Copyright Vision Literacy Welcome to Super Tutor Saturday! July 21, 2012 Sobrato Center for NonProfits Milpitas, CA

Agenda 10:00AM to 1:00PM Welcome and Introductions To Boldly Go Into the Grammatical Realm Tutor Talk: Share Your Qs, Ideas, Concerns Motivating Our Learners Meet Our Social Media Interns Lunch, Prizes, and More Copyright Vision Literacy

Introductions Please tell us your name Broadly, what are you working on with your learner(s) in your tutoring sessions? What do you hope to get out of today? Copyright Vision Literacy

To Boldly Go (Into the Grammatical Realm) Grammar is magic – it turns a jumble of words into sentences that communicate meaning. Grammar is a road map for navigating language. It is okay to learn (or relearn) along with our learners – you don’t need to be an expert! Copyright Vision Literacy

Prepare for the Journey What are your learners’ purposes in focusing on grammar? (test prep, better writing at work, etc.) Observe learners’ speech and writings to determine what they already know. Review some grammar resources and pick one or two approaches that play to your learners’ learning styles. Plan to assimilate grammar instruction within the context of other lesson content – readings, dialogues, etc. Copyright Vision Literacy

Pick a Teaching Path 1.Traditional deductive path Tutor presents the rule or concept to be taught Learners practice it in drills, worksheets, exercises, etc. Learners produce evidence of learning it by independent use in other, less structured contexts 2.Inductive path (discovery method) Tutor gives examples of language using the concept Learners study them and discover the concept or rule operating in the language Tutor and learners affirm the concept and create more examples Copyright Vision Literacy

Tips for Navigating the Deductive Path Use all 4 language skills – HSRW From topical content in your lesson (health communication, safety, job interviews, etc.): –Identify a point of grammar to be taught –Give examples of its use in the topic material –Have learners practice communicative drills using the grammar concept –Invite them to use what they’ve learned in real life and report back next time Copyright Vision Literacy

Communicative Drill – Try It! Assume your class has read about the Ask 3 questions patients should use with their doctor. Start this drill, allowing learners to make up their own content using the present tense and the Ask 3 questions: Teacher to A: Doctor, what is my main problem? A to Tchr: You are anemic. A to B: Doctor, what do I need to do? B to A: You need to take iron supplements. B to C: Doctor, why is it important for me to do this? Copyright Vision Literacy

Navigating the Inductive Path It is less familiar to both tutor and learners, so can be scary, fun, engaging, or frustrating. Try it and see how it works for your learners. Often concepts learned this way are better retained than those learned in a more traditional approach. Demonstrate going through this process yourself – think aloud while doing one on the board before asking learners to do it. Copyright Vision Literacy

Using the Inductive Approach Let’s try a discovery activity to come up with a rule for when you use who, that, or which. Look at the sentences on the next slide and notice how who and that are used. Do you see a pattern? Can you make up a rule for when to use each word? Copyright Vision Literacy

Inductive Approach – cont. Leticia is the one who shared her story. Maria works at the school that just got a distinguished school award. Israel is the man who just moved into the house on the corner. The geologists were excited to find a rock that didn’t appear to be like the others. Copyright Vision Literacy

Let’s Get Going! TPR is a great way to teach verbs (imperative tense), prepositions, adverbs, etc. Try idea maps for practicing prefixes/suffixes, verb endings, and more Magnetic poetry kits or flash cards for creating sentences Sentence strips Grammar detectives – find errors in magazines Copyright Vision Literacy

More Fuel for the Road Pictionary for prepositions Songs – put lyrics on the board and quiz on parts of speech or other grammar topics being learned Contests – who can find errors in a text and correct them first – do in teams if desired Tell a story – each learner adds a line – write on board and correct together at the end Copyright Vision Literacy

Keep on Going Schoolhouse Rock and other Youtube.com videos are a fun way to introduce grammar concepts Index cards make for easy practice drills (e.g., one set of cards with pronouns and another set with verb forms – learners match correct pronoun with correct form of the verb) Google “making grammar fun” for more ideas! Let’s share your ideas on our website, too! Copyright Vision Literacy

Tutor Talk What are your Questions? Ideas? Concerns? How can we better share issues and ideas as a community of tutors? Copyright Vision Literacy

Motivating Our Learners Teach material relevant to your learners’ daily lives Focus on the practical more than the theoretical Partner with learners to plan lessons Engage multiple learning styles Copyright Vision Literacy

Motivation continued Challenge without overwhelming – keep learners’ self-confidence intact Ask your learners for feedback Spice things up with humor and games Establish/maintain a respectful relationship with learners – build a learning community Copyright Vision Literacy

What’s Next Meet Our Social Media Interns Lunch, Prizes, and More Thanks for your participation! Copyright Vision Literacy