Dillon had a great session tonight. He was very animated and worked hard. He began by completing his reading of the "Rafts of Ants" and "Insect Farmers" passages. We then worked through the comprehension questions that were set up in a similar manner as the FSA test. The questions were multiple choice, however we worked through them carefully to reinforce test taking strategies. Dillon used close reading strategies and found text evidence to support his answers.
Dillon also practiced his fluency and word identification.

At today’s session Dillon focused on words 200-300 on the Whole Brain Learning list. We did not do it as a speed drill because some of the words were unfamiliar. He did well sounding out the unknown words. Next, he read 2 FSA type reading passages. He began to work through a variety of questions that were designed to mirror those types of comprehension questions that would be found on the assessment and which probably will appear on his mid-year check points in school. Dillon was only able to complete the first few questions due to time and will need to finish this at our next meeting. One group of questions that he did complete involved some unfamiliar vocabulary. We will work on using context clues to determine word meaning in our future sessions.

Today Dillon read an informational text titled, "Cats: Lions and Tigers in Your House". He then answered "right there" questions (explicit) and questions that involved inference (implicit). He did a great job and scored at the instructional level for this early 3rd grade passage.
He practiced whole text phrasing fluency with passages from CPalm and did a very nice job. His fluency has really improved over the past 2 months. While he sometimes stumbles on the first cold read - repeated readings show vast improvements in expression and fluency.
Dillon's Mom shared that he made wonderful progress on his I-ready testing for the midyear assessment at school. He is such a hard worker and is showing great progress!

It was so great seeing Dillon after this long break. He was all smiles as he shared the details of his holiday break. He shared he was happy to be back at school and wanted to do well in reading. Dillon also shared with great pride that his new reading level is Level L!
At school the second grade is getting ready to do mid-year assessments on I ready. Dillon shared that he has had some difficulty with answering computer based comprehension questions. That is definitely something that we can work on during our sessions. Practice with the same question stems will help him feel more comfortable when taking the on-line assessments.
We then moved on to do word speed drills and phrasing fluency drills. He brought the 4th protocol home for further practice. He is doing quite well on these protocols and enjoys them.
He then read the ReadWorks informational article on tornadoes. We discussed test taking strategies and how to eliminate wrong answers in multiple choice questions. He then highlighted key words and information in the text. He did not have enough time to complete this task and is bringing the article home to complete the last 3 comprehension questions. These are open ended written responses. We will review his answers at Monday's session. Dillon did a nice job today!

Danny and I discussed the Day of the Week and the Date.... we changed the calendar and talked about the weather outside. We discussed the sounds of different letters in a book we started reading. I also introduced him to the words used in Ukulele/Music: Frets, Treble Clef and Strings and strumming.

Dillon had a great session. He did well on his fluency drills and continues to work on speed and accuracy as we go beyond the first 300 words in the drill.
During our session, we worked on conjunctions because he had problems with the usage questions in the passage last week. In speaking with him, he reported that they are not doing much grammar work in school. He mentioned that in the first grade he learned about nouns and verbs, but reported that this year they are mostly working on decoding in small groups. Florida second grade standards include nouns, verbs, pronouns, reflexive pronouns, adverbs, comparative and superlative adjectives and increasing the complexity of sentence structure. These skills are assessed on the state assessments. We will touch upon these grammar elements as we continue our work.
Next, he silently read the Read Works passage titled, “Landslides” and answered a series of comprehension questions. He was encouraged to use a highlighter and a pencil to make notations when finding text evidence to support his answers. Usually, I have him read orally, but today I wanted to assess his independence and strategy usage. When we reviewed and discussed his responses it became clear that Dillon tended to choose the first response when given a choice of three and then stopped reading further responses. We talked about the importance of reading all three responses before selecting the best answer. We also reviewed the need to look carefully at the wording of the questions to see if there were any signal words or key words that could help him choose the most suitable answer. These test taking strategies will help him meet with success and will be reinforced during our sessions.
Dillon works hard and is showing steady growth. He is a pleasure to work with and I enjoy hearing his viewpoints.

Dillon is very excited for the coming holiday and school vacation and asked whether he would have “homework” from me during the break. My assignment – enjoy your family and friends, relax, have fun and read-read-read!

It was so exciting to hear that Dillon did so well on his assessments and improved his Independent and Instructional Reading levels! He was very thrilled as well and shared with me how proud he was of his achievements. I see continued growth as we work together and am very proud of him.
As typical for our sessions, we began with Electonic Superspeed 1000 by doing a speed check on the first 100 high frequency words. Dillon is doing well at increasing fluency while maintaining proper pronunciation. He then practiced with words 101-301.
Since we were short on time and Mom reported that he was having an informational text assessment this week, we worked on a Read Works passage entitled “When Will We Have Flying Cars?”. He read this passage fluently and with ease. He then answered comprehension questions about the article. He did very well on the basic questions located within the text and we reviewed citing evidence from the text when responding to a question. Once question he had difficulty with was a language based one which had to do with starting a question with a conjunction. He was required to choose from three choices and had trouble figuring out which was the “most” appropriate beginning to the sentence. At our next session, we will do a quick review of the common conjunctions and how they are used in a sentence.

Initial Tutoring Session- December 18, 2017
It was wonderful to meet Elijah and get to know him better! We were able to accomplish a lot during our short time together. Elijah was very open and willing to talk about his issues at school. He stated that he was not doing his homework and sometimes didn’t understand what the questions meant. He also said that he didn’t feel he was doing very well in school. Due to his concern about his homework, we made an agreement to do 2 pages of the weekly assignment and then to work on what I had planned on for the session.
His homework consisted of a multiplication sheet which he quickly completed and was accurate in all but one item. We next tackled a language arts assignment about literal and nonliteral meanings. He initially was reluctant to complete this work, but after we talked about it and found examples on the internet of common idioms, he was able to complete the assigned task. He was encouraged to work hard even when things seemed confusing in the beginning. When he was successful at figuring this work out, his broad grin and happy demeanor showed that he is very invested in doing well! We talked about building stamina and perseverance and will we will work on building his confidence in his abilities.
Next, I conducted a screening using the Qualitative Reading Inventory. Elijah scored at the Independent Level for the 3rd grade word list and the Instructional Level on the 4th grade word list. He then read (2) third grade passages and answered comprehension questions. On both passages, he scored at the Instructional level. The QRI placed him solidly at the third grade level which is a good starting point.
In terms of Florida state assessments, there are mainy variables that go into student success. The tests are written at the 3.5 grade level so Elijah should be able to access the text at a comfortable level. In addition to the readability index, students must have a comfort level with the types of questions and the ways in which the questions are asked. We can work on exposing Elijah to the types of questions asked on the test and complement the test preparation which is surely being conducted at his school. Our director will be in contact with his classroom teacher to gain additional insight as to what her recommendations would be to ensure Elijah meets with success. I look forward to meeting with him again to continue our work.

We began with Electonic Superspeed 1000 by doing a speed check on the first 100 high frequency words. Dillon is doing well at increasing fluency while maintaining proper pronunciation. He then practiced with words 101-200. Dillon reports that this is one of his favorite activities and that he can see that he is improving.

Dillon forgot to bring back the dolphin book that he brought home to read. He shared that he read the book and that it was very interesting. He then shared interesting facts that he remembered, and we decided to complete the planned activity and use the computer to confirm. He filled out the compare and contrast Venn Diagram from facts he recalled. We then verified his facts by accessing fact sheets about these 2 mammals on line. Dillon was quite accurate in his recall about the dolphins and was very interested in learning more as we researched on line. He seems to really enjoy science.

Next, we did our phrasing fluency drills with the 3rd protocol in the series. He reported that he has been practicing at home and is able to do the page in less than a minute which is the goal. He did his first run through at 1 minute and 8 seconds. The second and third run through improved to less than one minute. Again, I stressed to him the importance of maintaining a conversational reading tone and not to forsake speed for fluency. His phrasing is continually improving.

Our last activity was a cold read of an article on Rosa Parks. I chose this biography article because he mentioned in an earlier session that he was interested in civil rights. After his reading, we discussed the article. He is bringing this article home to reread and answer the comprehension questions. He should bring these back to our next session and we will review test taking strategies.
Dillon is a motivated learner and loves to share his thoughts on facts that he finds interesting.

Today’s session began with Electonic Superspeed 1000. We drilled with the first 100 high frequency words and then practiced with 101-200. Dillon enjoys this activity and it is a fun way to practice automaticity. Next, we did our phrase fluency drill with the 2nd protocol in the series. This quick series of fluency building will pay dividends in the long run as it will allow Dillon to spend less time decoding and more time comprehending. He reported that he has been practicing at home and is able to do the page in less than a minute which is the goal.
Text features are a part of the Florida standards in 2nd grade and tested regularly as nonfiction becomes more important in the curriculum. Students in second grade are beginning to make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. We reviewed the important text features of informational text by doing a scavenger hunt in several informational texts. Dillon did well and was able to quickly locate various text features such as the glossary, index, captions, headings and illustrations.
Dillon ended the session with a silent and then an oral read of a passage titled, “Whales and Fish”. We reviewed the key concepts and he made many connections. He is bringing home an informational text about dolphins to read over the weekend. When he returns we will be doing a compare and contrast exercise.
Dillon is a pleasure to work with and did a great job today!