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Valerie TS #1

Today on January 23, 2019 I tutored a girl from Cameroon at Gilchrest Elementary School. It was my first time meeting her and already I can tell she is a fast learner. Her name is Marcelle and she is in second grade. She was in Apalachee Elementary last semester so she is new at the school. I believe she moved from Cameroon to the US last year. She cannot read or write, and has limited understanding of English. Luckily her native language is in French, so I was able to use my intermediate French skills to communicate with her. We went to the library for an hour and a half and looked over picture books with simple sentences. The first book we read was an alphabet book with fruits and vegetables, so I would say the name and then point to the item. I would ask her follow up questions like "What is your favorite food" or "what color is this vegetable?". Towards the end I started asking her to point out all of the fruits that were a certain color, or asking her to tell me what color a certain fruit was. Another book we read was from the series about the French-girl Madeline and the twelve ballerinas. This book was advanced for her but she was really excited for me to read it to her, so I made the sentences more simple. I would also point out certain characters or things and say their name. Sometimes if I knew the word or phrase in French I would say it in French and then say it in English. Whenever I said words or phrases she would repeat after me. Towards the end of the book I also asked her questions like "How many dogs are there", and what do you call a garcon (a boy) in English?". I was very proud of her because she was absorbing all of this information and even answering some of the questions as I asked her throughout the session. We read a couple more books together and then she wanted to take the quiz for one of the books so I read her the questions and answers from the computer and helped her look through the book to find clues. For example, one of the questions was regarding what the pig and elephant used because it was raining. So I pointed to the picture of the umbrella and asked her what do you use when it rains outside, so she she was able to comprehend the question and pick the right choice. I am excited to continue working with her this semester. The librarian recommended a French-English picture dictionary that evens tells English readers how to pronounce the words in French, so I will be using this book next time I tutor her. The librarian let me check it out to her classroom and I let the teacher know, so hopefully she can make more progress in the classroom. After a week or two, I will probably start with some simple worksheets to teach her how to write.

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