ANALYSIS Jamie,thesubjectofthecasestudy,isanintrinsicallymotivatedsixyearold,firstgrader,whois veryeagertolearnnewthingsandexcitablewhenaskedtohelp.Jamiehasbeenworkingincredibly hardthroughoutthequarterandhasshownimmenseprogress.Jamiehasbeenbroughtupbythree readinglevelsandisambitiouswhencompletingassignments,andquicktoshowhowmuchshehas written. JamiestartedoutthequarterasaFountas&PinnellLevelF,whostruggledtoreadandwas veryreluctant.SheisnowaLeveLHandgoesaboveandbeyondinassignmentsandoftendoesmuch morethanasked.Shealwaysraisesherhandtoanswertexttoselfquestions. Thisstudentsresultsshowthatsheisaverystrongreader,whenreadingLevelHbooks,which areatherIndependentLevel.Shehada98%overallaccuracyrateanda1:4selfcorrectionrate. Whenselfcorrecting,thestudentwasabletoreadthesentencealoudandrealizethatitdidnotsound right.ShedidthisafewtimeswhenreadingTheSleepoverParty.Heronlyerrorsincluded misidentifiedwords,withtheexceptionofreadingthewordMugsy,whichshewasnotfamiliarwith. ShereplacedthisnamewithanameshehasheardmoreoftenMolly.

Eventhoughshehadthisone mistake,thestudenthadmostlyvisualerrorsthatshewouldhavemostlikelyreadperfectlyifshewasin adifferentenvironmentandlessexcitedtocompleteaspecialactivity.Jamiereadtheentirebookwith emphasisandexpression,butshehadcertainparts,onpagesnineandsixteen,wheresheasked exclaimedandquestionedwithgreatexpression.Thisshowssheislisteningtoherselfreadandbrings attentiontopunctuationandknowswhattheyaretoconvey.Theenvironmentwasinthebackofthe ComputerLab,andwasnotextraordinarilyquiet.Iftheclasswasentirelyquietandshewasless anxious,theresultsmighthavebeendifferent.Jamiealsoshowedgreatinterestinreadingthebookand

signsofcomprehension,asshewouldfrequentlycrosscheckbyquicklypausingtolookatthepicture toseeifitmatchedwhatshehadjustread.Shewasinterestedtoseehowtheillustratorportrayedthe artistswords.Thisisalsoasignofherunderstandingoftextandvisualconnection,sincesheknewthe sentencesshereadwouldberepresentedintheimagesshown,aswell.Thestudentscomprehension wasclearlyevidentinherdetailedoralsynopsisandherconfidencewhenansweringcomprehension questions.Shealsohadnotroubledrawingapictureorwritingabriefsummary.Theentireassessment tookaboutfifteenminutes,andsheaskedwhatIwouldbringnextweekforhertoworkon. TheSpellingAssessmentJamiecompletedwasalsoveryimpressive.Manyofthesewords wereverynewspellingwords,butsheshowedrisktakingabilitieswhenattemptingtospellthem anyway.Shegotabouthalfwrong,howevermanyofthewordshavephoneticpatternsshehasnotyet beentaught.Althoughshehasnotlearnedallofthephoneticpatternsyet,Jamieusedthephonetic patternsshedoesknowtotrytospellthewordsthebestsheknewhow.Agreatexamplewastheway shespelledfrite(fright).ThisshowsJamieknowsthefinalerule,andhasemployeditinorderto achievealongisound.AnotherexamplewhereJamieemploysafinaletoachievealongisound,isin thewordtrize(tries).Thisisveryimpressiveforafirstgrader,whowouldstruggletoreada sentencewithoutgettingflusteredandgivingup.Towardtheendofthespellingtest,Jamiewasfeeling overworkedandbegantogetbored,butshestilltriedherbestandspelledmanywords,thatshedid notfeelconfidentabout,right.Shewasveryeagertoseehowshedidandalsowantedtoseewhatthe conventionalspellingofthewordsshemisspelledwas.Thisshowsastrongworkethicandaneedfor success. Jamieperformedwellonherphonicsinventoryaswell.Althoughshegotthemajorityofthe materialcorrect,shemisnamedtheletterpandsaidqinsteadwhencompletingnumbertwo,

consonantsounds.Thiswasveryodd,sinceIhadnotseenthatbeforeinJamiesclasscompositions. Afterreadingthewordsperfectlyinnumberseven,Jamietriedtotellmewhatadoublevowelachieved, butsheneededareminder.Althoughshemightnothaveknownhowtotellmeexactly,shedidknow howtoapplytherule.Jamiepronouncedsomeofthediphthongsinnumbernineincorrectlysuchas, muleformaul,fileforfoil,rootforrout,owlforawl,andbonforboon.Itseemed tomethatJamiereliedonherwordschemataandtriedreadingthewordsshewasnotveryfamiliar with,thesamewayshewouldwordsshehasprobablyseenmoreoften.Jamiestruggledwithreading themakebelievewords,andgotfrustratedandexpressednotwantingtofinishtheexercise.Iasked herifshewastiredandtoldherwecouldstopthere,butshewantedtopresson.Shetriedherbest withthemakebelievewords,butshowedreluctance.Shewouldattempttobreakdownthewordby usingphoneticpatternsshealreadyknew,butfeltuncomfortablesinceshewasnotfamiliarwiththem. Jamiealsocouldnotsuccessfullydivideupsyllables,asshehadnotyetcoveredthatmaterialandhad littleideaofhowtodothis.However,shetriedherbest. JamiesfavoriteexercisewastheWepmanAuditoryDiscriminationTest.Althoughthistestis belowherlevel,shewantedtocontinuecompletingdifferentassessments.Thiswasherfavoriteasshe treateditwaslikeagame.Outoffortyquestionsasked,Jamieonlymisheardthree:numbersthree,six, andeighteen.Shestatedthatsheheardwebwed,gumdumb,anddimdintoallbethesame word.Theseallemploybsounds,msounds,andannsoundattheendsofwordsthatJamieisnot hearingentirelyproperly.Again,theratherloudenvironmentmightbeafactorintheseresults.