Victoria Bielomaz

2/9/16
Interest Inventory
I am working with a 4th grade student named GC. He is ten years old. In class he is
respectful to his peers and follows teacher directions immediately. For example, when I give
directions to the class he is one of the first in the class to do as I say. One such example is that
when I say, Take out your math books and show me when you are ready to begin. GC will be
one of very first to have his math notebook out and giving the shhhh finger to his classmates to
show he is ready. As far as classroom participation, such as raising his hand to share ideas or
answers, it is unusual for him to volunteer. Also, I have noticed that when I give him a chance to
Think-Pair-Share he usually allows his partner to speak first and only provides answers very
rarely. Although he does not frequently share, one great quality of GC is that he will try his best.
For example, he will make sure he is on task and completing his assignments. Even if he does
not completely understand something, he will get working and make as much sense of the work
as he can. It is wonderful that he tries and works hard in class, but at times I feel this could be
part of his knowledge development issues. If he is afraid to ask questions, then it means he is
content to just workbut not understand. I chose GC for this project because I already work
with him in a 5-to-1 reading group and while he is making growth, it is not adequate. I hope that
by assessing him I can learn more about what his needs are and define a plan to help him
succeed.
The name of the assessment I used on GC is Interest Inventory by Flynt and Cooter.
The purpose of this assessment is to get to know my student better. I can learn about his
background knowledge, interests, and motivations, which will help me align instructional

materials to fit [his] strengths, needs, and abilities, (Flynt & Cooter, 2016, p. 30). For this
assessment I read the questions aloud and recorded answers. I also used the Reading Attitude
Survey assessment by Flynt and Cooter. This assessment is wonderful because it helped gauge
how GC feels about reading at home and at school. For this assessment I read the questions aloud
and GC recorded the answers. The final assessment I used was Starring MeA Primary
Interest Inventory (2016) by Berman. This inventory focused on topics of interest, GCs
favorite ways to learn new things, and learning environment (Berman, 2016). For this
assessment I read the questions aloud and GC recorded answers. When giving these assessments
to GC we sat one-on-one at the kidney table while the other students in the room worked
independently.
Interest Inventory
GC lives on Franklin Avenue, which is right next to the school, but he does not know his
address. He lives with his mom, dad, and brother. His job around the house is to clean his room.
When he is at home he likes to relax by watching TV and play video games. He reads at home
when he gets out of school but he could not remember the last thing he read. He explained that
no one at home reads to him but he does watch television in the living room for about 2 hours per
day. If he won a million dollars he would buy an X-box. He does not use email. His favorite
subject is writing. He wants to be a fireman, to help people (GC, personal communication,
February 9, 2016). He does like computers because he likes to type and play cool math games
(GC, personal communication, February 9, 2016). His favorite movie is Minions. A book that he
has read is Pirates. He does not read the newspaper. He does not know how to use the Internet.
He likes football and his favorite team is the Cardinals. He believes that not learning and not
reading for homework causes a person to be a bad reader (GC, personal communication,

February 9, 2016).
Reading Attitude Survey
Eight out of the 14 questions were answered with a smiley face. Six out of 14 were the
middle face. Zero options were the sad face. His unhappy items included: free time at school to
read anything you want, reading books in the summer when school is out, stories you read
in reading class, how you feel when you read out loud in class, when the teacher asks you
questions about what you read in class, and when you go to a bookstore (Flynt & Cooter,
2016, p. 34-36).
Starring MeA Primary Interest Inventory
GC likes all of the topics except for insects, pets, computers, drawing, dancing, using
puppets, and writing a letter. He absolutely wants to learn how to do magic, how to paint,
and how to make a book (GC, personal communication, February 9, 2016). As far as modes in
which to learn new things, he likes them all: computers, videos, books, and games. He prefers a
learning environment with a group, at a table, and in a quiet space. He does not like to work
alone, on the floor, or with music.
I was surprised at GCs reading attitude. I knew that he does not prefer to read in front of
the class (and I am not one to make a child read in front of the class if they feel uncomfortable)
but I did not know that he did not like free time to read whatever he wants, nor did I know that
he does not like the books read in his reading class. I know that now that I am aware of his topics
of interest (due to the Starring Me assessment) this will really help when choosing materials for
my future lessons. This is great because if I use books with topics he likes he will most likely be
more motivated to read.
The first experience with the Interest Inventory did not go well. When I asked GC the

questions he would sit in silence. I started with, If you were to win 1 million dollars in a contest,
how might you spend the money? and I waited for over 60 seconds without a response. I wanted
to give him think time. Yet, it became clear that he did not have an answer and was not going to
respond. So I told him to think about it and moved on to another question. Even the question
about what job he may like for the future he had no answer for. It was almost time to go to
Physical Education so I asked him to think about it. It was then that I realized I should probably
use the Starring MeA Primary Interest Inventory. When I first saw it I thought it was too
childish for him, but after this experience I decided to print it and give it a try. The next day we
sat down and I tried the Interest Inventory again. He had answers to both of the questions from
the day before but failed to answer quite a few of the other questions (questions 5, 8, 11, 13, and
15). On the other hand, the Reading Attitude Survey and the Starring MeA Primary Interest
Inventory went much better.

Resources
Berman, K. (2016). Starring MeA Primary Interest Inventory. Available from
https://altamirakris.wikispaces.com/Starring+Me+-+A+Primary+Interest+Inventory
Flynt, E. S., & Cooter, R. B. (2014). Flynt/Cooter Comprehensive Reading Inventory-2: The
assessment of K-12 reading skills in English & Spanish, 2/E. Boston, MA: Pearson.