The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

Choose What to Focus on-
Before you start on the paper, always ask what they are looking to achieve today, it just may
range from ideas, grammar, structure, examples. The Tutoring Book suggests that you address High Order
Concentrations (HOCs) before Low Order Concentrations (LOCs), but I suggest that you should be aware
of HOCs while keeping in mind what your tutee wants. If your tutee wants to focus on grammar, and the
overall problem is the grammar, well, I’ll leave you to ponder on the answer. It may be a good idea to
divide the session and focus on a couple different areas. The goal here is to spend some time dealing with
the concerns of the writer so that they feel good about their major concerns, and also to cover areas that
the writer might not have thought about.
Addressing Sentence Structure-
A good handful of students (if not all) will ask about sentence structure and grammar. Read the
paper aloud for them. It helps to hear what your paper sounds like if someone else reads it as opposed to
their brain accepting the paper the way that it is. During these times you can give a little grammar and
syntax lesson to be aware of as you read throughout the rest of the paper.
Addressing a Concern-
Address any problems right after you finish a paragraph. This is your chance to address any
concern about organization flow, supporting evidence, or even how the paragraph relates to the writing
prompt. If you have a question about a body paragraph then ask questions. Stick with questions like
“why did you say this?”, “how does that relate to this?” That way the tutee can explain and understand
what he/she is trying to achieve and if it is really working. Also, don’t be afraid to offer a few revising
suggestions; you might have ideas they would have not thought about.
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