1. Module Focus: Planning Review Sessions
SI Tutor Training
Module Focus:
Planning Review Sessions

2. Overview for Session Planning
Step 1: Ask Who?
Use learners’ needs to define focused learning objectives.
Step 2: Ask What?
What will I need to do to meet this objective?
Step 3: Ask How?
How will I teach these skills? What activities will I use?
Based on the steps discussed in: Suzanne Abrams et al., Teaching Adults: An ESL Resource Book .
(Syracuse, New York: New Readers Press, 1996)

3. Steps for Session Planning
Step 1: Ask Who?
What are the students’ short and long- term goals?
What do learners’ want to be able to comprehend or do that they couldn’t do before?

4. Steps for Session Planning
Step 2: Ask What?
What concept, vocabulary, and/or skills should students review before the objective(s) can be fulfilled?
Step 3: Ask How?
What materials, teaching strategies, and activities will you use?
What should the pace be?
How much time should be spent on each activity?
How much practice is needed?
How much review is needed?

5. Stages of the Review Session
Review of course content/class work
Overview of the relevance of the session to learners
Present your review session material
Exercises that include targeted and open activities
Summarize what has been taught and why it is important to learners
Reflect to cultivate learners’ metacognitive awareness

6. How to Plan a Session Students Present:
Note: An important SI program goal is to increase student attendance, so please keep accurate records for tracking purposes. 
Date:
Review (of the in-class session)
Overview (relevance of the session to learners)
Presentation (procedure/materials)
Exercises (include targeted and open activities)
Summary (summarize what has been taught and how it is important for learners)
Reflection (last few minutes of session or afterward)

7. Students’ Reflection on Review Session
Ask any of the following questions to gauge how learners feel about your review session(s):
What did you learn today?
What is the most useful thing you have learned today?
What was the most difficult thing that you did today?
How have you used what you have learned during the session in your class assignments?
Can you tell me about one of the session strategies that works well for you?
Adapted from

8. Step-by-Step Planning
The following slides show a sample review session plan
Step 1: Ask Who?
Use learner needs to define focused learning objectives.
Objective: Students will be able to use the comparative form “er… than” (larger than) and “more… than” (more beautiful than) to compare New York City and their hometown.

9. Step-by-Step Planning
Step 2: Ask What?
What will I need to do to meet this objective?
During the session, I should review: nouns and adjectives related to New York City.
The one syllable rule when using the comparative
The two syllable rule when using the comparative
The three (or more) syllable rule when using the comparative.

10. Step-by-Step Planning
Step 3: Ask How?
How will I teach these skills? What activities will I use?
Activities I could include:
Make a list of nouns associated with New York City and have students add them to their list.
Have students describe each noun using an adjective--provide additional adjectives whenever necessary.
Have students classify each adjective by the number of syllables it has (make a chart).
Using one syllable adjectives, write some sentences using the comparative (adjective + er + than) form. Using those sentences as a model, have students write their own sentences using one syllable words (speaking and writing). Repeat using two syllable and then three (or more) syllable words.
Have students write additional sentences using the vocabulary provided for homework (follow-up).

11. Moving from plan to session
Objective(s)
Learner will increase vocabulary.
Learner will be able to use the comparison form with one syllable adjectives.
Adapted from

12. Moving from plan to session
Materials
Vocabulary cards based on items highlighted in New York City photographs.

13. Moving from plan to session
Review list of vocabulary from previous class session (nouns and adjectives related to NYC) by using vocabulary cards (words written out on cue cards) and photographs of the city.
Review city vocabulary (nouns) Model exercise: Match a couple of vocabulary cards with their pictures (put word underneath). Have students match the word card with the picture. Model exercise: Say the word and point to the picture. Say the word and have students point to the picture.
Part II: Review the adjectives and have students repeat each word. When appropriate, have them give a synonym or "similar word" in meaning. (For example, attractive, beautiful and pretty are all similar in meaning.)
Part III: Classify words using the vocabulary cards. Students will put them into two rows: One row will be for nouns; the other row will be for adjectives.

14. Moving from plan to session
Overview
Discuss the assignment that students will need to do and how the following exercises will help them to compare New York City and with their hometown.

15. Moving from plan to session
Part 1: Classifying adjectives Model: Read six or seven adjectives. While reading the word, clap your hands for each syllable the word has. Big (clap once), small (clap once), beautiful (clap once for each: beau, ti and ful)
Have students read the adjectives and "clap out" the syllables for a couple of words.
Model: Take four or five cards and set up three rows on the desk. One row is for "one syllable" adjectives, the second row is for "two syllable" adjectives and the third row is for "three or more syllable adjectives" Have the learner continue classifying the rest of the adjectives.

16. Moving from plan to session
Part II: Comparing objects using one syllable words (adjectives) Using the words (adjectives) in the first column and city vocabulary (nouns), make sentences using the vocabulary previously learned.
Example Materials: (noun) vocabulary cards with the words "bank" and "store" (Adjective) vocabulary cards that say: "big", "tall", "old", "nice", "small", "new", "cheap" and "clean" Cards that say: "is" "ger" "er" "r" "the" (x2) and "than"
Take the photos and say the following sentence: The sidewalk is bigger than the bicycle path. Take the cards and use them to make the sentence you have just said. Students will read the sentence that they see.
Repeat exercise using a different adjective: The sidewalk is smaller than the road.
Students will use the vocabulary provided and write a sentence. They will use the cards to make a sentence. Read their sentences back to them. Allow them to make any change(s) they want(s).
Time permitting: Repeat with other adjectives and nouns.

17. Moving from plan to session
Exercise(s)
Part I: Write a short paragraph together comparing things previously labeled in the photographs. (The SI Leader will write one line and then have the students respond to that statement in written form.)
Part II: Free conversation. Discuss how New York City is different and/or similar than their hometown. If necessary, ask a prompting question, such as “Which city has wider roads?”

18. Moving from plan to session
Summary
Review vocabulary cards. Read the paragraph(s) again together and point out where they have used the form correctly. Reiterate the need to continue learning in this area in order to do the best job possible on their written assignment.

19. Moving from plan to session
Personal Reflections on the Review Session
Most students did all the exercises very well. The vocabulary review helped them to use more of the word forms correctly in their writing. But a couple of the students took a long time writing their sentences. Maybe the professor/I should include more vocabulary review in their homework assignment.
Such reflections are useful for your future planning and when/if the professor asks for review session feedback. The more specific your reflection, the more useful the feedback for everyone!

20. Module Assignment Use the review session planning sheet
If you are participating in this module in person, please find a partner, and I will give you a review session planning sheet. If you are participating in this module virtually, please download and save it to your computer. the completed assignment to
Use the review session planning sheet
Take minutes to plan a review session. The plan should have at least two to three different activities. Choose either: writing comparison/contrast thesis statements or writing topic sentences for comparison/contrast essays.