Summary

Mini Case Study

Recap:

            This semester I was given the opportunity to tutor a struggling reader from a local elementary school twice a week for three weeks. I was assigned a third grader named McKenzie. Before meeting with McKenzie for the first time, I was told that she was a level “I” reader. Level I is considered to be a second grade reading level. For our first meeting I gave her the Elementary Spelling Inventory in order to determine where she needed the most help. From the results of that test I determined that she needed help with words that use a within word pattern. To address this need we did a closed, open and blind word sort using “ou”, “ow” and “o”. I also determined that McKenzie needed to work on her fluency. I determined this by listening to her read the first and second times working with her. We worked on her fluency by doing reader’s theater so we could practice our expression while reading. Another area of need for McKenzie was reading comprehension. I determined her need for this by giving two running records. After each running record, I would ask her to retell me the story and she struggled to remember what she was reading. To work with her on this I went over two comprehension strategies with her; making connections and thinking aloud.

Next Steps:

            If I were McKenzie’s teacher, I would continue to work on fluency with her. To work on fluency she can introduce more reader’s theater to her and even have her do one with a student who demonstrates good fluency in order for McKenzie to hear what it sounds like. She can also practice fluency by doing a choral reading, echo reading or using joke books. These should be done with a student who demonstrates good fluency or the teacher if she is available. McKenzie’s teacher also should work with her on comprehension. She can do this by introducing the other reading comprehension strategies to her (questioning, summarizing, inferencing). At home, one thing McKenzie’s parents can do to help improve her reading is read out loud to her. Every night her parents should read her a few of her favorite books. Being exposed to reading and hearing what a good reader sounds like, will help to improve McKenzie’s reading because she will model what she hears. Another way McKenzie’s parents can help to improve her reading is by providing her with books and encouraging her to read at home. One of the problems why McKenzie might be a struggling reader is because she does not have books to read outside of school and has never practiced reading outside of the school day. By buying books or checking some out from the library, McKenzie will have books to practice reading. If McKenzie’s parents set aside time every night for McKenzie to read to herself or read to them, this will help improve her fluency because she is getting more exposure to reading.

What I learned:

            I feel really lucky to have gotten the opportunity to tutor a struggling reader. Throughout the semester we have been learning about how to teach reading, reading comprehension strategies, word sorts, writing development and so much more. By working with this student I was able to apply what I have been learning in class to a real situation. I learned what a big difference it is learning about it versus applying what I’ve learned to a real student who needs to learn what I know. It was awesome to be able to practice teaching what we have been talking about in class. I learned that literacy instruction is a well thought out process. It is more than just reading to students. I learned with struggling readers specifically, how to determine their exact needs and what things can be done to help them meet their needs. All the big things can be broken down into little things. It is such a cool feeling to see learning taking place and the improvement students make even after working with them for a short period of time. Through this experience I learned how to be a teacher. I learned how to ask questions or give prompts to students who are struggling with a word instead of just telling it to them. In order to write the objectives my student was to repeat and understand, I had to phrase them in a way that would make sense to 3^rd grader. I learned that it is not enough to just know the information; I also have to know how to teach it to a child in a way that is beneficial to them.

Lesson 5- Closed Word Wort, Reader's Theater and Running Record

Lesson 5

Emily Bowers

April 11, 2016

Objective: Good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to sort words that have “au”, “aw” and “a”. Good readers can read with expression by using appropriate tone, rate, and volume.

Assessments: Closed word sort, reader’s theater script

Procedures:

1.      Explain to student that they will be reading a book to you. Also mention that while you are reading you are going to listen and make notes.

2.      Next introduce the new word sort to the students explaining why they are no longer working with the words they have been. After, give student the new categories to sort the words into and allow time to sort all words. Then talk about how they sorted them and why. Address any words that were put in the wrong category.

3.      Explain to student that next we are going to practice reading with expression by reading from a script and acting out characters in a story.

4.      Read through script once without expression. Read 2-3 more times, practicing better expression each time by reading with appropriate tone, rate and volume.

5.      If time is leftover, have student read from a book and practice using expression while reading a book.

Closure: “Today you moved on to sorting more challenging words that use different spelling patterns than the other words we have been working with. We worked with “au”, “aw” and “o”. This is important because good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to identify what to use each of those vowel sets. Today we also practiced reading with expression by reading from a script and using appropriate tone, rate and volume. This is important because good readers can fluently and that includes reading with expression.”

Today was my last day working with McKenzie. We did another closed word sort today, but with different words. Today we focused on words that have "au", "aw", and "o". She was able to identify the different patterns the words had and sort them right away. After sorting them I asked her to read them for me and that is where she struggled, their were many words she did not know how to pronounce. We then talked about the sound that the vowels made with the words we were working with. Once she was able to identify the sound, she easily could put the words together by sounding out the first and last letter along with using the middle sound we talked about. Next, we did a running record. The first running record I gave her two weeks ago on a level M reading level told me that that level of text was slightly too hard for her because she only had a 90% accuracy rate. Today I went down a level and had her read a level J. She had a 90% accuracy with this one. After the running record, we read from a script because I was working with her on using expression. The first time we read through the script she did not use very good expression. We read through the script multiple times, switching parts and she improved on her expression every time. We talked about what it meant to read with expression and how she could improve.

This is the running record sheet that I did while she was reading. Like I said before, I decided to do a level down from the level she did last time because her score for the reading level M told me that was an instructional level text. Instructional level texts means that their are many words she doesn't know and would need help reading and comprehending what the text is saying. I wanted to see what her "easy" reading level would be at so I chose a level J text. This time she had a 95%  accuracy rate with only 5 errors in 100 words read. Most of the errors she made this time fit the meaning and syntax, but were not visual. This tells me that she is comprehending what is going on because she would substitute words that make sense with the story, but they did not look anything like the actual word. She was able to retell this story easily.

Today I learned the importance of explaining why. Before starting the word sort, we did not talk about the sound that the different categories made. McKenzie knew how to sort the words because she could see the "au", "aw" and "o" in the words that matched the different categories, but when asked to pronounce the words, she struggled. She knew how to pronounce some words, but would get caught up in unfamiliar words that were in the same category because she did not apply what she knew about the sound in the other words to this unfamiliar word. We talked through this, but as a teacher I would have liked to have made that more clear to her or explain it better. so that she would know any word with "aw" makes the same sound as it does in another word with "aw" in it. I also learned how important it is show good modeling. During readers theater the first time McKenzie hardly used any expression, but I did. The second time she was reading the part, she read it with expression, how I did. Students pick up on so much of what teachers do and say along with how we do and say it. 

Lesson 4- Close Reading

Emily Bowers

Lesson Plan 4- Close reading

Objective: Good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to write and sort words that have “oa”, “ow”, and “ou”. Good readers can read the same text multiple times for different purposes.

Assessment: Discussion, underlining unknown words, circling phrases that stick out, word sort

Procedures:

1. State the purpose for this reading and instruct students to make appropriate marks on their paper as it relates to their purpose for reading. Ex.)  Underline unknown words or phrases, circle parts that stick out

                2. Ask student questions that correspond with each reading and discuss answers.

                3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, two more times.

Opening:

“Today we are going to work more with the words we have been using the past couple times we have met. This time I am going to read you the words and you are going to write them down and sort however you would like. After, we are going to read a poem out of the book Falling Up by Shel Silverstein. You may have heard of this author before. The poem is called Crazy Dream. You are going to read it three different times. Each time you read it I will tell you the purpose before you read. After you read it each time, we will talk about some questions and discuss the poem.”

Reading 1:

Purpose: Read to comprehend what the text is saying. Read to be able to retell what the poem is about.

Questions: What is the main idea of this poem? What message is the author trying to share about teachers?

Reading 2:

Purpose: Read to understand how the text said the message or main idea.

Questions: How does the author’s choice of words and tone of the language make their point of view on teachers stick out? Who is narrating this poem?

Reading 3:

Purpose: Read to understand what the text means and the value of this poem.

Questions: How did the author use pictures to help engage you what was happening in the poem? How did the pictures help you to understand what was happening in the poem? Have you read anything similar to this before? How was it similar to something else you have read? Can you relate to the how the character in this poem feels about teachers?

Closing:

 “Good readers use what they know about spelling patterns to write and sort words. This is important because today you wrote and sorted the words that I read to you. Today you also learned how to read the same text multiple times for different purposes. Before reading you were told the purpose for reading and this helped you to think about specific things during your reading. We read for summarizing the text, understanding how words help to shape the message, and to understand what the text meant or was trying to say about how the narrator feels about teachers.”

Prompts to try:

Did that sound right?

Can you reread that?

Did that make sense?

What letter/sound does it start with?

Today my objectives for McKenzie were: "Good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to write and sort words that have 'oa', 'ow', and 'ou'. "Good readers can read the same text multiple times for different purposes".

To teach the first objective, I did a blind sort with McKenzie using the same words we used with the closed and open sort. I read her the words and she had to write them down and also put them in categories that she chose. To teach the second objective, I had McKenzie read a poem called "Crazy Dream" by Shel Silverstein. I explained to her that the first time she read it she was reading it comprehend what they text was saying. After reading it, I had her retell what happened in the poem, She then read it a second time. The second time I told her to read it in order to comprehend how the text said the message or main idea. After she read I asked her questions like "How does the author's choice of words and tone of the language make their point of view on teachers stick out?". The third she read the poem, I had her read in order to comprehend what the text means and the value of the poem. After reading, I asked her questions like "How did the author use pictures to help engage you in what was happening in the poem?" After the third reading, we went through everything we did that day and I had her tell me what she learned.

McKenzie did really awesome with the word sort today. Before even giving her one word, she remembered what the sorting patterns  were that she used last time and started writing them on the top of her paper. Once I started reading words to her she easily put them under the correct category and needed little assistance from me. After reading her all the words, she also easily told me how she sorted them and why. She spelled all the words correctly and now I know I can move on to a harder set of words for next time. The close reading did not go as well as the word sort did. The first time she read, she was able to retell what happened with some prompting from me. The second time she read, she struggled with answering the questions I asked her. I think this is because she is a struggling reader and it took her a while to get all the way through the poem. The questions I was asking may have been a little too hard for her as well. The third time we read the poem she answered the questions about the pictures well, but struggled with the other questions i asked her. At the end she was able to state what she learned doing the word sort, but needed prompting stating what she learned with the close reading.

Today I learned that, as a teacher, it is important to state the objective to the student. I did not do a very good job at explaining to McKenzie what the purpose of the close reading was and this was evident at the end when she struggled to tell me what she learned or what the purpose was. I also learned the importance of choosing material the is appropriate for the student. The questions I had planned to ask McKenzie after each reading were a little deep for her to understand what I was asking. I think I am getting better at using prompts when she comes across a word she does not know and also using academic vocabulary.

Lesson 3- Open Word Sort and Making Connections

Emily Bowers

April 3, 2016

Lesson Plan 3

Objective: Good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to sort a pile of words into different categories where all words in each pile follow a pattern. Good readers can connect to a text they are reading by thinking how it relates to their life or something they have read before.

Assessment: Open word sort, making connections graphic organizer

Procedures:

1.      Opening-“Last time I was here you sorted these words under the different categories I gave to you. Good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to sort words into different categories that they come up with. Today you are going to sort them in a different way that makes sense to you. You are going to come up with the different categories.”

2.      Give student the envelope with the word sort words in it. Give them time to sort the words. After they sort the words, talk with them about how they sorted the words and why.

3.      “Good readers can connect to a text they are reading by thinking how it relates to their life or something they have read before. Next, I am going to read you a story called The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting. While I am reading think about what this reminds you of.” Model a connection for them at the start of the book.

4.      After finishing the book, have student fill out making connections graphic organizer. Talk about it after they complete it.

Closure: “Today you sorted words into categories that you came up with. This is important because good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to sort words into categories that they come up with. We ended today by reading a story and making connections to it. This is also important because good readers connect to the text they are reading to help them comprehend what is happening in the story better.”

For today's lesson one objective was "Good readers can use what they know about spelling patterns to sort a pile of words into different categories where all the words in each pile follow a pattern". To address this objective, I used the words from word sort that I gave McKenzie last time. Before even telling her what we were going to do, she asked if we were going to sort words again today. I could tell that she was excited to do this. This time I told her to sort the words however she wanted. She did a really awesome job at this. She sorted all the "oa" words into one pile, all the "ow" words into another pile and all the "oi" words into a third pile. She also told me what she was doing and why, while she was doing it.

Another objective I had for today was "good readers can connect to a text they are reading by thinking how it relates to their life or something they have read". We did this by reading a story called The Wednesday Surprise. McKenzie loved this story and was even doing a think aloud like we practiced last time. It is cool to see that she is not only learning, but using what I am teaching her. After reading the story, I had her do a graphic organizer on making connections where she had to draw a picture and write about something that happened in the story and then draw another picture and write about what happened in her life that is similar to the book. Struggling readers often struggle with comprehension so I wanted to do something with her that would improve her reading.

Most teachers do not get the one-on-one time with students that I am getting with McKenzie. It is a really awesome opportunity to have because I can really focus on her needs and see her grow each time we work. It's nice to be able to put to use and practice what we are learning about in most of my classes. From working with McKenzie, I am more aware of the academic vocabulary I use and know. In class we mainly talk about how we would teach certain things to students, but now I am able to actually teach a student and practice how we talked about doing it in class. I am getting more comfortable and confident when I am teaching McKenzie. I am also better able to help her when she comes across a word she doesn't know without just telling her what it is because I know what key things to say that will help her figure out what the word is.

Lesson 2- Motivation Survey, Running Record and Think Aloud

Lesson 2

Emily Bowers

March 31, 2016

Objective: Good readers can understand spelling patterns to identify between ou and ow words as well as oi and oy words. Good readers can think aloud while they are reading to share their thoughts and comprehension.

Procedures:

1.      1.Give student Garfield Motivation Inventory to complete. Student will fill this out on their own, but we can talk through it if they seem to have trouble understanding what to do.
2.      Explain to student that next they will be reading a short text. Also explain that during their reading, you will be listening to them and making notes on a piece of paper.
3.      Talk to the student about their spelling test and what you noticed on the words that they misspelled (other vowels, oi, ow, oy, ou). Explain to student that next we are going to do a word sort. The student will be given the categories to sort the words under.
4.      Once student finishes their word sort, we will go over each word/picture, what category they put it under and why. We will also discuss any words they placed under the wrong category.
5.      Explain to student that next we are going to work on reading and sharing what we are thinking while we are reading. First, you will model the Think Aloud by reading a short passage from the text chosen and sharing what you are thinking out loud for the student to hear.
6.      Next, the student will practice thinking out loud while they are reading a short story.

Closure: “Today you took a Garfield Motivational Inventory. This will help me to get to know you as a reader better. The notes I took while you were reading will also help me to get to know you as a reader. We also did a word sort together on ou/ow and oi/oy. Good readers can understand spelling patterns to identify when to use each of those vowel sets. To end today, we did a little reading and talked about what we were thinking throughout the reading. This is important because good readers can share what they are thinking out loud while reading to help them with comprehension.” 

For today's lesson,  my objectives were "good readers can understand spelling patterns to identify the difference between oi/oy and ou/ow. Another objective I had was "good readers can think aloud while they read to share their thoughts and comprehension. I started off by giving my student the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey. The one I chose used Garfield in four different attitudes. One was happy, the other was slightly smiling, the third one was frowning and the fourth one he looked really upset. McKenzie seemed to really enjoy this. All of her answers were either the happy Garfield or the slightly smiling Garfield. After the attitude survey, I did a running record on McKenzie. I chose a book that was one level higher than the original reading level I that I was told she was. She had a 90% accuracy rate. She had ten errors out of one hundred words. After the running record, we did a word sort that focused on ou/ow, and oi/oy. This was because, after analyzing her spelling inventory, this is where I determined she needed the most help. We did a closed sort where the categories were already given to her. She did this pretty easily by herself, but did need some assistance from me for a few words. Next time I will do an open sort with her, using the same words. Next I modeled a think aloud for her. We read the book "The Woman Who Outshone the Sun" by Pedro Cruz Martinez. While I was reading, I told McKenzie my thoughts. I said things such as "I wonder...", "this reminds me of..." and "That makes me feel...". Sometimes McKenzie would jump in and tell me her thoughts too. By the end of this it was time for her to get back to her classroom.

From working with McKenzie today, I learned the importance of doing what you are going to be doing with a student, by yourself first before giving it to a student to do. Today I did not do the word sort myself before going to meet with McKenzie. While she was doing it, she had some questions that I was able to answer, but would have been easier for me to answer had I done with word sort by myself first. Also learned that running records take a lot of practice. McKenzie is only reading at a 2nd grade level and I was having trouble keeping up with her, especially when she made errors. When reading a story like I did today, it is important to set a child's background knowledge before reading in order for the to fully engage in the text. The story we read today was an old Native American legend. The people lived in a village and at the end the main character became a spirit. Strange things happened in the book that would have made more sense to McKenzie had I given her the background knowledge she needed to understand what was going on. I am really enjoying working with McKenzie and I think today's lesson went well.

Based off of McKenzie's running record I can tell that  she definitely uses visual clues when she comes across a word she is unfamiliar with. Almost all of her errors included a visual piece to them.  I could also tell by when she was reading it because when she came across a word she didn't know, she would pause for a while and use the first few letters to spit some word out that was the closest to what she could see. Many of her errors were also because she just said the base word, but would not add the ed or ing ending to them. This could be because she was reading too fast and did not see those endings on the word. She was able to retell me what happened very well.

Lesson 1- First Day

Lesson Plan 1

Emily Bowers

March 29, 2016

Objective: Good readers can use what they know about letters and letter sounds to spell unfamiliar words. Good readers can write about a text they read.

Assessment: Elementary Spelling inventory, writing about text student reads during this time

Procedures:

Opening: “Good readers are able to use what they know about letters and letter sounds to spell words that might be unfamiliar to them. Today I am going to ask you to spell a few words for me. Another thing good readers can do, is write about a text they read. After I ask you to spell a few words, we are going to read to each other and write about it.”

Procedures:

1.      Give student interest inventory to complete. Student will fill this out on their own, but we can talk about them/their answers as it is being completed.

2.      Give student Elementary Spelling Inventory. Student will write out the words on a piece of paper and receive no assistance in trying to spell them.

3.      Listen to student read from a text they brought. If they did not bring their own text, listen to student read from a text you brought. You may also read to the student.

4.      Have student write on a piece of paper a response to the book. This could be a summary, a reaction to how it made them feel, or a prediction on what could happen next. This will depend on what student chooses to read.

Closing: “Today you took a spelling inventory. This will help me to get to know you better. Spelling is important because good readers are able to use letters and letter sounds to spell words. Spelling words helps with reading. Today you also wrote a response to what we read. This is also important because good readers can write about a text they read.

Today I met with my student for the first time. She was very talkative and I think we are going to get along well. the objective for today's lesson was "Good Readers can use what they know about letters and letter sounds to spell unfamiliar words." Today I gave my student the Elementary Spelling Inventory. Going into this, I only knew her reading level. Based off of that, she did a lot better than I expected her to on this spelling inventory. She got 12 out of 21 words correct. The words that she got right, I could tell she was the most confident in spelling them. The words she misspelled, I could tell because she was hesitant to start writing something down. Based off of the interest inventory I gave McKenzie, I can tell that she really like the American Girl series of both books and movies. Today was mainly a day for us to get to know each other and a time for me to gather information about McKenzie so next time I can have a lesson that will be beneficial to her and her needs as a reader.

In my struggling readers class, we have learned that when students are struggling with pronouncing a word during reading, you aren't supposed to tell them the word right away. I struggled with this a lot today. While McKenzie was reading to me, their were a lot of words she struggled with and it was hard for me to not automatically tell her what they were. Towards the end of the lesson I was getting better at not telling her right away, but as a teacher, this is something I will continue to work on. After working with our student, we had to analyze how they did on the spelling inventory by using the feature guide to see exactly where their spelling went wrong. This was a really cool experience to have and as a tutor (teacher) for McKenzie, helped me know where to go during out next meeting.

Self Introduction

Hello! My name is Emily Bowers. I am a junior at Grand View University. I am an Elementary Education major receiving endorsements in reading and language arts. I will student teach in the Spring of 2017. As a part of my schooling I have to take a class called Teaching Literacy 3rd-8th grade. I am writing this blog to share my experience tutoring a 3rd grade student on reading at a local elementary school. I will be tutoring over a period of five weeks. During tutoring I will be giving inventories, running records and different lessons based on my student's needs in the area of reading.

The student I am working with is named McKenzie. During our first meeting I gave her an interest inventory in order for me to get to know her better. She is really into American Girl Doll books and movies. She also enjoys dance and has cousins that she dances with. Her parents do not read at home, but her and her siblings enjoy reading both to alone and to each other. She has many pets that include fish, birds, and rabbits. One the second meeting I have her the Garfield Reading Attitude Survey. For recreational reading she scored in the 81st percentile. In academic reading she scored in the 69th percentile. Over a full scale of reading in general she scored in the 84th percentile. From talking with her it definitely reflected what her attitude survey showed. She would tell me what books she would like me to bring and read with her, but when asked about how she likes reading for school, her attitude was closed off and it was not something she wanted to talk about with me.