Level 1: Chapter 7

Add more study strategies to a tutor’s repertoire of skills.

Be able to apply relevant skills to tutoring and academic work.

Study skills take time and practice to develop and change

Every student is different. What works for one may not work for another.

Study Strategies include, but are not limited to: time management memory/concentration note taking test preparation test taking skills reading comprehension reading rate improvement

Assess prior knowledgeDevelop background experiencesExtend experiences when necessary Introduce vocabulary words and

conceptsHelp students set purposes for the

session

Learning styles Encourage students to take CAPSOL, a

learning styles assessment test Adapt tutoring styles to tutees’ learning

styles Use resources available in the Tutoring

Lab

Tutors should take the time to model, teach, or demonstrate the concepts and strategies being used.

Allow tutees to practice with some guidance, then give them an assignment to do alone.

Reading Break the material into chunks.  Set a purpose for reading each section. Discuss each section before advancing to the

next part.  Involve the student in a creative and personal

way during or after reading. Summarize what was read.  Identify a possible test question related to the

material Look at the boldface headings and create

questions, then read to answer the questions.

Read to the end of the sentence or paragraph to see if the meaning can be determined from the context.

Look for base words, prefixes, suffixes, and other ways to break the word into meaningful units.

Try to use phonics and sound it out. Use a dictionary. Ask someone. Make a flashcard or a word list to review

the word/concept later.

KWL What do I Know?▪ List student’s knowledge before reading

What do I Want to learn?▪ List things the student wants to or should

learn while reading What did I Learn from reading?▪ List knowledge gained by the student from

reading

Graphic Organizers, Mapping, Semantic Maps, and Websites Visual learners and students with

reading difficulties may benefit from well organized information in these formats

Makes relationships between ideas easy to see

Inspiration: A program available in the Tutoring Lab to create graphic organizers for information

Cloze Procedure A test of reading comprehension in

which the test taker is asked to supply words that have been systematically deleted from a text

Fosters the practical use of sentence context clues when a student comes to an unknown word. 

Predicting/Confirming Students predict what they think will

happen or be discussed, then read to confirm these predictions

Keeps students focused and actively involved in reading

Formulate questions Skim through the reading and create

questions to answer while reading Have the tutee discuss the answers to

these questions after he/she reads Can include other skills, such as

determining what is fact and what is opinion

Math/Science Break the problem into components.  Does the student understand the

symbols and the technical terminology? Translate problems into English. Put

problems into words to help the student understand what is being asked. 

Equations and formulas should be studied in the same manner, by translating symbols into words. 

Perform opposite operations. If a problem involves multiplication, check the work by dividing; factor, multiply; square root, square; differentiate, integrate.

Analyze before finishing.  Set up the problem before attempting to solve it. This may save time by allowing students to see computational short-cuts, such as canceling or combining like terms.

Draw a picture or use a chart to organize information. Sometimes a visual representation will clear a blocked mind.

Estimate first.  Estimation is a good way to double check the student’s work.  Computational errors can be caught early if a student has an approximate answer in mind.

Check all work systematically. Was the problem read correctly? Was the correct formula or equation used?  Is the answer in proper form?

Encourage the student to respond to the lesson in order to reinforce comprehension

Give the student opportunities to apply what was learned to other situations

Urge the student to verbalize what was learned and what could be improved

Use the understanding and ideas gained from the lesson to move to new goals 

What are some strategies tutors can teach students to make them more proficient readers? Why is it being a proficient reader important in college?

What are some strategies tutors can teach students to help with math and science? Why are such skills important in college?