Syllabus+II

Here is a tentative Course Syllabus in its entirety. The nature of life is that things happen to create circumstances that may require this syllabus to be changed during the semester. I have also copied and pasted pieces of the syllabus below that deserve special attention. =**__ Creating Your Initial Tutoring Plan __**= ** In order for you to make the most of your tutoring sessions this spring, it is important for you to make an overall plan early on indicating how you think you will spend your time. THIS IS NOT A LESSON **** PLAN **** ! Rather, this is a road map and shopping list that will enable you to create a cohesive set of lessons. In order to create this plan, you will need to do two things: ** · ** identify the skills you wish to address ** ** You have already done this by writing recommendations at the end of your Educational Evaluation, but you will probably find that you need to adjust your expectations once you start tutoring. ** ·  ** identify the types of activities and materials that would best bring your child to mastery on these skills ** ** You will want to consider the types of activities that will engage your child in effective learning strategies. Once you know this, you should make a list of the materials you’ll need. **
 * A formatted chart will be given to you in class for this assignment. In each box, you should jot down a phrase that captures the skill you’re addressing and the main materials you intend to use. You should start drafting this plan immediately, and make adjustments throughout the first week of tutoring. **

Your **initial** ** plan is due on June 30th. __The final plan is due July 7th.__ **

One of the most important tasks for a tutor to learn is how to develop a set of activities that utilizes time wisely. This series of activities is reflected in the lesson plan. While no two tutors’ plans are identical, each should contain a balance of literacy activities that support and captivate the child. Above all, the plan should engage the child in sustained reading and writing in meaningful contexts.  As part of this course, you will be responsible for developing your own lesson plans. You should use the results of your educational evaluation to identify the types of activities that your child needs as well as the most appropriate starting point. By the end of your fourth session, you should have established a tutoring routine that includes activities from the following categories:
 * __Creating Individualized Lesson Plans __**

 Your child needs to practice at his/her independent reading level. You may select poems, journal entries, passages from easy books, or complete books that your child can read effortlessly. If your text is very short, you may wish to have your child read it twice. If you can, you want to encourage your child to read aloud for 3-5 minutes.
 * 1) **** Easy Reading (5-10 minutes) **

Afterward, you should incorporate some type of self-evaluation. This evaluation serves two purposes: it allows you to discuss the qualities of excellent oral reading, and it provides the child with recognition of a job well done.

The heart of a remedial tutoring session is almost always centered around a guided reading or guided writing activity. If you work with a beginning reader, you will most likely want to include a guided reading activity in every session. If your child reads on a 2nd grade level, you may wish to substitute a guided writing activity, either occasionally or on a regular basis. If your child reads at or above a 3rd grade level (or reads on grade level), you will probably want to structure your week to include one guided reading lesson and one guided writing lesson. Finally, if you are tutoring a child who reads at a 4th grade level, you may wish to focus primarily on writing, with only occasional lessons involving guided reading.
 * 2) **** Guided **** Reading **** or Guided Writing (20-30 minutes) **

It is expected that you will choose either a guided reading or a guided writing activity for each lesson, but not both. A lesson including both of these activities would be strenuous for the child - and you! However, if you decide to focus on guided reading, it is expected that you will build in opportunities to engage the child in writing. For example, you may wish the child to use a stop and think activity or write a prediction about a story you’re reading to him/her. Conversely, if you plan to focus on guided writing, you should look for ways to have your child read short selections from different types of text. Possible choices are to establish a Joke of the Day, a daily story problem, or a short silent reading exercise.

Sight Words Beginning readers need to consolidate their recognition of high frequency words. If you have a child at this level, you should plan to include a game, such as Bingo or Go Fish, that incorporates words from the texts you are using.
 * 3) **** Word Study (usually two of the following activities; 5-10 min each) **

Phonics Almost all of our children need help with decoding unknown words. At the beginning of the semester, you should start with a game that provides a review of skills your child has already mastered. Once you have ascertained exactly what your child does and does not know, you should create a picture or word sort or game that allows him/her to extend his/her knowledge of phonics.

Spelling Almost all of our children need to increase their spelling ability. You should plan on creating a word wall for your child and give him/her one new word per session. The best source for spelling words is the child’s writing. You will want to select words that have high utility. Usually, these words are high frequency sight words, although at the upper levels, you may wish to create a content based word wall for social studies or science.

Vocabulary Children who are already good decoders may still encounter difficulty understanding what they read. They also may need help in varying their word usage so that their writing doesn’t sound trite. If you have a child with these needs, you should plan regular activities that expand your child’s vocabulary.

4) Listening (15-20 minutes)

__ Listening __ Most of the children in our practicum are remedial readers. This means that they do not have independent access to the stories they want to read. It also means that they do not gain the experience of silent reading that their peers do. In order to offset this cycle, it is essential to read to remedial students on a regular basis. When the discrepancy between a child’s reading level and grade level is more than three years, you may even wish to read from two sources each session.

The youngest children in our practicum often can’t sit and listen while they are being read to. Instead, they prefer to draw or even build with construction toys while listening intently. As children mature, they can be expected to listen for the answer to a question given by their tutor at the beginning of the activity. Other children enjoy “turning the tables” on their tutors and like to prepare questions for them after hearing a story.  NOTE: It is expected that all tutors will build in a short snack break for each session. This break can include a 10-15 minute game with another child, or it can simply be a chance to have a snack and chat.

=**__Tutoring Observations __**=   In order to provide you with constructive feedback on your tutoring, all students will be formally observed twice during the semester.  Students will sign up on their supervisor’s schedule for an appropriate date and time. Once the observation is finished, the supervisor and student will meet briefly to discuss the activity. An observation rubric will be used to evaluate your tutoring. A copy of this rubric has been attached so that you can know ahead of time the criteria that will be used.

The first observation will take place the second, third or fourth session. During this observation, you should be working with your child for approximately 10-12 minutes on a word study activity or game. You should have a copy of your lesson plan ready for your supervisor so that she can understand your main objective.

The second observation will take place during sessions 6-8. During this observation, you should be working with your child on your guided reading activities. This observation will probably last about 20 minutes. You should have a copy of your lesson plan ready for your supervisor so that she can understand your main objectives for pre, during and post reading.



=**__ Documenting Progress with Informal Assessment __**= By the time you have tutored several sessions, you should begin to notice real changes in your student’s performance. In order to document these changes, you will administer informal reading and writing assessments that you make yourself. __This check-up should be conducted during the 5th or 6th session__.  <span style="line-height: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold'; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; msobidifontsize: 10.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __ Informal ____ Reading ____ Assessment __

You should select a passage of between 100 and 200 words (50 to 100 for a mid-1st grader) that you anticipate is on your student’s //instructional reading level//. The best passages for this purpose are those that capture a complete episode, with a logical beginning and ending, and are accompanied by an illustration. Once you have chosen your passage, you should write an introduction for it and decide what types of comprehension questions you’d like to ask afterward. Finally, you should make a protocol page for yourself so that you can monitor your student’s decoding and record his/her comprehension responses.

You should administer this passage as you would an IRI passage. Read the introduction and ask the student to read aloud. Note his/her decoding errors on your homemade protocol. Then ask the student to answer the questions that you have prepared. NOTE: If you are unsure of your student’s instructional level, you may have to repeat this process - or trade informal reading passages with another tutor. In order for this device to be useful, you need to catch your student making //some// errors, but not so many that he/she becomes frustrated. <span style="line-height: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold'; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> <span style="line-height: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold'; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; msobidifontsize: 10.0pt;">

<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __ Informal Writing Assessment __

This activity is similar to the one you made last semester, but a little simpler. In order to prepare, you need to select a picture and/or write a prompt. You now know how important it is to provide writing space that is non-threatening, so be sure to place an appropriate number of writing lines on the same page as your picture or prompt. Try to make the page as appealing as possible! When you administer your writing assessment, be very clear about your instructions. Tell your student to think about what he/she wants to say, and then write his/her answer. Be sure to tell him/her that you’re interested in seeing what good ideas he/she has, and that you aren’t as concerned about spelling or handwriting. While your student is working, you should take notes on the stage(s) within the writing process you observe. After your student has finished, you should ask him/her to read the response back to you. This is especially important if your student’s spelling or handwriting is hard to decipher, because you will need to know exactly what he/she intended to put down. <span style="line-height: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold'; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> When your student has completed these two informal assessments, you should analyze them to document his/her current strengths and weaknesses. Your analysis should be included in the Final Tutoring Report (see question #6). __Be sure to attach your informal samples to that report__.

=**__ Writing a Letter to the Parent/Guardian __**= In preparation for the parent conference, you will write a two-page letter describing the highlights of your tutoring. You will find yourself drawing heavily from your progress reports and final tutoring report.

While the specific content of your letters will vary, each should include the following sections: <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· An introductory paragraph indicating your child’s approximate reading level at the beginning of the semester, the number of tutoring sessions the child has attended, and the purpose of this letter

<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· ∙An overview of your tutoring sessions. Generally, you will begin with a statement such as: “Our tutoring sessions consisted of several types of activities.” Several __short__ bulleted paragraphs will follow this statement, emphasizing what your child can now do in each skill area.

<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· ∙A paragraph stating your best guess as to your child’s current reading level and the most significant skills he/she has gained. You may wish to add a short statement about the type of skills or activities your child is now ready for.

<span style="font-family: Symbol; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· ∙A closing paragraph in which you describe your child’s best qualities and thank the parents for their support and participation in the program. Before sharing this letter with your child’s parent or guardian, you will need to hand it in to your supervisor. The earlier you can do this, the better! Your corrected copy must be //__perfect__//. Be sure to make two copies - one for the child’s parent or guardian and one for the files. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold'; background: red; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; mso-highlight: red;"> The Parent Letter is due __on or before Thursday July 23rd__.

Below is the outline you should follow for your final tutoring report. Please set it up using a question and answer format. Also, you should remember to omit any identifying information (such as last name) on this student.
 * __<span style="line-height: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold'; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Final Tutoring Report __**

Student: Tutor: Date of Birth: Number of Sessions: Chronological Age: Supervisor: Grade: Date:

1. What was your student’s skill level at the beginning of the semester? (based on formal testing from last semester)

2. What were your 5-6 main objectives in tutoring this semester?

3. List and describe the activities, materials, and techniques that you included in a typical tutoring session.

4. What types of rewards or reinforcements work well with your student?

5. What are some of your student’s personal strengths?

6. What can your student do now that he/she couldn’t do in January? <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore; msobidifontsize: 11.0pt;">· Based on your observations during the semester

<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore; msobidifontsize: 11.0pt;">· Based on informal assessment

7. What are areas that can still be regarded as weaknesses for your student? Include any error patterns that your student routinely makes.

8. Would this student be a good candidate for the tutoring program next fall? If so, what would you recommend as major goals? <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· This report must be typed. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Please attach any informal assessment samples you mention. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">This report is due __on or before 7/28.__

=Grade Rubric=


 * Session ||  || Date ||   |||| Class Topic ||

Tues ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Meet with Student ||   || <span style="text-align: center; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Lecture ||
 * 1 ||  ||  6/30

<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Overview of Emergent and Early Readers <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">First draft of Tutoring Plan Due ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tutoring Session #1: <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Activity for Easy Reading and Listening Activity ||  || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Words Study Overview <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">

Thurs ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tutoring Session #2 <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">; setting a routine for tutoring; First Observations ||  || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Activities for Word Study (Bring an activity that you have made for your child to improve his/her decoding, spelling or vocabulary. Be prepared to explain your objective and the way in which you plan to measure it.) <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Guided Reading Overview <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';"> ||
 * 2 ||  ||  7/2

Tues ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tutoring Session #3 First Observation <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';"> ||   || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Activities for Guided Reading (Bring a book or story on your child’s instructional reading level. Be prepared to tell what you would do (or did do) for prereading, during reading and post reading activities.) <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Overview of Transitional and Fluent Readers <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Activities for writing <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Final draft of Tutoring plan due ||
 * 3 ||  ||  7/7

Thurs ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tutoring Session #4 First Observation ||   || <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Activities for Writing <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">(Bring a sample of your child’s writing (sentences or paragraph) to class. Be prepared to discuss your objectives and how well you feel the child met them.) <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore; msobidifontweight: bold;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Description of Special Project for Game Day <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> ||
 * 4 ||  ||  7/9

Tues ||   || <span style="text-align: center; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; msobidifontsize: 12.5pt; msobidifontweight: bold;">Tutoring Session #5 ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Special Project Presentation: Game Day <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">(Bring a game that you have made or adapted for your child to help improve his/her decoding or comprehension. Have a brief description of your game, its objectives and its rules to distribute to your group.) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> ||
 * 5 ||  ||  7/14

Thurs ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tutoring Session #6 Second observation <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';"> ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Individual meetings ||
 * 6 ||  ||  7/16

Tues ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tutoring Session #7 <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Second observation <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';"> ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Writing the Tutoring Report and Parent Letter; Case Study Presentations <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> ||
 * 7 ||  ||  7/21

Thurs ||   || ======<span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tutoring Session #8 ====== <span style="text-align: center; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; msobidifontsize: 12.5pt; msobidifontweight: bold;">Second observation ||  || ======<span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Case Study Presentations; Letter to Parent due  ====== || Tues ||   || <span style="text-align: center; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Tutoring Session #9 ||   || ======<span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Tutoring Report due  ====== || Thurs ||   || <span style="text-align: center; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif';">Parent Conferences; Party ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', 'sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">CELEBRATE ||
 * 8 ||  ||  7/23
 * 9 ||  ||  7/28
 * 10 ||  ||  7/30