than those who just heard, and they remembered [Read on...]
Ten Consistent Spelling Rules to Boost Your Student’s Spelling
We had a great workshop on Saturday and wanted you to have some of the information that was shared:
#1: SPELLING WITH C AND K
When the sound /k/ is followed by the vowels a, o, or u, it is spelled with a c.
When the sound /k/ is followed by the vowels i or e, it is spelled with a k.
101 Ways to Praise
An anonymous parent created this list of “101 Ways to Praise.” While some of these are specifically directed toward children, many of them are meaningful to people of all age groups and circumstances.
Praise is an important part of all types of education. Only with the motivation and self-confidence that comes from frequent, sincere praise can students [Read on...]
Teaching Writing
Special thanks to Wendy Baker and Erin Haley for their brilliant presentations at our writing workshops. For a copy of their handouts, please stop by the office or click here.
Guiding Principles
1. Focus on all parts of the writing process.
a. Prewriting (brainstorming, reading, researching)
b. Organizing (putting ideas into paragraphs and essay forms)
c. Writing (drafting each part of the project)
d. Editing (looking [Read on...]
Tutor Talk Ideas
A. Teaching the difference between long and short vowel sounds
Try explaining the rule first and then showing examples. Let them see a pattern to show a reason behind it.
Teach spelling patterns first to pave the way for different sounds.
Start simple and then build on. For example, start with “can” and add an “e” to show that the “e” makes the [Read on...]
News For You Teaching Tips
News for You makes a terrific tool for developing students’ reading and writing skills. The following are just a few of the many ways teachers can use News for You with students. These tips come from teachers around the country who have already discovered the value of News for You in the classroom. For more ideas, check out http://www.news-for-you.com/teachers/index.html.
Make a list [Read on...]
Top Ten Tutoring Tips
Top Ten Tutoring Tips
1. In one-to-one tutoring, behave as a friend or classmate who has been asked to help.
2. Informality does not mean disorganization. Have a clear purpose and plan of action.
3. Two important ingredients in tutoring: a) Tutor Empathy-feeling for the student’s difficulty; and b) Tutor Knowledge of Subject-tutor must be able to explain in terms the student can [Read on...]
