EDUC 371

Case Study

Part I: Introduction to the Student

My student Sally was a true pleasure to have in tutoring. Sally is a 4th grader at a local elementary school. At the
beginning of the semester, I she read at level N on the guided reading scale. Yet, by the end of the semester, Sally was
proficient in a guided reading level Q book. In the first couple of sessions, I learned a little bit about Sally. However, she
did not really want to share too much information with me throughout the rest of the semester. We did a getting to
know you activity on the first day where we asked each other the same questions and wrote them down to keep them
as a keepsake. Even though she answered the questions, she did not seem thrilled that I was asking so many.
However, she did tell me she liked to play outdoors, had just moved to Salem a few years back, and missed her older
siblings who were off at college. On the first day, I asked Sally if she liked reading or English in general to which I got
the clear and blunt answer: no. I also asked her what her favorite book was: she replied and said, I do not have a
favorite book. Then, throughout the semester, after reading a book and asking her if she liked it, she would either
respond with a seldom yes or the more often no. Yet, by the end of the semester, she seemed to like more books as
we kept reading. I learned that Sally really liked to read graphic novels because she finally opened up and told me her
favorite book was Smile. Thus, when we had the opportunity to purchase a book I purchased, Narwhal-Unicorn of the
Sea which as a humorous graphic novel!

Part II: Description of Sessions with the Student

(Data gathered throughout semester)
Select 5 skills you feel were the most important skills you taught this semester. For each skill, answer the
following:
Intonation of Voice
o How did you teach the skill? I taught this skill by having Sally read books at a lower level so she could
practice reading with rise and fall in her voice instead of stopping to pronounce a word properly.
o What activities did you use? We read together and she would mimic me reading a page with rise
and fall in my voice, then she would attempt to do the same.
o What assessment tools did you use to assess the skill? I kept a checklist on a piece of notebook
paper to mark how many times she used intonation while mimic reading and reading alone.
o Did the child master the skill? Sally did not master this skill, but when she enjoyed what she was
reading and thus more engaged, she used much more intonation in her voice!
Ability of Comprehension
o How did you teach the skill? I taught this skill by starting out with story line basics such as setting
and character names, then, we worked up towards remembering and understanding how the
characters acted and felt.
o What activities did you use? To practice character names, setting, plot, etc. we played a five-finger
game where Sally and I each had to recall five facts about the story itself or elements of the story. To
begin practice on harder comprehension ideas such as character feelings and moral of story, we
painted pictures of dots just as the Vashti did in her story. Then, on the back of the paper, we wrote
out down how the book made us feel as readers, what Vashti had learned, and a fact about the
book.
o What assessment tools did you use to assess the skill? I used a Venn Diagram model to distinguish
what exactly she had learned from a text. She had to recall as much information about two topics or
characters from a story or book as she could. As the semester pressed on, she began to listen to
what was reading, and in turn, began to write down more information in the Venn Diagrams.
o Did the child master the skill? Yes, on her new guided reading level Sally was fully able to
comprehend a story, its elements, and the moral.

Ability to use Word Decoding (particularly compound words)

o How did you teach the skill? I taught this skill with a mini lesson on how words that were smashed
together could make a whole new word combined. I gave her an example, and she gave me an
 example in return. Then we reread a section of story that used compound words.
o What activities did you use? To practice these types of words we wrote out compound words onto
slips of paper, then we ripped them down the middle to split them back into separate words. To
complete this activity we tried to make different compound words with different pieces of ripped
slips of paper!
o What assessment tools did you use to assess the skill? I assessed Sally informally by making note
that she was able to create new compound words from our activity. She was also able to represent
each word independently and smashed together by using a drawing. For example, she drew a soft
bed, a ball, and then drew a softball on the page next to the other drawings to represent the new
meaning of the compound word.
o Did the child master the skill? Most definitely. Sally was completely able to use and create
compound words.
Ability to write a letter with proper spelling
o How did you teach the skill? I gave Sally a mini lesson on writing a letter and the elements a letter
such as the greeting and salutation.
o What activities did you use? She wrote a letter to the author of Narwhal-Unicorn of the Sea thanking
him for writing the wonderful graphic novel (this was BY FAR Sallys favorite book of the semester)!
o What assessment tools did you use to assess the skill? I informally assessed her based on the letter
she wrote to the author and how often she had a spelling error on her paper. Note: if she asked how
to spell a word I did help her sound out the word!
o Did the child master the skill? I would say Sally was proficient in letter writing but still had a great
deal of work to do on spelling. I think if she took the time to sound out the words, she would do so
much better!
Ability to identify and use Onomatopoeia in a sentence.
o How did you teach the skill? I taught this skill by using the beginning, during, and after model while
reading a book. First, I asked her if she liked any superheroes and she said she liked the new Lego
Batman movie. I said okay great, so did I! I reminded her that Batman would always have word
bubbles by his head like boom or pow! I told her these words are written action or sound that a
character does in a story or television show. Then during the reading, I asked her to point to
Onomatopoeia words if she saw them throughout the story. After, we had our activity.
o What activities did you use? The activity I used to complete this model of learning was through a
rock-paper-scissors game. I knew how much she liked games, based on previous lessons, so each
time one of us lost rock paper scissors, you had to recall either an Onomatopoeia word used in the
story, or one that could have been used.
o What assessment tools did you use to assess the skill? I used her written activity words as proof that
she was a master of this skill. I also noted that while reading she could find words like boom with
ease.
o Did the child master the skill? Yes, after we had our mini lesson and worked on this concept she was
able to identify the words and remember words like this one with ease.
Running Record Analysis: Analyze and assess the 3 running records completed with your student.
Begin by completing a chart with the information listed below. A sample chart is included.

Date Book Level Level (instructional, independent, frustrational) Accuracy

10.5.17 N Independent 99%
11.2.17 K Independent 98%
11.27.17 Q Independent I believe around 95%

o An overall analysis of the error types (substitutions, omissions) and cue usage (meaning, syntax,
visual). Overall, I think Sally had the most trouble with omitting words. When she came across a
word that was not familiar to her, she simply would avoid the word all together. Note: when we
were reading without a running record, we would stop at a word when she attempted to omit it and
figured out what the word was and what it meant! Additionally, I think Sally had more trouble with
 meaning and visual. I think if she would have read slower, she could have easily understood what
the words meant. Additionally, she could have grasped the words visually if she had taken the time
to decode the word!
o A final evaluation what do you know about your students reading level, error types, and cue
usage? I know that Sally is well beyond a level N and should be challenged more often! When she
was challenged, she rose to the occasion. She mainly omitted words but would often self-corrected
a word if she said it wrong. For example, one time she said we instead of were. Yet, she quickly
changed it back (I think she was just reading too quickly)! Again, I found that her main problem was
visualizing the word in the text!

Part III: Final Analysis of Student

Strengths:
1. The student was able to read at a high accuracy rate
2. The student was able to comprehend character differences within different genres
3. The student was able to read with quick word recognition (automaticity) when it came to simple
words or words that had blended consonants at the beginning of a word.
4. The student was able to ask a question if she did not know what a word meant (i.e. wraparound
porch).
5. The student was able to identify the conflict and resolution in almost every story we read!
6. The student was able to sound out a word by looking at the onset or rhyme one at a time.
7. The student was able to relate a story back to her personal life by reflecting on a reading such as The
Secret Grave.
8. The student was able to identify concepts of print while reading different formats of books such as
storybooks, picture books, short novels and graphic novels.
Weaknesses:
1. The student struggled with intonation of voice during readings that did not peak her interest.
2. The student struggled with spelling and was still at the inventive spelling stage during any writing
practice.
3. The student struggled with pronouncing diphthongs and the /sh/ sound.
4. The student struggled with oral communication skills during review of a storyline or comprehension.
(It wasnt that she did not know the answers, it was the fact that she could not covey the answer
orally)
5. The student struggled with compound words near the beginning of the semester.
6. The student struggled with engagement in reading when it came to storylines and character
progression throughout a story.
7. The student struggled with the omission of (usually) longer words in a sentence.
8. The student struggled with focusing on follow-up activities after a lesson or book. She normally
would stare off into space or complete an activity very slowly. Thus, I had to make each follow-up
activity into a game or she simply would not fully participate!
Suggestions for methods and activities to use with your student in the future (What are her/his interests?
Interests/enjoyed:
o Games
o Graphic Novels
o Mystery genre (Nancy Drew)
o Humorous genre (Narwhal-Unicorn of the Sea)
o Drawing (not painting)
o The outdoors
o Reading aloud
o Reading by herself instead of back and forth with the tutor
o Reading without a running record
o Writing as long as she could also draw
o Tactile activities (such as ripping paper)
o Perusing the library shelves and picking out a book to read to the tutor
 o Discussing Girl Scouts
In summary, I would suggest using methods and activities that let Sally be creative above all and the use of
before during and after model for readings, and avoiding methods and activities that include reading longer
books and dancing of any sort, (she really does not like to dance).

Appendix
SOLs covered
o 4.1d) Use evidence to support ideas.
o 4.1f) Communicate new ideas to others.
o 4.1h) Demonstrate the ability to work independently.
o 4.3b) Identify the characteristics of various media messages.
o 4.4a) Use context to clarify meanings of unfamiliar words.
o 4.4c) Develop vocabulary by listening to and reading a variety of texts.
o 4.5b) Describe how the choice of language, setting, characters, and information contributes to the
authors purpose.
o 4.5c) Identify the main idea.
o 4.5h) Draw conclusions/ make inferences about text.
o 4.5j) Identify cause and effect relationships.
o 4.5k) Use reading strategies throughout the reading process to minor comprehension.
o 4.5L) Read with fluency and accuracy.
o 4.6b) Focus on the aspect of a topic.
o 4.7e) Recognize different models of writing have different patterns of organization.
o 4.7k) Include supporting details that elaborate the main idea.