Diagnostic Literacy Evaluation Student: Lucy (not student’s real name) Age: 13.0 Background Information Lucy is a 12 year old girl who is in 7th grade at Simon Baruch Middle School. As noted by her school psychologist, Lucy has a history of articulation and language deficits which were identified initially when she was three years old. Lucy receives special education support services which include a Special Education Service Provider (SETTS) who pushes-­‐in to Lucy’s ELA (English Language Arts) general education classroom 2 out of 6 periods a week; she is also pulled out once per week in a small group. Lucy receives speech and language therapy twice per week in a small group (3:1) which focuses on developing comprehension of text, vocabulary, and written language skills. She also participates in a reading class (within a large classroom setting) for reading instruction for at-­‐risk students 4 periods per week with focus on reading comprehension strategies. In addition, Lucy receives classroom accommodations and modifications such as repeating directions, simplifying directions, and giving additional time to organize her notes. Lucy’s school psychologist requested her to be a part of the Literacy Clinic to improve her decoding abilities, reading comprehension and reading fluency. Since Lucy is in seventh grade this year, her school psychologist expressed an increased urgency to get her on level with reading and writing. According to her Speech teacher, Lucy has difficulty with the application of literary concepts, higher order questions and using context clues to determine meaning of unknown vocabulary words. After meeting with Lucy, I believe she has a positive attitude towards her work. She possesses intrinsic motivation and wants to succeed in the Literacy Clinic. Lucy works hard and is willing to try various instructional strategies. Tests Administered Adolescent Reading Attitude Survey Recreational Print Recreational Digital Academic Print Academic Digital Raw Score 65 18 46 36 Interpretation Positive Negative Somewhat positive Indifferent Tests of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) Sight Word Efficiency Phonemic Decoding Efficiency TOTAL Reading Efficiency Raw Score 53 21 161 Standard Score 81 80 77 Words Their Way-­‐Elementary Spelling Inventory Spelling Stage: Middle/Late Syllables and Affixes Words Spelled Correctly 20/25 Feature Points 55/62 Features Raw Score Percent Consonants 7/7 100% Short Vowels 5/5 100% Digraphs 6/6 100% Blends 7/7 100% Common Long Vowels 5/5 100% Other Vowels 7/7 100% Inflected Endings 5/5 100% Syllable Junctures 4/5 80% Unaccented Final Syllables 3/5 60% Harder Suffixes 3/5 60% Bases or Roots 3/5 60% Interpretation Mastery Mastery Mastery Mastery Mastery Mastery Mastery Instructional Frustration Frustration Frustration Percentile 10% 9% 6% Qualitative Reading Inventory Word Identification Grade 4 5 Level % 90% 80% Automatic Level% Total 100% 85% Reading Passages Title Amelia Earhart Narrative Read Orally Readability Fourth Grade Level (3.3-­‐Lexile 500) Accuracy 98% Rate 111 WCPM 25%ile Retelling 21 idea units 45% Comprehension Questions Level % Comprehension 88% Level % Comprehension with Look-­‐backs 12% Total=100% INDEPENDENT Level Title Martin Luther King Jr. Narrative Read Orally Readability Fifth Grade Level (5.2-­‐Lexile 830) Accuracy 97% Rate 111 WCPM 25%ile Retelling 22 idea units 42% Comprehension Questions Level % Comprehension 75% Level % Comprehension with Look-­‐backs -­‐ 6 60% 7/8 45% 80% 45% Farming on the Great Plains Expository Read Orally Fifth Grade (5.4-­‐Lexile 810) 96% 86 WCPM 10%ile 30 idea units 37% 50% 25% Total INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL Title Abraham Lincoln Narrative Readability Sixth Grade Level (5.7-­‐Lexile 760) Accuracy 98% Rate 85 CWPM 10% ile Retelling 28 ideas unit 60% Comprehension Questions Level % Comprehension 50% Level %Comprehension with Look-­‐backs 50% Total 100% INDEPENDENT LEVEL Writing Curriculum Based Measure (CBM) “Unseen Volcanoes Build New Land” 75% INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL The Lifeline of the Nile Expository Sixth Grade (6.9-­‐Lexile 850) 98% 79 CWPM less than 10% ile 10 idea unit 18% 25% 38% 63% FRUSTRATIONAL LEVEL Total Words Written-­‐58 Words Spelled Correctly-­‐53 Correct Writing Sequence-­‐50 Percentile: 50% (according to the Norms for Writing CBM: Correct Writing Sequence) Observations During Testing Development of Word Recognition (in isolation) Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) The TOWRE is divided into two subtests, the test of Sight Word Efficiency and the test of Phonemic Decoding Efficiency. On each test, the student is to read as many words as possible within 45 seconds. The Sight Word Efficiency test includes high frequency words in the English language. These high frequency words appear in almost every English language text. Therefore it is important for readers to recognize the words automatically. The Phonemic Decoding Efficiency test includes nonsense words that are made from common English spelling patterns. This allows the student to use their abilities to decode an unknown word. The Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) provides useful information to help identify strengths and weaknesses in reading fluency as well as word recognition. Lucy’s score ranks her at the 10% for Sight Word Efficiency and the 9% for the Phonemic Decoding Efficiency. This indicates Lucy has similar abilities in both sight word efficiency and phonemic decoding efficiency. Lucy’s total Reading Efficiency score is at the 6th percentile. This means that compared to 99 other students of her age, 94 students would be performing at a higher level in these combined tasks. Lucy was able to correctly identify the words on both lists but had difficulty with her words per minute (fluency). On the Sight Word Efficiency subtest, Lucy was able to identify 53 out of the 104 words listed. On the Phonemic Decoding Efficiency subtest, she was able to identify 22 out of the 63 words listed. Elementary Spelling Inventory The Elementary Spelling Inventory contains a list of increasingly difficult spellings words that have been selected so that particular word features can be analyzed to determine the students spelling stage. These spelling words help determine what the student understands about spelling. Lucy spelled 20 out of 25 words correctly. She demonstrates spelling traits associated with the Syllable and Affixes developmental stage. This stage is typically associated with children in 4th grade. According to the spelling inventory, Lucy has mastered Inflected endings (such as –ed, -­‐
ving, -­‐pping). However, she requires explicit instruction with syllable junctures (rr, tt, ll) and unaccented final syllables (en, ar). After teaching these explicit endings, Lucy will become a more advanced speller and will progressively move into the Derivational developmental stage. Development of Word Recognition (in Connected Text) Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) The Qualitative Reading Inventory contains grade level passages that are used to evaluate oral reading, fluency, and reading comprehension. Students are first to read a set of words lists to determine their reading grade level. The assessment requires students to read at least 4 passages, one at their independent level, two at their instructional level, and one at their frustration level. After reading a passage, a student is to retell what they have read and answer eight questions about the passage. Four questions require using the information that is explicitly stated in the text and four questions require the students to make inferences to properly answer the question. Before starting a passage, I informed Lucy the procedure of the assessment and what would be required after reading (retelling and comprehension questions). Independent Level Is the level at which a student can read successfully without assistance. Instructional Level Is the level at which a student can read with assistance from the teacher. Frustration Level At this level, the student is unable to read the material. Explicit instruction is required. Based on the Qualitative Reading Inventory Lucy’s instructional reading level is at 5th grade. Based on the word lists, I asked Lucy to begin reading at the 4th grade level (which was her independent level). I then administered a 5th Grade Narrative, a 5th Grade Expository, a 6th Grade Narrative, and a 6th Grade Expository. Since the school psychologist indicated Lucy’s fluency issues, I asked Lucy to orally read the passage. Lucy’s scored 97% accuracy on the Grade 5 Narrative. One of the eight errors made changed the meaning of the passage. The 97% accuracy categorizes this text at the Independent level. It is likely that texts at this level of difficulty (narrative, 5.2, Lexile 830) can be read successfully without assistance. During all reading, Lucy was able to mostly self-­‐correct words based on the meaning and structure of the sentence. Assessing Lucy’s fluency rates she would benefit when reading texts with a Lexile measure above 800. Reading Fluency Reading fluency is defined as the ability to identify words automatically and accurately. It is measured in words per minute (WPM) and words correct per minute (WCPM). These scores are then compared to other students at their same grade level. For this assessment, I used the Hasbrouck and Tindal Oral Reading Fluency Data (2006) to interpret the data. Fluency is a foundational skill in reading and comprehension as it allows a student to read a passage automatically. I calculated Lucy’s WCPM during the Qualitative Reading Inventory. Grade Level Text Passage Lexile Rate (WCPM) 4th Narrative 5th Narrative Amelia Earhart Martin Luther King Jr. Farming on the Great Plains Abraham Lincoln The Lifeline of the Nile 500 830 111 111 Hasbrouck and Tindal Percentile Rank 25% 25% 810 86 10% 760 850 85 79 10% Less than 10% 5th Expository 6th Narrative 6th Expository Lucy’s fluency rates are consistent with her performance with the TOWRE. In regards to fluency Lucy is functioning at the 10% percentile rank. This requires immediate intervention. Reading Comprehension Retelling Lucy was asked to retell the passage in complete detail as if she were telling someone who had not read the text. Lucy was able to retell big ideas of the passage. Her retellings of narratives were more descriptive (between 45%-­‐60%) as compared to her retellings of expository texts (18%-­‐35%). The narrative retellings included setting, goals, events, and resolutions found in the passage. Lucy’s retelling abilities are given in sequential order similar to the text. Lucy had the most difficulty with retelling the 6th grade expository text, as she only recalled 10 ideas out of 56 total ideas. Answering Questions about Text Lucy was able to successfully answer both explicit and implicit questions at the 4th grade level, which is also her independent level. As previously stated, Lucy’s instructional level is at the 5th grade. She was able to comprehend about 75% of the passage. She experiences frustration with the 6th grade expository text. In order for Lucy to comprehend texts at the 6th grade level, she had to look back approximately 50% of the time. Lucy will need strong instructional support at the 6th grade material in order to comprehend texts. Writing Abilities Curriculum Based Measures (CBMs) provides information that can help determine future instructional goals for each student. A Writing CBM is a simple measure of student’s writing skills. The Writing CBM assesses a student’s total words written, words spelled correctly and the correct writing sequence. Students are to respond to a prompt within three minutes. When first conducting assessments, I asked Lucy to respond to a prompt about a 5th grade narrative passage. Her total words written was 58, she spelled 53 out of 58 words spelled correctly and had a correct writing sequence of 50. According to the Norms for Writing CBM: Correct Writing Sequences Lucy is at the 50% at her grade level. This means that 50 students performed at a higher level than Lucy on grade level. Reading Attitudes Adolescent Reading Attitudes Survey The Adolescent Reading Attitudes Survey measures students’ attitudes about recreational reading as well as academic reading in both print and digital forms. Lucy expressed the most positive attitude towards recreational reading in print settings. She had a somewhat positive attitude towards academic reading in print setting, an indifferent attitude towards academic reading in digital settings and a negative attitude towards recreational reading in digital forms. Summary Lucy is a seventh grade student at Simon Baruch Middle School, who enjoys reading but is currently below grade level. According to the Qualitative Reading Inventory, Lucy instructional reading level is at the 5th grade level. It is important for Lucy to receive guidance and instruction to become a stronger reader. Lucy is a hard worker and is dedicated to improve her reading level. Lucy’s word recognition abilities and reading fluency place her at the 10th percentile. She needs to develop greater accuracy and automaticity. Her spelling inventory places her at the Syllable and Affixes stage. This requires further instruction with syllable junctures as well as unaccented final syllables. Instruction in this stage will be addressed in reading and spelling. Lucy’s reading fluency percentile places her at the 10th percentile. Since word recognition and fluency are related, it would make sense that Lucy’s word recognition and fluency are at the same percentiles. Lucy will need to explicitly work on improving her fluency throughout the Literacy Clinic. This goal is for her to become a more fluent reader to increase her reading level. Lucy is able to retell about 50% of the text at her instruction level (5th grade). Lucy’s retellings are mostly in sequential order and include setting, goals, events and resolution. Lucy’s level of comprehension depends on the type of text she reads. She is able to comprehend more narrative texts as compared to expository texts. I will be working in the clinic with Lucy to help her with her comprehension abilities in regards to expository texts at her instructional level. Instructional Recommendations Plan for Instruction Primary Goals: •
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Increase fluency abilities Improve reading comprehension Writing-­‐summary and argumentative Secondary Goals: •
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Spelling and Decoding Identify text structures to expand recall of expository text Fluency •
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Charted Reading o Using a single 5th grade passage per session, I will time Lucy for one minute to identify the number of words read correctly and the number of errors. I will tell Lucy what words were mispronounced before beginning again. This is done three times in a row to determine Lucy’s correct words per minutes (CWPM). Paired Reading o Paired reading is when the tutor and the tutee read together in unison on an instructional level text. The tutor and the tutee agree on a starting signal before reading the passage. The student is to give the tutor a signal when they would like to read solo. The tutor will follow along silently. If the student does not know a word, the tutor will wait for four seconds and return to waiting. Reading Comprehension •
Think Aloud •
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o Lucy will use a think aloud after reading each section of a passage to collect her thoughts about what each section is about. She will write her notes on the text. This will help her summarize each section using her own words. Graphic Organizers o Semantic maps are used to help develop a complex relationship among concepts, story characters, plot development, and key ideas in the reading text. GIST strategy-­‐Summarizing o The purpose of the GIST strategy is to understand the “gist” of what they have read. Lucy will have to summarize a text into 20 words using a sentence format. First, Joana will summarize the first paragraph in 20 words and then add a second paragraph. Then both paragraphs must be summarized into the 20 spaces. This is repeated throughout the whole text. Explicit instruction is first needed for this activity. Summary Writing •
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Self-­‐Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is an instructional writing strategy that helps students learn how to plan, monitor and revise their own writing. POW Strategy-­‐Pick my ideas, Organize my notes, and Write and Say More TREE Strategy-­‐Topic Sentence, Reasons (3 or more), Explain Reasons, Ending Argumentative Writing •
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STOP Strategy-­‐ Suspend Judgment, Take a Side, Organize Ideas, Plan More as You Write DARE Strategy-­‐Develop your topic sentence, Add supporting ideas, Reject arguments for other sides, End with a conclusion Spelling and Decoding •
Words Sorts-­‐Words Their Way o Word sorts in the Syllable and Affixes Stage will help Lucy improve her spelling and decoding ability. Words sorts are provided by the Words Their Way book. Text Structures •
I will also review various text structures with Lucy and use graphic organizers to help organize her ideas. Text structures include: sequence, description, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem-­‐solution. Tutoring Interventions During the Literacy Clinic, Lucy and I will work together to accomplish both her primary and secondary goals. A typical tutoring routine will be as follows: Time 5-­‐10 minutes 15-­‐20 minutes 5 minutes 15-­‐20 minutes 10-­‐15 minutes Activity Charted Reading Instructional Reading/Comprehension Word Sort Summary writing Paired Reading Progress Monitoring 2X a month Retelling idea units-­‐once a month N/A Timed essay in response to expository text: 15 minutes 2X a month N/A Summary of the Tutoring Lucy and I worked together twice a week from February 5 until May 2. We had 22 sessions together. During most of our time together we focused on fluency and reading comprehension as well as writing strategies. During our last two sessions I administered the post-­‐assessments. It was a pleasure working with Lucy. She was always prepared and ready to work when she came to the Literacy Clinic. She worked hard throughout the sessions and always tried her best. Lucy was very committed to the Literacy Clinic. Based on the results of the initial assessments, my primary goals were to improve Lucy’s fluency abilities, improve her reading comprehension and work on developing her writing. In regards to fluency we worked on charted reading and paired reading. To improve her reading comprehension we worked on think alouds, graphic organizers, and the GIST strategy. Additionally, we worked on summary and argumentative writing strategies. Charted Reading Charted Reading was a common activity. In the beginning of almost every session, I would assign Lucy a student fluency passage (McGraw Hill) based on her instructional level. I would have her read the passage 3 times, recording her WCPM (words correct per minute). If needed, I would correct her pronunciation of certain words or clarify any words she did not know. I recorded her charted reading scores on a graph (see attached). Lucy liked to help me chart how many words correct per minute she got correct. Paired Reading Paired reading is used to assist a student with fluency. We would read the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 10 minutes at the end of every tutoring session. Together we would read in unison, until Lucy signaled for me to stop. After a couple of sessions reading, Lucy felt more comfortable reading on her own. From my observations, her confidence helped her to fluently read the text. GIST-­‐Strategy-­‐Summarizing The purpose of the GIST strategy is to understand the “gist” of what they have read. Lucy would have to summarize a text into 20 words using a sentence format. First, Joana would summarize the first paragraph in 20 words and then add a second paragraph. Then both paragraphs would be summarized into the 20 spaces. This was repeated throughout the whole text. This strategy helped Lucy tremendously with her reading comprehension. She was able to use this strategy to put the text into her own words. This further allowed her to comprehend the text. After several sessions, Lucy was able to use the GIST method automatically without any assistance. Writing We spent most of the time in the Literacy Clinic working on summary writing. In the beginning of the clinic, Lucy was having difficulty with writing summaries. One of Lucy’s biggest difficulties was adding supporting evidence to her writing. I introduced Lucy to the POW and TREE writing strategies for summary writing. POW and TREE are mnemonics that assisted Lucy with her writing. POW stands for Pick my ideas, Organize my notes, and Write and Say More. TREE stands for Topic sentence, Reasons (3 or more), Explain Reasons, and Ending. I also introduced her to the STOP and DARE strategy for argumentative writing. STOP stands for Suspend Judgment, Take a Side, Organize Ideas, Plan More as You Write. DARE stands for Develop your topic sentence, Add supporting ideas, Reject arguments for other sides, End with a conclusion. Learning these mnemonics helped Lucy remember what belongs in her writing. She would write these mnemonics at the top and bottom of her page to assist her with her writing. Throughout the tutoring sessions, we also worked on editing her writing. In addition, we also evaluated her writing according to the NYS ELA (New York State English Language Arts) 7th grade rubric. Lucy scored a “3” on most of her writing assignments. (on a scale to 4). The New York State 6-­‐8th grade Expository Rubric has four main criteria which include: content and analysis, command of evidence, coherence, organization, and style as well as control of conventions. Principal Results Tests of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) February Results: Sight Word Efficiency Phonemic Decoding Efficiency TOTAL Reading Efficiency Raw Score 53 21 161 Standard Score 81 80 77 Percentile 10% 9% 6% Raw Score 63 31 172 Standard Score 86 86 83 Percentile 17% 17% 13% May Results: Sight Word Efficiency Phonemic Decoding Efficiency TOTAL Reading Efficiency Words Their Way-­‐Elementary Spelling Inventory Features February Results Raw Score Percent April Results Raw Score Percent Consonants Short Vowels Digraphs Blends Common Long Vowels Other Vowels Inflected Endings Syllable Junctures Unaccented Final Syllables Harder Suffixes Bases or Roots Words Spelled Correctly Feature Points 7/7 5/5 6/6 7/7 5/5 7/7 5/5 4/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 20/25 55/62 100% 7/7 100% 100% 5/5 100% 100% 6/6 100% 100% 7/7 100% 100% 5/5 100% 100% 7/7 100% 100% 4/5 80% 80% 5/5 100% 60% 5/5 100% 60% 3/5 60% 60% 3/5 60% 80% 20/25 80% 89% 57/62 92% Qualitative Reading Inventory Reading Passages (passages read orally) February Passage Level WCPM Comprehension Level 4N 111 100% IND 5N 111 75% INSTR 5E 86 75% INSTR 6N 85 100% IND 6E 79 63% FRUS WPM Comprehension April Reading Passages (read silently) Passage Level Level 5N 357 75% INS 6N 403 75% INS 6E 388 75% INS 7/8N 363 90% IND Writing Curriculum Based Measure (CBM) February Results: “Unseen Volcanoes Build New Land” Total Words Written-­‐58 Words Spelled Correctly-­‐53 Correct Writing Sequence-­‐50 Percentile: 50% (according to the Norms for Writing CBM: Correct Writing Sequence) May Results: “Why Do Animals Act the Way They Do?” Total Words Written-­‐117 Words Spelled Correctly-­‐117 Correct Writing Sequence-­‐116 Percentile: Above the 90% (according to the Norms for Writing CBM: Correct Writing Sequence) Charted Reading Results: Based on the 3rd time reading the passage: Passage Grade Level Correct Words Per Hasbrouck and Tindal Minute “Dolphins at Play” “Natural Protection” “Too Much Water” “Inspiration” “Hometown Hero” “The Big Wave” “The Garden” 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 Norms 132 168 123 151 140 135 168 25% A little less than 75% 25% 50% A little less than 50% 25% A little less than 75% Summary Writing-­‐ELA Rubric Passage “Do Animals Have Feelings?” “Food For Thought” “Furry Friends” “Should Children Be Allowed to Have Pets?” Grade Level 5 5 5 6 NYS ELA Rubric 2 3 3 3 MAZE Results (Reading Comprehension): Passage “Charlie Goes To The Street Fair” “Leslie The Ladybug” “The Balloon Ride” Grade Level 6 Score 23/52 6 6 24/58 27/60 Summary of Results Lucy is currently reading at a 7th/8th grade instructional level. When Lucy first arrived to the Literacy Clinic she was reading at a 5th grade instructional level. This 2 year increase demonstrates Lucy’s significant increase in her reading and writing abilities as well as her fluency and comprehension abilities. Lucy’s spelling stage is now at the Early Derivational stage as opposed to the Middle/Late Syllables and Affixes stage. In the beginning of the clinic, Lucy and I were focusing on syllable junctures as well as unaccented final syllables. According to the post assessment results of the Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Feature Guide, Lucy has mastered these features. In addition, Lucy has shown improvement in her sight words and phonemic decoding abilities as shown by her TOWRE scores. Lucy has also shown improvement with her fluency abilities. According to the Hasbrouck and Tindal norms (2006) Lucy is at about 50% fluency for her grade level. This means that compared to 99 other students of her age, 49 students would be performing at a higher level in their fluency abilities. In regards to her writing, she scores on average of a “3” according to the New York State ELA Rubric (out of a possible “4”). A score of “3” indicates that the student “clearly introduces a topic in a manner that follows from the task and purpose, develops the topic with relevant facts, definitions, details, quotations, or other information and examples from the text, exhibits clear organizations, with the use of appropriate transitions to create a unified whole, and demonstrates grade-­‐appropriate command of conventions”. Lucy is now able to include textual evidence as well as inferences to her writing. According to the QRI post assessment results, Lucy’s words per minute (WPM) were extremely high. This indicates that she skimmed the passage, although, it is interesting to note that she was still able to comprehend most of the passage. Lucy needs to still learn how to adjust her fluency for various reading purposes. Lucy’s overall progress in reading and writing may be attributed to improvements in her reading comprehension abilities. Lucy has shown growth in areas of fluency, reading comprehension, and her writing ability. Further Recommendations In the future, Lucy should continue many of the same activities she participated in throughout the Literacy Clinic. Lucy should continue reading instructional level texts, using graphic organizers to help her organize her writing, using the GIST method to summarize texts, and the writing strategies discussed (POW and TREE). By continuing to read instructional level texts and using the reading comprehension strategies used in the clinic, Lucy will see future improvements. I would also recommend Lucy continue using the Self-­‐Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) to check over work before submitting. Lucy should also keep reading recreational texts to keep her interest in reading. In addition to the recommendations already given, it is important to note two other suggestions that could not be covered in the short tutoring sessions that I had with Lucy but would help her become a better reader. These include Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review (SQ3R) as well as future spelling recommendations in regards to the Derivational Relations spelling stage. Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review (SQ3R) The SQ3R strategy will also assist Lucy with improving her reading comprehension abilities. The first step is for Lucy to survey the text, to determine the structure or organization of the text. Second, Lucy is then to turn each heading and sub heading into a question. Then Lucy is to read that section and then recite the answer to the question in her own words. The final step is for Lucy to review their answers to the questions. This reading strategy will be an effective way for Lucy to monitor her reading comprehension during reading. This strategy can also help Lucy self monitor her reading fluency. According to her QRI post results, Lucy read at an extremely high rate (WPM). This indicates that she skimmed the passage. The SQ3R method will help Lucy adjust her fluency for various reading purposes. Future Spelling Recommendations-­‐Derivational Relations I would recommend following the Words Their Way Scope and Sequence to assist Lucy in her spelling abilities. Lucy is currently in the Early Derivational Relations stage. The Early Derivational Stage includes features such as harder suffixes (-­‐ure, -­‐ate, -­‐ent, -­‐ize, and –tion). Following word sorts and games available on the Words Their Way website will help Lucy improve her spelling. After mastering this stage, she will move on to the Middle Derivational Stage which includes features such as bases or roots (-­‐pleas, -­‐fortun, -­‐confid, -­‐civil, -­‐pos). In addition, studying Greek and Latin roots will help Lucy with this stage.