TP #1: Taylor
August 29, 2014
Location: PJ’s House
On Friday I tutored P.J. Kim, a 3rd grade boy who
lives in Tallahassee and was raised speaking both English and Korean. His
mother told me that he is fluent in both languages, but his English grammar is
behind other children his age. He has 3 English tutoring sessions a week and
his teacher sends home worksheets for extra practice.
When I first started talking with PJ I discovered he can speak
English well, but he speaks slowly and has to think carefully about each
sentence.
We worked on some extra English homework that his teacher
sent home. There was a short passage, about 200 words, which he was able to
read easily. For the most part it seemed like he was able to understand the
passage well. There were a few words that he didn’t really know the meaning of,
but he was very good at using context to figure out the definition. Then we
worked on vocabulary homework. The list of words was new to him, but he was
able to figure out the meaning of a few of the words based on context. The rest
of the words he was able understand and use in sentences after I explained
their definition. For the last ten minutes of the session I had him read a
comic book which was a little more difficult than the passage he read earlier.
There were quite a few words that he had trouble sounding out, but I encouraged
him to keep trying and he was able to get it. The pictures in the comic book
were very helpful in figuring out the parts that he didn’t understand.
For our next session I think he needs materials at a
slightly higher reading level and we will focus a little more on speaking.
Love the idea of using a comic book! After PJ read the comic book, was he able to discuss the story?
ReplyDeleteTalyor, P.J.'s grammar is good, but his vocabulary is behind other children his age. Continue to have him use context clues and guess what the word means.
ReplyDeleteOh, his name is P.J. Chang; Korean women don't change their last name after they get married, so I have a different last name from my husband's. :)
I like the idea of using a comic book as well - had honestly never thought of that (just children's books), but that seems like it would be more interesting to a young boy. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteThe story in the comic book was a little more difficult so I don't think he understood the context right away, but I kept asking him questions based on the pictures and the dialogue to help him figure out what was happening in the story.
ReplyDelete