The location where a high school student is tutored is vital to minimize distractions and ensure concentration. Areas in the home such as living rooms, dining rooms or dens may be the most convenient; however, they also are prone to distractions such as televisions, computers or the conversations of other family members. The ideal location for tutoring reading is somewhere conducive to study, such as a library, bookstore or classroom.
Reading comprehension is vital for not only high school students, but also college students. After he reads an essay, book or article, instruct the student to write a short essay regarding the main points of the piece. Also, instruct the student to include his own opinion regarding the material to promote critical thinking when reading stories or articles. Review the short essay for sentence structure, but mainly to see whether the student is grasping what the article means and how he is relating the information to his own life.
After instructing the student to read a certain amount of literature, openly discuss the material with the student. This requires your being familiar with the material. Being able to discuss the reading material helps the student learn how to ask proper questions and prompts the student to pay attention while reading. Don't merely discuss the present reading material during the tutoring session, but also talk about what the student is reading in school. Ask to see a list of current reading assignments, and ask questions about the material. Communicate with the student as if you have never read the material and need him to convey the main points of the story or article. This promotes greater effort by the student to comprehend the reading material.
As the student continues to undergo tutoring, increase the difficulty of the reading material. While most entry-level high school English classes may not require the student to read certain classics, assign specific homework for the student to read a set number of pages of classic literature. Not only will this provide the student with a challenge, but it introduces him to more difficult sentence structure, which requires her to pay more attention to fully comprehend the story. Book selections might include "The Catcher in the Rye," by J.D. Salinger; "A Tale of Two Cities," by Charles Dickens; and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," by Jules Verne.