Teach Yourself to Play Drums

Teach Yourself to Play Drums Learn to Play the Drums ChaptersOrganise Your Drumming Sessions like You Would a Gym SessionExample Drum ExerciseDrum Training: Recreational SessionsMore Advice on Improving Your DrummingDrumming Vocabulary“In music, silence is more important than sound.” - Miles DavisThe digital music market grew massively between 2007 and 2017. In fact, digital streaming is responsible for the biggest rise in music sales in the UK for two decades.Whether you play the electronic drums, saxophone, electric guitar, or even the djembe, mastering musical instruments on your own is always difficult.  You need to be really motivated if you want to learn to play the drums without taking lessons or getting a private tutor.Patience, routine, and rigour are essential for teaching yourself how to play the drums.  Here’s some advice on the best ways to learn how to play your drum kit. SerbanDrum Teacher 5.00 (11) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyDrum Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tut ors RussellDrum Teacher 5.00 (4) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JamesDrum Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors StephenDrum Teacher 5.00 (3) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PeteDrum Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OllieDrum Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexDrum Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsOrganise Your Drumming Sessions like You Would a Gym Session“If you’ve got a problem, take it out on a drum.” - Neil PeartThis is similar to all the inspirational quotes you’ll find about working out.There are many self-taught drummers who play professionally. (Source: ivonpollakova)When playing the drums, you need to challenge yourself and a good session will always result in you breaking a sweat. Your muscles need to feel the effort you’ve put in. You should definitely schedule around an hour of practice.Before you practise for an hour, you need to warm up just like you would if you were about to start working out at the gym.The difference between working out and playing drums is that you need a lot of creativity for the latter.  You need to warm up in two different ways: physically and mentally.In fact, you’ll put your brain through its paces when playing the drums. It’s one of the instruments that requires the most coordination.In fact, drummers need to use both sides of their brain and will create neural connections that aren’t found in other types of musicians.Before you start hitting the cymbals and drums, you need to make sure you have an appropriate place to practice, be it an entire room or a dedicated space within a room.Your drum kit should always be set up. If you have to put it together each time you practise, you’re going to end up practising much less.  Make sure you have everything you need before you start: water, towel, sheet music, pen and paper, video or audio resources, metronome, camera, etc.Put your phone to silent and close any tabs in your web browser that you’re not going to need. Say goodbye to procrastinationA good session can go like this:10 minutes of warming up your wrists, back, and legs.10 minutes of mental warmups: keep time on the snare while hitting the other drums however you like.20 to 30 minutes of focused practice: Do exercises or study a particular piece in order to improve.10 to 20 minutes of creativity: Let your imagination run wild!You always need to have a goal in mind before you start each session: mastering a new rudiment, doing a fill on the toms, working on your rhythm, improving a certain skill, etc.Example Drum ExerciseTo master an exercise, you need to start before you sit down at a drum kit.While the drums may seem complicated at first, you'll figure them out. (Source: 931527)Can you play the drums without any drums?Of course! It’s a great way to save time before you start doing a certain exercise at your drum kit. Rudimen ts are a fundamental part of drumming.Let’s take the paradiddle, for example RLRR LRLL RLRR LRLLYou can tap away on your lap while saying right (R) and left (L). You don’t need to go quickly. Work on this for 5 to 10 minutes to make sure it becomes second nature.Start by playing this rudiment on a pad or on your snare drum at a slow tempo (around 60bpm). You can then speed things up until you’re playing it at 100bpm.Don’t skip any steps! To learn how to play a drumbeat quickly, you need to be able to play it slowly and make sure you’re hitting every beat.The second step consists of adding a bass drum beat on the first and third beats and then opening and closing the hi-hat on the second and fourth beats.Try practising moving your feet on their own at 60bpm (with the help of a metronome) and then start increasing the tempo.Once you’ve mastered using your hands and feet separately, bring everything together.  Once again, start slowly at around 60bpm and work your way up to between 110 and 120bpm.Make sure to accent the beats on the paradiddle. This will help you keep time.To make things more difficult, you can do a double bass drum hit on alternate beats.You can also add offbeat bass drum beats.First beat: right hand and bass drum, left hand, right hand, right hand.Second beat: left hand and hi-hat, right hand, left hand and bass drum, left hand.Third beat: right hand and bass drum, left hand, right hand, right hand.Fourth beat: left hand and hi-hat, right hand, left hand and bass drum, left hand.Don’t panic if you’re struggling to speed things up when you first start! Just stay at 60bpm and you’ll start progressing.  Practise these exercises for around 20 minutes per drumming session.You can also change things up by playing the bell on the ride cymbal with your right hand and keeping your left hand on the snare drum.This type of exercise is both creative and technical and you could also implement it into one of your compositions. It’s a grea t way to work on your coordination and using your limbs independently.Go grab your drumsticks! SerbanDrum Teacher 5.00 (11) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyDrum Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RussellDrum Teacher 5.00 (4) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JamesDrum Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors StephenDrum Teacher 5.00 (3) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PeteDrum Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OllieDrum Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexDrum Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsDrum Training: Recreational SessionsWhen learning an instrument, we can sometimes forget to have fun with it.In addition to practising, you also need to play for fun. (Source: 889520)When you focus solely on technique, you lose the fun aspects of playing a musical instrument. This can have a negative effec t on your motivation in the long run.  We play musical instruments mainly for enjoyment, after all!Don’t forget to set aside some time to just have fun with your drums. This could be at the end of a long drum session.You can also schedule this for after a hard day of work in order to relieve stress.  This is good for your mind and will also help you improve your drumming.You can improve your creativity by playing a song you like or by creating your own compositions.More Advice on Improving Your DrummingIt’s not always easy to teach yourself. Sometimes your motivation will waiver. Here’s some advice to help you stick at it.When you buy a drum kit, you can feel tempted to play it constantly! Make sure that your playing doesn’t become a chore so that you can get the most out of it.If you don’t have the time to practise an hour each day, you’ll have to play smart.6 20-minute sessions a week are far more beneficial than a few sessions lasting 2 or 3 hours.Almost everyone shou ld be able to find 20 minutes to practise daily. You have to dedicate this time to drumming.Start by playing the end of a song or fill that you’re struggling with.We tend to start playing music from the beginning. This means that you’re usually a master of the beginning. However, your focus will dwindle and your playing will be negatively affected.By starting in the middle or the end, you’ll have an opportunity to practise and learn parts of the song that you won’t play as often because you decided to start playing another song (we all do it!).Film yourself! Filming yourself playing the drums is a great way to make sure you’re adopting the right posture and see exactly how you’re playing.Be critical, especially when you first start. You’re not going to be amazing when you first start. It’s important to correct mistakes the first time you make them so that you won’t pick up any bad habits.  Of course, make sure to reward yourself for good work, too.If you’re strug gling, I recommend getting a drumming notebook and writing time your objectives and the goals you’ve achieved. Do an appraisal each month. You’ll soon see how much you’re progressing and will feel encouraged by it.It doesn't matter what kit you have, it's important you practise. (Source: jonnyeaston)Drumming VocabularyRegardless of the instrument  that you’re learning, you’ll need to learn all the lingo.Crash CymbalThis is a small cymbal measuring between 14 and 24 inches in diameter which produces a powerful and intense sound than diminishes quickly.MalletA mallet is a drumstick with a felt or woollen ball on the end. They’re generally used for orchestral drums.

What is it Like to Attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

What is it Like to Attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teach theyre sharing their college experiences as well. Ryan is a Chicago tutor who specializes in College Essay prep tutoring, World History tutoring, Geometry, and more. He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 with a degree in Political Science and History. See what he had to say about his alma mater: VT: Describe the campus setting and transportation options.How urban or safe is the campus?Are there buses or do you need a car/bike? Ryan: The setting is downstate away from the hustle and bustle of the Chicago area in the quiet towns of Champaign and Urbana. It is a safe campus and the bus system is very reliable. The campus is quite large but not so spread out so that you may walk, bike, or bus around campus in a timely manner. I would not recommend a car unless you live off campus, as on-campus parking is expensive and it is difficult to find a parking spot. VT: How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants? Ryan: For such a large university, U of I is very personable. I found that I was able to talk to professors, AAs, and TAs whenever I needed to do so. VT: How would you describe the dorm life rooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Ryan: U of I has the largest Greek (fraternity/sorority) system in the country. Socialization opportunities are widespread. The dorms are O.K., and they are large so that you will find that you have an increased opportunity to find your niche of friends. Many restaurants on campus, and many places deliver very late. VT: Which majors/programs are best represented and supported?What did you study and why? Did the university do a good job supporting your particular area of study? Ryan: I would have to say that U of I is best known for its Engineering and Computer Science programs. If this is your interest, a job after graduation is guaranteed. I studied Political Science and History in the Liberal Arts and Sciences College. Renowned scholars are in this area, and U of I has a world-class reputation in its LAS programs. I entered graduate school with the tools to succeed because of U of I, and am rapidly approaching attaining my PhD. VT: How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life? Ryan: As mentioned above, U of I has a large Greek system. I myself did not join a fraternity, as I had many friends from high school also attending U of I. I also befriended many people on my dorm floor. As U of I is a large school, I would say making friends as a freshman is easier than other schools. VT: How helpful is the Career Centerand other student support services?Do many reputable companies recruit on campus? Ryan: U of I is Illinois flagship university. I cant think of a company that does not come to campus looking for employees. VT: How are the various study areas such aslibraries, student union, and dorm lounges? Are they over-crowded, easily available, spacious? Ryan: Libraries can get overcrowded at night, so get there early. There are plenty of them, however, so you can find your favorite! There are enough places to study. I would recommend staying away from dorm lounges, as they usually end up being social forums and you cant get much studying done. Libraries, coffee shops, and the student union are where I went to study. VT: Describe the surrounding town. What kinds of outside establishments / things to do are there that make it fun, boring, or somewhere in between?To what extent do students go to the downtown area of the city versus staying near campus? Ryan: Champaign-Urbana is a small dual-city area of about 100,000 people. It is compact and small and easy to navigate. The town offers everything that a Chicago suburb may, but other than that there is not anything that really stands out about the area. Campus is the best part of town, so I recommend staying close. Besides, you are there to study anyway, right? VT: How big or small is the student body? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes? Ryan: Lectures can be huge. My biggest class had nearly 800 students. However, you are also assigned a discussion section with a TA for each large class so that you can have the personal and small class setting as well. These are usually about 30 students per class. The upper-tier classes when you are a junior and senior are smaller and more personalized. VT: Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one youregretthe most. Ryan: My favorite class was a political science class with Professor Scott Althaus. It was on the science of campaigning. We did real-world statistics and marketing strategies to learn how campaign managers do what they do and win elections; a very interesting and very real-world applicable class. Check out Ryans tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

How To Tour A College Online

How To Tour A College Online The Internet has officially made everything more convenient. That everything now includes selecting your college. Campus Tours has just launched a new website that features online, virtual campus tours of select colleges. This new site is adding to a multimedia explosion of disseminating college videos, photos and information. Most colleges have some form of a virtual tour either on their website, Facebook page or Youtube channel. Some are videos, and others are just photo collages of campus. And the best part is that most of these videos were done by students, giving them a more student-friendly feel. Campus Tours is simply trying to consolidate all this content into one site. It claims to have thousands of virtual college tours and interactive maps. Students can search by school name, state or alphabetically. Campus Tours also gives enrollment information, tuition figures, degrees offered (associates bachelors masters etc) calendar system (quarters or semesters), admission requirements and sports/athletics information. This information can make students college decisions much easier; however, a virtual tour simply cannot compare to an actual campus tour. Students need to be wary of this information. Some colleges have great multimedia schools, giving them the resources to produce high-quality virtual tours. Other schools dont have those resources and probably filmed their tour with a flip video recorder. So, dont be fooled. Just because a college has a better-quality virtual tour does not mean it has a better campus. These virtual tours can help students narrow down their list to a handful of schools. But, its always wise to take a live tour before committing to a college, before committing close to $100,000. Campus Tours currently features complete, interactive virtual tours from The University of Miami, Albion College, The University of Denver, Nova Southeastern University, Austin College, Suffolk University and the College of Saint Benedict at Saint Johns. The site also publishes interviews from students for these select colleges. Campus Tours created these videos in-house, rather than relying on schools to produce them, giving an unbiased approach. Also, the tours for these schools are much more interactive and comprehensive than other schools. 3T4D6PGG25SS

Chloroplast

Chloroplast Chloroplast: Chloroplast can be defined as one of three types of plastids, characterized by its high concentration of chlorophyll, the other two types, the leucoplast and the chromoplast, contain little chlorophyll and do not carry out photosynthesis. Plastid definition:Plastids are double membrane bound semi-autonomous organelles present in all living plant cells and photosynthetic protists. Chloroplast characteristics: It has a double membrane which encloses a fluid-filled region called the stroma. Embedded in the stroma is a complex network of stacked sacs. Each stack is called a granum and each of the flattened sacs which make up the granum is called a thylakoid. The thylakoid membrane, that encloses a fluid-filled thylakoid interior space, contains photosynthetic pigments. There are many grana in each chloroplast which are interconnected by unstacked stromal lamellae. The lipids of the thylakoid membrane have a distinctive composition. About 80% lipids are uncharged mono- and digalactosyl diacylglycerol and only about 10% are phospholipids. Functions of Chloroplast: Photosynthesis: Photosynthesis is a photochemical process by which the green plants convert the light energy into chemical energy in the form of reducing power and ATP, and use these chemicals to drive carbon dioxide fixation. Light is harvested by a specialized pigment called chlorophyll which is located in choloroplast. Chlorophyll: Chlorophyll, a light-absorbing pigment, contains a polycyclic, planar tetrapyrrole ring structure. Chlorophyll is a lipid soluble pigment. It has the following important features: The central metal ion in chlorophyll in Mg2+ Chlorophyll has a cyclopentane ring fused to pyrrole ring III The propionyl group on a ring IV of chlorophyll is esterified to a long-chain tetraisoprenoid alcohol. In chlorophyll a and b, it is phytol.. Oxygenic photosynthetic organisms contain different types of chlorophyll molecules like Chl a, Chl b, Chl c, and Chl d. There chlorophyll molecules differ by having different substituent groups on the tetrapyrrole ring. An-oxygenic photosynthetic organisms contain bacteriochlorphyll molecules. They are related to chlorophyll molecules. Accessory pigments: Besides the major light-absorbing chlorophyll molecules, there are two groups of accessory pigments which absorb light in the wavelength region, where chlorophylls do not absorb energy. The two types of accessor pigments are carotenoids and phycobillins. Location of photosynthetic pigments: In oxygenic photosynthetic organisms, photosynthetic pigments are found in thylakoid membranes. In anoxygenic photosynthetic organisms such as green Sulphur bacteria, photosynthetic pigments are found in plasma membrane and vesicles called chlorosomes attached to the plasma membrane. In the purple Sulphur bacteria, the bacteriochlorophylls are located in invaginations of the plasma membrane called chromatophores. Ultra-structure of chloroplast: The chloroplasts are covered by two plasma membranes. Each membrane of the chloroplast is tri-laminar and lipo-proteinous. The contents of chloroplast are heterogeneous. They consist of: The matrix or stroma: The internal space of the chloroplasts is occupied with a liquefied and transparent material called as the matrix or the stroma. It is the site where grana and inter-grana stay embedded. The grana: The chloroplasts comprises of many granular and chlorophyll containing structures, known as the grana. The size of the grana may vary from 0.3 - 1.7 microns. The chloroplasts may sometimes consist of 40 to 60 grana in the matrix. Each granum is further made of 10 to 100 dice-like, overlaid, membranous sections called as thylakoids. Each thylakoid is disconnected from the stroma or the matrix of the chloroplast by its membranes. Concept of photosynthetic unit: In 1932, Robert Emerson, and William Arnold provided the first evidence for the cooperation of many chlorophyll molecules in energy conversion during photosynthesis. They suggested that not all the chlorophyll molecules in a chloroplast were directly involved in the conversion of light energy into chemical energy. Using suspensions of the alga Chlorella and flashing lights of very short duration a saturating intensity, they determined the minimum amount of light needed to produce maximal oxygen production during photosynthesis. Based on the number of chlorophyll molecules present in the preparation, they calculated that one molecule of oxygen was being released during a brief flash of light for every 2500 molecules of chlorophyll present. It was later shown that a minimum of 8 photons must be absorbed to produce one molecule of oxygen and for this about 300 or so chlorophyll molecules act together as one photosynthetic unit in which only one member of the group- the reaction center chlorophyll- actually transfers electrons to an electron acceptor. The majority of the chlorophyll molecules serve as an antenna complex, collecting light and transferring the energy to the reaction center, where the photochemical reaction takes place.Chloroplast

Get A Professional Online Tutor- Whenever You Need Help

Get A Professional Online Tutor- Whenever You Need Help 0SHARESShare Over the last few years, online tutoring websites have really gained recognition. Students want to get rid of their hectic routine and Online tutoring is an ideal solution to this problem. This can be done at home, on a computer, and is a much cheaper alternative to classroom tutoring. The process allows students to plan their own schedule and choose courses relevant to their requirement. The technology has useful flexible features that allow students and tutors to share a private virtual classroom, a platform that allows tutors to identify students’ limitations and help them to gain confidence. Tutor Pace is a reliable online tutoring website where students can find answer to their questions; not only that they get help with any subject but homework as well. Students can work in a one-on-one secure environment on an interactive whiteboard. The online tutors provided are professional, caring and qualified to raise your child’s grades in any subject. [starbox id=admin]

Summer Tutoring Programs for High School Students!

Summer Tutoring Programs for High School Students! Summer brain drain in your kid could be avoided, if you induct him in any of the Summer Tutoring Programs to enhance his     skills and recoup the lost threads in understanding the previous year subjects. The primary aim of these programs is to instill hope in the students to enter the next year with positive vibes and upbeat spirits. Summer Tutoring Programs- key targets ·                 Personalized to the core to avoid the setbacks of the  routine schooling with its hampering side effects on the students ·                 Recompensing for the lost grades of the previous year with skill centered workshops in all subjects ·                 Giving room for the students to exercise their brain when they normally tend to succumb to summer slide with inertia and inactivity in academics- a lapse that closes in on the students over a long period, say, almost one third of their duration in a Grade in their academics ·                 Brainstorming with diagnostic tests for spotting out weak areas in learning that caused stress in previous year studies Summer Tutoring for High School Students-necessary curtain raiser In many of the cases, Summer Tutoring program for high school students is designed with a pre oriented idea to shape the students’ minds towards oncoming challenges in the name of college admissions, standardized test preps and so on.  It is crafted to equip student caliber with skills that step up success stories for them in Math, Science and English. Some tutoring services strategic the courses in such a way that they stand out as precursors to the college environment, with an idea about the new courses in the college and the requisite skills for them.   Most of these programs show the high school students the gateway for cracking ACT, SAT or PSAT with their customized course-ware that aims at the implementation of test prep strategies in a personalized manner with an eye for rectification of weak areas for fabulous scores. They provide a kit for study skills in Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing and Math to ensure your excellent college entries through quality summer prep.   Summer vacation is for beaches, holiday trips and other sprees â€" true. Still, a penchant to go ahead in your academics is the quintessence of your success in ongoing studies which is propelled by Summer  Education  especially for high school students who usher in a new world with lots to achieve.

GCSE Poem analysis Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney

GCSE Poem analysis Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney What is it about? Seamus Heaney's poem has a helpful title: it is a dramatic monologue from the perspective of an villager on a remote island, probably in the Irish Atlantic, about the storms his community face and their effects. Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney We are prepared: we build our houses squat, Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate. This wizened earth has never troubled us With hay, so, as you see, there are no stacks Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees Which might prove company when it blows full Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale So that you listen to the thing you fear Forgetting that it pummels your house too. But there are no trees, no natural shelter. You might think that the sea is company, Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits The very windows, spits like a tame cat Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo, We are bombarded with the empty air. Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear. Title The title is simple, but by having no article (no 'a' or 'the' to begin the title), Heaney makes his description even simpler, even generalising so that Storm on the Island could describe any storm on any island. However, we realise that this is a particularly bleak and isolated place: 'no trees, no natural shelter'. Form The poem is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter - blank verse. The lines are usually enjambed - the sentences do not stop with the lines - but the occasional line contains a full sentence, like the last, which gives a strong indication of reaching the end of the speaker's pondering. Enjambing a single, monosyllabic word like 'full | Blast' makes the most of this overlapping pattern, adding stress onto the words placed first in the line against the generally rising rhythm of the whole piece. Sound Heaney really uses the full range of consonance, assonance, alliteration and other sound patterns in the poem. This helps create a noisy recreation of the wind and rain thrashing the bare island. The 'comfortable' explosions of waves echo on the 'cliffs', with the hard 'c' sound providing the sound of the attacking wave and the final 's' on 'cliffs' echoing the hiss as the wave retreats over the stones. Later when the water is flying, the spray 'hits' the windows and an internal rhyme with 'spits' repeats this harsh contact. The poem ends with open, empty sounds, including a half-rhyme between 'air' and 'fear'. But read the poem in an Irish accent and you might be rewarded with a final full-rhyme to close off the verse. Voice Storm on the Island begins with the resolute determination of someone sure about himself and his people. The very simplicity of the sentence 'We are prepared' speaks of confidence. There is also a self-deprecating humour in the phrase 'This wizened earth has never troubled us | With hay', giving the impression that the speaker is glad not to have the bother of being able to grow anything! In a way, the pride of the speaker for the earth beneath his feet - his island - is the opposite of the 'huge nothing' that he says they fear. The speaker has a friendly tone, reminiscent of Browning's monologue 'Fra Lippo Lippi', particularly in the phrases 'you know what I mean' and 'You might think'. Imagery The speaker compares the sea to a cat (fickle and liable to seem friendly, then scratch!), and the wind to an attacking aircraft ('while the wind dives | And strafes invisibly'). These comparisons have different effects. On the one hand we return to the idea of a community defending itself, as in the first lines, against an invader. On the other hand, there is a familiar, comfortable undercurrent of knowing the sea like a pet - even an unpredictable one. It seems that life on an island produces people who can think of something in two ways at once without worrying about contradictions. Attitude The speaker moves between defiance (at the start of the poem), awe, humour and finally admissions of fear. Yet throughout he maintains a calm tone, sure of the thickness of the stone walls around him. Perhaps that, rather than the storm itself, is what Heaney really wants to feature: the self-confidence of island people when faced with challenges. consonance Repeated consonant sounds within words (stacks and stooks) assonance Repeated vowel sounds within words (mean - leaves) For extra support with poetry analysis, why not book a lesson with one of our experienced  GCSE English tutor?  With Tutorfair you can browse through a selection of great tutors to find the right one for you. For More GCSE poem analyses similar to Love's Philosophy:  The Farmer's Bride, Love's Philosophy,  Neutral Tones,  The Yellow Palm,  Medusa, and Bayonet Charge.

How to Teach Common Core Reading

How to Teach Common Core Reading So how do you teach Common Core reading, anyway?A National Reading Panel Report published in 2000 suggests that there are five major areas where students struggle that can be supported with direct instruction or coaching:Phonemic awarenessPhonicsFluencyVocabularyComprehensionPhonemic AwarenessPhonemic awareness has to do with the ability to think about and pronounce sounds in spoken words.  Direct letter instruction is useful in helping students understand the link between the spoken and written word. This is especially true of students who are younger, are learning English as a second language, or who have some sort of learning difference. However, for the vast majority of students, learning phonemic awareness in a vacuum reaches peak usefulness at around 18 hours of direct, focused instruction this includes instruction from teachers at school, intervention specialists, and tutors. PhonicsPhonics bridges the gap between spoken and written English, teaching children the relationshi p between letters on a page and written English. Phonics is a useful tool in instruction for students of all backgrounds and strengths, but it is important to remember that it should not be treated as a workbook activity. Just like with phonemic awareness, teaching phonics works best in the context of speaking and reading. And while phonics is important to teach, its usefulness is generally limited to decoding and encoding, and it doesn’t necessarily address issues having to do with comprehension.FluencyThe third element of successful instruction is instruction in fluency. Fluency here means the ability to read a text rapidly and accurately with expression. This distinction means that we are discouraging students from simply decoding and word calling and encouraging them to read as we do as adults scanning the page ahead even as we read aloud and instilling emotion into our words.VocabularyThe fourth pillar is vocabulary. Both oral and reading vocabulary can be taught directly an d through reading. In teaching how to learn vocabulary, it’s as important to teach the skills necessary for vocabulary acquisition (dictionary and internet use, root study, etc.) as it is to directly teach words themselves.  With direct instruction, we can successfully introduce 8 10 words a week. Indirect instruction covers words encountered in reading and listening to adults speak and is often a larger component of vocabulary acquisition if only because there is no vocabulary filter on the world. ComprehensionThe last component is comprehension. Comprehension can be seen as our overall goal in reading instruction, of course, but coaching comprehension strategies creates good readers just as surely as learning vocabulary and working on fluency. Good readers read for meaning rather than words. They read with purpose and ask questions as they read. Comprehension strategies are skills we can and should teach at every level of reading instruction rather than waiting for students to get to an arbitrary ‘acceptable grade level.’ So why do students struggle? Every student is different, but after working with thousands of students here at AJ Tutoring, we’ve noticed that there are some commonalities as to where students struggle at what time. Problems with phonemic awareness and phonics generally manifest early in the reading process. Issues with vocabulary tend to develop over time as the relative vocabulary sizes of students who read for pleasure and those who don’t diverge. In our practice here at AJ, we tend to see vocabulary problems come to a head as students are preparing for middle and high school entrance exams like the ISEE and SSAT. Fluency is also a problem that can come up at any time as the pace of a class outstrips the pace of a student’s learning. Reading comprehension, similarly, can become a noticeable problem as late as high school or college even with comfortable readers if they don’t have the skills to know how to ask themselves qu estions and engage with text.How we can help The Common Core requires students to read more than ever, but the type of reading and how they are assessed on that reading can seem pretty different from how most of us learned to read. Instead of reading only fiction, our students are being pushed to branch out and read nonfiction earlier and earlier. However, the core strategies for teaching Common Core reading remain the same. So how do you teach Common Core reading, anyway?A National Reading Panel Report published in 2000 suggests that there are five major areas where students struggle that can be supported with direct instruction or coaching:Phonemic awarenessPhonicsFluencyVocabularyComprehensionPhonemic AwarenessPhonemic awareness has to do with the ability to think about and pronounce sounds in spoken words.  Direct letter instruction is useful in helping students understand the link between the spoken and written word. This is especially true of students who are younger, are learning English as a second language, or who h ave some sort of learning difference. However, for the vast majority of students, learning phonemic awareness in a vacuum reaches peak usefulness at around 18 hours of direct, focused instruction this includes instruction from teachers at school, intervention specialists, and tutors. PhonicsPhonics bridges the gap between spoken and written English, teaching children the relationship between letters on a page and written English. Phonics is a useful tool in instruction for students of all backgrounds and strengths, but it is important to remember that it should not be treated as a workbook activity. Just like with phonemic awareness, teaching phonics works best in the context of speaking and reading. And while phonics is important to teach, its usefulness is generally limited to decoding and encoding, and it doesn’t necessarily address issues having to do with comprehension.FluencyThe third element of successful instruction is instruction in fluency. Fluency here means the abilit y to read a text rapidly and accurately with expression. This distinction means that we are discouraging students from simply decoding and word calling and encouraging them to read as we do as adults scanning the page ahead even as we read aloud and instilling emotion into our words.VocabularyThe fourth pillar is vocabulary. Both oral and reading vocabulary can be taught directly and through reading. In teaching how to learn vocabulary, it’s as important to teach the skills necessary for vocabulary acquisition (dictionary and internet use, root study, etc.) as it is to directly teach words themselves.  With direct instruction, we can successfully introduce 8 10 words a week. Indirect instruction covers words encountered in reading and listening to adults speak and is often a larger component of vocabulary acquisition if only because there is no vocabulary filter on the world. ComprehensionThe last component is comprehension. Comprehension can be seen as our overall goal in read ing instruction, of course, but coaching comprehension strategies creates good readers just as surely as learning vocabulary and working on fluency. Good readers read for meaning rather than words. They read with purpose and ask questions as they read. Comprehension strategies are skills we can and should teach at every level of reading instruction rather than waiting for students to get to an arbitrary ‘acceptable grade level.’ So why do students struggle? Every student is different, but after working with thousands of students here at AJ Tutoring, we’ve noticed that there are some commonalities as to where students struggle at what time. Problems with phonemic awareness and phonics generally manifest early in the reading process. Issues with vocabulary tend to develop over time as the relative vocabulary sizes of students who read for pleasure and those who don’t diverge. In our practice here at AJ, we tend to see vocabulary problems come to a head as students are preparin g for middle and high school entrance exams like the ISEE and SSAT. Fluency is also a problem that can come up at any time as the pace of a class outstrips the pace of a student’s learning. Reading comprehension, similarly, can become a noticeable problem as late as high school or college even with comfortable readers if they don’t have the skills to know how to ask themselves questions and engage with text.How we can helpThe number one thing is, obviously, for children to read. To read often and widely, to read alone and in groups. Current research on teaching literacy suggests that to create high progress classrooms classrooms where students consistently attain high levels of academic achievement regardless of their background and are successful at Common Core reading we must structure our tutoring time in such a way that students are interacting with text at least seventy five percent of the time. Our ModelOur sessions are built on  the “read write read” format. A typ ical session might include a brief warm up activity, such as using a three minute singalong as a shared reading activity to promote fluency or a quick game of memory to practice sight words before moving on to the main part of instruction. ReadThe second part of our sessions is generally in the form of guided reading. The tutor introduces a text at or slightly above the student’s reading level for the student to read out loud. The tutor may pause the reading to ask questions about what the student thinks will happen next or to double check that the student has been thinking about what is happening in the text. Guided reading can also be a good time to address issues having to do with phonics and phonemic awareness in the context of meaningful text and to promote good habits in attacking unknown problems. WriteThe next part of session is typically dedicated to writing. For younger students, this time might be as simple as working writing just a couple sentences at a time that the t utor and student can check and read aloud together. For older students, this can be as complex as an ongoing writing project such as a short story or longer essay. ReadThe last part of the session is generally reserved for another reading activity, although for older students there is some flexibility. These second reading activities generally are smaller in scope and may include activities like having the student dictate a sentence to the tutor, which they can then read back, or creating and reading sentences from individual words written on moveable sentence strips. For older students, this time is valuable for teaching the sorts of skills they will be expected to know as part of Common Core reading, such as how to read for meaning in nonfiction and synthesize information into usable pieces. This can be done either with direct reading instruction or through ongoing projects that require students to gather information from multiple texts, such as small research projects that can be done in session.Planning and resultsThe last five minutes of session are generally reserved for a recap of instruction for that day with the parent and discussing any homework. This ensures that parent and tutor are on the same page about progress and areas of difficulty, and is also a good time for positive reinforcement for students. To be told that they are doing a good job with something is one thing. To be praised in front of a parent by an instructor can be even more powerful. Our goals for our studentsIt is always our goal as tutors for our students to outstrip us and to gain agency and independence as readers and learners. We’d love to talk with you about how we can meet that goal and master Common Core reading together!