The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

of reader theory, “where the reader, in engaging in reading out loud also engages in controlling the text by
making continuous predictions about what will occur next, based on information obtained earlier, prior
knowledge, and conclusions obtained within the previous stages” (73). In listening to their paper being
read out loud, the tutee can engage in generating their own series of questions about their text, questions
they would not necessarily ask had they not read their paper out loud.
If the student is extremely resistant to reading his or her paper out loud, you as the tutor should
engage in this portion of the session. However, reading the entire paper start to finish often becomes
overwhelming. I suggest that you tackle 2-3 paragraphs at a time, taking care to stop occasionally to give
feedback about what you have been reading. Tackling a few paragraphs at a time also gives both of you a
great deal of more perspective about the paper as a whole. Reading out loud engages both you and the
tutee in a conversation about their text, while offering the student a chance to talk openly about their
paper.
Collaboration becomes the trickiest aspect of tutoring. By this I mean collaborating together in a
way that does not entail you as tutor talking the entire session, or making overreaching suggestions about
the student’s text. Over the past semester I have worked with several students who seemed to have no
problem speaking about their ideas fluently and eloquently during a session. However, the moment I
suggested that they write down what they had just said, the student was unable to do so. I used a method
of what I will call collaborative dictation where I would write as close as possible word for word what the
student was saying during the tutoring session. In order to begin this process I would ask an open ended
question and encourage the student to talk until they had nothing else to say, writing down all of their
ideas word for word. I would also write the question at the top of my dictation notes so that the student
would have a frame of reference when they went back to their notes and began writing. This method
enabled students to orally “talk it out” and explain their ideas to me. By writing down their ideas for them
using this dictation style students can compare their oral “words” to the written words of their draft as a
starting point for revising their text. If this collaborative dictation method is used during a brainstorming
session, the student has the beginnings of an outline that is written in their own words and expresses their
own ideas.
All of these methods are useful approaches to helping a student create a text that is completely
their own. Before you start that next tutoring session remind yourself that the ultimate goal of the session
is to help create better writers by enabling them to make their own decisions about the tutoring session
and their writing assignments. Start the session by giving the tutee the power to decide what they want to
work on. Keep the session focused on the writer’s goals by asking them problem posing questions about
their writing. Listen and wait to hear what the tutee says before you talk. Engage in reading out loud as a
way for tutees to hear their own voice, and take notes on what the tutee is saying. With regular critical
reflection after each tutoring session, you will be an active tutoring partner who collaborates, not
appropriates.
Works Cited
Brooks, Jeff. “Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work.” Writing Lab Newsletter 15.6
(1991): 1-4.
Block, Cathy. Comprehension Instruction. New York: Guilford Press, 2008.
Freire, Paulo. “Chapter 2.” Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos. New York: Herder
and Herder, 1970.
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