The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

If we can help students engage in "metacognition or awareness of one's own learning processes"
then we not only help them become more effective writers and readers but students as well (Gillespie and
Learner, 107). Self-awareness is fundamental to improving the overall writer. The more we can help
students question what they read the more likely they will become critical thinkers. We, as tutors, must be
prepared for students who have little in the way of critical thinking practice. 1 One way to bridge the
critical thinking gap between our students and their texts is through the SQ3R method of reading. We can
model this method for students and ask them to do any of the following:
· Survey: This has the student engage in previewing the text they are about to read. They
are to notice headings, indentations, underlining, end summaries, chapter questions, charts,
etc.
· Question: Have the student create questions they think the text will answer. These are
based on their initial preview. They can reference questions posed throughout the text or at
the chapter’s end. They can also pose their own questions based on what they have
previewed.
· Read: The writer then reads the text searching for answers to their questions.
· Recite: Here, the writer will read or write down the answers to the preview questions
and review the answers, preferably aloud.
· Review: The writer will reread certain portions of the text to gain clarity on the
answers to the questions. 2
By now you are probably thinking we are crazy, or at least wildly optimistic, for suggesting this
process to tutors who typically have only a half or full hour with their students. Admittedly, the confines
of a tutoring session prohibit engaging a student in the entire SQ3R process. However, we believe there
are small yet effective ways in which you can give examples of how it will be beneficial to their writing.
The following is a brief example from a tutoring session Nicole had with one of her regulars to illustrate
our point:
In one of my sessions I was asked by one of my regular tutees to help write a case summary of a
law brief. She had a very large and imposing law book that contained numerous examples of case briefs.
Her task was to concisely summarize each section of the case into a total of one page. I asked her if she
had ever written a summary. She stated that she had not and then asked if I could show her how. I said,
"Sure," and advised that the best way to construct a summary was to go paragraph by paragraph and
summarize according to what the instructor wanted her to look for." She then jokingly asked, "Are we
allowed to read in the writing center?" I said, "Yeah, I guess so."
Before we began to read I advised my tutee that I would not be very helpful in terms of the law
jargon we were to encounter and that she was the expert in this regard. I felt that this allowed our session
to be more collaborative because I was the "expert" on summarizing and she was the expert with the
language. Once this was established she chose where we were to begin - the facts. "What does that
mean?" I said, thinking of Dragnet and "Just the facts ma'am." She said, "Oh you know, the facts of the
case." I just smiled and asked her to begin reading out loud. (Yes, we read a law textbook in the WC
aloud).
1 For more information on student preparedness for informational texts see Duke, Nell. "The Real-World Reading and
Writing U.S. Children Need." Phi Delta Kappan, 91.5 (2010): 68-71.
2 Adapted from Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring
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