Use popular classroom books for tutoring elementary aged literature. Younger elementary book choices include "Goodnight Moon," "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Older students read books by Judy Blume, Roald Dahl and Paula Danziger.
Focus on tutoring younger elementary students about main characters, plot and setting. After reading a story together, ask them questions about who they think the main character is, what the story is about and where the story takes place.
Use graphic organizers such as charts, webs and graphs when reviewing literature. Create a web organizer with the word characters in the middle. Have the student tell you every character in the book and graph it on the web. Do this for story ideas and themes too.
Read one chapter of the book you're tutoring during your first tutor session with an older elementary student. Have her keep a literature journal for each chapter that describes what the chapter is about and her opinions on the story.
Assign students a certain number of pages or chapters they should read before your next tutoring session. Remind them to record their literature summaries and opinions in their journal.
Review a student's literature journal and raise open-ended discussion questions about the story. Make sure he understands plot, character, theme and setting.
Brush up on literary terms such as plot, theme, setting, point of view, irony, symbolism, metaphor, simile and oxymoron. Give your student a quick, multiple-choice quiz on these terms during your first tutoring session.
Review literary terms before each tutoring session and have the student point out examples of these literary techniques in the book you're reading.
Tutor an older student using the literature novel she's currently studying in class or a novel she's studied but doesn't understand. If you're tutoring in the summer, choose a book in the literary canon for her grade level.
Plan time in each tutoring session for open discussion. This is the best way of judging whether a student understands what he's reading.
Create multiple-choice quizzes and essay questions for high school students. For extra practice, have the student create the exam and give it to you. Let him grade it and work on finding the answers within the literature.
Teach students about comparing and contrasting literature by using an anthology of short stories. Do a set of stories together and then assign two for the student to do on her own.