Group+2-5772

= __CASE STUDY #1__ = = = July 17th, looked through and AC, AB, LJ are finished with the case studies. I really thought you were thinking and suggesting effective strategies for each case.

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?

PJ-Susie is already reading fluently by 1st grade! Whew! Her love of books, her knowledge of story (plots), concepts of print, desire to learn. Here, I have to question if she actually reads or does she memorize and repeat back easily. She's finishing all of her work, so she must be able to read. What do you guys think?

AC - Although, it doesn't explicitly state that she is reading. I think we can infer from the fact she finishes her work early and has highly developed skills that she is a reader. Her home life has really helped her to become a good reader. Her parents have done a lot to help her have a love of books as well.

AB- To me, a strength she has is her love of books. Can't you just see her making library cards for all of her books. The goal is to keep her from ever looking at a book as if it is the enemy.

LJ - She has a lot of strengths - she loves books, has a great parental support system, and is anxious to learn

What are the needs? PJ-Begin with the first three of the non-negotiables: Phonemic Awareness--if she's proficient at identifying individual sounds/letters, then move on to do blending and phoneme segmentation and on to Phonological Awareness, the highest level of awareness in phonemic awareness; Phonics and word study--the structure of words; vocabulary studies.

AC - She needs differentiated instruction. It sounds like a lot of her day is a waste of time if she is bored and has nothing to do.

AB - 1st, we need a confirmation of her reading level...so testing. Once tested, she needs some differentiation, books on her level.

LJ - I agree with AC she does need differentiated instruction. It may work to give her project based work that will enhance her skills while allowing her to still be following 1st grade curriculumn.

What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the parents to do at home? Why? PJ-Keep reading with her, to her, and having her read to them. Also, the parents could start asking questions about the events in the story, like, Susie, why do you think the princess felt that way? and other comprehension questions. They could encourage her to draw and write her own stories to share with them.

AC - PJ, my suggestions are similar to yours. The teacher could tell the parents to keep doing what they are doing. She might discuss having Susie read more difficult books. The teacher could also encourage the parents to ask comprehension questions, especially higher level thinking questions.

AB - It mentions that she has a lot of books, but does anyone read to her. I agree with each of you. Reaing needs to be interactive. I think Sally is looking at reading as a task to be completed.

LJ - I would have her continue reading but add story mapping, book reports, etc.

What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom? PJ-Susie should be involved in center time where she could work independently on things that interest her and help her acquire deeper knowledge of what she already knows. She should definitely be in the writing center making her own stories, scavenger hunt words, read the room, magic words using magnetic letters to make words until all the letters are used to make the mystery word, doing toons on the computer, grouped homogenously in a reading group, heterogenously grouped peer work with books and story elements, teacher support and sharing of her knowledge of story, author's chair time, and maybe she could be a peer tutor for a student who is struggling with print, phonemic awareness, and reading.

AC - Wow! You had a lot of great answers. I would definitely use those activities. My suggestion would be to find reading materials that are on her level (which might be different than the basal) and have her do activities (like the ones you suggested) based on those materials. I think it is of great importance for students to be constantly working at their instructional level. I also like the idea of using her as a peer tutor. If she's mature, she might be able to lead a game at a center.

AB - I agree with the centers. If thatis not possible, then Sally needs to have access to books on her level. The classroom teacher needs to be aware of what is causing Sally's issues. I also agree with writing her own stories. Sally could retell the story by drawing pictures either by hand or on the computer. The teacher really needs to encourage after reading activities that extend the reading experience.

LJ - PJ you said it all!! I too would give her ways to acquire deeper knowledge of things that interest her. She will need individual time with the teacher to make sure she maintains and extends her learning

Additional thoughts:

 * =__Case Study #2 Phonemic Awareness__= ||

= 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: __**
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?

AC - Mitch's strengths are letter name knowledge and letter sounds. He also is able to identifies the first and last consonants in his spelling.

LJ - Mitch does know his letters and individual sounds. He also was able to understand the vowels a and i and could spell the first and last consonant correctly.

PJ--I agree with AC and LJ, in that Mitch can identify the upper and lower case letters and their sounds in individual letter/sound associations. He is struggling with everything else, it looks like.

AB: I chose to look at Angel. Strengths: Has learned ABC song, has some print awareness, left to right order, r eturn sweep, front/back/author of book, front part of story and word, t ries to learn and e ager participation. I know I didn't do the right student. I will get with the program.

= =

What are the needs?

AC - Mitch needs more help with phonemic awareness, sight words, and phonics patterns.

LJ - He needs help with blending, working with word patterns by doing word sorts and build a sight word vocabulary.

PJ--I wish he had not been retained in Kindergarten, but rather had been tested for developmental delays to see if he would qualify for special services where he would get more intensive, reptitious, explicit small-group instruction. That's what he needs. I am not a doctor, but according to the article we read on dyslexia, he could be a candidate for being evaluated for the disorder. However, his listening comprehension needs to be evaluated to see if he understands concepts of story and can retell one with details. He needs auditory or talking storybooks on the computer to give him some enjoyment with books, print, and stories. He needs to have a purpose in learning to read, but he is stuck in the beginning stages, still, and may be feeling discouraged already, even though he is only eight years old.

AB: Awareness of letter, letter sounds, and names, ability to retain alphabetic order without help of song, recognize punctuation marks and when a new sentence begins, recognize and understand the relationship of words in forming thoughts (sentences)

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

AC - The teacher could teach and encourage the parents to help Mitch blend and segment words. Also, the teacher should encourage the parents to read to him and to listen to him read.

LJ - The teacher could encourage the parents to work on sight words at home using flash cards. They could also help him by having him blend sounds on items on boxes and cans in the kitchen.

PJ--LJ, you're great at environmental print ideas. AC, your ideas about parents reading to him is well said. I would suggest your suggestions. additionally, I would give the parents letter tiles, train them how to use them with Mitch to create words using the mystery word where only a set amount of tiles are given, train them how to use them to create blends and digraphs, and have them practice these at home for 10 minutes a day. If the child knows there is a time limit, they are more willing to engage in a difficult activity. Also, I would prepare file folder games, approximately 3 a month, for Mitch to play with at home. They would be games he could play by himself or with a parent. In the classroom, we would have game times where Mitch could engage with phonological and phonemic awareness with his peers and have fun at the same time.

AB:
 * To increase awareness of letter, letter sounds and names get magnetic letters and put on the refrigerator or use a cookie sheet or other metallic surface
 * Begin by having the child spell his/her name. (The physical letters are ideal because of Angel being kinesthetic.
 * Do this every day until the child can spell his name with automaticity.
 * Next, move on to spelling everyday items around the house. And then move on to phrases (groups of words).
 * Take index cards and put one letter on each card. For each letter of the alphabet make a card in uppercase and a card in lowercase.
 * Play the go fish game with the cards.
 * To address alphabetic order, use the same magnetic letters. Mix up the letters and have the child practice putting the letters in alphabetic order.
 * Repeat each day until child can put the letters in alphabetic order with automaticity.
 * To aid the child in recognizing and understanding the relationship of words, show the child family pictures or pictures of children playing.
 * Have the child tell what is going on in the picture.
 * The parent and child take turns reading the sentence with the parent pointing to the words as they are read.

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

AC - The teacher should definitely work on phonemic awareness activities such as identifying initial, middle, and final sounds, blending, and segmenting. This could be taught with games in small groups or in a whole group. I would recommend the books, //Making Words//. This series helps students practice different phonics patterns.

LJ - The teacher needs to work on phonemic awareness activities using word and picture sorts. Mitch needs to work with the teacher 4-5 days a week alone or in a very small group. She could also work on a few sight words a week to help him build some confidence.

PJ--Sight word work is important so providing flash cards and pairing him with other students to work in center time would help both students. Familiar reading books that have only a few words on each page would be in his cubby to read every day until he could build to more difficult texts. I would make sure the increments of words on a page went very slowly so as not to overwhelm him. Computer assisted reading would be another task, like on Book Flix. I like Book Flix because the words highlight as they are read, the stories are read at an appropriate pace, and they are authentic children's literature, not contrived synthetic phonics stories. Mitch needs constant spiraling through what he has learned previously to commit the information to long-term memory. He could use some mnemonics to help him remember whole words or word chunks. I would even go so far as to have Mitch memorize, if he can, many whole words. He may not have the capacity for phonics instruction and will need to learn to read entire words from the gitgo. Without assessment information, I feel I am shooting in the dark.

AB:
 * Angel has print awareness as far as left to right and return sweep but does not understand or observe punctuation.
 * Using a big book, read a familiar story while the student reads along.
 * The teacher orally models stopping at punctuation and why she/he stopped at the punctuation.
 * Teacher models how she knows each group of words is a sentence and how she knows a new sentence has begun.
 * The teacher follows up by having Angel read the story to her (or with her, using her finger to follow along pointing to each word as it is read, pausing at punctuation and have Angel explain why the first letter of the first word is capitalized.
 * Teacher builds on Angel’s success knowing where a sentence begins and next focuses on punctuation.
 * Teacher takes pictures of students in classroom and puts pictures on board (SmartBoard or through a computer if available).
 * Angel is asked to state what she sees in the pictures.
 * Teacher writes Angel’s statement on a sentence strip and rereads Angel’s sentence back to her.
 * Next, have Angel put her finger on each word in her sentence as she class or the teacher reads the words aloud.
 * This activity fosters development of word relationships in forming complete thoughts while connecting to something of which Angel has background knowledge, her classroom and classmates.
 * Long term inquiry:
 * Make own book by taking pictures using a digital camera.
 * Write statements about each picture and put statements and pictures together in a book.

Additional thoughts:

AB: Sorry I did the other case. I just sat down and did all of the case studies over a couple of days and forgot I needed to do the same one as my group. Overwhelmed and just trying to make my way though all of the work.
 * =__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 show they know most initial consonant sounds and use them randomly to guess at words but they ignore the final consonants and medial sounds. Their writing and spelling are on a lower developmental level of about beginning first grade.

What are the strengths?

AC - Their enjoyment of class read alouds and independent reading. It sounds like they are on their way to a love of reading. They are also able to recognize initial consonant sounds.

LJ - Obviously these students are eager to read. It sounds like they really like all experiences of reacting to text. The four students that are in need of more do hear initial consonant sounds.

AB - They enjoy listening to a story, will participate in class discussions, know some sight words, know most initial consonant sounds, and enjoy looking at a book. Not directly stated, but I assume from the abstract that the kids understand that words work together to form a whole thought and enjoyment can be had from whole thoughts put together to tell story.

PJ--Their obvious enjoyment of books, knowing their initial sounds, their love of story, English is their native language, and some sight word knowledge.

What are the needs?

AC - These four students have difficulty with recognizing phonics patterns, fluency, spelling and writing.

LJ - The four students need to work on word patterns and would benefit from word sorts

AB - I agree. The students need work on sight words, fluency, onsets and rimes.

PJ-The children need to read more independently, have onset and rime fun with words, learn word families, play games changing words from one to another, like man to car, engage in shared reading, guided reading, small-group instruction, and do writing activities daily. Word sorts and sight word bingo games would be good, too. What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the parents to do at home? Why?

AC - I would recommend the reading/writing rhymes activity discussed in chapter 5. At a conference, I would discuss/show parents how to help their child come up with rhyming words based on different rimes. For example, I would have the word train and teach the parents to help their child come up with words that end with the -ain pattern. Then, the parent and child could create silly sentences using rhyming words.

LJ - The parents are very busy so I would encourage them to use activities that they could do during dinner, driving down the road, etc. These would include manipulating words ex. cat - change the c to r what do you have? Have them tell you beginning and ending sounds in words you give. Have them help with dinner plans by working with sounds.

AB - The teacher could send home some pattern books. The books can be either in physical form or on CD or tape. In addition, the teacher can make a recording of her reading the story so the child ca follow along. I also recommend makng a wheel, slider, or flipbook so the child can practice onset and rime families. I agree with you Lori that word sorts are necessary. Also Lori, I agree with doing things during dinner. All of these activities can be worked on during dinner.

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

AC - The teacher should emphasize the importance of onsets and rimes, because when a student knows some words that end with a particular rime; he can then transfer that knowledge into decoding other words with that same pattern. The teacher could also have students sort words by pattern, do guided reading groups with word family books such as //Sheep in a Jeep//, and use letter tiles to create and then read words.

LJ - The teacher definitely needs to work with these 4 students 4-5 days a week. Using word sorts in small groups and using lots of word ending activities should help.

AB - I suggest echo reading with a stronger reader. In addition, the teacher can put up the words of a popular or well-known song and while listening to the song the teacher or another student can point to words as they are being read.

PJ--I would have word work sessions in small group instruction in addition to the word work literacy center in my classroom. We would sing songs to word families like Rat-a-Tat the Cat and use the flip chart to follow along as we sang. I would have them drawing in their pictionaries and writing sentences using their words to help them gain ownership over words. File folder games, hopscotch sight words, Smart board sight word slideshows, simple reader's theater plays, and vocabulary building activities.

Additional thoughts:
||

=__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?

LJ: The strengths are obvious that students can get additional help with their learning. These students will be able to work with someone that wants and has chosen to be there with them. Some of the weaknesses are that students need vocabulary instruction in context of what is being learned or done. This may not happen as easily with a program that focuses on vocabulary development only.

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

LJ: I would encourage Amy to do mini-lessons because these will be more conducive to one hour meetings. She could use short stories, poems, and even stories in science and social studies if needed. These would all help with using the words in context. Since we know a person needs to hear a word 12 times to be able to use it she would need to make sure that new vocabulary is taught over again in the course of her time there.

What would the program look like?

LJ: Her daily schedule should include a prior knowledge piece that would include what was previously taught and ways students used their new vocabulary. Then she would do a mini lesson vocabulary strategy with the students. They then would do a follow up and question and answer piece that would summarize their learning. Using KWL charts might be useful as a weekly or daily activity.

** 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?

LJ: First thing teachers need to do is collaborate together and make sure they are on the same page. That no matter what class the students are in the importance of vocabulary is always present. Teachers also need to use proven vocabulary practices to enhance the instruction. It may be a good idea to have professional development on this topic to help teachers.

AC - Lori, I agree with your ideas. It is important for teachers to teach similar vocabulary strategies and have enthusiasm for new words. A professional development session plus individual teacher follow up would be a great way to ensure that teachers are understanding and implementing these strategies into their classroom.

AB - Have a content word of the day for each day. The word can be derived from the content being taught that day. The words wil be gathered together in a vocabulary notebook.

PJ--From my personal experiences, I think getting teachers to realize the importance of teaching vocabulary beyond the 10 content words each week would be a start. As a reading specialist in my building, I would like to develop on-going professional development that would follow up in the classrooms to see if the teachers were integrating what they are taught into their lessons. Specifically, I would teach teachers about the four-part vocabulary program and teach them the vocabulary within the program like metalinguistic language, cognitive-constructivist approach, etc. I would encourage teachers to allow students to have wide reading experiences, to read and enjoy a book themselves during SSR time (I'm reading Shirley Temple's autobiography this upcoming school year), how to teach individual words and how to utilize word learning strategies. Fostering word consciousness would be a whole PD by itself, but I would incorporate role playing during the PD for practice, answer questions, and have the teachers brainstorm and collaborate together on how to be incorporate these vocabulary ideas into their classrooms.

What strategies/ideas can you set up for students?

LJ: First of all words need to be every where!! Students need to know that everyone feels this is important. Then it needs to be made important to them. Often times incentive programs tend to work. I worked at a school once where we had a word of the day for the upper and one for the lower grades. Students were encouraged to use the new vocabulary in their daily activities. If they were caught using it correctly they got a "buck" to use at the student store. Students loved it for a while but it didn't continue the next year. I felt it was a great way to motivate students to use new vocabulary.

AC - I thought there were many great ideas in the chapter and article I read. A word of the day activity such as a mystery word where they have to figure out the word of the day is a fun way to incorporate vocabulary. I teach ELL students so I try to incorporate physical activity into student learning. My students and I come up with motions that stand for the word. Whenever we talk about the word, we use those motions. I think word webs are a great way to teach vocabulary too. With a word web, students are learning vocabulary associated with one topic which I think makes it easier for students to learn new words.

AB - The students will be creating a vocabulary notebook with blank copies of a graphic organizer to be filled in with each new word. On the graphic organizer the student will rate their initial knowledge f the word. Next, the student will record his guess at the definition and then draw a representative picture and lastly write a sentence using the word. Ideally the notebook will travel from class to class and be added to with each class.

PJ--A vocabulary notebook would be essential. We would have word play games. I thought about a classroom level Password game based on the old game show. We play Rumors where we pretend to gossip about what a word means, then elect a spokesperson to share with the rest of the class with the expert team armed with vocabulary word meanings (being used in the Rumors game) to check if they are correct or not. Children want to play and will easily engage with vocabulary work if it is fun and exciting. I would incorporate many of the vocabulary graphics we used with our Modules, especially the ones that incorporate pictures.

What can you share with your parents?

LJ: Parents need to be aware of what the school is doing to help students build their vocabulary. They could be sent home newsletters or agendas to notify parents of new words and encourage the parents to help their child use these words at home. It would also be helpful to send parents information to help parents help their children.

AC - Again, I agree with your ideas. It is important to include parents in the process of learning. I would add vocabulary games and parent tips to the newsletters. Also, students and parents could attend a literacy night that has a vocabulary focus.

AB - Parents will be provided with a list of critical words from each content area in addition to being provided with a website where the words are listed.

PJ--I would prepare, or have the students prepare, word games for parents to play to increase their vocabularies, as well. Students would earn a reward ticket for returning the games completed whether the parents or the students completed them, just as long as they were completed. You would have to put that twist on it because not all parents are cooperative with their children and their homework, so you'd have to provide a way for all children to be rewarded. The students could "test" their parents on their vocabulary words by asking them to state in their own words what they think they mean. A blog or newsletter to instruct the parents on the happenings in the classroom and that activities for them to complete would be coming home would help assure cooperation from the parents, generally speaking.

Additional thoughts:



 * =__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?

AC - She is very interested in science and history and uses her background knowledge in these subjects to assist her in school work. It sounds like she also has a high listening and speaking vocabulary. Her use of visual cues can help her with comprehending textbooks.

LJ - Anne seems to have a strong speaking vocabulary and is interested in science and history. She is able to use picture cues, graphs and charts to help her compensate for her lower abilities of reading.

AB - She has some decoding skills in addition to word recognition. She has a good working vocabulary and is motivated to learn She uses clues to decipher texts and is not afraid to particiate in class discussions.

PJ--In my classroom, I have found LD students suffer from the same sort of issues. I MADE them write last year, all of them from1st to 6th grade, every day, and pointed out punctuation and what it was for. Their reading improved greatly. Anne has good word attack skills, she uses outside resources she enjoys to expand her knowledge of subjects she likes, and she uses the graphics included in her textbooks to help her grasp the concepts being taught. She joins in class discussions and adds information other students may not know. She seems very bright, but doesn't ejoy reading.

What are the needs?

AC - Anne definitely needs to read with prosody and understanding of the text. She also seems to lack comprehension. She is a bit behind in decoding/deciphering skills.

LJ - Anne needs help with understanding of the text, comprehension, and decoding skills.

AB - Anne needs to increase her decoding skills, comprehension and fluency to grade level. She needs to become more observant of punctuation and understand the role of punctuation. She needs to learn to read with expression.

PJ--Anne needs phonological awareness lessons designed specifically for her. Practice with echo reading, or Read Naturally on her level, will increase her fluency. Teaching her how to approach informational texts using graphic organizers may help her start making connections to develop her comprehension of subjects. Also, using comprehension strategies and think alouds to model and scaffold her work in building comprehension would be helpful. I would have her writing notes to friends, letters that would get mailed to Congressmen or a penpal, and writing, writing activities. The writing is the key to noticing punctuation while reading. I would have her read the lead roles in reader's theater plays to develop fluency. I would also have her working with lots of vocabulary in a picture dictionary notebook, along with her peers so she wouldn't feel weird, and working on sight word reading and chunking of text.

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

AC - I think oral reading at home is key. It might seem like something a younger student would do, but she needs to read to others and have them discuss how her reading sounds to improve her fluency. Her parents should also ask her questions about what she has read to help her with comprehension.

LJ - The teacher should suggest to the parents that they do a partner reading at home even if they start with picture books. After each reading the parent could talk about the book and ask questions. They then could progress to longer stories.

AB - The teacher can send a tape and reading home for the student to practice. Lori, I agree with the partner reading. The teacher can give a list of structured questions or a graphic organizer for the student and parent to answer together.

PJ--All of you had great ideas. I would definitely find out what her interests were and provide audio books to continue to expose Anne to intellectually challenging texts, but I would also like the parents to read to her and would provide a list of comprehension questions for them to ask afterwards. I would provide Anne extra times during the school day to just sit and read, as much as possible. I would encourage Anne to read outside of class by giving her purpose and ideas on how reading will help her throughout her life. What types of activities and extensions could the teacher do in the classroom?

AC - The teacher should utilize reader's theaters or reading of plays. Anne and the other students should be assigned the part they will read the night before so they have time to practice before reading in front of others. Students should be introduced to a fluency rubric that includes pace, accuracy, and expression and then individually evaluate themselves on their reading of the play.

LJ - The teacher can do lots of retellings in the classrom and I agree with AC that Reader's Theater and Plays would be helpful. Something else that could help is having Anne read text into a recorder and then listen to herself. Then she could chart her progress and try to work on improving her reading. Sometimes it helps when students hear themselves to know what they need to work on. I would also begin teaching her root words and prefixes and suffixes to help her with learning the meaning of words.

AB - Rereading, while annoying, is sooooo beneficial. It works on fluency in addition to reading with expression and observation of punctuation. To aid with comprehension, the student will read a reading a little below their level and write level 1 and 2 questions from the story. Repeat the process and work up in grade levels each time. In addition, writing a cartoon strip retelling the important points of the text is highly useful.

Additional thoughts:
||


 * =__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?

AB - Her strengths are her awareness of the issue and her desire for help.

What are the needs?

AB - She needs testing to ascertain the exact issue. In addition, the teacher needs to help her increase her self-efficacy.

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

AB - Several strategies come to mind. First, have Sydney create a dialectical journal so she is required to interact with the text. She can create her own crossword puzzle of the salient points from the text. She would then answer the puzzle after creation so cement learning. Graphic organizers will be an invaluable tool. She also needs to learn how to preview text to scan for unknown vocabulary to be addressed before reading. By previewing, Sydney can also determine text structure which will aid in comprehension.

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

AB - The teacher needs to focus on teaching morphology. Knowledge of morphology is the quickest way to teach Cydney to read critically and with comprehension. The teacher needs to begin with words and word parts in which Sydney is already familiar. In addition, repeated reading would work well to increase fluency and improve self-efficacy as she getsbetter reading the text.

** 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?

AC - Most of the class is able to decode words and has good word recognition skills. Also, they are interested in having a discussion of books.

LJ - Students like to discuss the topic and they have pretty good with word attack skills.

PJ--They have good reading abilities with their word attack skills, are willing to join in a discussion so they are willing to risk, and most of the students have English as their native language.

What are the needs?

AC - Comprehension strategies such as summarizing and identifying the main idea of a text.

LJ - They need strategies to help them with comprehension. They could also use test taking strategies.

PJ--Obviously, comprehension strategies are needed. This teacher needs to model, scaffold, and support these students in comprehension strategies, such as Think alouds, prediction, and text structure. The teacher needs to teach explicitly with Direct explanation model, use the reciprocal teaching method, and TSI models from the textbook. Allow more time spent in actual reading and give the students a purpose, like using insertions to identify what they are learning, what they already know, what they don't understand, and what they disagree with. Then, have the students writing for others to read and make it real and authentic using the textbook, but also expanding and using it for their interests.

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

AC - First, the teacher should model important strategies such as summarizing and questioning and allow students to have guided and independent practice. Also, reciprocal teaching could fit well in this classroom. The teacher could allow students to be "teachers" and come up with questions and summaries for sections of text read.

LJ - The teacher could add strategies to see what the students may like. My students liked working with newspapers to summarize information. So the teacher could introduce things and see how the students respond. I would also make sure students were aware of how they comprehend information.

PJ--I have a way of answering before the question is asked. Think-Pair-Share activities after a given amount of time spent reading to review what they read, what they learned, and what they think is important about the passage. QuickWrite activities. A whole class KWLPlus chart. Have the students fill out a PMI chart as they read and then allow each of them to share their ideas afterwards in small groups or whole class. The teacher could stop the reading at intervals and ask students to share what they were thinking about while reading (if you ask a boy, the answer will be "girls, girls, girls").

What strategies/things could the teacher encourage the students to do?

AC - After modeling and teaching the strategies of prior knowledge, summarizing, questioning, text structure, think alouds, and visual representations, the teacher could print out a bookmark that has these strategies listed to remind them while they are reading. Also, students could keep a reading response log where they write how they have used different strategies during reading.

LJ - I love the idea from AC to make a bookmark. This will help students remember the strategies they have learned. They should also be posted on the wall. These strategies of course have to be taken down during testing but students can still sometimes visualize things that have been posted.

PJ--The teacher could have the students do their think alouds to check for understanding and to practice using the strategy. She could ask the students about their purpose for reading texts or selections and have them choose a strategy they would like to use while reading. The strategies could be varied the students select because they would be selecting the ones they like and do the best. If the teacher pulls in hypermedia, the students naturally rise to the occasion to read. Encourage students to checkout newspapers or magazines to discover additional information about the topic to get them to read. The teacher could encourage students to write using wordles or metaphors, or homonyms/synonyms/antonyms about the topic. Reading and writing are the keys to comprehension.

||
 * =__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?

LJ - Brandon has a supportive family. He feels he is a good reader and is generally true to text with accuracy of 89%. He is not discouraged but actually excited.

AB - I agree with the supportive family. In addition Brandon reads with fluency, rhythm, and accuracy.

AC - He enjoys talking which might be helpful when it comes to discussion of literature. I also believe he is a good decoder and a fluent reader.

PJ--I think he is verbal/linguistic and that is a definite strength for Brandon. He reads with fluency and he believes he is a good reader. Just his self efficacy alone makes getting him to do comprehension work so much easier, even though he doesn't need it. 

What are the needs?

LJ - Brandon needs help with retelling and comprehension skills

AB - I agree he needs help with comprehension skills. He also is in need of a revision to his view of his reading ability.

AC - He definitely needs help with retelling and summarizing. He would also benefit from becoming metacognitively aware of comprehension strategies to use while reading.

PJ--I wouldn't have him revamp his self-image of his reading ability because he feels good about that skill. Instead, I would do for him what this course has done for me: I would use a four-part learning module and include strategies for the opening, vocabulary, metacognition, and closing activities. He would then KNOW how helpful comprehension strategies would be to him and I feel he would be hooked, just like me. Once he experienced success using some simple strategies, the modeling of think alouds, scaffolding, and graphic organizers could be used to expand his comprehension skills.

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

LJ - Brandon could incorporate strategies like summarizing after he read a section of text. The teacher could give him tools to help him (like a bookmark) remember what he is looking for. He could also learn strategies for retelling something that could help him is have him tape himself reading and then go back and make notes of what was being read.

AB - Brandon needs to be taught to skim and skan. In addition, the REAP strategy, the concept ladder, and learning logs would be viable strategies for Brandon to begin employing.

AC - I think that he needs to begin using prior knowledge - thinking about what he knows before reading a text. A KWL chart or word web could be used to spark his thinking on a certain topic. Doing this might help him make connections with the text and remember more about what he read.

PJ--I would have chosen the vocabulary words for Brandon, provide the page numbers in the chapter, and have him read about them in context. Then, he could use a Words Alive Map to work with the vocabulary. I would have him preview the chapter and fill out a SQP2RS chart for an entire chapter. It's quick and easy. We would orally discuss ways he connects to the initial viewing of the text and I would have him develop questions and predictions about what he thinks will be in the chapter, and so on. All these activities combine to set purpose for reading, gain cognitive clarity, associate the information with previous learned things, and then a review to set it into long-term memory for retrieval at a later date.

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

LJ - The teacher will need to model comprehension strategies and give Brandon tools to assist with his comprehensin. She needs to be careful not to bring him down because he doesn't feel he needs any strategies. Give him ideas of things to do that wouldn't make him think he was doing something wrong. As I stated in the previous question having him listen to himself on tape could help him hear how he reads which can not only help with comprehension but fluency as well.

AB - First of all, the Burke interview would be enlightening for Brandon to hear his own answers. Brandon could benefit from doing actual research on the topic of reading. The teacher needs to choose appropriate graphic organizers for Brandon to utilize with the text. Lastly, Brandon would greatly benefit from instruction in morphological anaysis. Morphological teaches one to think and seek patterns verses just knowing the definitions of large numbers of words.

AC - The teacher should include the teaching of comprehension strategies on a daily basis. Students should see them modeled and be given time to practice them. I think it would be wise to place Brandon in a discussion group where he can talk about how he uses the strategies taught.

PJ--Well, since it is a summer school situation and content doesn't have to be covered like during the school year, the teacher could ask Brandon what he would like to learn more about or discover his interests. What ever he chooses, the teacher should be prepared to go with, even if it is about skateboarding and Tony Hawk. Using his interests, the teacher could teach comprehension strategies. Then, give Brandon lots of time to read and read, and to practice using the strategies under her watchful care. Since the time is short, the ending activity for the summer could be having Brandon agree to letting the teacher choose the text for Brandon to read and respond to using his newly learned strategies to see how he will do. He will do GREAT, but he might not know that. Once he sees comprehension strategies are very helpful and can be fun, he will be on board and will feel encouraged to use them on his own.

Additional thoughts:
||


 * =__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?

LJ - Teachers and parents have a concern so they are reacing out. He doesn't seem to have difficulty in reading the words.

AB - Robert is able to decode the words at grade level.

AC - I agree that Robert's decoding skills are his greatest strength.

PJ--He is a good word caller, but doesn't comprehend.

What are the needs?

LJ - He needs to work on comprehension especially in the content areas (mainly Science). He also needs help with retelling or repeating what he has read.

AB - Robert lacks the word consciousness to determine meaning.

AC - Robert needs to learn comprehension strategies. It also seems like he needs prior knowledge of science concepts.

PJ--I have a suspicion science is difficult for him because of all the technical information that has to be learned nearly from scratch and in isolation. As a teacher, find out what his learning styles are and start developing lessons directed toward how he learns. It's a given there are other students who learn Robert's way, too. Robert doesn't read metacognitively. He needs a purpose, to preview and think about what he's going to read, to see if he's had any experience with the topic before, and then he should be taught to reveiw and for opinions about what he has read. Balanced comprehension instruction with comprehension strategies is a must.

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

LJ - Robert needs strategies that will help him with content area classes. Sometimes students can do ok in regular class but when it comes to content it is harder so vocabulary would be something that needs work. Have him begin using vocabulary dictionary of his own to help him learn the content. For his retelling have him stop periodially in the text and summarize small portions instead of the whole text.

AB - Robert could use a morphological analysis approach. This requires Robert to break key words down into their morphemes to determine meaning. This is especially helpful in science since a arge percentage of key scienc vocabulary is of Greek or Latin origin.

AC - I think that activating prior knowledge and building vocabulary are two important areas of focus for Robert. He needs to think about what he knows about the topic which can be done with a graphic organizer. Also, he should build his vocabulary by using the self-collection strategy or visual boxing. I think that when he gets an understanding of the topic and its associated vocabulary his understanding will be greater. It would also be helpful for him to reflect on his understanding of the text or lack of and communicate that to his teacher.

PJ--Robert needs to be given several graphic organizers and be taught when to use which one with what subject. A concept map works well with social studies, while a flow chart usually works well in science. Vocabulary graphic organizers can be used to help him understand more words and what they mean before reading. Have Robert time himself and stop every 7 minutes to ask himself questions about what he just read, like does it make sense, what is the author saying, and what else do I know about this, or what's going to happen next? He has probably been taught to read a chapter from start to finish with no stopping in between, then anwer the review questions at the end, which are difficult because he doesn't know how to remember what he read. I am so there! I like the visual boxing or the Frayer model for vocabulary, as well. Set parameters for things Robert should be looking for when he's reading and let him use symbols and sticky notes to mark where he finds such things. Then for the closing, have him state what he liked, didn't like, or what more he would like to learn. Give him PURPOSE and direction and he will rise to the work.

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

LJ - Have him listen to the text and then work with him individually or in a small group to build his confidence. Helping model the strategies I have above will help. The teacher could also send information home to the parents so they can help at home.

AB - The teacher has to teach Robert how to break words into their morphemes to determine meaning. In addition the teacher has to teach Robert how to connect the words he automatically has in his working vocabulary to words he is encountering in the text.

AC - Robert's teacher should provide instruction that focuses on comprehension strategies and self regulation. The teacher should discuss and model metacogntion to help students determine whether or not they are understanding what they read. This paired with the comprehension strategies will help Robert self regulate and repair his own mistakes in comprehension.

PJ--Well, think alouds seem to be the best way to get students in touch with their minds when they read. Small groups with reciprocal teaching and modeling and using think alouds and discussions as the text is read are some things the teacher could do to extend the reading task. Creating literacy circles or book clubs and having the students in control of their own discussions is another activity. Have the students look up the Latin and Greek roots for a few of the vocabulary words or relate them to cognates of other languages to develop understanding of the words they will encounter during reading. Have the students write a short story or script for acting out their part of the text or their story. Bring in guest speakers who have experience with whatever is being taught and let the students do a Q&A or interview questions, like when the President takes questions on TV. Have student interview people and find out what they know about the topic and then come back and share with the class. Ask the students what pictures they see in their minds while they are reading and have them draw as they read their mind's eye picture(s). Find out how they relate to the topic at hand and have them do a I have Who has activity. The list is endless, especially with all the teacher sites for ideas on the internet. Just keep going.

Additional thoughts:
||