Welcome to Write Away!
The writing forum for Project Read learners.

We've redesigned our blog so that adult learners working at Project Read can share what they have written with other learners, tutors, and the public. There are a few simple guidelines to be aware of.
  1. This is a moderated site, so submissions and comments will first be reviewed before being approved and published.
  2. Adult learners submitting their writing have the option of using their first name (only) or using "anonymous" for authorship.
  3. We wish to honor the writing efforts of the adult learner/authors, so no major copy editing will be applied, but we may suggest minor corrections in consultation with the author.
  4. Only active Project Read learners are eligible to submit their writing to the Write Away blog and there are two ways of doing this: send submissions via email to projectread@sfpl.org, or stop by the office with a hard copy of your writing.
  5. The views and opinions expressed on this web site are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not represent those of the San Francisco Public Library and/or the City and County of San Francisco.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Notes from September 1st Tutor Roundtable


At Project Read's September Tutor Roundtable meeting there was a lively discussion by the tutors concerning a variety of instructional topics.



  • One tutor mentioned that he and his learner had been working on the topic of African-American history. His learner enjoys doing research on the Internet and they have found a wealth of reading material while using the Project Read computer lab. When his learner has trouble with a word, they focus on breaking it down into syllables. It was suggested that they might also look at the 3rd floor Project Read collection at the Main Library which includes many easy-to-read books on the subject of African-American history.

  • Another tutor has been helping her learner focus on pronouncing and writing word endings correctly. To do this they have been spending time breaking words down and looking at spelling patterns associated with the common word endings.

  • The challenge of teaching grammar was also discussed. A tutor mentioned that he has had success using Write All About It, a comprehensive grammar workbook available FREE in the Project Read office for tutor-learner teams. He and his learner will soon start working on the learner's goal of writing personal letters--a good opportunity to reinforce grammar skills introduced in the workbook.

  • The tutors also discussed ways to encourage learners to get their thoughts down on paper. One method suggested was the good old mind mapping technique introduced during tutor training. Another reminder was to always begin with a topic of interest to the learner or bring in photos or newspaper articles for the learner to respond to in writing.

  • One final tip offered by a tutor was on the topic of planning the tutoring session. She said that initially her sessions had been one and a half hours in length, but she found that a lot of time was being consumed by chit chat before the actual instruction could begin. She decided to simply add that time to the overall session length. She's meeting with her learner for two hours now, but making sure that a smooth transition occurs between the time for socializing and instruction.



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