Carlton TP #8

Third tutee session with third grade twin, DH,  American born of Korean parents. Monday, March 24, 6:30-7:30pm

We all meet at the main Library on Park Street. Today I prepared some worksheets I hoped he would like. I found a series of poems by Star Wars fans (this was his favorite characters, I thought). His mother had brought the homework this time, so we began with that. This was a rather long (2 page) American history reading about the "Oregon Trail". It included a general description of the purpose and use of the trail and some facts about the settlers. There was also an included period letter by a young person (primary source). DH found this reading very boring because there was no action described in his terms. This was reflected in his inattention to the comprehension quiz, that was almost entirely wrong.

I told him about my Star Wars worksheet that we could do after we finish the homework for motivation. I then asked if he had seen any American western movies about wagon trains, and he had not. I tried to describe  in more "adventurous" terms the danger and challenge of the trail. Then I asked him to reread the article, pausing to explain a bit for each paragraph and correct some pronunciation. Then he checked the quiz over and changed about 50%, mostly correct. Finally, I questioned him about the remaining errors to find the answer in the article. With a little help, he gained a fair understanding and could justify his answers. One or two questions may have still been incorrect, or had unclear distractors.

My advice to him, and I repeated to his mother, is when facing these readings in a test like the FCAT, you should read the questions first, not all the distractors. Then read the article once carefully, keeping in mind what you are looking for. Then check your answers by rereading if you have time at the end of the test. If you are reading without questions, read at least twice. This review was half the hour.

The purpose I intended for the Star Wars poems was to practice pronunciation and writing (his handwriting is terrible). I chose two poems from this page: http://allpoetry.com/poems/about/star-wars .  "Death Star" and "Star Wars Spine Poem". The first I had him read, explain the action, and we review vocabulary: "scourge", "gigantic superlaser", "massive empire", "rebels", "orbit". I ask him to add some emotion and reread. I question him to show his SW knowledge and he shows more interest. We discuss a little and reread again with my correcting his speech this time.

The second poem I use as a creative writing exercise. A spine poem is a structure that adds dimension to writing. The vertical lines starting words spell a message "May the Force be with you!" The lines must then tell a related story. DH does not understand this particular poem because it is a little mature, but I can use the form as an example and I ask him to write his own version. He likes puzzles and I am surprised how seriously he tackles the task. I laid out the spine for him, skipping lines on the paper in order for him to have room and direct him to write within the lines. This is a problem with his writing. While he works I try to direct him to focus on writing clearly. We work together until the end of the hour and he has a final draft to show his mother. She is quite impressed with him and his writing effort is much better than the homework was.