Award-Winning Private ISEE Tutoring in Goodyear, AZ

The student fared well on adding and subtracting mixed numbers; he completed 10 problems of each type. Verbal homework: he answered 7/8 context clue questions correctly. To answer these questions, he was required to determine the meaning of a bold-lettered word in the paragraph. He missed only the word "epitaph."ù We reread the paragraph together, I underlined "tombstone"ù as a clue, and then he provided the right answer. He answered 3/3 main idea questions correctly. For each question, he read a paragraph, and then selected the multiple-choice option that best described the main idea. He answered 3/4 inference questions correctly. For each question, he was required to read a paragraph and then select a multiple-choice option that described the best inference. For essay writing, I will email a new writing prompt to him so that he is exposed to the variety of potential essay questions. He completed two inference passages; for each passage, he categorized statements from a story as facts or inferences. He identified all facts and inferences correctly. He read two main idea passages and answered the questions correctly. He answered 2/3 conclusion passages correctly. He incorrectly identified a projection about future technological progress as the conclusion; when we reread the passage, he quickly understood the conclusion and identified the correct answer. He cited evidence from the passage to support his answer. I reminded him that he should always ask himself what evidence he has for a conclusion. This method will enable him to better identify a plausible conclusion from a list of multiple-choice options. Reading passage: before reading, I discussed a reading strategy for the entry exam. I encouraged him to read the first sentence of each passage, and then rank each passage based on his familiarity with the topic. After he has ranked each passage, he should complete the passages about subjects he is less familiar with first. We also discussed the meaning of specific vocabulary in the questions and how to distinguish questions about the passage in general form questions about specific parts of the passage. He read a passage from a sample exam. He mapped as he read. He answered 5/5 questions correctly. Verbal lesson: I gave him a list of 20 words (many of which overlapped with the flashcards I asked him to study earlier in the week). He briefly studied the words he was unfamiliar with, then we began answering questions about the words. These questions asked him to identify similarities between synonyms in the word list. He answered the questions correctly. We also discussed words in the list that shared either the "dis-"ù or "pro-"ù prefix, whether the prefixes had a positive or negative connotation, and what the prefix might mean. He completed 5/5 synonym questions correctly. He also answered sentence completion questions correctly, and identified the context clues he used to get his answers. I asked him to finish the vocab packet at home. I will give him a similar vocab packet each week, and he will get a quiz based on the vocab packet and flash cards I asked him to study at home. Math: he completed a math review packet. He added two mixed numbers correctly, and then subtracted two mixed numbers correctly. As he worked through the problems, we reviewed the term least common multiple (LCM). We reviewed the meaning of words "product"ù and "quotient"ù; then he multiplied and divided two mixed numbers. He answered correctly. He answered two brief word problems correctly, one problem containing the words "sum"ù and "product"ù; the other contained the word "quotient."ù He answered the questions correctly. Next, he compared two fractions using the >, < symbols. He needed a verbal reminder of what each symbol represented. He answered 3/3 questions correctly. We watched two brief Math Antics videos on decimals. The videos discussed and demonstrated the relationship between fractions and decimals. The second video focused specifically on fractions with powers of 10 in the denominator and how to convert them to decimals. We reviewed three sample problems. Each problem showed a fraction written as a decimal, or a decimal converted to a fraction. Following the lesson, I emailed him a math sheet about decimals and fractions, and a writing prompt. I included three video links about converting fractions to decimals (and vice versa).

Today, we continued with vocabulary work. I'm starting to see some improvement in the reading comprehension part of the vocabulary, too. The student asked about moving to the next harder book and says she knows most of the words they are teaching her in the current book. I told her to go ahead and try and that she could choose which book to do her homework out of. We reviewed math concepts, working more on long division. She understands it now, and we will continue to look at it. I then introduced order of operations. That led to a mini-lesson on exponents, so I taught her the very basic level -- multiply the base number by itself the number of times the exponent said to. Finally, we started talking about negative and positive numbers and how to add them.

We began the session by reviewing adding/subtracting fractions with unlike denominators and triangle area and perimeter. The student's work on these problems showed that she retained the concepts and processes we worked on last week. She made a few small mistakes that could have been fixed if she had used the strategies of drawing out the problem or double-checking, so we will incorporate these strategies into next week's session. Most of our time was spent on concepts that she struggled with on her diagnostic tests, primarily algebraic equations and probability. She responded well to being guided through one problem, one step at a time, and then trying a similar problem on her own. She is getting into the routine of reading the problem, thinking about what it's asking, and then determining a plan to solve it. We will continue this approach next week, delving into more complex algebraic equations and probability problems. We will also begin to tackle converting fractions into percentages, which will allow her to show probability in multiple ways.