Welcome to Super Tutor Saturday July 21 2012

Welcome to Super Tutor Saturday! July 21, 2012 Sobrato Center for Non. Profits Milpitas, CA 1 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

Agenda • • • 10: 00 AM to 1: 00 PM 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 2 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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? 3 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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! 4 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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. 5 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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 6 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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 7 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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? 8 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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. 9 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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? 10 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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. 11 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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 12 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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 13 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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! 14 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

Tutor Talk What are your • Questions? • Ideas? • Concerns? How can we better share issues and ideas as a community of tutors? 15 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

Motivating Our Learners • Teach material relevant to your learners’ daily lives • Focus on the practical more than theoretical • Partner with learners to plan lessons • Engage multiple learning styles 16 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

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 17 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012

What’s Next • Meet Our Social Media Interns • Lunch, Prizes, and More Thanks for your participation! 18 Copyright Vision Literacy 2012