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• Reading Comprehension
• Reading in English
• Out of School Time
• Support Materials
• Tote Bag
• About this Site

• Introduction
• Week 1: Initial Assessment
• Initial assessment
• Identifying an assignment
• Making a plan
• Week 4: Non-Fiction Comprehension
• Reading non-fiction
• Using charts, images and graphs
• Non-fiction checklist
• Week 8: Planning and Organizing
• An Unclear Assignment
• KWL Chart
• More practice with non-fiction
• Wrap Up

Non-fiction checklist

Abby: Marcus, you were able to discover what this text would be about, before even reading any of it. This is what you can do whenever you see a book or some written information about anything - your science, your social studies, even some math textbooks, or if you're reading a newspaper. You can use clues on the page to help you get an idea of what the text will be about. And this can give you a head start with understanding what you read. Some people call this "activating your prior knowledge," and it helps you understand what you read. Why don't we make a list of what we did.

Abby: So, how do you feel about your reading homework now?
Marcus: Okay. Better. I think I'll be able to understand more than last time.
Abby: Why don't you try to use this checklist as you read on your own. You can check off each activity after you've done it. The next time we meet we can talk about whether this list worked, or if we need to add or change anything on it. You can hang onto it and use it for other assignments, too.
Marcus: Okay.

Reading non-fiction … What just happened?

In this session Abby focused on reading a non-fiction science text. Abby identified several steps that Marcus can take to increase his understanding of the text before reading it in full. These include:

• Identifying aspects in the text such as captions, headings, and images that support the text content
• Giving Marcus a concrete tool to use when he is reading non-fiction on his own

In addition, during this session Marcus demonstrated some behavior that is typical for pre-adolescents who may be struggling in school. They can become frustrated and show a range of emotions toward school and schoolwork including anger, fear, or indifference. Validating these feelings, as Abby did, and understanding they are normal can help a tutor work with a student in moving beyond this stage towards addressing academic needs.

See Session 3: An Unclear Assignment

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Web-Based Tutor Training | LEARNS | Education, Career and Community Program

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Date of Last Updated: 7/14/2004
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