Background Information s1

Jenna Desiderio Michigan State University Fall 2010 TE 846

Term Project “Katy”

1 Background Information

Katy, a highly motivated and witty second grader became the student I chose

for this term project. She demonstrates an excitement for reading and writing but is

hesitant in her delivery. I believe that the one-on-one instruction I can provide to

her will help cultivate her confidence and will address specific needs and skill sets

that are preventing Katy from becoming the reader she wants and can be.

I was able to gather relevant instruction information from her previous

teachers that helped me to gain a better sense of her abilities and struggles. She

attended Pre-K on a part times basis in which the focus of instruction, in short, was

on environmental print and sound symbol association. Her kindergarten and first

grades school years showed a strong emphasis on the teaching of sight words and

sound symbol association. In addition to authentic literature in the classroom, basal

text and worksheets were used as instruction materials.

Her kindergarten teacher first expressed concerns about Katy’s reading

ability early in the year. Her teachers, and parents, expressed that Katy had a

difficult time staying focused for extended periods of time, as she was a very active

child. As time progressed her teachers noticed this was proving to be a hindrance on

her ability to stay focused and on task. Katy was staying on task for shorter periods

of time than before. While displaying some characteristics of ADD, her teachers

were weary of classify her at his time. It was believed that these behaviors would

dispel in relation to maturity factors as the year went one. However, anecdotal

records were taken and kept in case these behaviors persisted in her future.

2 Katy initially struggled with sound symbol associations, and later with decoding and recognizing sight words in kindergarten. For the majority of her kindergarten year, students were taught reading skills in a whole group setting. In the last few months of this school year, 2008-2009, guided reading groups were introduced. Katy was placed in the lowest level of those groups and showed minimal progress. It was recommended that she receive remedial reading instruction, which would begin in the first grade. At that time Katy’s records showed no indication of physical or developmental concern, as she was a typically developing student with good eyesight and auditory processing.

Since the beginning of first grade, Katy participated in pullout remedial reading three times a week. It was in these sessions that Katy received more direct instruction that was phonics based. Katy was reading from both basal texts series and literature-based material. Much of the reading methods inside her classroom revolved around daily oral reading from a variety of texts, the board, flashcards, worksheets, and books. As having a balanced approach, writing was strongly emphasized and inventive spelling celebrated. Due to the struggles she had with reading, her writing also suffered. It is documented that the letter combinations she created to “make” a word often did not make sense. Katy and her students were given multiple opportunities throughout the day read both independently and with a partner. Guided reading groups met two to three times a week, where Katy received more direct instruction based upon her individual needs.

It was evident that the combination of additional reading support and more direct instruction benefited Katy. It can be seen in the fact that by the end of the first

3 grade Katy was reading more strategically and at a more improved level. She tested at a DRA level 10 independent and on a primer level for work recognition. For Katy and her teachers, this was a success. As a reference point, by the middle of first grade students should typically be reading at an independent level 12 (Standard II).

When I met Katy, she was tested at a reading level of F according to Fountas and Pinnell. Katy shows a continued interest in reading independently and enjoys being read to. She gravities towards books that deal with animals, dogs in particular, and with funny female characters, such as Amelia Bedelia. When asked to read aloud, she does so willing. In initial observations I noticed that she tends to sound out each letter in each word. This causes Katy to ready extremely slow, which often hinders her comprehension of the text. There also seemed to be a strong reliance on picture clues. She did not stop often during reading, which signals again to me that there is no comprehension of the text she is reading. Reading to her, at this point, is simply sounding out words (Standard III).

As a result of my initial observations of Katy, I concluded that the focus of my unit would be on word recognition strategies. The three overarching goals of my unit became (1) Katy needs to understand that words are composed of units of letters and sound, (2) Katy needs to develop fluency in order to gain a better meaning of narrative and expository texts, and (3) Katy needs to transfer word recognition strategies to written texts. It was my hope that with the direct instruction I could provide to Katy, we could begin to break down some of the walls that are keeping her from becoming a better reader (Standard II).

4 Goals For Instruction

(1) Katy needs to understand that words are composed of units of letters and

sound.

Although this is not the only word recognition strategy that would benefit

Katy, it is the one I chose to focus on for this study. I wanted Katy to begin to

understand what words are not read letter by letter; by instead they are units of

letters and sound. By implementing this skill, she would be able to focus more

attention on making meaning from the text, rather than spending considerable

mental energy on decoding each letter in a word. I feel that the most efficient

way I could do this is Katy to understand words as units by teaching

phonograms (Standard I).

(2) Katy needs to develop fluency in order to gain a better meaning of

narrative and expository texts.

Fluency can be developed with repeated reading of narrative texts at the

independent reading level. I have observed Katy having difficulty reading grade-

level texts. Thus the instructional goal was to engage Katy in Reader’s Theatre at

her independent reading level. I planned to use stories that were on her level

and of interest to her; animals, girls, dolls. The engagement in several repeated

readings would help with the goal of increasing her reading rate with each

subsequent reading (Standard I, IV).

(3) Katy needs to transfer word recognition strategies to written texts.

When the QRI was administered, Katy was able to recall words in isolation,

but not in context. According to Stahl (2003), words are better learned when

5 seen repeatedly in various contexts. Since reading and writing are so closely

interconnected, the goal was for Katy to use writing to help increase her reading

skills. Therefore, I presented different forms of text; environmental, books,

poems, and posters. I wanted Katy to begin seeing words used in different

contexts (Standard I, VI).

Design of Case Study

The first session I had the goal of getting an overall idea of the student’s

reading abilities. Since Katy and I previously had a relationship, it was already a

comfortable and non-threatening situation experience (Standard IV). Katy

expressed she had a great interest and a positive attitude toward reading. She was

asked to take the Attitude Toward Reading survey (Mckenna & Kear, 1990). Her raw

score for recreational reading was a 31 and for academic reading a 28. Katy

expressed the she enjoyed reading new books and loves going to the bookstore with

her mother. She expressed that she likes to read aloud to her stuffed animals. She

also voiced that while she likes to read in school for information she finds those

books harder to read. She does not enjoy reading aloud in class, she feels

embarrassed and cant read “as fast” as the other students. We discussed how, in our

sessions, we would work on strategies to help her read, strategies in how do deal

with other students, and that in our session making mistakes is a way of learning

(Standard IV).

It is observed that Katy is highly distractible in large group settings and

would benefit more from one-on-one instruction. I had initially planned to work

with her in a small group but chose to alter this aspect. Katy and I worked in thirty

6 minutes intervals two to three times a week. During these sessions Katy was attentive and cooperative (Standard IV).

The first few sessions were focused on word families. I introduced Katy to the concept of word families and, in doing that, that words can have the same rime, but different onsets. The concept of word families was revisited over the course of the study for practice, review, and retention. I knew that Katy was a more tactile learner and thus for these sessions, Katy was able to use letter blocks in the sorting and creation of words, dry erase boards, and also picture cards. The next session was spent administering the Z-test and a DRA running record. These results helped guide my future sessions with Katy (Standard V, VI).

Word identification while reading, as well as, spelling when writing is often closely linked. It became apparent that Katy needed to increase her word attack strategies to better her identification of words and thus increase her reading fluency. I administered the QRI listening passage assessment, which was used to get a more analytical view of Katy’s comprehension strengths and areas in need of improvement. It was also an indication as to whether Katy’s attention to print was impeding her comprehension abilities (Standard V).

Upon my work with Katy it became clear that she was still in need of identifying and reading words as units of sound. She had difficulty decoding words with vowel digraphs. When she read words containing vowel diphthongs she also made many miscues. It was clear that the direction our next few sessions were to introduce, teach, and practice strategies in decoding words containing vowel

7 diphthongs and digraphs. In addition, we continued working with different word

families to stress that words are read as units of sound (Standard II).

Instructional Experiences and Outcomes

From my observations and informal assessments, in regard to the first

instructional goal of understanding words and units of letters and sounds, Katy was

able to process words quicker and more strategically by identifying phonograms

(onsets and rime). I identified common phonograms based on frequency of

appearance in texts, and phonograms Katy had difficulty reading on the Z-test.

When a more deductive approach was implemented in our sessions, Katy seemed to

make more connections and was able to retain and transfer these skills. For

example, Katy made an independent connection to the sound of AW and AL. I used

the word family poems to help Katy transfer the targeted skill from isolation into

context. This can be seen in some of the writing I asked Katy to complete, showing

her transfer of knowledge. Katy would often challenge me to grab a book, since we

worked in the library, and find words that match the targeted word family we were

working with. This demonstrated to me that her excitement for reading and

eagerness was and is present still. By addressing phonograms that contained short

and long vowel sounds, which were particularly difficult for Katy, she began to read

words with more fluency as a result of being able to identify rimes in certain words

(Standard I).

Again, based on my observations and informal assessments, Katy’s reading

rate began at an average of 11 words per minute (WPM), indicative of choppy

reading. Due to this, Katy’s comprehension was affected by her lack of reading

8 fluency, determined after administration of Listening Comprehension passage. In an effort to increase Katy’s fluency, Katy and I selected texts at her independent reading level and interests. Katy chose to read “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” which is, according to Fountas and Pinnell, at a level ten difficult. I set aside ten to fifteen minutes a day to devote to the rereading of the play. When we began she was reading about 20 WPM and by the end of this study, it had increased to 40 WPM.

Katy was hesitant in the beginning to perform this play during Reader’s Theatre, but again by the end of the study she was eager and excited to participate. Katy and I enlisted three other students to assist in the play of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.”

The group of students had such a fun time with this play, and I could see their excitement rubbing off on Katy. She stated that the idea of Reader’s Theatre didn’t seem too scary now that she had (fully) participated in one (Standard IV, VI).

As previously stated, words are better learned when they are seen in a variety of contexts. After explicitly teaching Katy the targeted skill, she was encouraged to read the words in different contexts; poems and songs. In addition she was expected to use the targeted words in her writing. For example, writing at least one sentence using some of the words worked with in that session. Katy demonstrated writing strengths on the Spelling Inventory (Mckenna & Stahl, 2003).

There was also an intention to connect reading and writing as they both strengthen one another. The act of encoding is much slower than decoding, therefore writing slows down the process and allows the writer to take time and focus on the targeted skill. Katy was eager to write using the words she learned. She expressed that she liked when I gave her the option to choose the words she would write in her

9 sentence instead of me saying to use a specific one in her writing. By writing her

own sentences, she was able to make more personal connections. In one instance,

she choose to write about how her dogs barks really loud when he sees the

mailman, the targeted rime being “AN” (Standard III).

Throughout our sessions together, I noticed an increase in risk-taking

behaviors, extending into different subjects such as math. She is reading with

greater ease and has been volunteering to read aloud and answer questions. This

may be a result of development as well as the increased one-on-one instruction. The

confidence she has in herself from the recent successes she has had is a huge

motivation. And since reading books at her level is helping to build her confidence,

she is more eager now then ever to continue learning skills so that she can read

higher level books. She has her eyes set on some Judy Moody books, serving as

another great motivator for her to keep practicing and working hard (Standard IV).

Katy also enjoyed the reading and writing experiences that give her a sense

of ownership. When given the chance to free write in class, Katy is more willing to

try the task. She enjoys collaborative work with other students, but is still easily

distracted. We have made progress in the weeks we have worked together and I

plan to continue working with her if time permits.

Summary of Assessments

Word Recognition:

The word recognition part of the Qualitative Reading Inventory-5 (QRI)

provides graded word lists and numerous passages designed to assess oral and

silent reading and listening ability of students from the pre-primer 1 through the

10 high school levels. The word lists do not contain context, so it allows the examiner to determine what strategies the reader uses to decode words in isolation. It allows the examiner to compare the strategies the reader uses to decode words in isolation and context. It also permits the examiner to determine what graphophonic clues the reader is using, or not using (initial, medial, ending) to decode words in isolation.

Additionally it allows the examiner to determine whether the student was able to identify the word automatically (read within one second), or whether they required additional time to decode a given word.

Katy was able to read the word list at a primer level before reaching frustration. She was able to read eighteen out of twenty words on the preprimer list automatically or within one second. She misread “other” and “place” on the preprimer list. “Other” was read as “ther”, and “place” was read as “plak.” Katy was able to identify these words, even though they were not read correctly. Although

Katy made two miscues on the Preprimer list, it seems as though she was utilizing initial, medial and final graphophonic cues. The preprimer list was read at an independent level.

Katy was able to read fifteen out of twenty words correctly on the primer word list. This word list was considered on Katy’s instructional level. Nine of the fifteen words were read automatically, while six of the fifteen words on the word list were identified correctly, but required Katy more than one second to decode. It also became apparent on the primer word list that when Katy was unfamiliar with a word she encountered, she would not attempt to decode the word when it was read in isolation. Instead, she replied, “I don’t know” or “skip.” Of the five words she

11 miscued, “every” was not attempted. Katy also made some substitutions, for

example, she read “nell” for “need”, “wswa” for “saw”, “want” for “went” and

“combs” for “comes.” These substitutions indicate that Katy is able to use several

graphophonic cues, but does not attempt to self question whether the words she

substitutes make sense (Standard V, VI).

It became more evident on the first grade word list that Katy’s strategies

included “skipping” unknown words. In fact, five of ten words that were considered

incorrect were not even attempted. Five of the ten words that were identified were

graphophonically similar in relation to initial and final letter positions. For example,

Katy read “farther” for “father”, “three” for “there”, “beard” for “bread.” Since Katy

received a 50% total, this level is determined to be her frustrational level.

In sum, this word list allowed me to determine that Katy is aware and uses

graphophonic cues to decode known and some unknown words. Specifically, that

Katy utilizes both initial and final letter positions most often. Although she does

display the use of medial letter positions, this occurred less frequently.

Katy was also given an informal phonics survey. According to these results,

Katy has mastered consonant sounds, consonant digraphs, and short vowels in CVC

words. She could however use review of consonant and vowel digraphs, and R-

controlled vowels. According to this assessment, Katy needs systematic instruction

on several vowel diphthongs (Standard III).

Reading Comprehension

Katy’s comprehension also reached frustration on the pre-primer passage of

the QRI. She scored a 3/5 on the comprehension questions. Her level of

12 comprehension was decreased because she interchanged the word “bug” and “ant”.

For example, the question states, “Where was the bug?” Katy’s response was “The

first one?” Katy may not have recognized that the author used rhyming cues. For

example, the passage states, “Who do I see on the plant? Oh I bet it is an ant.” Katy

seems to have been overly concerned about sounding out the words correctly,

rather than processing the meaning in the text. This is supported by Katy’s

statement (in the Elementary Attitude Reading Survey) that reading means being

able to sound out words correctly.

Katy scored at an instructional level on the primer passage. Many of the

questions answered correctly on the primer passage were explicit. She tested at an

instruction level for decoding and at frustrational for comprehension. She scored

lower on implicit questions on both leveled passages. She also expressed a dislike

for answering questions.

Retellings are also used to indicate how well a student recalled the details of

a particular story. Katy’s retellings on both the QRI and the DRA showed that she

might benefit from explicit instruction on story structure. When Katy retold the

stories, she often left out important details and did not provide the details in

sequential order. She may recall more details if she is able to think in terms of story

structure and sequence (Standard I, II).

Z- Test

The Z-test is a more advanced phonics assessment that targets a child’s

ability to make analogies to known words based on familiar rimes. The test consists

of 34 most familiar rimes, using the same onset, in order to focus the child’s

13 attention to the rime itself. The result is a series of pseudo words, all beginning with

the /Z/ sound.

Based on the DRA and the QRI, it was determined that Katy frequently

segments each word letter by letter. As a result, her reading is very labored and

slow. Her reading fluency suggested that she does not always process words as units

of sound. A Z-Test was given to determine which rimes (units) Katy was familiar

with and which ones needed further instruction. Katy’s overall score was 81%. She

had most difficulty with vowel digraphs and short vowels in four letter words.

Although Katy read 81% of the words correctly, she read them letter by letter. For

instance, “zit” was pronounced correctly, but it was read z/i/t. There were instances

when Katy read the word letter by letter, but then blended them together. Overall,

Katy’s reading was sounded out letter by letter, therefore, it is recommended that

Katy receive instruction on identifying onsets and rimes. In doing so, her reading

rate and fluency may increase, allowing more room for comprehension to take place

(Standard I, V).

Recommendations

 I recommend that Katy continue studying phonograms and word chunking

strategies along with other decoding strategies. Deductive and explicit instruction

seems to work better for Katy. Therefore, a more systematic approach is

recommended (Standard VI).

 Katy would also benefit from opportunities to read books at her independent

level. She should be given at least 15 minutes of independent reading time a day. She

14 would also benefit from learning how to select appropriate reading material, so she

can rely less on others for help when selecting texts (Standard III).

 Helping Katy to increase her reading fluency will help to increase

comprehension skills. Reader’s theatre and choral reading are excellent ways to

develop fluency and involves the participation of other students (Standard VI).

 Katy should also continue studying story structure. If Katy begins to think

about the text in terms of story structure, it will increase her chances of recalling

story details (Standard VI).

 Katy should continue developing sight vocabulary and using those words in

context. The use of interactive writing and shared writing can be used as a strategy

to show Katy that sight words are found in many different contexts. She should also

be encouraged to use sight words in her writing (Standard V, VI).

 It is also recommended that Katy engage in think-aloud strategies, so the

teacher can assess her thought process (Standard III).

 I recommend that Katy’s parents are familiar with what is being worked on

so that they can reinforce the strategies at home (Standard IV).

McKenna, M.C. & Kear, (1990). Measuring Attitude Toward Reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher.

McKenna, M. C. & Stahl, S. A. (2003). Assessment for reading instruction. New York: Guilford.

15 Session Lessons “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 1 Date: 9/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the student’s reading abilities. It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.

Materials needed:  Attitude Toward Reading Survey  Pencil  Varity of books at her reading level (F)  Folder, markers

Standard addressed:

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

Objectives for the lesson:  Student will be familiar with the general goals of each session  Student will take the “Attitude Toward Reading Survey”

Mini Lesson:

 Show Katy the variety of books  Ask her to choose a story to read aloud (asking her then why she chose that specific book).  Make informal observation on her oral reading skill (word recognition, use of picture clues, fluency, expression)  Then inform Katy that I want to know a little bit more on how she feels about reading at home and at school.  Have Katy complete the Attitude Toward Reading Survey  Have Katy decorate her reading folder addressing where she likes to read, what types of books she enjoys, favorite books or authors and anything else she would like me to know about her (see her folder in tools/resources).

Reflection: I noticed that Katy relied on pictures to assist her in reading. Additionally Katy sounded out every word letter by letter. Katy really enjoyed creating her folder.

16 This “get to know me” activity was fun and a great way for her to get to know me a little better and vice versa. I created a folder along with her and it was a bonding experience as we made many connections in our interests.

Notes for the next lesson: 1. Assess Katy’s word attack skills using the Z test in McKenna and Stahl. 2. Since Katy reads words letter by letter, I think she might benefit from learning that words are units of sound. 3. Introduce word families and use “AN” word family because she seems to be familiar with the ending and blends it well. 4. She may also benefit from making words lessons.

17 “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 2 Date: 9/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: As observed through Katy read aloud, she seems to read words by breaking down each letter sound in words. It is my intention to teach Katy that words are composed of phonemes. In order to accomplish this goal, I will introduce Katy to word families. I will also utilize Katy’s background knowledge so she can begin to build connections.

Materials needed:  Index cards with ILL and AN word families  Dry erase board and marker  Word Wheel

Standard addressed: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

Objectives for the lesson:  Student will identify the words with an “AN” word family  Student will be able to generate additional words that follow this pattern  Student will be able to formulate a sentence using a word from the “AN” word family.

Mini Lesson:  Activating Prior Knowledge: o Introduce Katy to the concept of word families by providing Katy with a word family album. o Show Katy album with me and my family inside. o Ask Katy what is similar and different in each of their names. Example: all first names are different, but all last names are the same.  Declarative Knowledge: o Explain that just like people words also share similarities and differences in their “names” Words have what we call word families. o In words the last unit (or like peoples last name stays the same- the rime), while the first chunk or onset usually changes (just like peoples first names). Demonstrate this on dry erase board.  Procedural knowledge/verbalization:

18 o Give Katy the ILL word family words as well as AN word family words o Present and read the words to Katy in each list of words (written on flashcards) o Ask her to categorize the words, using the flashcards o Then ask Katy how she categorized the words. If Katy is unable to produce the word family categorizes, then assist and provide guidewords for student. Ask student to state what is similar and different among the words. (The words have the same rime, but different onsets).  Guided Practice: o With teacher assistance, Katy will generate additional words that fit the AN word family. I will initial teach one word family at a time, so to not overwhelm student.  Independent Practice: o Choose at least 3 of your favorite AN word family words. Use these words in a sentence/or story.

Reflection: Katy seemed to be very cooperative. I think the one-on-one instruction will serve her well. During the lesson Katy was able to grasp the concept of word families and was able to categorize the set of index cards. I think working on word families was a very good choice and seemed to be the next appropriate level of word recognition for Katy. I also feel it is important for me to keep incorporating writing into our sessions.

Notes for the next lesson:  Review AN word families and read a book/poem that utilizes this pattern. Katy should practice identifying AN patterns around her environment. As a take home assignment I am suggesting that Katy search her environment to generate additional words that have this pattern. My goal is to show Katy that these words exist in her environment and it will also demonstrate that she is utilizing this skill.  Katy wanted to incorporate the AM word family in this lesson because she wanted to write her bears name Sam. She seems to have a high interest in her build a bear, so I may be able to utilize this for my next lesson

19 “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 3 Date: 9/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: I chose to address the AM family because I believe Katy still needs additional word attack strategies. In addition, Katy demonstrated a desire to incorporate the AM word family. I feel this ending will provide a strong basis for understanding how analogy works, and will provide Katy with the motivation to continue.

Materials needed:  Index cards with AM word families  Dry erase board and marker  Letter tiles  AM poem

Objectives for the lesson:  Student will identify the words with an “AM” word family  Student will be able to read words more fluently with the implementation of the analogy word attack strategy.

Mini Lesson:  Activate Prior knowledge: o Review the word family “AN” and the analogy strategy with Katy o Explain that we will be completing a similar activity with the AM word family as we did with the AN and ILL word families. o Ask Katy to repeat the strategy and the reason why it is beneficial.  Guided Practice” o Present Katy with word tiles o Ask her to make the word “a” o Then make the word “am” o Add additional letters to the beginning of AM to make other words. o Include consonant blends to see how Katy performs o Ask Katy to read additional words using pictures for scaffolding.

20 o Read the poem using AM words. Use paired reading for scaffolding and helping to increase fluency. o Have Katy write three words in her folder o Highlight and identify the AM endings in the poem o Have Katy write a sentence using AM word endings

Reflection: Katy enjoyed the lesson today. I learned today about the deductive approach and I’m thinking this may be a beneficial teaching method. Katy does very well with structured lessons as noted in the interviews with her teachers and my own observations. When we worked with making words, without the word sorts, she was able to focus on the word ending. I also think it would be a good idea to show Katy what would happen if she added an “e” to the end of “am”. We weren’t able to get the writing done today. I think applying the strategy to writing is also helpful. By spelling out the words, it slows down her thinking process, so she can internalize the strategy. I plan to have her do this in next session.

Notes for the next lesson: Complete a running record (use the DRA materials). Assess Katy’s reading fluency, comprehension and word attack strategies. This will give me a better knowledge base of Katy’s strengths and areas in need of improvement. Assess Katy’s independent, instructional, and frustrational reading levels. If time permits teach the AME word family.

21 “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 4 Date: 10/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: Assess levels of independent reading, instructional reading and frustrational reading levels. Administer Z-test.

Materials needed:  DRA record level 10, 12  Z-test  Pencil

Objectives for the lesson:  Student will utilize word attack skills to complete the tests.

Mini Lesson:  Administer running record (level 12 then 10)

Reflection: I noticed that Katy often relied on the picture clues to assist her in making predictions and word attacks. There was one picture that was difficult to interpret and required the reader to make an inference. She first looked at the picture and expressed that she was sure what was happening. She said he needed to look at the text to help her figure out the meaning. This tells me that she does use context clues to help her and not only the pictures and prior knowledge. Katy also seemed to use graphophonic clues to assist her with word attack; however, she rarely self-corrected her miscues. For example, when Katy read, “My cat had kittens” Katy read, “My cat had cats.” This doesn’t change the authors meaning, but it’s apparent that the word substitutions are graphically similar. I also noticed that Katy often paused when she came to an unfamiliar word. This impacted her reading fluency considerably. Her reading rate was an average of 10 words per minute. Hence, I believe

22 Katy would benefit from instruction on word attack strategies. This way, she can spend less time decoding words and focus on the authors meaning. Katy seemed to have adequate comprehension, but required teacher prompting in order to give additional details. She would probably benefit from lessons focusing on story structure. For the purpose of our sessions, I would like to focus on word attack strategies, but Katy needs these additional reading skills in order to be a more strategic reader. She seemed to miss the “ED” endings on many words, such as “wanted” “helped” and “loved.” She would benefit from instruction on suffixes for additional strategies. Katy scored a 92% on level 10 and an 88% on level 12. Therefore, her independent reading level is a 10 and frustrational is a 12 on the DRA. On the Z-test Katy scored an 81%. She was able to decode 29/36. Many of the words she miscued were vowel diphthongs and NK ending. She also read each word letter by letter, for example, Zank was read z/a/n/k, but then Katy blended the sounds together to produce zank. She spent most of her time decoding each sound; hence I still uphold my hypothesis that Katy would benefit from word chunking. Also this test showcased many of Katy’s abilities. She demonstrates an ability to use many phonics rules, but as I have noted in previous lessons, she is not always consistent in using these rules.

Notes for the next lesson: Continue teaching Katy word chunking and word families. Work on the AME family.

23 “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 5 Date: 10/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: This lesson will use a deductive approach to teach the AME family.

Materials needed:  AME word family index cards  “Word Name Rap”  White board/markers

Objectives for the lesson:  Student will identify the AME word family pattern.  Student will distinguish between the long and short a sound due to the silent e pattern.  Student will create additional words that follow the AME word family pattern

Mini Lesson:  Review skill/activate prior knowledge: o Write “a” on white board. Ask what 2 sounds does this letter make? o Write “am” on board what word family is this? o Introduce the silent /e/ (student is familiar with silent e rule) o Point to each letter and produce its sound (a/m/e/) the e does not make a sound, but makes the long “a” o Point to the letters and ask student to repeat. Then blend sounds together. Put a dot under “ame” for visual discrimination. o Add the onset s. Point to s and say its sound then blend with the rime. Rime is read as 1 unit. Then blend all the letter sounds together. o Proceed with several examples until I feel student understands.  Guided Practice:

24 o Ask student to produce additional onsets to form new words. Repeat steps above, but transfer responsibility to student. o Read the rap song “Word Name Rap” when teacher raps, student needs to identify when they hear the AME word family. Student can place an X on white board every time he hears the sound AME. When I’ve finished rapping student will count and compare her phonemic awareness to print. So, if student heard 3 words that ended in AME we would then compare by reading song together and count how many words were in song. o Student will then read song independently. o Student will list at least 3 favorite AME words and use them in a sentence.

Reflection: I was very impressed with this lesson. Katy seemed to enjoy these activities especially competing with herself to determine if she heard all the AME sounds. I also think the deductive approach is working great. She seems to pickup on the skill much quicker, which leaves more time for practice and repetition, which is critical when learning a new skill. She also began making connections without being prompted. She noted that the long a sound in name sounded like the long a sound in plane. The fact that she is making connections to other words is telling me that this form of instruction is probably best. I continue to think writing is important for the transfer of knowledge. I believe it slows down the process for her so she’s able to analyze each word.

Notes for the next lesson: Begin Reader’s Theatre.

25 “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 6 Date: 10/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: Administer the QRI assessment. The rationale for the QRI assessment is to get a better more analytical view of Katy’s reading strengths and areas in need of improvement.

Materials needed:  Isolated word lists  Passages pre-primer- third grade based on isolated word lists  Pencil

Mini Lesson:  Administer test

Reflection:  Katy scored independent on the pre-primer word list and instructional on primer. She seemed to use many graphophonic cues when attempting to read these words. For example when she read, “want” for “went”, she used the graphic clues, but did not pay attention to the middle sound/letter.  Her fluency was low, so I will continue addressing this through our use of Reader’s Theatre.  I also noticed that Katy needed several prompts in order to supply many of the details. When responding to the comprehension questions, her retelling was not always in sequence. She may benefit from lessons on story structure.

Notes for the next lesson: Begin Reader’s Theatre.

26 “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 7 Date: 10/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: I noticed that Katy was able to decode consonant sounds, consonant digraphs. However, she had difficulty decoding words with vowel digraphs. Introducing strategies to decode words containing vowel diphthongs and digraphs would help increase Katy’s decoding strategies.

Materials needed:  White board/marker  Picture cards  Word family sheets  A Crow With Flaws

Mini Lesson:  Activate prior knowledge o Review past word families learned.  Declarative o Explain that we will be learning a new word family that ends in AW. This sound or family is created when with two letters AW  Procedural o Ask student to make the ahhhh sound. Create visual representation of sound. Example: When one sees a cute little kitten playing with a ball of string they may say ahhhh., or when your brother gets the toy you wanted for Christmas you might say ahhhh. Ask student to generate some more examples. o Write the letters AW on the white board. This is what the Ahh sound looks like. 27 o If I added a b to the beginning of AW it would say “baw” if I added a c it would say “caw” o What would happen if I added a j to the beginning of AW? Ask student to generate additional AW word families. o Have student write additional AW word families. o Read sentence containing AW sounds. Ask student to tally how many AW sounds he heard, then check by having student read and circle the words in the sentence. o Show student picture cards with AW words and non-AW words. Ask her to select pictures that follow AW sound  Transfer o Ask student to read A Crow With Flaws. Highlight words that follow AW pattern.

Reflection: According to Stahl (2003), if a student hears a word in different contexts, they are more likely to retain that word to memory. I think that this theory may have been true for our lesson as well. The fact that Katy heard and saw the AW and AL pattern using multiple exposures and contexts helped her to retain the pattern in her memory. For example, when we were discussing that AW made the sound ahhh just like she might say if her brother received the toy she wanted. Katy enjoyed this activity and I think it helped her to make additional connections. Perhaps it was because she heard the sound in different contexts multiple times that it helped her to recall the sound AW makes.

Notes for the next lesson: I think it would benefit Katy to teach additional word families that follow the vowel digraph pattern

*Reader’s Theatre

28 “Teaching Project- Katy” Session 8 Date: 10/2011

Grade: 2

Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)

Session Objectives: Engage student in a Reader’s Theatre

Materials needed:  “Three Billy Goats Gruff”  4 students, including Katy, to preform

Mini Lesson:  Review what a Reader’s theatre is  Practice reading script (15 each day for a week)  Preform play

Reflection: Reader’s Theatre was a great way to engage Katy in reading aloud. Students were engaged and motivate, which rubbed off on Katy. This is something I plan to continue having my students participate in.