This unique book provides preservice teachers and literacy volunteers with many practical and theoretical insights that will enable them to work effectively with adolescents. The authors do an especially good job of portraying the 'feel' of working with adolescents. Promoting an atmosphere of respect for the learner, the book will motivate tutors by demonstrating what important work they can accomplish.--Francine R. Johnston, EdD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The language and style of this book will make it very appealing as a manual for a volunteer tutoring program or as a supplemental text. The book is accessible and user-friendly, and tutors will appreciate the wealth of
specific suggestions and activities that they can easily put into practice. The authors have eloquently met their goal of providing tutors--even those with little teaching experience or background--with research-based tools for meeting the needs of struggling adolescent literacy learners.--Deborah Gee Woo, EdM, Department of Learning and Teaching, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
From nationally recognized, highly respected literacy researchers who have both facilitated tutoring programs at their university, this book really anticipates the reader's experiences and needs. Lessons from research are artfully interwoven with sensible instructional practices in every chapter. I chuckled as I read each question and answer in the chapter on dealing with common problems, because these are the same issues my own preservice teacher/tutors bring to me every day. There is nothing in this text that is not useful!--Gay Ivey, PhD, Reading Education Program, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Outstanding. This book is by far the best and most useful 'roadmap' and 'travel guide' for a literacy tutor--whether a community volunteer, service-learning student, or preservice teacher--that I have encountered in my 12 years of training hundreds of literacy tutors. The integration of theory and practice occurs so painlessly throughout the book that any reader will have a well-deserved sense of confidence when tutoring, no matter how new the situation, setting, or tutee.--Pamela Kirwin Heintz, Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service, Syracuse University
This step-by-step guidebook will help tutors become the powerful instructional assistants that teachers, parents, and students need them to be. Tutors will learn to create effective lesson plans, as the book provides research-based instructional practices for reading, writing, and vocabulary development, and offers an array of assessment strategies. Middle and high school English teachers will gladly hand this book to anyone who is tutoring their students, and tutors will quickly thank them. This roadmap to successful tutoring is long overdue.--Kylene Beers, EdD, School Development Program, Yale University
-For the school this guide offers a multitude of uses. It is certainly a valuable tool for tutors who will work individually and in small groups with adolescent literacy learners. It is also adaptable for other tutoring and teaching uses. The descriptions that link learning theory and practical teaching-learning activities are solid stand-alone lessons for tutors (and teachers) in more than literacy-based learning....It deserves a place in schools of all types and sizes as a practical and informative source for teachers, administrators, and tutors.--Education Review, 2/25/2005
