Connie Henderson Case Study Maddie Hippen RE 5531 Summer 2009
Maddie came to the Clinic after completing Second Grade. She had attended a bilingual school in Mexico. Her dad believed that is why she is behind in reading. I noticed one articulation problem when she says, “mudder” for mother. Maddie is very soft spoken. Sometimes it took some prompting to get her to try. Knowing how important motivation is, I remembered she likes stuffed animals. When she didn’t seem to want to try, I brought in a “cheering section” of three animals to sit on the table. She said she wanted me to take them home and let them sleep. I did, but from that day on they sent her a note of encouragement. She took the note home daily, smiling. Maddie was delightful to work with! Her enthusiasm showed that she knew she was making progress.
Testing
On the Word Recognition Test Maddie’s scores were: PP Flash 95%, Untimed 100%. P Flash was 90%, Untimed 95%. 1st Flash was 60%, Untimed 80%. 2nd scores were 50%, Untimed 85%. She showed a huge drop off in Flash scores between P and 1st. Oral reading scores were: P Accuracy 95%, Comprehension 92%, Rate 74 wpm. 1st Accuracy was 93%, Comprehension 100%, Rate 51 wpm. 2nd Accuracy was 92%, Comprehension 100%, Rate 56 wpm. A drop off seen was between P and 1st Rates 74 to 51 wpm. Maddie’s score on the 1st Grade Spelling test was 17%, showing frustration. She knows most short vowels and shows knowledge of how silent e works at the end of words. She does not know blends, digraphs, or the sound w makes. Based on these results Maddie’s Instructional Level is First Grade. Her Frustrational Level is Second Grade.
Instruction
Maddie’s daily instruction included Guided Reading, Word Study, Timed Repeated, Easier Reading, Writing, and Read Aloud.
Guided Reading
We started reading in Toothless Dragon a (1-2) Basal reader. Maddie enjoyed these stories as we partner read. Through picture walks and just observing pictures Maddie gathered information skillfully. She has strong skills predicting what might happen next and seemed to enjoy predicting. She loved being surprised when her predictions were not correct. Tracking was a problem from the beginning. I modeled and insisted that she track words with her finger. Toward the end of our sessions I noticed in repeated readings she could read accurately without finger tracking. Maddie’s comprehension was very good. She picked up ideas that were not directly written on the page. For Example, when children in the story were not being treated the same, she felt that was unfair. About half way through tutoring I felt Maddie could move up a level to (2-1). Judy was not so sure based on her testing. We tried a (2-1) Basal, Tricky Troll, and Maddie did a great job! Judy was amazed. I was delighted and the notes from her “cheering section” drew strong praise! We continued in this book with partner reading and DRTA. Sometimes she wanted to read when it was my turn and I let her. Her fluency was improving. I heard some phrasing instead of word by word reading. She was beginning to self-correct. I also tried covering endings of words or half of a compound word and she could read the words. At the end of our sessions I was trying to pre-teaching some words, but she could already read the words owned and apartment!! I introduced caught and she could immediately read taught. She used prior knowledge and made connections to what she was reading when she called the man in Tikki Tikki Tembo a kidnapper! I was very pleased with Maddie’s progress.
Word Study
Maddie’s Word Study was working on the one syllable short vowel patterns. We worked on three vowels at a time, a, i, o then i, o, u and then o, u, e. Finally we worked on i, u, e to help her hear the difference between short e and short i. She sorted words into three columns with a header at the top. Then she read the words down in each column. Maddie could read the words and usually sort with few mistakes. Games like Bingo, Concentration, and Pitty Pat were played. Maddie consistently won the games! During one of our last sessions I mistakenly added a mystery column to our sort with ar words. Judy caught my mistake. However, Maddie read and sorted the words without a problem! When we had short e and short i words together Maddie had some problems. Judy showed us how to Blind Sort. This helped Maddie really listen. From then on she clearly pronounced short e and short i correctly! During Spell Check I included words with blends and digraphs. She was making progress especially after Judy modeled tapping sounds in words. During one session we tried Build A Word. Maddie loved this! She took over and showed me words she could make. Maddie is making progress and learning the blends and digraphs she did not know when we began tutoring.
Timed Repeated Reading
Maddie had to be encouraged to do this. However, she soon showed progress. The numbers look puzzling on the graph. Her third reading number of words was not always better than the first reading. Looking at her progress as a whole, by the fourth reading her rate and fluency were showing significant improvement. Her fourth reading rate ended with her reading approximately 225 words in two minutes, which is about 112 words per minute. On her initial testing she was reading 56 wpm on a Second Grade passage. Repeated reading has been a valuable practice that should be continued with Maddie.
Easier Reading
The books Maddie read were Primer and 1st Grade books ranging from Syd Hoff books like Sammy the Seal to Arnold Lobel’s Mouse Tales. She loved the books and seemed to enjoy being able to read books easily and successfully.
Writing
Maddie was able to complete, publish, and illustrate three stories. She chose the topics and wrote willingly. On the last story I had to do some prompting to get her to finish. She was very proud of what she wrote and wanted her dad to come to the lab and help her put her story up. When editing the last story she was able to fix drop and swim when I reminded her they had been in our word sorts. I am learning to look at a child’s writing and be able to see what they know and don’t know about vowel patterns and how words work.
Read Aloud
I read to Maddie books on the Second and Third Grade level. Her favorite books were Cats and The Seven Chinese Sisters. Maddie listened attentively and commented on the stories. She noticed everything in the pictures and understood the stories. Maddie’s parents need to continue to read to her.
Recommendations for Future Instruction
After listening to Maddie’s dad talk about their future plans I don’t know where they will live next year. However, I feel she needs to continue tutoring, following the model I used. She needs to read late First Grade books for practice and reinforcement of skills. Maddie needs encouragement, telling her how she is improving, not how much she still needs to improve. Her parents need to read to her for modeling of fluent reading. This will also add to her vocabulary and keep her interested in reading. In ten months, with proper instruction, I think Maddie can master the single syllable short vowel patterns. This will be a tremendous asset to her reading, helping her improve automatic word recognition which will improve her fluency and rate. Maddie made strong progress in just four weeks. If she is instructed properly at her level, in ten months I think she could possibly finish a (3-2) reading book. I believe it’s possible for her to enter Fourth Grade on, or very close to, grade level in reading.