11/29/2016

Literacy Portfolio
Components 1, 2, & 3

Luissette Lopez
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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Table of Contents

Introduction ..........................................................................................................................2
Component 1 - Attitude Towards Reading...2
ERAS Survey...5
ERAS Scoring Sheet..10
Component 2 - Print Concepts, Letters and Sounds, and Phonological Awareness..12
Literacy Practices Observation..12
Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation........13
Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation Student Assessment...16
Component 3 - Word Knowledge: Vocabulary and Word Study...17
Spelling Inventory..............................................................................................................19
Administration and Summary of Results ...........................................................................21
CORE Vocabulary Screening.22
References ........................................................................................................................255

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Introduction

J is a 2nd grader in an elementary school in Riverview, Florida. The school in a nice

neighborhood with a diverse cultural representation of students, as well as teachers. In a
classroom of 22 children, J is the only child with the reading level of a kindergartener. He
struggles with all his subjects, especially with reading and writing. I chose J as my focus student
to assess, evaluate, and hopefully assist him with his struggles in school.
Component 1 - Attitude Towards Reading
ERAS Assessment Description
The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) has been a tool used by teachers to
measure a students attitude towards reading. Research in assessments of reading have focused
on comprehension more so than a childs attitude. A survey with pictures and specific questions
about how the student feels about reading could give teachers a better understanding of a
childs literary achievement (McKenna & Kerr, 1990). It can be given to students individually, or
to an entire class. The Garfield picture will show an emotion that will be scored a 1, 2, 3, or 4,
with 4 being the happiest Garfield for the question. After all the points are scored, the teacher
should be able to analyze the students academic and recreational reading attitude.
ERAS Administration
J was administered the ERAS on September 22, 2016. We went to a quiet spot in the
media center to conduct his ERAS. He was very excited to be singled out by me, although he
did not know why. When he was comfortably seated, I read the instructions and explained the
emotions associated with the pictures. He understood and I proceeded to ask him the original
twenty questions. I was surprised and confused by his answers. Every Garfield he circled was
either happy of very happy. I was not sure why he responded the way he did. I continued to ask

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him the 10 questions I wrote and he circled the happiest Garfield for all them! J scored 88% for
recreational reading and 94% for academic reading. The full scale percentile was 93% which is
very high for a child who barely reads and writes. Taking into consideration that this survey is
about his attitude towards reading, and not his capacity to read, I have cause to believe that
further testing may be required.
Interpretation of Results
J is a very sensitive child. He cries if the teacher is giving a math test and he does not
have a pencil, instead of asking for one. He cries when he is asked to explain something he read.
Based on his academic coursework, in comparison to the results of his ERAS, I would not rule
out the assumption that J responded the way he did, just to please me. He has been very fond of
me since my arrival in the classroom, because I have been able to work with him individually;
something his teacher just cannot do with her strict time schedules. It is my opinion that I should
re-administer the ERAS to J sometime in the future, when he feels more relaxed with me, to
attain a more credible result.
Instructional Decisions
Based on the results of the ERAS, it is my opinion that J does truly enjoy reading. As my
focus student, I will continue to monitor his book choices and help him select the books that are
more his level and interest. I feel that J will benefit from guided reading groups or one-on-one
instruction. Word sorts with high-frequency words may benefit J to increase his reading fluency
and comprehension.
Reflection
Upon conducting the ERAS, I do not believe it is not a useful tool for determining a
students attitude towards reading. There are too many variables involved that could sway the

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results in one direction or another. J has clear difficulty reading, but according to his ERAS, he
loves to read. In class, I frequently observe J skimming through the pages of the books he
chooses and not really reading. I can definitively say that I will need to conduct further
assessments on J to pinpoint his difficulty with reading.

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Component 2 - Print Concepts, Letters and Sounds, and Phonological Awareness

Literacy Practices Observation
I have been observing J as my focus student one day a week for the past six weeks. He
has been my focus student since the very first day I began my internship at the school. When I
started to get to know the students on the first day, I noticed J struggled to do all his assigned
tasks. He cried often. I can only infer that he cried so much due to his feelings of inadequacy.
Since then, I have made it a point to observe J performing all his tasks more so than the other
students.
Literacy Practices Observed
My collaborating teacher has a wonderful schedule throughout the week that reinforces
good reading habits. Students participate in independent reading with a choice book and guided
reading groups daily. They have 40 minutes to read, while the teacher takes table groups for
guided reading. She conducts two guided reading tables groups each day. Every student has the
opportunity to conduct guided reading with the teacher each week.
J always choses very difficult books for independent reading. His favorite books are
Scooby Doo books. He remains quiet at his desk and he turns the pages of the book. But I
noticed he does not read the book. He seems to enjoy going through the motion of reading. Per
his ERAS administration, J truly enjoys reading. It is apparent by my observations thus far, that
he indeed likes to read. He just cannot do it very well.
When J is called up by the teacher to perform guided reading, he gets very excited,
especially when he is chosen to read aloud to the teacher. J has demonstrated that he possesses a
real enjoyment of reading, but a frustration at his lack of competency.
Instructional Decisions

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Based on my observations, I decided to help J choose a more appropriate book each

week. I asked him why he liked Scooby Doo so much, and he responded that he had four dogs at
home. I decided to walk over to the classroom library and select three or four books that might
interest J, but are also at his reading level. I went without him, because the books are marked
below reading level, and I did not want him to see where I was picking the books. I chose four
books that had dogs as the main characters. He chose one of the books and I asked him to read to
me. I can do this when the teacher is conducting guided reading with another table group.
J gets very excited when he is given one on one attention. He tries very hard to impress.
Given his struggles with reading, I would continue to provide him with a selection of books
appropriate for his reading level. I would also take a few minutes daily, to take him aside and
give him reading strategies on an individual basis. It is my opinion that even 5 minutes teaching
a quick strategy will motivate J to try harder and therefore perform better in class. Providing J
with a series of assessments will be necessary to determine how to pinpoint his reading struggles.
Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation
Description
As stated earlier, J is a second grader who reads kindergarten level books. To identify
where his weaknesses lie, it is important to assess the different elements of reading. The YoppSinger Test of Phoneme Segmentation focuses on measuring a childs phonemic awareness, or
the sounds that make up an individual word, which directly correlates to a childs reading and
writing success (Yopp & Yopp, 2000).
According to Yopp & Yopp, the test measures a childs ability to separately articulate the
sounds of a spoken word in order (2000, p. 21). A student is read a word and the child attempts

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to make the sounds of the beginning, middle and end. Given the example dog, the child should
make the sounds /d/-/o/-/g/. I administered the test to J on September 22, 2016.
Assessment Administration
When I approached J and told him I was going to ask him how he sounds out a few
words, he became very excited, as I predicted he would. I asked him if he would grab a pencil
and come to the media center with me so we could be in a quiet place. J was so happy, he
skipped with a huge smile on his face until we sat down. I chose an empty table away from the
door to minimize distractions. We conversed for a while about off-topic things, just to make sure
he felt at-ease. I am convinced that he feels extremely comfortable with me. I asked him if he
was okay if I recorded our voices, so I could use as data and shook his head up and down
fervently.
As I read the instructions to J, he kept his eyes focused on every word that I said. He was
very attentive to what I had to say. I provided him with one example and proceeded to read the
words on the Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation. He could segment the sounds
correctly for most the test, even though I had to remind him a few times to tell me the sounds he
hears in the word, and not the word itself. On one occasion, I had to tell him to slow down and
think, because he was just so excited!
Summary of Results
Surprisingly, J scored 20 out of the 22 words correctly (refer to attached assessment). The
two words that were incorrect were because he blended the ending sounds together. I believe he
could have sounded out all the words correctly if he wasnt so eager. The score suggests that J is
phonetically aware, which he is.

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Instructional Decisions
At first, I was perplexed by Js results. He obviously does not have a problem with
phonemic awareness. I thought maybe the words were too easy, and contemplated administering
harder words with more syllables. After the test, however, I began to observe J while he read his
independent reading books. I noticed that when he reads his books, he enunciates every sound in
every word of a sentence. I considered that there may be a possibility that J is not comprehending
what he reads, because he is putting so much effort into reading the words by sounding out each
phoneme. I cannot say for certain if that is the case, since I have not learned much on fluency
and comprehension yet. Those will be discussed later throughout my teaching journey, in another
component of my literacy portfolio.
Reflection
As I continue to learn new methods of assessing Js struggles with reading, I realize that I
may have judged him too quickly. His inability to read at grade level does not seem to stem from
his disinterest in reading, as observed with the ERAS. He possesses a keen aptitude for
determining proper phonemes, as determined by the Yopp-Singer Test from reading at a 2nd grade
level. It is my hope that I will be able to pinpoint the problem, so that I can begin working on a
solution.

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Component 3 - Word Knowledge: Vocabulary and Word Study

Introduction
Word study and vocabulary assessments are essential in determining a students word
knowledge. I administered some of these assessments to my focus student, J, on October 14,
2016. Below are my findings.
Spelling Inventory
Description
The Words Their Way (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2012) Primary Spelling
Inventory (PSI) is a list of 26 words administered to students in kindergarten through third grade.
The words contain features such as beginning and ending sounds, short and long vowels, blends,
digraphs, and other syllables and affixes. They are organized by difficulty beginning with the
emergent spelling stage, and ending with words in the within word pattern spelling stage. I
administered the PSI to my focus student, J, on October 14, 2016. Below are my findings.
Administration and Summary of Results
I administered the PSI to J in the school media center, in a quiet location. I thought it best
to take him out of the classroom, because I did not want him to feel any pressure or distraction
from other students. As usual, J was excited to receive one-on-one attention from me. I read the
instructions, and told him he would not be graded on the test. I reassured him that I would use
the inventory to help him perform better in reading and writing. He was happy to oblige.
The first few words from the emergent spelling stage were easy for J. He sounded out the
words by segmenting the phonemes, as we had practiced with sound boxes a few weeks prior.
The first few words were not an issue. He received a score of 7 out of 7 for initial and final
consonants, as well as short vowels. He spelled 5 out of the first 7 words correctly. He performed

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average identifying diagraphs and blends in words, but only spelled 2 out of the following 7
words correctly. This lets me know that J need help identifying and spelling common long
vowels. At this point in the assessment, it is safe to say that J falls under the late letter-namealphabetic spelling stage, but has not fully mastered it. In the final portion of the PSI, J only
wrote 2 words correctly out the last 12 words on the list.

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Instructional Decisions
Since J falls under the late letter name-alphabetic stage, he would benefit from word
study focused instruction. He was able to include a vowel in each word and spelled a fair number
of digraphs and blends correctly. Per Bear et al. (2012), J has full phonemic awareness. His
instruction should include strategies geared towards transitioning to the within word pattern
spelling stage.
Some activities that may be helpful to J are sorts and games such as word wheels, word
hunts, flip charts, go fish, and other activities that build on the study of word families. Word bank
words and sorts will also help J identify words quickly. Based on the results of Js PSI, I feel it is
necessary to provide him with extra assistance to continue to develop his spelling stage by

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focusing on short vowels in CVC words, short vowels with blends and digraphs, and r-influenced
vowels.
Reflection
Before I administered the assessment to J, I thought he was an emergent reader. I
recorded our session and quickly realized that J is not as far behind as I thought. He makes great
efforts in sounding out his words and he has excellent phonemic awareness. After I interpreted
the results, I gained a much better and more precise understanding of his learning needs. I plan
on implementing some of these strategies throughout my internship, so that I can help J continue
to transition into the within word pattern spelling stage.
I believe performing the PSI to all students, not just the ones that are struggling, can help
a teacher decide how to focus weekly lesson plans and guided reading groups. It is a great tool.
CORE Vocabulary Screening
Description
The CORE Vocabulary Screening is a tool used to measure word meaning. It is a pure
measure of vocabulary meaning because no context clues are provided and text comprehension is
not necessary (Milone, 2008).
Administration and Summary of Results
This assessment is given to a student to determine if he/she understands the meaning of
words commonly used in reading materials for the individuals grade level, and to identify if a
students vocabulary knowledge is significantly lower than their peers.
Students are tested in groups or individually. They are shown a word in a box. There are
three other words beside the word in a box, and a student must choose which of the three words
means the same thing as the word in the box.

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A students performance level (benchmark, strategic, or intensive), is determined by the

number of words they answer correctly. A student who answers 22-30 words correctly, out of 30
words on the list, is considered to be at the benchmark level and has adequate vocabulary
knowledge.

Instructional Decision
For those students who are not at the benchmark level, such as the student above who
scored 14 words correctly, it is important to determine ways to increase their vocabulary
knowledge. Vocabulary acquisition may be attained through higher-level read-alouds, that
include a richer vocabulary. Direct instruction and practice are also necessary to attain higher

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level vocabulary procurement. Concept books and concept sorts can also be used for younger
children or those who need more vocabulary development.
Reflection
It is my opinion that the CORE Vocabulary Screening can be helpful, but is not necessary
in determining a students vocabulary knowledge. With guided reading groups, teachers can
easily identify those who are struggling with word meaning and help them enhance their
vocabulary through reading and practice.

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References

Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., & Templeton, S., Johnston, F. (2012). Words their way: Word study
for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
McKenna, M.C., & Kear, D.J. (1990, May). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for
teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(8), 626-639.
Milone, M. (2008). Core Vocabulary Screening. Novato, CA: Academic Therapy Publications.
Yopp, H. K., & Yopp, R. H., (2000). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the
classroom. The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 130-143.