Group+4-5772

= = July 17th, I think I am correct in JM and JH have completed the eight case studies. I really really enjoyed sharing your thoughts about these cases and seeing what suggestions you decided to implement. You will find these types of cases every day in the reading specialist world. thank you for really thinking, planning, and giving suggestions to make literacy a part of every child's world.
 * =__ CASE STUDY #1 __=

Choose one case study to evaluate from these two examples: Home/school connections are important at all times but especially critical during the early years of schools. In both of these cases, the parents have already been active in the development of literacy. Now both sets of parents want more. What can you do to help them on the road to literacy.

** CASE STUDY #1: Susie **
Susie is a happy middle-class first grade student. Since birth, her parents talked with her as if she were an adult and spent much time reading with her. Suzie developed a love of reading early and her parents continued supporting her love by purchasing books and giving them as gifts. She loves her personal library of well over 100 books. When Susie entered first grade she had highly developed skills, listened well and understood a great deal. She was confident and secure and anxious to learn. However, after just one week of school Suzie finishes early and does nothing after completion of school tasks. She states that she is bored.

What are the strengths? rv- She is a very confident learner and motivated reader which is rare for a first grader. Her home life and experiences before school are a huge plus for her in developing as a reader. ​​ L(M)H: Her strengths would be a tremendous amout of prior knowledge and also the amount of support she wil receive from home. JM: Due to the parental support, she loves reading. She has an internal motivation to read and enjoys picking up new books. ML: Susie's strengths include strong background knowledge due to her conversations with adults and reading with her parents, good listening skills, strong parental support, intrinsic motivation, and access to a variety of print.

What are the needs? rv- She needs to learn how to choose approriate materials on her own to stay motivated. The goldilocks strategy comes to mind. I love to teach my eager first grader readers how to choose books that work for them, and then they take off as readers and love to find new books. L(M)H: I agree that the teacher needs to provide her with strategies for self-selecting books and magazines to supplement her reading when her assignments are done. However, I feel that many of the more proficient students are often ignored by teachers because we are so busy with inerventions for our struggling readers. I wish that her teacher would have time to provide small-group or individual instruction with Susie so that she could work up to her potential. ML: I agree with both of you about appropriate materials. The teacher needs to assess her, and then help her pick things she is interested in on her level. Lisa, I beleive interventions are not only meant for struggling readers but for advanced readers too. Advanced readers are often ignored and get bored like Susie. JM: She needs new kinds of text that will challenge her and prevent her from becoming bored in class. ​ LJ: I think that her needs are not only self-selection of books, but other, higher level activities that she can easily access after completing assignments that may extend the concepts being taught that day. Additionally, students who are so advanced compared to their peers may have difficulty with peer interactions. It may be helpful for her to read with a less able student.

What strategies/things could be recommended to parents and what is your rationale? rv- I think Susie would enjoy a program at her library where she can interact with other readers and find other children who like to read about similar interests. Susie may also enjoy reading stories to younger children that she knows. L(M)H: I would recommend subscribing to appropriate magazines for Susie. I would suggest they look online or check out the chldren's magazines at the library to find some that Susie would enjoy. My rationale is that this would provide Susie wih fresh and highly intersting reading material every month. This also would build a lifelong habit of reading periodicals and newspapers to keep up with current events. JM: In order to help her advance her vocabulary skills, the Frayer Model would be a great strategy for her to work with. She most likely has a good deal of prior knowledge and background information. The Frayer Model helps to build vocabulary skills by using background infomation and prior knowledge. ML: I would first praise the parents for all they have done and then encourage them to keep building her library and discussing the books she reads. I would give them a list of higher order thinking questions that they could incorporate into their conversations to build her comprehension and vocabulary skills. LJ: Since Susie's reading and vocabulary skills are above those of her classmates, my recommendation to the parents would be to help Susie to learn to find activities that interest her and to research them on her own. This would be something that could carry over into the classroom when Susie has completed work. She may then want to contract with her teacher to research a particular topic and present her findings to the class.

What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom? rv- I think Susie would enjoy a book club where she can read the same book as other students and dicuss parts of it with them. I also think Susie would like to take part in active book reports or book sharing activites. After she has read a book she can complete a fun, hands on way of sharing what she has read and can encourage other children to try some of the books she has read. L(M)H: If it is available at her school, Susie could participate in the AR program. In order to incorporate technology into Susie's instruction the teacher could allow her to access online resources similar to AR in which she reads books and earns prizes, she may also enjoy a comic maker or similar program to incorporate writing into her day. JM: Susie may enjoy making a book project over her stories. She could do a "Here's the Scoop". My students enjoy doing this to share their stories with other classmates. It is a book report in the format of an ice cream cone, with each scoop representing a different part of the story. It doesn't seem as fomal as a book report to my students, but they are including all of the important information. ML: Susie would probably enjoy doing a variety of book report activities like mobiles, dioramas, and flip books. Because of her secureness and confindence, she may like to do book talks about what she reads. I would definately recommend writing activities about what she is reading. LJ: Since Susie's reading skills are so advanced, I would definitely want to incorporate a variety of writing activities to extend her skills. If the class is journaling, the teacher could model and demonstrate higher-level writing skills for her. And again, encouraging her to research and report on her interests would also be of benefit. Her research could be presented through a written report, a PowerPoint presentation, a diorama, etc.

Additional thoughts:
L(M)H: Student like Susie are a blessing. I feel guilty as a teacher that often they are used as peer tutors and don't get as much individual attention as other students. Since they are able to meet benchmark goals without much help we sometimes ignore proficient readers to help the struggling readers. I wish we could have the time and resources to serve all students equally. JM: I agree with Lisa. So much of our attention is on students who are struggling. We often do not have the time we need to challenge our advanced students. ML: The whole purpose of small group instruction is to meet the needs of individuals whether they are high or low. She may benefit from small group work with another class.

** CASE STUDY #1: Sam **
Sam is a first grader who will turn six this November. He comes from a middle-class English-speaking family, with two parents who read to him on a regular basis. His parents are very interested in the progress and activities he does in class.

He actively participates in class discussions, even though there are times when he will make an error in syntax with word forms, like talk-ed, for talked.

At independent time, he regularly chooses picture books and studies the pictures. He does not spend any time looking at the words. If he chooses a book with more words, the topics will be sharks or dinosaurs. He does know the basic letters but confuses b and d, I and j, x and z, p and ,i and l. He knows basically his concepts about print. He can figure out his initial and ending consonants but is slow and choppy. His writing can only be deciphered if Sam reads the text to the teacher.

What are the strengths?

What are the needs?

What strategies/things could be recommended to parents and what is your rationale?

What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom?

YOUR WIKI:.............
|| = = Choose from one of these case studies to elaborate on the topic of phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the foundation for phonics and must be acquired and used with ease before you start the reading and phonics processes. ||
 * =__Case Study #2 Phonemic Awareness__=



**__ CASE STUDY #2: __**
Mitch, a first grade student, was retained in kindergarten is now eight years old. After assessing him on concepts about print, word tests, phonemic awareness and phonics tests, and spelling inventories, he showed lack of process in most areas. In concepts about print, he stumbled on specific instructions on word and letter order and the name and use of punctuation He had difficulty in hearing words in speech, hearing syllables, beginning and final sounds and sound matching for phonemic awareness. He could correctly identify upper and lower case letters and sounds but could not note the digraphs, blends, short and long vowel patters and "vce" and vowel teams. In spelling he usually spelled the first and last consonant correctly and the short a and I but the other short vowels or other vowel patterns were guesses. His sight word vocabulary was low.

What are the strengths? rv- He has the alphabeitc principle down and has letter sound recognition. JM: He is able to identify the letters he is working with, both upper and lower case. He also is able to get beginning sounds as well as final sounds in the words he is spelling. ML- Along with the strengths noted already, he also has his short a and I when spelling. LH: He can identify letters, upper and lower case, and sounds.

What are the needs? rv- He needs to build his sight word vocabulary and begin work on blends, digraphs, and short vowels before he can move on to long vowels and vowel teams. He is an emergent speller and with time and more vowel practice, his spelling should improve. He also needs lots of phonemic awareness practice so he can better understand sounds and words, and the way they work together. JM: He really needs to work on phonemic awareness. Before he can really dive into phonics and the reading process he needs to be able to identify the sounds he hears with the corresponding letters. Vowel patterns will also have to be addressed which will hopefully help with some of the spelling issues he is facing. ML: Because he has already been held back and is still struggling with phonemic awareness skills, I would get his hearing checked by the speech path. I think he needs to be prescibed specific interventions beginning with lacking phonemic awareness skills and work towards phonics skills after he has mastered this. He also needs to be working with sight word vocabulary. LH: I agree with the SLP evaluation. I also agree that he needs some intensive intervention in phonemic awareness and then phonics. These two areas are foundational ane need to be mastered before he can successfully move on. LJ: I agree with Marlo. The first thing that should be done is a hearing screening. Also, many speech pathologists are able to screen for auditory processing disorders. I am also concerned that he appears to have difficulties with basic instructions and may have an oral language disorder. Once those areas are ruled out, phonemic awareness should be hit hard as well as working on sight words. At this point, Mitch does not see himself as a reader. He should be provided with predictable text that contain the sight words that he is familiar with so that he can have some reading success. An interest inventory is of utmost importance to provide reading materials that he will find interesting and motivating to read.

What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the parents to do at home? Why? JM: The teacher could introduce the Language Experience Approach (LEA). This strategy would help to demonstrate the concepts of print, and it would begin to help the student understand some basic print conventions. This strategy is also beneficial because it helps students to recognize the relationship or connection between spoken and written words by following the print as it is read aloud. rv: I think that a great way for the student to practice at home would be for the teacher to make some letter cards or tiles to send home with the student. She would also have to show tha parents how to combine consonants and vowels to create a mkaing words activity. This would allow the parents to help the student with short vowel sounds and he would have one-on-oneinstant feedback if he could do it at home. ML: I like the making words activity as well. I would also send home sight word activities that the parents could do with the child. LH: I agree, he needs a lot of work with letters and sounds. I would emhasize to the parents the importance of working with sounds without utilizing the written letter. For example, when they go shopping ask him to identify the first sound in 'Cookie Crisp' or the last sound in 'chese'. After he has a firmer grasp of the sounds, they can begin asking what letter 'Cookie Crisp' begins with.

LJ: I like Lisa's ideas. I think it is important to provide parents with activities that they can do in the car or the grocery store. Many have difficulty scheduling time at the kitchen table. Provide parents with car games--maybe modifying "I am thinking of something. . ." to "I am thinking of a word that starts with the /c/ sound. . ." Not only do these activities help with those academic skills, but it sounds like Mitch also needs that verbal interaction to improve his language and vocabulary skills.

Additional thoughts:
LH: Is anyone else having this prolem. . .when I change the font color sometimes it deletes what I have already typed?? My real additional thought is this; I think phonemic awareness is being overlooked at our school. It seems that our kids go straight to phonics in kindergarten without mastering phonemic awareness. We try to incorporate a lot of PA activities, but I wonder how effective it is to teach PA and phonics at the same time or if PA should always come before phonic?? LJ: Lisa, I think that a lot of the reading series that are coming out incorporate both phonics and phonemic awareness. I do think that a pre-k program should be working hard on PA so that most students will have a good grasp of those concepts before starting kindergarten. LH: Yes, I have learned that students should have adequate exposure to PA instruction before phonics instruction begins. I think as the reading specialist I need to find a tactful way to encourage lots more PA in our pre-K program. That would free up kdg instructional time for other skills. RV: Lisa I have had the same issues with the wiki :) I also think that my school is overlooking PA instruction. I am thinking of ways to inform our Pre-school and K teachers about the importance of not skipping it and going straight to phonics.

** CASE STUDY #2 **
Angel, a kindergartner, is behind most of her classmates in reading readiness. When she came to the school, she had no awareness of letters, letter sounds and names. She has learned to sing the ABC song but cannot place the letters in order without the song. She knows some concepts about print: the left-right order and the return sweep and the front/back/author of book. She can show the first part of the story, the first part of a word but cannot show the beginning of a sentence. She does not know her punctuation marks. She does not know the 1 to 1 correspondence of words and cannot follow along with the teacher reading the story. All in all she tries to learn and participates eagerly in class. She like the rote method and loves to do things kinesthetically.

What are the strengths?

What are the needs?

What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the parents to do at home? Why?

What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom?

= =

Additional thoughts:

 * =__Case Study #3 Phonics__=

** CASE STUDY #3 **
The third grade class has a high percentage of Title I students with the vast majority as English speakers. Most of their parents work very hard at their jobs and do not have the time to read to their children or focus on skills which will improve literacy in the classroom. When the teacher reads to them, they enjoy their story time and respond readily within the discussions. They seem to enjoy independent reading of looking at books or reading to themselves. Four students in this class are especially in need; they are in the emergent level and they know some sight words. They read word by word and consider reading a laborious chore. From testing, the children shows that they know most initial consonant sounds and use them randomly to guess at word but they ignore the final consonants and medial sounds. The writing and spelling are on a lower developmental level of about beginning first grade.

What are the strengths? JM: A major strength would be that most of the students enjoy story time and are able to participate in the class discussions. It is also important that these students enjoy independent reading time and looking at books on their own. rv: I agree that a major strength is their love for books. It is very hard to get readers, especially struggling readers, to love books. LH: I also agree that getting a struggling reader to enjoy books is unusual but great. Another strength in this situation is that the teacher has enough knowledge from assessment to make good decisions regarding her instruction. ML: The fact that the students enjoy being read to and participate in discussions about books is a definite strength along with enjoying the books independently.

What are the needs? JM: These four students needs additional help on their phonics skills. They also need additional practice with their sight words. Not knowing these will effect their fluency and take their attention away from what the text is telling them. ML: In my opinion these students would benefit from a long overdue intense intervention program. These four students need small group work beginning with basic phonics skills and sight words. Because they are so far behind additional one-on-one tutoring with the teacher is warranted. LJ: This case study suggests to me that while four students have significant needs, the rest of the class may also be struggling and would suggest to me that we need to look at the reading series being used. With so many students struggling, it is time to look at what we are teaching, and how are we teaching it. RV: I agree with Marlo that RtI would be the way to go for those four students. Target specific skills they are lacking and strengthen them littl by little. All while making sure they are keeping thir love for reading. What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the parents to do at home? Why? JM: Concentration would be an easy activity that parents/siblings could do at home with these children. Sight words cards could be created for individual students. They would be responsible for finding two cards that match. Upon finding a match the child would need to pronounce the word they matched. The sight word cards could easily be switched out once the student had mastered the word. LH: This is difficult, we have a term we use to descibe those parents who must work multiple jobs and don't have time for reading or playing with their kids. We say they are in 'survival mode'. Teachers have to be sensitive to this and not make parents feel guilty about not reading with their kid for 20 minutes every night. The schoo may be able to provide a 'buddy' program before or after school in which older kids spend time readin to the younger ones or helping them with their homework. If there are programs at the local public library, a teacher could suggest those to parents. Of course, make sure the kids have books in their homes. Send home school library books, books in a bag, ect. We did an activity one year in which we sent home a suitcase with a stuffed animal, a book and a journal. Each child got a chance to take the animal/book home for the night. They could read the book, and then they recorded in the journal what the stuffed animal did with them that night. If they had time, the kid would dictate and the parent recorded, if not, the kid drew their own picture to represent what was done. The kids loved it, it introduced reading/writing into the home, and didn't take much of parent's time. ML: I agree with Jenny on concentration type activities because they don't require much time from the parents. If they child has internet access at home, I would recommend a variety of educational reading websites like starfall.com or something that gives the child immediate feedback while building reading skills. Also, sending home letter tiles to do making word activities can be done without much parent interaction. LJ: These parents are already stretched thin. It is not that they do not care about their children's education. Many of them do not have the time or the resources to help their children and see that as the role of the school. Therefore, I would suggest putting in place additional activities at the school such as after school or before school tutoring or enrichment activities. JM: A pattern book would be a good acticity for these children to work on. The teacher could select a pattern book that emphasized the sight words they want the students to work on. The teacher could begin by reading the book aloud, then reading again and asking the students to join in whenever they could. The text could then be written on sentence strips and practiced with partners. The sentence strips could also be cut apart and mixed up. The students could then recreate the sentences. Finally, students could use the targeted sight words in sentences of their own. LH: Although it's not an extension, I think of using Words their Way to help with the kids on a lower developmental writing and spelling level. Of course, this would benenfit the whole class. I also thought of using cloze activties to help with the fact that the kids are only looing at the initial consonant and then guessing at words. Cloze would help them learn to use context clues. ML: I like the idea of the pattern book activity, and I absolutely would use Words their Way to build phonics, spelling, and vocabulary skills. I would use PALS: Peer Assisted Learning Strategies. I've been reading a lot about it in research related to early intervention, and it has been shown to benefit struggling readers. LJ: I would suggest providing students with additional strategies for decoding unfamiliar words such as CSSR: Context, Structure, Sound, and Reference. Students need to know that there are other ways to figure out unfamiliar words rather than "sounding it out." Also, I would incorporate some high interest reading materials such as magazines and graphic novels so that children would find the pleasure in reading that they now find in listening to a book. RV: I would use a making words activity and word sorts to strengthen their phonics skills. I would also use words their way to build their spelling knowledge. I would definately use guided reading since they are most likely needing to read information from third grade text books and they are only reading on a first grade level.

Additional thoughts: I am only typing in black now, EVERY time I change the font color someting gets deleted!
||
 * =__Case Study #4: Vocabulary__=

My Two Favorite Books on Vocabulary state the following: The authors of Beck, McKeown, and Kucan’s Bringing Words to Life suggest that ?a robust approach to vocabulary involves directly explaining the meanings of words along with thought-provoking, playful, and interactive follow-up? (2). They add that ?vocabulary work in middle school and high school should allow deeper explorations of language?how language gives meaning and how words mean what they mean? (85). In their vision of best practices, vocabulary is ?more rooted to a text and dealt with in a way that both teaches the words and brings enriched understanding to the text? (85).

Marzano agrees”direct instruction in vocabulary works”(68), and even mentions the work of Beck and McKeown in explaining that “effective vocabulary instruction does not rely on definitions” (70). Marzano’s approach for effectively teaching vocabulary consists of six steps that are very similar to the approach described in Bringing Words to Life. He encourages nonlinguistic representations to build vocabulary, and clarifies that he means ?not just mental pictures,? but also "associated sounds, smells, and sensations of touch or movement? (21). Marzano encourages the shaping of word meaning through multiple exposures including the process of creating metaphors. He states that, ?Research indicates that metaphor activities can help students better understand the abstract features of information. . . . In terms of vocabulary instruction, a teacher might present students with metaphors or ask them to create their own metaphors? (73).

However, Marzano writes that “Beck, McKeown, and Kucan’s focus on tier-two words as the appropriate target of vocabulary instruction” is a mistake (88). He stresses that “subject-specific terms are the best target for direct vocabulary instruction” and provides a list of 7,923 subject-specific terms in the appendix of his book.

The Opening Articles and the podcasts can help with the development of the vocabulary plan.

** CASE STUDY #4 **
Amy is a 11th grade student from a upper-middle class area in an affluent high school. She has twenty hours of community service hours that she has to complete and has decided to help tutor students at a near-by after school elementary program. She wants to come one hour every day for a month. The teacher in the program wants her to work on vocabulary development and make it fun. She has come to you for advice about how to help students with word conscientious. What are you going to tell her? (Oh, by the way, Jenks Middle School has set up a program like this on Saturday mornings to help with vocabulary development).

What can be the strengths and weaknesses of this plan?

What strategies/programs would help with the students? What is your rationale?

What would the program look like?

** CASE STUDY #4 **
Your Title I school has low vocabulary scores on both Oklahoma assessments and national assessments. Your principal has challenged you and your colleagues to help students have more word conscientious and be able to use vocabulary more effectively. The population of your students is basically ½ Caucasian, ¼ Native American and ¼ ELL students.

What strategies/ideas can be given specifically for teachers? JM: Teachers could work with Words Family Trees. This would allow teachers to teach vocabulary as a concept rather than just the definition. The graphic organizer on a Word Family Tree incorporates the key term's orgin, related words, words with similiar functions, and situations in which the word might be used. LH: I am approaching this question as a kdg teacher. When children have such low expessive vocabulary, they often have low receptive vocabulary. Young studtnts need MANY opportunities to use their language before they can begin reading and writing with adequate vocabularies. Teachers need to provide picture prompts and ask students to describe what they see, what might have happened before the picture or after the picture. Teachers need to use questioning strategies that don't allow students to use simple 'yes' and 'no' responses, but whole sentences. Teachers also need to use literature to help children expand their vocab. . .stopping at critical point in a story and asking kids to predict what might happen next is great to get the expressive vocabulary flowing. LJ: My research synthesis in READ 5223 was on vocabulary. I remember Karen Bromley stating that the best way to learn new information is by linking it to knowledge that students already possess. It is important to stress not only the linguistic forms of words, but the non-linguistic for that includes visual and sensory images as well. Instead of writing a definition to a word, a student may define, write a sentence using the word, provide a drawing of the word, and give a real object to represent a word. ML: What comes to my mind is teaching word origins, prefixes, and suffixes with Words Their Way activities and incorporating movement and visual representations of the words. RV: I would encourage the students to use some kind of vocabulary mapping strategy like a concept definition map or a word family tree. This will allow them to develop a better sense of the word and make personal connections to the definition. What strategies/ideas can you set up for students? JM: One idea for students would be to use a Concept Definition Map. These maps can help studens expand word meanings and discover relationships. The maps allow students to develop their definitons beyond one or two words definitions. This is great for students because the maps provide students with a way to learn their vocabulary independently once the strategy has been introduced. LH: At a young age, it's hard to set student's up with their own strategies/ideas. They need to learn to use their words to express what they need, both with adults and their peers. I know one kdg teacher who allowed her students 10 minutes every day to sit on the carpet and talk to each other. She taught the kids to encourage each other to use 'big' sentences. She started this as a way to prevent all the talking in class, but it became an enrichment to the kids oral and recptive vocabularies. ML: I presented The Motor Imaging strategy during practicum and started using it with my class for the word of the day. It was amazing how associating a bodily movement with the word helped them to internalize the meaning. It was interactive, so they loved getting out of their seats to do it! LJ: I like the idea of the picture dictionary. It really makes you think about more abstract words when you have to provide a picture of it. RV: I have used all three strategies mentioned here and they are all effective. I think that pciture dictionary is powerful because it can reach reluctant readers who are artistic. What can you share with your parents? JM: The Motor Imaging strategy is a fun and easy way to practice/remember new vocabulary words. Parents could easily do this at home with their children whenever the opportunity presented itself. Students in my class come up with a motion each week for our new word of the week. They love to be creative and it's amazing to me how many vocabulary words/motions they can remember by the end of the year! LH: Sometimes parents need tips on how to engage their kids in conversation. A teacher could print up a 'tip sheet' or maybe present some ideas at a parent meeting. Some ideas include. . .don't finish your child's sentences, even if you do know what they are going to say. . . talk with your child, not at them, allow time for them to respond. . . ask a million questions, ask your child about what is important in their life, if they love spongebob, introduce some new nautical terms into their vocabulary. .. encourage parents to use big words with their kids and explain what they mean. . . ML: I would stress the importance of engaging in conversations and talking about what was learned in school or what they are reading. Reading together is a great way for parents to help build their children's vocabulary. Parents could have their own word of the day and challenge each other to use it in conversation. They could make a game of it! LJ: I agree. Talking to your kids is a great way to develop language skills. And, I am a big believer in car games. My kids would play "I spy something. . ." or "I am thinking of something. . ." and the rule was that they had to be able to tell two things to describe what the object was.

Additional thoughts:
LH: The EL kids might relate to some study of words that are similar in english and their native langauge, they may also enjoy finding english words that have roots in their own native language. ||
 * =__Case Study #5: Fluency__=

CASE STUDY #5
Anne is a sixth grader who has fair word attack skills but lacks fluency because she reads without expression and ignores punctuation. This issue interferes with her comprehension; she does not monitor what she reads. She is unable to retell a passage or answer questions on the various levels of understanding. Anne?s word attack skills are around the fourth grade and her comprehension level to be near third grade level. On the other hand, her recognition and use of good vocabulary words is apparent in her speech.

Anne has stated that her love is to watch educational television and learn as much science and history that she can. In her textbook she says that she uses her picture cues, graphs, and charts as well as her knowledge about the topic to get her through the reading. She adds to the class discussion but her topics are not necessarily found in the textbooks. She loves her social studies and science classes and usually gets good grades in them.

Anne looks at the pictures and other visuals during her reading time and states that reading is not enjoyable.

What are the strengths? JM: Her strong vocabulary and interest in science and history are definite strengths. She is a visual learner and has recoginized that the use of graphic sources are beneficial to her. LH: I agree with JM, she is a motivated learner and enjoys learning new things. She is obviously visual because of her reliance of grahic cues and the fact that she enjoys learning new things by watching television. LJ: I would also say that based on the strengths that Jenny and Lisa have identified, Anne is average to above average in intelligence. She appears to have the potential to be an average to above average reader. ML: Her strong vocabulary, willingness to engage in discussion, ability to use pictures and graphs to follow the text, and content area interests are strengths. RV: She is a very visual learner which lends well to science and social studies since there are lots of charts, graphs, timelines, and pictures that hold vital information. What are the needs? JM: Anne needs to work on putting expression into what she reads, even if it is straight from a social studies or science book. Adding expression into the text you are reading can help with fluency. She needs some additional strategies to help her with comprehension as well. LH: Anne needs to learn to use punctuation to add expression and meaning to her reading. She must learn to self-monitor what she is reading. LJ: If Anne would preview the text by looking at the pictures, graphs, and charts before she reads, she would probably be more successful. Also, use of high interest reading materials that focuses on science and social studies concepts for reading instruction would probably be motivating for her and result in more success. ML: Anne needs fluency instruction. She needs to focus on intonation and prosidy. She lacks motivation to read. RV: Anne needs to have some experience with fluency strategies that help her use punctuation cues and read with expression.

JM: At home, parents could help Anne work on fluency by doing Echo Readings. During Echo Reading, one parent can read a short selection from any text. Anne would then read the same seletion. She would need to imitate the same tone and inflections that she heard her parent read with. This is an easy strategy that can be completed with any text the parents currently have at home. It will allow Anne to imitate a skilled reader and practice proper phrasing and expressions. LH: Echo or Choral reading would be great. If Anne enjoyed poetry, she could check out some poetry books to take home. I use poety a lot becuae of it's built in prosity. Rereading poems that are memorized takes the anxiety away from having to figure out unknown words and allows the kid to concentrate on phrasing, intonation, and fluency. LJ: The parents could definitely model fluent reading. Because of her interest in social studies, they may enjoy reading current events in the newspaper together. The parent could read one paragraph and Anne read the next. Anne should be encouraged to pay attention to punctuation and phrasing. ML: Modeling fluent reading is very important. From my experience with text though, reading nonfiction text sounds very different from reading fiction text. I think graphic novels that cover content area topics would be a good choice for her. It would be motivational and at the same time provide opportunity for practicing prosidy and intonation. RV: Anne could read into a tape recorder and listen to herself played back. Often when kids hear themselves read something they will self-correct and read more fluently. She could practice this and along with constructive feedback, continue the activity until her prosidy improves. What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom? JM: I think that a Reader's Theater would be great for Anne. Reader's Theater helps build vocabulary, enrich comprehension, and increase the development of fluency and creativity. We have Reader's Theater on Famous Americans, American History, and Famous Inventors that would be perfect to grab her attention. LH: Be sure that Anne has plenty of high-interest books that are at her independent reading level. Encourage rereading of books she likes, and let her tape record herself reading one. Anne might enjoy recording her first reading of a new book (or just a passage of the book) and then recording again after she has practiced a few time. While listening, the teache and Anne could discuss some of her miscues and what to do to correct them. LJ: Anne may also be interested in going to one of the lower grades to read. She should be given ample opportunities to read a story aloud to peers and the teacher before it is considered to be ready for "performing". This reading and rereading should also help her fluency and phrasing. ML: Repeated readings are great for addressing fluency if it has been modeled first. Recording her readings and rerecording until she is pleased is another strategy that is helpful. I also agree that reader's theatre are very beneficial. The teacher could provide books that are high interest to increase motivation. Because she is visual, to increase comprehension, I would utilize graphic organizers before, during, and after reading. RV: Repeated readings and reader's theater are the two most wel known reserach based strategies in fluency instruction. Both are effective in improving rate and prosidy. Additional thoughts: JM: Anne might also really enjoy graphic novels due to all of the visual aids they provide. The dialouge could also help with expression and fluency. LH: I agree, JM, the she seems drawn to graphic reprentaions of knowledge, I think she would enjoy graphic novels. Do they make graphic novels with science in the topics? I also think she would benefit fom some instruction in using graphic organizers such as individual KWL charts, webs, venn diagrams, and such to visually organize the information she is getting from a piece of literature. If she is comfortable decoding graphic information, she may be comfortable representing information graphically.

** CASE STUDY #5 **
Charlie, a kind, helpful and positive young man, is not reading with fluency. His comprehension retelling was concise and included all the pertinent information. His writing and spelling are poor; some of his spelling are trane (train), closit (closet), case (chase) and beches (beaches) which Words Their Way says is Using but Abusing. He scored perfectly on alphabet names, consonant sounds, consonant digraphs, and consonant blends. He missed several short vowel words. In long vowel sections, vowel pairs, and silent e, he read all words correctly.

His performance in the classroom is inconsistent. When reading text, he appears to use context and other strategies to back up his phonics decoding skills. Sometimes he seems to be guessing vowel sounds almost randomly as he tries each one out. He ends up with the right word, but the process is laborious. He self corrects about 1 out of every 3 miscues. His pace is slow and choppy.

What are the strengths?

What are the needs?

What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the parents to do at home? Why?

What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom?

Additional thoughts:
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 * =__Case Study #6 Comprehension__=

CASE STUDY #6
Sydney, a 7th grade student at Lance Middle High School, is not at all confident about her reading. Daily, she seems to be on the verge of tears, when discussions and extensions take place. She confesses to you that she has faked her way through elementary school and now she knows she won?t be able to do the same thing at the middle school level. She asks you for help.

What are the strengths?

What are the needs?

What strategies/things could the student do when they read? Why? . What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom?

Additional thoughts:

CASE STUDY #6
In a sixth grade class of twenty-eight students, composed mostly of English speakers at various levels of ability and skills, the teacher needs to devise strategies which deal with comprehension. Most students do not have a lot of difficulty with word attack, but their reading comprehension scores on a standardize test range from the 22nd percentile to the 65th percentage. In the Oklahoma PASS objective tests, you note that they read the passages but they seemed to miss key points in comprehension. You also know that the students like to discuss the topic but don?t always understand the text and have a hard time supporting their answers from the text.

What are the strengths? JM: The majority of the class has strong words attack skills, and they are able to read the text given to them. The students are interested in discussing the topics covered in class, and the teacher is wanting to devise strategies to help her students with their comprehension. LH:They have word attack skills, wihich means they are probably developing fluency as they should, they enjoy disussing topics. LJ: I think Jenny summed it up quite nicely!! ML: Yes, word attack skills and willingness to take risks and discuss what they do not fully understand are definite strengths. RV: Yes dfinatley word attack skills and the ability to discuss topics with other students. What are the needs? JM: While these students can read the text, they need to be able to pull out the main idea and supporting details. They need strategies in place that will help them check for understanding while they are reading a passage. They also need instruction on how to find information from the text to support their answers. LJ: These students may need help activating background knowledge so that they have something to link the new information to. LH: I agree with JM and LJ, Comprehension is the goal of reading and these students need to be given the skills and strategies to develop their comprehension. They need help identifyingad rmembering important facts and details. ML: Direct instruction in identifying main ideas and details is a need. Utilizing a variety of graphic organizers that address main idea and details would be beneficial. I also think that writing could help. When students know how to write paragraphs, it is easier for them to identify the main idea and details of a paragraph or passage. RV: The students need to be able to find the main idea and supposrting details in order tofully understand the text. What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom? JM: The teacher could help her students create Story Maps for the different stories that they read. A variety of Story Maps are available free on line, and most help to summarize the main idea, characters, setting and plot in the story. More detailed Stort Maps include boxes for several events that lead up to the resolution or outcome. Story Maps could first be done as a class and then later in groups or individually. LJ: The teacher could uses a variety of graphic organizers to help with comprehension such as the KWL chart: What do they know, what do they want to know, and, after reading, what have they learned. LH: If possible, the studetns could mark in their text with highlighters, or underline with pencils. They could color-code, ex. red for main idea, yellow for supporting details. They could also write notes in the margins to help them remember where in the passage certian informaiton is located. Since this probably wouldn't fly with most administrators, the teachers may make copies of texts for the boys and girls to mark on. Also, anything to activiate prior knowledge would help with comprehension, KWLs, webs, games, ect. ML: Like the others said, graphic organizers, highlighting, and writing in the margins are great ideas. My students use sticky notes to write main idea and details for each section or page. RV: Ditto! Graphic organizers to keep track of information and structured notetaking to record specic details. What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the students to do? JM: The teacher could introduce the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) strategy to her students. This would allow the students to interact with the text. Their reading comprehension would be guided by self generated questions, and this strategy would show them how to find answers to their questions. This is an essential step to reading comprehension. ML: The students should be encouraged to self monitor, stop after each page or section and summarize, and use annotated notes. LJ: The students may also encouraged to preview before they read. If it is a text, they should read the subheadings, look at the pictures and graphs, and read the questions at the end of the passage. If they are reading a novel, they may want to read the back of the book, look at the chapter headings, and read the first chapter and make predicitons about what the story will be about. LH: Represent information graphically, teaching the old-fashioned method of note-taking that I learned in high school was helpful to me. Writing the main idea of a paragaph/passage, and indenting each supporting idea. RV: I agree with Jenny.The strategy that I would most likely use is the QAR strategy. This would allow them to disect the text and think more deply about it. Additional thoughts: LH: Since I have taught kindergarten for so long, it is hard for me to imagine how all the aspects of reading (phonics, phonemic awareness, vocab) come together to 'make' comprehension! It is easier for me to solve problems with the fundamentals rather than the main idea of reading - comprehenison. I think this is something I need to work on. == ==

RV: Lisa I agree with you on this. It is hard for me to imagine my students at this level and working in these kinds of situations.
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 * =__Case Study #7 Comprehension__=

** CASE STUDY # 7 **
Brandon, a soon to be eighth grader, was a student in the summer reading program for struggling readers. He was assigned to this program because of his test scores and the Reading Sufficiency Plan. Also his mother wanted to have help for him before he went to high school. The teacher gave an informal reading inventory and the reading level was several levels lower than his grade placement. During the conference with Brandon, he shared that he felt that he was a good reader and was often called upon to read orally in class. His reading was rhythmic and generally true to text and his accuracy rate was about 89%. He had trouble retelling and his comprehension was minimal. Brandon was also very talkative and excited and saw no need for strategy instruction to help with his comprehension.

What are the strengths? JM: Brandon has confidence in himself and believes that he is a good reader. He is able to read with fluency and his reading is accurate. LH: Brandon feels he is a good reader, that confidence is the biggest asset any reader can have! He is fluent (rhythmic) and reads fairly accurately. ML: Brandon is self confident and fairly fluent. RV: He is very confient and a fluent reader. He was excited about reading. What are the needs? JM: Brandon needs additional help in retelling and summarizing a story. He needs strategies that will assist him in reading comprehension and main ideas. LJ: I do think that an accuracy rate of 89% is going to affect reading comprehension. When I went to a DIBELS training, their research stated that accuracy less than 97% would affect comprehension. I would then look at what words he was missing; Are they polysyllabic words? Are they words that are specific to a certain topic such as social studies or science terms? LH: Brandon need to monitor his reading, internally liste to what he is reading and self-monitor to ensure it is making sense. I agree with LJ when she questions the 89% accuracy rate. That soundshigh enough, but I also think it would affect his comprehension, depending upon what specific type of miscues he is making. He needs to work on accuracy as well. ML: I feel that accuracy rates below 90% call for phonics/vocabulary intervention. He is probably missing the key vocabulary which hinders his comprehension. I agree that he also needs self monitoring strategies as well as the use of other comprehension strategies. RV: His accuracy rate could be a little higher which would help with his understanding of the text. He also needs some help with his ability to re-tell about what he has red. What strategies/things could the student do when they read? Why? JM: Brandon would benefit from the SQ3R method. Implementing this strategy while he reads would allow him to survey the text prior to reading, ask questions as he surveyed, then read the selection, recite and ask questions after he has read, and finally review what was read prior to reading the next part of the selection. This would allow him to check up on himself as he was reading to make sure he is comprehending the text. LJ: If Brandon is having difficulty with specialized vocabulary or polysyllabic words, I would suggest that these words be taught before Brandon begins reading a text. Ensure that he knows these words by his ability to discuss the words and use them effectively in a sentence. LH: I wonder if Brandons accuracy would improve by backing WAY up and teaching him word attack/decoding skills that should have been learned in elemetary and also working with usin context clues to ensure reading makes sense. What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom? The CSSR (Context, structure, sound, reference) stratgy would be helpful to Brandon. Using this stratey, the reader first uses context to figure out an unknown word, reading the entire sentence and possible precending and following sentences for clues. The reader then looks at the struture (prefix, affix, root words,ect) for clues. Sounding-out now comes into play when the reader attempts to sound out the word, looing for familiar chunks or letter patters. Finally the reader consults a reference (dictionary, theaurus) for confimation of meaning or pronunciation. Theis strategy would work becuase it gives Bradon a clear sequeence of events to follow when he encounters an unknown word. He feels that he doesn't need help wtih strategies, so the teacher would need to intoduce this as a way to 'double check' what he thinks is the correct word. ML: I agree all of the above would benefit Brandon. I especially like the SQ3R strategy for comprehension, and think clouds would work here too. I think one of the vocaulary strategies that we have done for 5572 would be great. The picture dictionary, personal dictionary, or possible sentences would work well here. RV: I also like all the above strategies and think that I would use SQ3R but you could also use Listen-Read-Discuss strategy which allows him to stop reading periodically and discuss what he has read which will help him increase his comprehension. JM: The teacher could use an Elaborative Interrogation strategy with Brandon. This is a simple strategy that will help enhance memory for facts. This stratgey will allow Brandon to activate prior knowledge as well as use his deduction and problem solving skills. The teacher could give Brandon a fact, and then turn that fact into a question. Brandon would then need to answer the question using information from the reading selection. LJ: Brandon may benfit from learning to use a Comprehension Checklist (pg. 443 of Improving Reading) This checklist helps the reader set a purpose for reading and reminds them of the steps needed to preview the text, what they should do while they are reading, and what they should do after reading. LH: I cannot see a question here, only answers from JM and LJ. I think the question must have been something regarding strategies, so I will answer along the lines of what Jenny and Lynn said. I love the Improving Reading book and have already used it with my classroom last year. I think using the modified cloze procedure, discussed on pg. 217 would help Brandon learn to use strategies to imporve his word attack and context clues usage, thus improving his accuracy rate, thus improving his comprehension. I like the idea of having students create their own cloze sentnces and switching with a friend. ML: There are a ton of comprehension skills that would help Brandon comprehend what he is reading. I like using List, Group, and Label or Sequential Round Table Alphabet on top of the strategies the three above listed. The teacher really needs to be modeling self montoring skills through think alouds. Question the Author is another great strategy for comprehension.

Additional thoughts:
LJ: Brandon seems to have little awareness of his skill as a reader. I wonder if this is a "defense mechanism". LH: I think it may be his way of avoiding failue. Also, since he is called on in class and can read fluently and rhythmically in front of teachers and peers, he may have never been confronted with his inability to make meaning out of what he has read. Could his clasroom teacher be overly concerned with fluency and oral reading and not as concerned about comprehension? I see an increased focus on fluency at all grade levels! ML: The JH student that I tutored sounds like Brandon. I really focused on his vocabulary and gave him comprehension skills that he could use without being prompted. RV: I agree with Lynn. Sometimes the most important thing to teachers is "how" a child reads, not necessarily what comes after he has read. ||
 * =__Case Study #8: Metacognition__=

Metacognition is having the students think while they read. They are to think about if the text is making sense and what they can do to help the text make sense. They are to think about how their minds are processing the information into long term memory. They are to think about the television reading that should be taking place. Thus, these two case studies are typical about the lack of metacognition. Select one and make a plan.

Robert is an eighth grade student at Jenks Middle School and has been referred to you, the resource teacher, for evaluation because of his poor comprehension in content subjects. Both his teachers and parents are concerned and stated that although Robert doesn’t seem to have difficulty reading the words, he does not have the ability to understand and repeat what he has read. He seems to have the most trouble in science class.

What are the strengths?

What are the needs?

What strategies/things could the student do when they read? Why?

What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom?

** CASE STUDY #8 **
At Open House, a group of parents voiced their concerns that their children could read the words in their textbooks, yet they didn’t understand what they were reading. The parents said they can figure out the words (word attack skills) and can read fluently, but they don’t know the main ideas, analyzing text, or taking notes. They said that the kids had a hard time with homework that involved answering questions from their textbooks or looking up information from other sources. Further, they said that their kids don’t do their homework without lots of prodding; the parents say it’s a battle every night. The kids say that homework is boring.

What are the strengths? JM:These students have strong word attack skills, and they are able to read the text assigned to them. They are fluent readers and they have parents who are active in their educational needs. LH: Supportive and concerned parents are a strength. Getting the parents to help practice strategies would be a huge help. The kids have developed word attack skils and fluency, that is another strength. ML: These students' strengths are fluency, word attack skills, and supportive parents, just as the others have noted. rv: The imvolved parents are a major strength. I also think that the fluency and word attach skills are a plus. What are the needs? JM: These students needs strategies in place that will help them with understanding what they read. They need additional help in analyzing the text, finding the main idea of a selection, and taking notes to assist them with later homework or in class assignments. LH: I agree with Jenny. They need a set of stategies that can be learned in school and applied during homework. The skills that they need will be used for the rest of their educational career, as I was reading this I thought that no one could make it through college without being able to locate main ideas, analyze text, take notes, ect. ML: These students do need strategies that they can use at school and home. These should be metacogition strategies that help them think about what and how they are learning. These students need to learn how to make text connections. They also lack motivation to do their homework. RV: I think that I have to agree with the others. We all want our students to be able to learn strategies well enough that they internalize them and use them without being prompted. What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom? JM: The teacher could assist the students by working on a Structured Note-Taking strategy with the class. This strategy helps students to select, organize, and remember important points from their reading. The framework on this note-taking strategy helps students to organize keys points after reading a passage, and helps them to determine which pieces of information are note-worthy. LJ: Ther are a number of graphic organizers that could be used to help students with their metacognition. One is the discussion web. After a passage from the text is read, a central question is introduced which has opposing viewpoints. Divide the students into two groups and have one group brainstorm reasons the answer is "yes" and the other brainstorm reasons the answer is "no." After discussion, ask the students to come to their own conclusion independently and write their conclusion on an index card. LH: I agree with JM, being able to take notes is a necessity for success in high school and college. I am surprised to see some high schoo student who have no idea how to organize or take notes. Also, the teacher could ue a writing summary. After copying a passage the students read and then mark the passage by underlining main idea, crossing out redundant or unimportant facts, circling key vocabulary words, ect. The students then create a web(or other graphic organizer) to display the main idea, supporting details, ect in an organized way. The only drawback to this strategy is that everthing must be copied for the students to mark on. It would be great if they had access to an online text which they could edit by highligting, crossing out, underlining, ect without losing the original text. I think if this doesn't exist I will suggest it to a text book company to see if I can make some $$$ off this idea. RV: I think that Listing the important facts could be an appropriate strategy for these students which would allow them to have a strategy to find the main points and remember them for later comprehension questions.

What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the students to do? JM: The teacher could teach and encourage the students to use the Cornell System for Note-Taking. This strategy could be used in any class, with any subject. Students only need a sheet of notebook paper and the knowledge of how this system works. On the left of their paper, students would write questions that could be answered from the notes taken in class. This should be done after the class when students reivew the notes they took. The right side of their paper is reserved for notes taken during the lecture, and the bottom of the paper should be use to write a summary based off the notes taken. LJ: The teacher could encourage students to use learning logs to reflect on their reading. Learning log prompts could include the following: LH: Obviously, this must carry over into use at home. Once again, I agree with Jenny on the importance of note-taking skills, and I love Lynn's learning log suggestion. Lynn's suggestion reminds me of the think clouds. I think they could be adapted to suit this purpose. Each student could be provided with the paper 'cloud' shaped cut out (or it could be e-maild to parents as an attachment) and the parents could assemble them on popsicle sticks or mount them some other creative way. Students could use the common think clouds ideas * I thought was important because *I figured out _ __because * I made a connection when__ _ *I noticed the author * I wondered___ ect., or the teacher/parents could create specific think clouds to go with a specific text or subject. M L: All of you have great ideas! You make it hard to come up with more! I think retelling and other closing strategies like the KWL Plus should be encouraged. This way students know that they will need to communicate in some way what they have read. I know this helped me complete the modules for 5572. Students need to have a purpose for reading or completing homework. Closing strategies help with motivation as well. RV: I agree with Marlo. You guys have great suggestions. I love the Cornell Method for notetaking. It is an easy strategy that is likely to be used again by the student on thier own == Additional thoughts: == == LH: Bridging the gap between home and school is an important issue, but so involved. I have been wondering how to do this next year when I begin my job as the reading specialist. In the past our school hasn't had a specific way to use literacy to bridge this gap. How do you get parents to be concerned, involved, and knowledgeable of what is going on in their child's literacy development? == ||
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