Student History
Due to legalities
I was unable to acquire a large amount of information regarding his school
progress and personal information. I
spent quite some time getting to know him through daily conversations by asking
him questions, and vice versa. He is a very verbal student and became engaged
in conversation once he felt comfortable with me working one-on-one with him. I
found that the student I worked with loves reading Dragon Blood books at
school, but he doesn’t read as much at home. He said he would read more if he
could get the Dragon Blood books and download them on his nook. He loves to
play for hours a day outside, running around, playing football and soccer, as
well as staying in and watching television. He has a very charismatic
personality that made this experience enjoyable, even when asked if he could
only read really short passages.
Name: Josh Date of Birth: August 4th Grade: 4th
Reason for Referral:
This student was
referred to me by my mentor teacher because she had observed that he struggles
with reading at the same speed as some of the other students in his grade.
Case History:
I was also unable
to get an interview with his parents, but they were aware and very supportive
of my efforts. He lives with both of his parents, his mother is American and
his father is Mexican. His mother helps translate because she teaches Spanish
at a school. He prefers to speak English at home and even if his parents ask
him a question in Spanish he answers in English. Growing up in a bilingual
household may have had an effect on his phonological awareness.
School History:
Due to legalities
I was unable to acquire a large amount of information regarding his student
records. According to his teachers he has been struggling with fluency and decoding.
They also said he typically struggles with his reading class, more so than math
and social studies.
Data Collection:
Josh seemed to
speed though the reading passages and had a hard time sitting still during his
readings. He would cooperate and read, but sometimes he would change the
inflection of his voice while reading by reading soft then loud at times in an
unusual accent. I could tell that he was starting to get uninterested and
restless after I had been administering the Basic Reading Inventory (BRI) pre-test
for 30 minutes. During the word list component of the BRI on a second grade reading
level he reached an independent level, but on the third grade reading level he reached
an instructional level. On a fourth grade reading level word list he barely
stayed at an instructional level. This is what grade level he should be reading
at, but he seemed to still need help with sounding out the words. I attempted
to have him read a fifth grade word list and he reached an
instructional/frustration level. The common miscues I found throughout his
reading of the passages for grades two and three is substitution of words with
other words that still made sense within the passage at an
independent/instructional level. Throughout the fourth and fifth grade reading
passages he forgot to read some of the words and the words that he did not know
he would attempt to say the words, but they were usually incorrect. He reached
an instructional level for fourth grade, but an instructional/frustrated level
for fifth grade. He would rush through the reading and lose his place often,
which is why he forgot to read some of the words in the passages and guess on
words he did not know. Josh has strong comprehension skills and reached an independent
level for grades two, three, and four with an independent/instructional level
for fifth grade. I assessed that his decoding and fluency skills were weak,
whereas his comprehensions skills were actually strong. This was confusing
since usually fluency and comprehension are correlated, as one improves so does
the other, and vice versa.
Problem:
I
as an educator can improve his reading fluency and decoding skills through the
use of timed reading passages, reading fluency flashcards, vowel digraphs, and among
other engaging reading activities.
Goal:
To improve his
reading fluency and word decoding
·
Practice timed reading passages
·
Use a tape recorder to record his reading and
play them back to him
·
Modeling the correct way to read a passage and
have him imitate how I read
·
Use flashcards to help him practice sight words
with vowels in them
I will
effectively evaluate these methods through timed reading charts and observe if
the number of words read per minute increased over time. I could also observe
if he was able to correctly complete the worksheets and identity the correct
vowel sounds on the reading fluency flashcards.
Hypothesis/Question:
If I have him
practice his reading by reading short passages, poems, and use flashcards to
practice vowels sounds, I anticipate that the students’ reading fluency and
decoding skills will improve.
Strategies:
A
typical tutoring session with Josh would begin with a warm-up to give me an
idea of what the student already knew and information that I would be able to
build upon during the lesson activities. Then I would start the learning
activities, which ranged from worksheets, to passage readings, to reading
games. After the learning activity I would assess whether he got the “big idea”
of the lesson through a wrap up or exit ticket. The wrap up would consist of
questions that needed to be answered by him to assist me in gathering feedback
pertaining to the learning activities or to evaluate his level of fluency or
decoding.
See attached lesson plans
Analysis:
I
don’t agree that the results of the BRI post-test accurately reflect the improvement
observed throughout the tutoring sessions. During one of the reading passages
and set of comprehension questions Josh was being videotaped and I think this
may have made him nervous. In general people don’t tend to perform well when
they are nervous or anxious about something. He remained the same level on the
second grade word list, improved one level on his third grade reading list, but
decreased a level on the fourth and fifth grade word lists. He didn’t try to
sound out many of the words that he did not know, instead he would say pass. Throughout
the reading passages on a second and third grade level he still remained on the
independent/instructional level with minor miscues, such as omission and
substitution. The reading passages on a fourth grade reading level he had more significant
miscues where he would change the word and it would change the meaning of the
content, but remained on an instructional level. During the fifth grade reading
passage he reached a frustration level and I could sense that he was giving up.
Reflection/Discussion:
I believe that the
reading strategies I implemented made a slight difference, but not enough
evidence was shown, according to the data recorded on the BRI post-test. Some
minor improvements were made, but overall the results were similar to those of
the BRI pre-test. I think if I was able to spend more one-on-one instruction
time with Josh, then he would be able to improve his decoding and fluency
skills. I also think that I could have taught him more beneficial reading
strategies, such as what to do when you don’t know a word. I attempted to
incorporate his interest of dragons into the tutoring sessions, which seemed to
go over well and his reading rate slightly increased. I would also spend more
time on teaching Josh more phonemic awareness through digraphs and elkonin
boxes that assist in segmenting words by breaking down syllables. This would be
beneficial because when he didn’t know a word he would say another word that
was either too many or too little syllables to be that word. I have learned
exactly what teaching reading entails and how I can incorporate basic reading
strategies in my classroom, as a future science educator. Reading is an ongoing
process that can continually be improved through the use of learned reading
strategies.
Action Plan:
It would be beneficial for Josh to
receive additional one-on-one instruction to bring him to an independent
reading level for fourth grade. I also think that enhances his strategies for
words he comes across during a reading passage that he does not know, such as
cover-ups and cross checking. I would also start out with shorter reading
passages on topics that he is interested in, then gradually extend the length
of the passages.
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