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.