By Theresa Zunno-McFalls, Owner and Area Director of Club Z

Reading Comprehension:
The REDW Strategy for Finding Main Ideas
Elementary Schoolers are charged with the most important thing any of us ever set out to accomplish: learning how to read. Not just learning how to read the words but figuring out what it all means. REDW is a good strategy to use to find the main idea in each paragraph of a reading assignment. Using this strategy will help you comprehend the information contained in your assignment. Each of the letters in REDW stands for a step in the strategy.

Read
Read the entire paragraph to get an idea of what the paragraph is about. You may find it helpful to whisper the words as you read or to form a picture in your mind of what you are reading. Once you have a general idea of what the paragraph is about, go on to the next step.

Examine
Examine each sentence in the paragraph to identify the important words that tell what the sentence is about. Ignore the words that are not needed to tell what the sentence is about. If you are allowed to, draw a line through the words to be ignored. For each sentence, write on a sheet of paper the words that tell what the sentence is about.

Decide
Reread the words you wrote for each sentence in the paragraph. Decide which sentence contains the words you wrote that best describe the main idea of the paragraph. These words are the main idea of the paragraph. The sentence that contains these words is the topic sentence. The other words you wrote are the supporting details for the main idea.

Write
Write the main idea for each paragraph in your notebook. This will provide you with a written record of the most important ideas you learned. This written record will be helpful if you have to take a test that covers the reading assignment.

Managing Your Study Time
Middle School begins the after school sports and play practices along with more long-term assignments. Managing all that can be a struggle, and it’s too easy to forget your obligations. There are only so many hours in a day, a week, and a semester. You cannot change the number of hours, but you can decide how to best use them. To be successful in school, you must carefully manage your study time. Here is a strategy for doing this.

Prepare your Calendar
When you get your schedule of assignments and tests for a class, put it in your Calendar. Update it as the semester goes on. Here is what to do to prepare a semester Calendar.
*Record your school assignments with their due dates and scheduled tests.
*Record your planned school activities.
*Record your known out-of-school activities.
*Make a space for each class that you have so you can record homework.
Adding to the Calendar weekly
Each Sunday before a school week, add to your weekly schedule. Update it as the week goes on. Here is what to do to prepare a Weekly Schedule.
*Enter things to be done for the coming week (practices, activities…)
*Review your class notes from the previous week to see if you need to add any school activities.
*Add any out-of-school activities in which you will be involved during the week.
*Be sure to include times for completing assignments, working on projects, and studying for tests. These times may be during the school day, right after school, evenings, and weekends.
Prepare a Daily Organizer
Each evening before a school day, prepare a Daily Organizer for the next day. Place a √ next to each thing to do as you accomplish it. Here is what to do to prepare a Daily Organizer. Some people keep a space for a “To Do” list at the bottom of each day. *Enter the things to do for the coming day from your Weekly Schedule.
*Enter the things that still need to be accomplished from your Daily Organizer from the previous day.
*Review your class notes for the day just completed to see if you need to add any school activities.

Planning for College
Planning for college should begin once you enter high school. Here are things to do each year as you progress through high school.

Ninth Grade
Begin following a college preparatory program. Earn the credits you will need for college admission later on. Begin getting involved in extracurricular and volunteer activities. College admission officials value this participation heavily. Begin exploring your career preferences. This will influence your later choice of a college and a major. Work hard to achieve high grades. Your GPA will be an important factor in the college admission process.

Tenth Grade
Take the PLAN Test (pre-ACT) and/or the PSAT (preliminary SAT). This will provide you with valuable experience that will help you when you later take the ACT and/or SAT. You will also identify areas in need of improvement.

Start looking the minimum SAT and ACT scores for the colleges of your choice. Be sure you are also planning to take classes that those schools require or recommend for admission.

Begin exploring colleges on the Internet. Identify those that are recognized for strong programs in your areas of career interest.
Attend your school and other local school’s college fairs.

Eleventh Grade
Decide whether you will take the ACT, the SAT, or both. Consider your strengths and weaknesses when making this decision. Keep in mind that some colleges require one or the other. Take test preparation classes if you can. Club Z! offers a full 24 hour program as well as flexible program specific to a student’s know areas of need. Plan for 12-14 weeks for a full prep course so you can take it slowly and practice strategies between sessions. Begin taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes in your areas of strength. Take the ACT and/or SAT. Most students take the test in either January or March and then again May or June of the Junior Year. You can plan to take it again the fall of the Senior Year.

Consider visiting college campuses that meet your interests and capabilities. Make requests from the registrars’ offices for visitation tours of the campuses that you wish to visit. Talk with students attending these colleges and ask about their experiences as students there. Facebook is a great place to find out more about student life by searching for a specific college and their FB links.

Twelfth Grade
Continue to visit college campuses if feasible. Explore the community around each campus. Obtain letters of recommendation from teachers and others who can speak favorably on your behalf, and role models who have influenced you. Ask the writers to address why you would be a successful college student and what you can bring to a college. Retake the ACT and/or SAT to improve your scores if needed. When preparing to do so, focus your preparation on the areas in which you scored lowest.

Apply to more than one college. Admission to college is becoming increasingly competitive – “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Apply for financial aid and/or scholarships. College costs have become very high, but fortunately, financial assistance can be obtained if you look carefully at the many sources available. Guidance counselors can help you locate these sources. Don’t miss application deadlines for admission and financial aid.

Theresa Zunino-McFalls earned a B.S in Early Childhood and Elementary Education as well as an M.Ed in Special Education. She is the Owner/Area Director of Club Z! Tutoring serving Southern Chester County and Delaware. She resides in Avondale, PA with her husband and three school aged children.

Club Z serves Southern Chester County, Hockessin, Wilmington, Greenville, Centreville, Newark, Bear, and Middletown
Call today! (302) 834-5002 or (610) 268-5363
kvanhorn@clubztutoring.com or clubzscc@gmail.com