Amanda Weller Individual Child Assessment Project October 17, 2011 Since August 2011, I have been observing,

interviewing, and collecting data on a male student, Matt. Matt is a fifth grade student at Robeson Elementary School. During this time, I have developed an understanding of Matts reading and writing interests and abilities. Additionally, I have determined a few instructional recommendations to ensure that Matt succeeds in all aspects of language arts, not only in fifth grade, but also throughout the rest of his educational career. Through both a Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and a Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI), my cooperating teacher and I have both determined an approximate reading level for Matt. He was tested at a DRA Level 40 and succeeded quite well in the reading engagement and oral reading fluency portions of the assessment. However, Matt had difficulties with the summary, interpretation, and metacognitive awareness portions of the assessment, all of which are part of the comprehension section. These results were consistent with the QRI that I conducted. The QRI Word Lists assessment concluded that Matts instructional reading level is approximately at the fourth grade level. The sixth grade level is the frustrational level for Matt, while second grade and below are his independent reading levels. Additionally, I discovered through the QRI narrative assessment that reading comprehension is one of Matts significant reading difficulties. Matt has difficulty comprehending both explicit and implicit questions after reading a short text. This result was true for both the fourth and the fifth grade narrative assessments. Furthermore, the interview with my cooperating teacher confirmed both the DRA and QRI results. My cooperating teacher agreed that Matt has difficulties with comprehension, but has concluded thus far that he has good sentence structure and decent fluency. Matts Scholastic News assignments that required him to answer questions about non-fictional texts

Amanda Weller Individual Child Assessment Project October 17, 2011 also proved that he has difficulty with reading comprehension. In one of these assignments, Matt only answered about half of comprehension questions correctly. However, while analyzing this assignment, I noticed that Matt was able to answer vocabulary questions correctly. This leads me to wonder if Matt knew that these answers could be easily found using the glossary, and thus, took the time to quickly find the correct answer. It seems that Matt is interested in more straightforward tasks because he knows that is able to succeed in these. Matts reading interests are quite obvious after looking at his home reading logs and the interview that I conducted with him. In his interview, Matt told me that the Guinness Book of World Records was his favorite book, what he likes reading for silent reading, and what he was currently reading for fun. Matt also indicated this interest on his DRA Student Reading Survey. Obviously, the Guinness Book of World Records should, in some fashion, be incorporated into Matts language arts learning because of his great interest. I think Matt enjoys reading the Guinness Book of World Records because it contains many short excerpts, is extremely interesting, has pictures, and is usually scientific. These short excerpts can help build Matts confidence in reading and comprehension if he talks about it with a parent or teacher after reading. All of Matts home reading logs also indicate that he enjoys reading the Guinness Book of World Records. However, in the most recent home reading log, it appears that Matt has begun a chapter book, Magnificent 12. I am unsure if Matt is reading a chapter book by his own choice or by the requirement of his parents. Either way, I think it is good that Matt is broadening his reading horizons beyond short, factual excerpts. Additionally, there has also been evidence to conclude that Matt enjoys scientific reading materials. Currently, Matt is reading a book about turtles for his independent report assignment. While reviewing his rough draft for this assignment, I noticed that he was able to research and

Amanda Weller Individual Child Assessment Project October 17, 2011 comprehend enough material to write two pages of information. I think this shows that he is interested in what he is reading and wants to communicate this to the readers of his report. For this report, Matt has been reading his book about turtles for silent reading and has taken somewhat detailed notes in his school reading log. For example, Matt has written about their lifespan, mating, and hatching stages. In this research, he even made personal connections to the information, which I feel is an advanced skill for fifth grade students. This is definitely one of Matts strongest skills in language arts. Matts home reading logs and interview are also an indication on his interest in reading in general. Matt has the minimum time requirement, or less, recorded on his logs. It does not appear that he is interested in reading beyond the daily requirement or for his own personal enjoyment. Matts lack of interest in general reading is also evident in my observations. During silent reading time, it usually takes Matt sometime to become focused and interested in his book. This is a trend among all four days of observations. However, I do not think that this is due to a lack of ability to focus, but rather his lack of interest in sitting and reading. Matt has even told me that recess is his favorite subject. I have observed how much recess can motivate Matt to complete work or to stay on task. While reading may not be Matts favorite activity, he has indicated through his interview and his written pieces that he enjoys writing more. Matt told me in our interview that he like to write about things that he has done (narratives) or about sports. During my observations, I also noticed that Matt is a lot more focused during free writing time than silent reading. I have also concluded, after reviewing his independent report rough draft and his personal narrative, that he seems to be more successful in writing than in reading. While Matts sense of spelling and grammar is below grade level, he is able to form decent and somewhat interesting sentences.

Amanda Weller Individual Child Assessment Project October 17, 2011 Furthermore, I think he is so interested in his writing that he does not want to take the time to use proper spelling or grammar. As a teacher, I am okay with this behavior during free writing time, but I want my students to be able to form proper sentences when necessary and while editing writing. Using his personal narrative rough drafts as evidence, I can conclude that Matt is able to free write the beginning of a story and then add more detail and edit his spelling and grammar to a certain degree. However, currently, I feel that Matt could use additional instructional time to improve upon his spelling and grammar in writing. Matt would be able to feel more successful in writing if he felt more confident in his ability to spell. A students listening and speaking skills also contribute to reading success (or failure) in the classroom. Through observations, I have been able to make a few conclusions about Matts abilities to listen and speak in and out of the classroom. For example, Matt is extremely shy in the classroom. He is unwilling to raise his hand to share his thoughts or responses. I have also heard Matt tell the classroom teacher how much he hates to give presentations in front of the rest of the class. I do not think this is because he is not knowledgeable in the material, but rather because he does not feel confident enough to share with his peers. However, after observing Matt for four days, I did notice that he is successful in communicating with peers outside of academic sessions. He is often talkative with peers, sometimes during instruction, and in transitions. I do not think that he needs additional social education because he seems more than competent in social interactions. However, I would like to see some additional instruction in public speaking. I think Matt would benefit from increasing his participation in class because I feel that if he is looking for chances to participate in instruction, he will comprehend the information more thoroughly. Matt does, however, have excellent listening skills. He follows directions, as much as is expected for fifth graders, and is able to participate in activities that require student

Amanda Weller Individual Child Assessment Project October 17, 2011 listening. For example, I have done a few informal whiteboard English activities in which students have to listen to sentences, and Matt is constantly successful in all of those activities. I currently have no concerns with Matts listening abilities. After reviewing all of Matts assessments, observations, interviews, and work, I feel that I have enough information to make a few instructional recommendations to increase his success in the classroom, not only in language arts, but also across the academic spectrum. To improve Matts reading comprehension, I feel that he would benefit greatly from small group instruction. Not only would this give Matt the one-on-one attention he needs, but it would also give him opportunities to develop his academic confidence among his peers. Since I have been able to work with Matt, I can attest that he experiences a lot of success both academically and in confidence when working in small groups. Matt is more willing to share ideas and responses when not in a whole-class setting. Because of this, I would recommend several sessions in either an individual or small group setting to work on comprehension as a reading skill. Because of Matts interest in Guinness Book of World Records and science books, I would like to ensure that there are plenty of books to suit his interests both at home and at school. Matt is only going to read if he values, and is interested in, what he is reading. However, I do think that he should continue to be encouraged to broaden his reading interests. I would recommend that Matt try reading social studies non-fiction books, such as biographies, or historical fiction books. Both of these genres touch on his non-fiction interest, yet offer Matt a chance to expand his reading background. Additionally, if Matt is interested in what he is reading, he will most likely improve his comprehension skills, since he values the reading material.

Amanda Weller Individual Child Assessment Project October 17, 2011 Additionally, I would really like Matt to have additional guidance and instruction in spelling. Currently, there is really no spelling instruction in his classroom, so Matt would greatly benefit from this type of individual instruction. I would recommend that an individual word wall is created for him to use while writing and reading. I would take the most misspelled words from his assignments and writing journal and display them on his personal word wall to keep at his desk. Furthermore, any general spelling instruction in the classroom, explicit or not, will obviously improve his spelling abilities. I also think improved spelling will improve his academic confidence in the classroom. Finally, I think Matts speaking skills would improve with a bit of instructional and personal guidance from his parents and teachers at the school. I would recommend starting read alouds with Matt, first on an individual basis, working up to larger groups when he feels more comfortable volunteering to read or answer questions. However, I do think that all of the above recommendations would contribute to developing Matts confidence in public speaking and in the academic aspects of the classroom. Overall, Matt is a wonderful, talented, and intelligent child. While he struggles somewhat in the language arts, with some additional instruction, Matt will make progress in his comprehension, spelling, and speaking abilities. Furthermore, I would love to see Matts confidence increase in the classroom because I know that he has a lot of insightful thoughts and opinions to share with the rest of the class. I am looking forward to seeing what Matt will continue to accomplish throughout the rest of the semester!