TLC Writing/Reading Comprehension Tutors work primarily with fourth and fifth grade students in Medford and Somerville elementary schools, as well as on the Tufts campus. They focus on a range of literacy topics:
- Reading Comprehension: TLC tutors help children build the vocabulary knowledge they need to comprehend well. They also help them draw inferences, visualize texts and apply a range of strategies known to build children’s reading comprehension.
- Creative Writing: Tutors also help young writers to turn their rich imaginations into colorful stories by using dynamic vocabulary and sentence structure. They learn that characters and problems are central to storytelling, and that stories have “a beginning, a middle and an end.”
- Poetry Writing: Poetry is vocabulary-rich and it contains many of the literary elements that characterize all interesting writing. Poems can be short and they need not adhere to the strict rules of grammar and punctuation that guide formal prose. For many children, therefore, it is an ideal place to start writing. TLC Writing Tutors use published poems and templates to inspire children to think carefully about words, imagery and self-expression.
- Prose Writing: By 4th grade, children are expected to construct multi-paragraph essays. TLC Writing Tutors help children organize their thoughts and write with sufficient detail to let readers know what they want to say. They also teach technical details (punctuation and grammar) that enhance skilled writing.