Ms. Kim recently informed me that an 11 year old girl from the Ukraine was in need of a tutor. I called the number that I was given and was put in contact with her mother, Lana. Lana was very sweet and so excited to hear that I would be able to meet up with her and her daughter. We scheduled a meting at the library for the very next day.
Today was the day that Lana and I met up. She came with my new partner, Maria (not to be confused with my Brazilian conversation partner also named Maria). Lana also came with a younger daughter. On the phone Lana had explained to me Maria's situation: Maria had lived in the states for seven years, then lived in the Ukraine for seven years (that math doesn't add up, I know), and now was about to start middle school.
With the information I had I was still unsure of how to prepare for our first meeting. I brought a word game for the whole family to play as a warm up. The word game included a variety of random vocabulary and Maria had trouble with a few words. We played the game for about 15 minutes then I suggested doing a cross word puzzle or reading.
Maria had brought the book that was assigned for summer reading for her middle school: Stargirl. Luckily, I had also read Stargirl in the 6th grade so I was very familiar with it. Her mother explained to me that they read it aloud but neither of them spoke English very well so I read two chapters. Before I read I had Maria give me a summary.
I got some information on Maria's middle school and told her mom I'd figure out what they were planning on doing with Stargirl and would prepare some discussion. I know that there will be a summer reading quiz. Today we had a tutoring session but Maria needs to work on her fluency so from now on we will have conversation partner sessions where we think critically about Stargirl and play word games. Maria's grammar and reading is already pretty good but I think it's best if we practice having conversations because sometimes she trips on her words and by having discussions about Stargirl rather than having her fill out worksheets I think it'll be more fun for her.
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