On Wednesday afternoon, March 19th, I conducted my second tutoring session with Esraa.
After a warm-up session that consisted of word pronunciations, we reviewed a recent quiz of Esraa's from her reading class. This turned out to be an excellent opportunity to determine what type of reading strategy Esraa was using. Esraa is in a beginner's reading class, and the quiz was a one-page short-story which focused more on message and content rather than grammar and punctuation. By reviewing the quiz with her, I was able to discern what type of reading strategy she used (Bottom-Up versus Top Down). I learned that Esraa is a bottom up reader, a strategy which we have learned is mainly used by beginners. So this should have been a good thing for Esraa.
However, this quiz took a toll on Esraa's patience as there were some tricky phrases which challenged her ability to understand the message and content. For instance, during the quiz review I spent an exceedingly long time trying to explain the expression "light on his feet" which I am sure she is still scratching her head over.
Finally, we reviewed some more reading exercises which employed some of the Schema Theory we discussed in class last week. Overall, I think this lesson could have been better, but not all lessons go as smoothly as you would like them to do. That is why after a long day of language study it is important to put the books down and go for a nice long walk,take in some fresh air and clear the mind before returning to your studies.
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