Reader Case Study

Reader Case Study

Rachel Brown

December 8, 2011

Dr. Eastman

Educ 301

Reader Case Study

Background information

The student chosen for this case study is a fourth grade, male student. He is ten years old and lives with his mother, an older sister who is a Junior in High School, and grandparents. His parents are separated and his mother has partial custody. The student spends his weekdays with his mother and grandparents, and spends weekends with his father.In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors and playing. He likes hunting and guns, wild life, and anything outdoorsy. He also loves spending time with his grandparents. He reports that he doesn’t like reading and that reading is hard. He is currently not identified with a learning disability, but is going through the testing process. The reader works one on one with a retired teacher on phonics once a week to help improve his reading skills.

Assessments

According to the student’s teacher, the reader is currently reading at a second grade level. On the Fountas and Pinnell level scale, he is reading level M books. The areas of greatest concern with the students reading are phonics, accuracy and fluency. He struggles with word chunks and stretching words. His teacher is confident that he is able to improve, given extra help and instruction. After discussing focus areas with the fourth grade teacher, the researcher has decided that the intervention will focus on reading fluency, since the student is already receiving additional instruction with phonics.

Throughout this case study, the researcher will be conducting three assessments which include a screening assessment, a progress monitoring assessment, and a post assessment to see the students overall improvement. The researcher will also be tutoring the student along with one of his classmates after school once per week for forty-five minutes. During this time, the researcher will provide instruction to help improve the student’s fluency.

The first assessment that will be given is the screening. This will allow the researcher to determine the reader’s current standing and decide how to formulate the intervention instruction so that the reader will grow from the information gained. The base score gained from this assessment will also be used to see growth from the beginning of the case study to the end. This information will be put into a graph to show the readers growth over the course.

The researcher will use a reading rate assessment for the screening to see exactly where the student is in their fluency and reading speed. In this assessment, the student is given a book or passage to read. He will be timed for one minute, and the researcher will track how many words he read in that minute. The information gained from this will show the researcher the current reading rate for the student. This will help determine what will be taught during the tutoring sessions between assessments.

The second assessment that the researcher will be administering to the fourth grade student will be a progress monitoring assessment. This will be given after half of the intervention sessions. There will be a total of 5 tutoring sessions, so the test will be given during the third session.

The researcher has decided that this progress monitoring assessment will be a Multi-Dimensional Fluency Scale. The purpose of this assessment is to assess the student’s expression, volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. For each of these categories, the student will be assigned a score ranging from one to four. The assessment will be given using a familiar book at the students reading level. As the student reads, the researcher will listen to the reader, focusing on the categories of expression, volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace; and will rate the student in each of these categories. The results from this test will show if the first three intervention sessions have been successful. It will also show whether the intervention strategy needs to be altered or redirected.

Finally the researcher will give an outcome based assessment. The purpose of an outcome based assessment is to determine how much progress that a student has made from the beginning of the case study to the end of a series of instruction sessions. This information will be charted in a graph to visually show whether or not the student has made any overall improvement and how much they have improved.

For this assessment, the researcher decided that repeating the reading rate assessment would be the best option. This will be done with a different book than the first one, but will still be using a book that the reader is familiar with. This will allow the researcher to get a clear view of how much growth in fluency that the reader has been made since the first assessment was given. The researcher will compare the results of the screening, progress monitoring, and outcome based assessments and create an excel graph to get a clear view of the student’s progress throughout the tutoring sessions.

Assessment Database

Name / Grade / How to use / When to use / Information provided / Reference information
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) / 1-3 / Students read a passage out loud for one minute / To identify students in need of additional assistance and support / Fluency rate and phonemic awareness /
Reading Rate Assessment / K-5 / Students read a passage for one minute; the number of words correctly identified are recorded / Beginning of the school year, and throughout. / Fluency /
Running Record / K-12 / Student reads a passage while teacher keeps track and calculates corrections and mistakes / Any time. Useful to do periodically to observe growth / Assesses Fluency and Decoding /
Cloze / K-12 / Using a grade level passage, leave out every nth word. The students fill in the missing word / Any time, particularly useful during beginning of year / Assesses Comprehension /
Multi-dimensional fluency scale / 3-6 / Using a rubric, reader is rated on a scale of 1-4 in expression, volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. / Beginning, middle, and end or year / Fluency /
Gray Oral Reading Test / 2-12 / Students read a passage aloud. Teacher monitors oral reading accuracy and categorizes the errors made. Then a few comprehension questions are asked / Any time you want to monitor a student’s decoding or comprehension / Comprehension/decoding /
Alphabet Assessment / K-2 / Using a student response sheet, student points out and names letters and letter sounds / 3-4 times per year / Letter names and sound recognition /

Phase II: Developing a Plan

Part D: Administration of Screening Assessment

As indicated in the previous phase, the researcher will be tutoring the fourth grade student in an attempt to improve his reading fluency. To see where the student was at prior to instruction, the researcher decided to utilize a reading rate assessment on October 12, 2011, This assessment is intended to help the researcher narrow in on the students exact needs and to help focus the instruction to be provided for the student.

Part E: Interpretations of Assessment

After administering the reading rate screening assessment, the reader found that the student is reading 81 words per minute. The student did his reading from a book that was at his current reading level (level N) and in a book that he had read once before this assessment. The average reading speed for a fourth grade student is around 120 - 130 words per minute. The students score is significantly lower than that of the average fourth grade student.

The researcher also observed that the student’s reading was labored and choppy, resulting in the slow reading time. As he read, the reader read with no expression, and did not read the passage with the appropriate punctuation. Often, he did not pause at the end of sentences or commas, or would pause at inappropriate places throughout the sentences.

Part F: Plan of Action

The researcher has decided that the plan of action will focus on the fluency skills of reading sight words, reading with emotion and expression, following punctuation rules while reading, and phrasing. Each of these strategies will help the reader improve his skills in reading fluency. For each lesson, the researcher will start with a reading rate assessment to track the reader’s progress and growth. These lessons will be taught during tutoring sessions after school once a week along with another fourth grade student who struggles with reading fluency.

Lesson 1: Sight words

The researcher will begin the first lesson by reading from a level N book. During this time, the researcher will repeat the reading rate assessment. The student will read for about 5-10 minutes after the assessment. After reading, the students will play a sight word game. The game is called the “Oops game”, and is played by two or more players. The researcher will prepare flashcards with fourth grade sight words. There are also several cards that have the word “OOPS!” written on them. All the cards are placed face down on a table. Players take turns drawing a card. They must flip it over and say the word quickly and correctly. If they don’t, the group says the word and then it is returned to the card pile. If they are able to read it correctly and quickly, the student gets to keep the word. If a card with the word “OOPS!” is drawn, then the student must return that card, and all of the ones they have collected to the pile. The game continues until one player has accumulated 7 cards. That person is the winner of the round. This is beneficial because when cards are returned to the pile, the student is then drawing out familiar words. As he play this game, the words should become easier for him to read because they are more familiar. After playing this game, I will talk with the student about re-reading and how that improves fluency. The more he reads the section, the more comfortable he will be with it, which will allow him to read more fluently. Finally, we will finish up by re-reading the section from the book that he read at the beginning of the lesson.

Lesson 2: Periods, Question marks, and Exclamation points

This intervention session will begin with the student reading from the book Stanley, Flat Again by Jeff Brown. This book is a Level N reading level, which is the student’s reading level. While he is reading, the researcher will administer a reading rate assessment again. After five to ten minutes of reading, the researcher will introduce the bookPunctuation takes a Vacation. The student and researcher will read the book together. The researcher will read a few pages to model fluent reading and how to properly follow punctuation marks. The researcher will ask the students questions such as “how does your voice sound at the end of a sentence with a question mark? (It goes up) “What do you do when you come to a period? (Whole stop) and “What does your voice sound like when you read something with an exclamation point at the end?” (Excited, emotion) Then the student will read the remaining pages and be asked to read fluently and with proper pauses based on the punctuation present. Then the student will practice reading a variety of sentences with a variety of punctuation marks that were created by the researcher.After reading through the sentences, the student will write his own sentences using the punctuation marks discussed during the lesson and then read them with the proper expression. To end the lesson, the student will read more of chapter one of Stanley, Flat Again.

For homework, the student will be asked to finish reading chapter one from Stanley, Flat Again. He will be asked to read it out loud, preferably an audience. He will also be reminded to read using the right expression for the punctuation marks present.

Lesson 3: Commas and quotation marks

To start off, the reader will read part of chapter one of Stanley, Flat Again. While the student is reading, the researcher will administer a Multi-Dimensional Fluency Scale assessment. After reading for five to ten minutes, the researcher will review the previous lesson on periods, question marks, and exclamation points. Then the researcher will introduce the book Eats, Shoots, leaves. The researcher will read a few pages to model fluent reading and how to properly follow the punctuation marks. Throughout the reading, questions will be asked such as “what do I do when I come to a comma?” (Pause), or “what do the quotation marks tell me?” (Someone is talking). The student will read the remaining pages and be asked to try to read fluently and with proper punctuation rules being followed. The student will then practice reading a variety of sentences that utilize commas and quotation marks. The researcher will once again model how to read a sentence with the punctuation and then the student will practice reading the sentences. Finally, the student will practice creating his own sentences using commas and quotation marks and read them aloud. To end the intervention session, the student will begin reading chapter two from Stanley, Flat Again.

For homework, the student will be asked to finish reading chapter two from Stanley, Flat Again. He will be asked to read it out loud, preferably an audience. He will also be reminded to read using the right expression for the punctuation marks present.

Lesson 4: Reading with emotion and expression

The reader will begin this lesson by reading part of chapter two of Stanley, Flat Again. During this time, the researcher will administer a reading rate assessment. After the reader has read for five to ten minutes, the researcher will review the previous lesson on commas and quotation marks by asking the student to read a few sentences containing those punctuation marks. During this lesson the instructor will discuss the importance of reading with emotion and expression. The researcher will ask questions such as “why is it important to read using expression?” or “How do you know which expression should be used?” (Sometimes the book tells you, or by using context clues) Using Stanley, Flat Again, the researcher and student will echo read the book. The researcher will read the page first; modeling reading with emotion and expression, and then the student will follow, also using emotion and expression. After reading the book, the student will be asked to read a sentence from a graphic organizer using multiple emotions (ex. Excited, sad, bored, angrily). This will be repeated with several sentences. Finally, the student will practice creating some of his own sentences. He will be asked to write a sentence he would read in an excited tone, angry tone, etc. He will then read those sentences with the emotions. To end the lesson, the student will start reading chapter three of Stanley, Flat Again, using proper emotion and expression.

For homework, the student will be asked to finish reading chapter three of Stanley, Flat Again. He will be asked to read it out loud, preferably an audience

Lesson 5: Phrasing

To start this lesson, the reader will read part of chapter three of Stanley, Flat Again. While he is reading, the researcher will administer a reading rate assessment. After the student has read for five to ten minutes, the researcher will review reading with expression and emotion. Then the researcher will discuss phrasing with the student. The researcher will explain that rather than looking at each individual word one at a time, the student can break a reading into phrases to make the reading more manageable without stopping at each word. “Which is easier, to read a small section of words, or a whole page of words?” To practice this, the student will be asked to read some poetry from Shell Silverstine. He will be asked to remember what he has learned in previous lessons and read the poetry while following punctuation marks and reading with emotion and expression. This will be a chance for the reader to show what he has learned so far and model his fluency skills.

Parent Letter:

Dear Parent/Guardian,

With your permission, I have recently started working with your student after school on Wednesdays to help develop his reading skills. After talking with his classroom teacher, we decided that the area of reading that I should focus on with him would be fluency because that is one of his current weaknesses. Fluency is a student’s speed, smoothness and ease of oral reading. Fluent readers are able to read quicker and smoother which allows students to focus on their comprehension of what they are reading rather than focusing on trying to decipher and sound out each word. To begin this case study, I administered a reading rate screening assessment. From this assessment, I gathered that your child is able to sound out words, but he needs additional instruction to help smooth out his reading, increase his reading speed, recognize common words, and read with emotion and expression. I have planned 5 mini-lessons to work with your child to further develop his reading fluency.