Writing Conclusions for Elementary School Students!

Throughout my tutoring experience, I have found that many students of all ages have difficulty writing conclusion sentences. A good activity for elementary students is to give them a topic sentence and then tell them they need to write a conclusion that expresses the SAME IDEA but use DIFFERENT WORDS. They should NOT add new information (ie details) in their conclusion. It is extremely important to give them examples.

Topic:  Winter sports are lots of fun.

Conclusion:  I always look forward to participating in winter sports.

Topic:  Last summer, I went to Hawaii with my family.

Conclusion: I enjoyed spending time with my family in Hawaii.

Here are some other topics your student can try:

Topic: Students should not wear uniforms at school.

Conclusion:______________________________________________

Topic: It is important to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables if you would like to have a healthy diet.

Conclusion:______________________________________________

Topic: I will never forget my first day of fourth grade.

Conclusion: ______________________________________________

For more information, questions or comments, Please visit our website at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com

Editing Checklist for Essay Writing

I believe it is important to provide students with an editing checklist to make the revision process less scary! For example,

Did you use at least three transition words in your supporting detail paragraphs?
Did you start your introduction with a hook?
Is your thesis the last sentence of your first paragraph?
Do all your supporting paragraphs 1-3 support your thesis?
Do you explain the significance of your quotes?
Did you use proper punctuation and capitalization?
Are all words spelled correctly?
Do you have a conclusion sentence at the end of every paragraph?

You get the idea. This way it is a visual, specific way in which they can learn HOW to edit. Believe it or not, often students have never been taught how to revise their papers and what to exactly correct during the revision process.

I would be happy to provide a copy of the editing checklist if you would to visit my website at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com

Less is Sometimes More When It Comes to Homework

When it comes to math homework, practice is important, but if a student understands the concept after 5 to 10 problems they do not need 40 problems to practice. This can be counterproductive as they may not do the work at all or feel so overwhelmed by the work that they become frustrated that they develop a negative attitude toward math and homework in general. As a teacher, I strongly believe in not assigning busy work as students will resent it. Instead, checking students' knowledge of concepts by short quizzes following short homework assignments is more effective because they can feel successful and if you can assess areas of weakness to focus on. Tailoring homework to the students' needs is definitely the sign of perceptive teacher.
Please visit our blog at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com for more insightful articles.

Active Reading Strategies

I am sure many of you have read a page or ten pages and asked yourself what did you just read? It is very possible for students to physically read the words without comprehending what they read. I highly recommend the following strategies to ensure that your middle or high school student is actively engaged.

1) Make an outline/take notes

2) If at all possible, buy novels so that you can underline, highlight and annotate (take notes) while you read. This will greatly help your child when they must write an essay on the novel.

3) Fold a piece of notebook paper in half and have the student write down questions they have about the material while reading. They should answer the questions on the other side of the paper (Cornell notes).

4) Students should make a personal dictionary of words that they do not know. This will enhance their comprehension as well as prepare them for the SATs/ACTs.

5) Have student write short chapter summaries.

6) Have student writes write predictions before reading each chapter of a novel.

Please visit http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com for more insightful articles!

Spanish Lessons for All Ages

I have had a recent demand for Spanish lessons especially for young children. I will be offering Spanish lessons for individual children and small groups of children throughout the summer and school year. Lessons would include teaching basic conversational phrases as well as vocabulary, using picture flash cards and games. Please reserve your time slot as soon as possible!

Please visit us at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com

Introducing Homeschooling Assistance and Consulting

Hello All,

I will now be offering homeschooling assistance and consulting during the school day. If you or anyone you know is interested, please feel free to contact me. I have experience in all subjects with all grade levels. Please visit http://www.beachcitestutoring.com for more information.

Sincerely,

Ivie Sherman

SAT Reading Tips- Before and During the Test

SAT Reading Section Tips While Taking the SAT

1. Actively read, meaning underline keywords and main ideas in passages!

2. Determine main idea and/or purpose of author after reading BEFORE you read the questions.

2. After reading the question, take a guess at what the answer might be BEFORE looking at the answer choices so that you have an idea of what you are looking for.

3. Eliminate as many answer choices as possible that are irrelevant or do not answer the question.

4. Finally, choose the best answer based on steps 1-3



SAT Reading Section Preparation that You Should Do Throughout High School

1. Read as much as possible to build your vocabulary and comprehension skills!

2. Use context clues when reading to determine the meaning of unknown vocabulary words.

3. Study etymology (meanings of word parts, prefixes, suffixes, etc) so that you can break down unknown words to determine meaning.

4. Keep a journal of unknown vocabulary that you encounter while reading.

**More SAT Math Tips to come! Summer is a great time to prep for the SAT but I do SAT prep all year long.  Please visit http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com for more info.