About the tutor: Mike is a certified teacher (M.Ed. in Language Arts, grades 7-12) with 6 years of ESL and ELA teaching experience. He is currently a high school English teacher and private tutor.

LANGUAGE ARTS/ESL TUTORING

I believe every child can succeed in reading and writing when he or she is given the opportunity to read on his or her own reading level.  For the first session or two, I will be using a variety of assessments (word lists, reading passages, spelling inventory, etc.) with your child to discover his or her reading and comprehension level as well as strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, I will provide the student and the student's parent/guardian with a personalized Google Doc that will include a summary of what took place in each session, including comments on particular areas of strength and improvement.

Below you will see an example structure of the tutoring hour. Sessions will include a variety of activities based on your child’s needs such as reading books, magazine articles, passages with comprehension questions, or other strategies to accomplish our goals.  But above all, we will read. Research shows that struggling readers do not typically get much time to do “real” reading.  I make it my goal that the most time allotted in my tutoring session is for your child to read.

ONE HOUR SESSION EXAMPLE

(30 or 45 minute sessions will be scaled)

1. Warm Up (5-10 minutes):

*Re-read and review homework passages

*Talk about what student has read since we were last together

2. New Reading (25-30 minutes):

This time is divided into three sections: before, during, and after reading

*Before reading activities might include: teacher modeling, building background, or introducing new vocabulary words

*During reading, the student reads new material aloud and I assist when needed by doing things such as providing help with reading new words or asking questions to check comprehension

*After reading, the student and I may discuss the passage read, talk about how well he or she understood the passage, or review a comprehension strategy

3. Word Study (10 minutes):

*Word Study is similar to phonics or spelling instruction, but word sorts are used to study patterns and structures within words.  This is very hands-on (and fun) learning for the student!  

*The word patterns/structures that the student studies are chosen based on the needs of your child.  

4. Reading to Student // OR // Writing Activity (10-15 minutes):

*This is when I get to read to your child.  No matter how old, research shows that students benefit from being read to.  

*During this time, I will model things such as reading with fluency, comprehension strategies, and how much fun reading can really be.

*Every other session (or more often, if necessary), a writing activity will take place at this time.