By Tania Bruderer, 2018-2019, 2019-2020 Literacy First Tutor
One of my 1st graders was more on the reserved, shy side when she started with Literacy First. Then, as she gained my trust, she started opening up more and more. She has a bright imagination, and asks many questions and is very curious about the world. I decided to make a “book of questions” for her, so that every time she thinks of a question, I can write it down. My goal is to help her stay focused on the lesson, and when the lesson is complete, we can go over her questions together.
Some of the questions include:
Do the workers on the airplane ever fall?
What is the room number we are in?
Why is the pencil rolling on the table?
Do people swim with sharks? Do they like it?
Why is the number line 1, 2, 3, 4? Why can’t it be 1, 3, 2, 4?
Does everyone know the song “What does the fox say?”?
How do you dance backwards?
We attempted to answer that final question ourselves. After finishing a lesson one day, we started dancing backwards, pretending to do the “moonwalk.” Soon, the other students and tutors in the room jumped in. That is a day we will never forget.
Although I may be the tutor and she is the student, every day with this particular child is a growing experience for the both of us. We constantly learn from each other.