Lindsay Androy (#2) ED.

692 July 29th, 2013 Tutor Report #3 The final tutoring session consisted of a couple activities, but the main activity built off of what we did during session two. During session two, Yo read the first two pages of To Kill a Mockingbird and was interested in knowing more, so for this session we watched clips of the movie version of the novel and then Yo answered questions in regards to the scenes we had watched. The purpose of the activity was for Yo to be exposed to more spoken English and use the movie to help make the spoken English more understandable. Any movie clip could have replaced the ones we used, but Yo had expressed an interest in To Kill A Mockingbird, and it was important for me to incorporate something of interest into the lesson. Trying to understand the words being spoken in the movie was very difficult for Yo. One of the scenes we watched was of the trial. For this particular scene he was able to pick up on key facts such as the scene was taking place in a courthouse, somebody was on trial, and there was a lawyer. After the scene was over, I asked him questions such as who was the lawyer and who was on trial. Both questions he answered correctly, but he was not as confident in those answers as he was in knowing where the scene took place. And when I asked him questions about what was being discussed during the trial, he admitted that he did not understand what was going on and he used his prior knowledge of courts to determine where the

scene was located and the roles of a couple key characters. He did not use their spoken language at all when making these observations. If I was to use this particular activity over again, I would pre-teach some of the key concepts rather then having students watch with no prior knowledge of the story line or characters. I would introduce the scene, give a background of what has lead up to this particular part in the movie, and I would briefly introduce the key characters that will be present in the scene. By doing this, students will be able to focus more on what is being said rather then trying to figure out why it is being said. Prior to giving this lesson, I assumed that having the movie as a visual aid would be enough to help Yo make sense of what was being said, but it takes a lot of energy to make sense of sounds if they are unfamiliar, and pre-teaching as well as using the movie as a visual aid would be a lot more effective for both the student and the teacher. After Yo answered questions (to the best of his ability) about what he had just watched, and before we discussed the scene more in depth, I had him write about the trial scene he had just watched. The following is what he wrote: There are many people. The lawyer wears a white suit. That man has black skin. They are standing. The lawyer wears glasses. Using the analytic scoring rubric for writing (Wright, 2010, p.232), I would give Yo a two for composing, a three for style, a four for sentence formation, a four for usage, and a four for mechanics, making his total score a 17. Taking a more in-depth look at each score, I gave Yo the highest possible score for sentence formation, usage, and mechanics. Looking at his sentences, there

is grammatically nothing wrong with them. They are complete sentences with no run-ons, proper word order and punctuation, and they are fully understandable. But what is missing is variety and flow, which is why his scores are lower for styles and composing. Although every sentence describes the movie clip, it is not immediately apparent what he is writing about, and each sentence stands alone rather then flowing into the form of a paragraph. If I were to ask for this type of writing sample again, I would discuss the movie clip first and then ask for the students to write rather then having them write before we discussed. Discussing first would allow students more type to process what they had just seen and organize their thoughts. It would also help for students to ask questions and make sense of things that they did not initially understand about what they watched. I am now left wondering what type of writing Yo would have produced if I had discussed the movie first. I now see that by following the order I did, I was testing more on content rather then collecting a sample of his best writing. Overall, I felt that Yo has made some progress during our sessions. When we first met, he was very insecure with his speaking abilities and his comprehension of spoken English. Being able to work with him for both ED 691 and ED 692 provided us with a chance to get to know one another, which helped him relax and focus on English. If I were to do this tutoring project again, I would want to know what the student was doing in his classroom work and align my lessons with that. It seems that when I would ask Yo to write, he would use the sentence structure he had been using in class that day. But I do not think that ever gave me the best assessment of

his writing abilities. He still is very weak when it comes to listening and comprehending what is being said, but his vocabulary has grown over these past few sessions, and that is something he will be able to take with him and use once he starts high school in the fall.

Resources: Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Tutoring Session Three Scoring Guide PP Activity. Detailed description of the activity. Activity based on objective. Strategies described Analysis. Provides an analysis of the students performance. Informal assessment of student growth. Describes assessment tool. Demonstrates understanding of assessment tool in describing student performance Teaching and Reflection. Insights gained that will inform current/future teaching. If you were to re-teach this session, what changes would you make? Editing, Presentation, APA, and Timeliness Uses correct grammar and punctuation and the paper is between 3-4 pages (plus references). Follows APA format. Total Self IA

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