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Tutors
Tutor Stories
Using Language Experience to Students' Advantage
by Gail Weathers
I did a Language Experience story with a student. He was telling me about distributing free samples of Proctor and Gamble Products across the U.S.A. It was at Christmas, so the employees got gift baskets. After he completed the story and we read it back, he asked," How come there are three'to's' in this sentence?"
I looked at the sentence: "They gave two giftbaskets to them, too." That is how he discovered for himself that we commonly use three different types of "to" in everyday conversation.
I really enjoy Language Experience exercises, because I get to find out something interesting about my student which wouldn't come up otherwise, and I get to see him make some discoveries about our language on his own. Another student has trouble remembering "y", partly because someone confused him about it once and also for a number of other reasons. He told me a simple story about his walking down the street and having someone recognize and greet him. That little story contained twelve words with "Y" in them. He was really surprised at how often he uses "y" in his daily speech. It was a fairly short and uneventful story, but we mine it often (for nuggets, not with explosives).
It has been found that a student learns and remembers best when he hears his own voice saying the words he is trying to learn. This student was pleased to be recording his story and at another time he played it back while rereading it, all on his own.
Having the story recorded, made it easier to use the word processor and get it down in print. I like to see how impressed students are with themselves when they see their own words in print. It also demonstrates for them how high a level their vocabulary is. Comprehension is built in, so there's no struggling with meaning.
Even though it took me three years to consistently remember the term Language Experience, I have enjoyed using it and seeing what it does for the students longer than that. Student's Story is easier to remember but isn't part of the jargon. I have found it to be the best extracurricular tool I could use.
One person can make a difference
by Joette Keerl
I would like to tell you of the wonderful experiences I had while working with Judy Z.Judy has such drive and commitment. Watching her struggle with tasks that we take for granted opened my own eyes. Every time I would go shopping or driving, I would be reminded of the difficulties some people have with tasks most don't think about. Little things to us, like following a recipe in a cookbook was a task Judy would not attempt. Seeing her beam when she would tell me of the things she was finding in cookbooks to fix for meals was awesome. Hearing her stories, and seeing the terrific progress she made was worth more than any amount of money. Judy has achieved more in her life than she ever dreamed possible. Even though she has moved across the country, we keep in touch through e-mail and chat programs. She never thought she would be able to operate a computer. To know that ONE person can make a difference in another life is the best feeling in the world. Judy in turn, started teaching others to read. To see the circle continue is wonderful.
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