Elizabeth Singer – EDU 3370 Case Study Part 1 Student: Garrett Background: Garrett is fourteen-year-old male in eighth grade at Carver Middle School. This is his third year at Carver Middle School. He attended Fruitland Park Elementary School for Kindergarten through fifth grade. He lives with his mother and his younger sister. He enjoys swimming, hiking, and camping with his mom and sister. One of his favorite meals is chicken and rice. He also loves the color red. He is very social with his peers: However, he tends not to be expressive as much in academic situations. Garrett enjoys working in small groups when paired with his friends. Garrett is currently performing below grade level around reading. He earned a raw score of 33 on the Early Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS). The results from the test gave Garrett a 68% percent score. His academic reading raw score was 20. The score of 20 placed him in the 32 percentiles. He is currently below grade level based on his last test scores. He is currently reading at 58 words per minute. Garrett cannot read with any fluency or expression because he struggles with reading words. He is unable to gain meaning from the text. He struggles with comprehension when reading independently. He gravitates towards books or articles about outdoor activities or sports. Garrett’s strength is his vocabulary comprehension. He struggles when having to pronounce the words, but he does understand the words. This makes him easily frustrated when reading and shuts down. Currently, Garrett does not have an IEP or 504 plan in place to provide him with support or accommodations in the general education classroom setting. His mother has made a request for Garrett to get testing for the services. Garrett can identify beginning and ending sounds but struggles with manipulating vowel sounds. He does mix up long and short vowel sounds when reading. Garrett does need interventions based on the Primary Spelling Inventory (PSI) and Phonemic Awareness assessments. Garrett does well with listening comprehension and can understand most of what is being said or read to him. Garrett cannot write vocabulary words independently, and he struggles when he speaks, reads, or writes. He does not do well when working with synonyms which leads Garrett to repeat words when speaking or writing vocabulary words. Plan: Synthesis of information Garrett is reading below grade level and struggles with manipulating vowel sounds and mixing up vowel sounds. Until he can improve his reading fluency, reading comprehension will continue to be difficult for him. Garrett’s comprehension improves greatly when a story or a part of a text is read to him. Garrett does understand vocabulary. But it is apparent that when he pronounces or writes vocabulary there is a deficiency. This is a challenge for him when he is trying to connect background knowledge with new vocabulary. Factors that can impede the student’s reading development: Phonological awareness – The ability to make connections between sounds and words orally is a necessary foundational skill. Garrett’s difficulty with identifying middle vowel wounds and his confusion between the vowel sounds impedes in helping him acquire reading skills. Phonics – Garrett mixes up short and long vowel sounds. This will continue to cause him to struggle with fluency and reading comprehension. At Garrett’s age and academic level, these skills should have already been mastered. Oral Language – Garrett is friendly and communicates well with his peers. When listening, his comprehension level goes higher. He needs to use these strengths to improve his communication skills and help develop reading instruction. Fluency – Garrett struggles with fluency. Garrett is spending time trying to recognize words which makes his reading choppy and causes him embarrassment, so he shuts down. Vocabulary – Garrett keeps to a small vocabulary often repeating the same words when speaking, reading, or writing independently. He can comprehend vocabulary and definitions when listening. He struggles to make a connection from his oral background. Comprehension – Garrett reading comprehension is low because he spends most of his time trying to decode and blend words. He is below level for his age and grade. He does comprehend better when the material is read to him. Cognitive issues that seem apparent from the given assessments: Results from the assessment are 1. Lack of phonics and sound awareness 2. Lack of working memory 3. Lack of word identification skills 4. Slow processing speed Assessment Given Phonemic Awareness Assessment: rhyming-10/10; identifying beginning sounds-10/10; identifying ending sounds-8/10; identifying middle sounds-6/10; substituting middle sounds4/10els Phonics Primary Spelling Inventory (PSI); He scored 11 out of 26 with difficulties in short vowels, digraphs, blends, and common long vowels Fluency Running Record: 58 words per minute with substitutions of sit for stat and rat for rug Comprehension assessment: Listening-13/25; Indpendent-18/25 Vocabulary assessment withintext-4/10 Comparison of Garrett’s reading skills with an average eighth-grader 1. Readers at this age and academic level need to be proficient in reading and comprehending all types of literacy forms. 2. Readers at this age and academic level can analyze texts and provide evidence from the text. 3. Readers at this age and academic level can make inferences about the text and provide supporting evidence from the text. 4. Readers at this age and academic levels can use details from the text to develop ideas, analyze, and make inferences. 5. Readers at this age and academic level have fluency levels between 150-204 words read correctly per minute. Garrett reads at 58 words per minute. All the indicators above indicate that for Garrett is well below an early eighth-grade average student. Additional Assessment that should be completed on this student: Phonological assessments-This assessment will measure sound isolation by focusing on beginning, middle, and end sounds and building his knowledge of long and short vowel sounds. Vocabulary assessments-This assessment will test understanding the vocabulary words for the week. He will define each word and use them in a sentence. Then illustrate the words. Comprehension assessment-Garrett will be given passages to read every week. Then answer a multiple-choice question for comprehension. Fluency assessment-Garrett will be monitored over time and keep a record of his gains in fluency. I will measure his reading rate and accuracy. Interventions Garrett is a pleasant young man and a joy to have in class. He works hard and does his best. He is eager to learn, but he gets frustrated when asked to work independently or aloud. He works best in small groups with his peers and with familiar males and females. These factors have been taken into consideration when formulating differentiated. Garrett was given the Phonemic Awareness Assessment, which indicated he was strong in rhyming (he scored 10/10) and identifying ending sounds (he scored 8/10). He struggles in the areas of identifying middle sounds (he scored 6/10) and substituting middle sounds (he scored 4/10). Initial Remediation Plan The initial remediation plan for Garrett will last for four weeks. The plan will be centered on developing a better foundation of Garrett’s basic reading skills. The remediation will focus on phonological awareness skills on vocabulary, emphasizing pronunciation and writing. 1. Garrett works well with his friends in the class, so small group activities will be incorporated in this plan. 2. Garrett will use manipulatives to create words and sentences. He will use manipulatives to create words and sentences. 3. The text will be chunked into smaller segments so Garrett and to take breaks and not get frustrated. 4. When possible, Garrett can choose reading material or vocabulary that he relates to. Instructional Activities Phonological Activities: 1. Garrett struggles with middle sounds. He will work in a small group. The group will play “Sound Swap.” The students will use word swap to create novel words by changing the words beginning, middle, and ending sounds. This will reinforce words he already knows while building unfamiliar words. 2. Garrett will rehearse the repetition of phrases and sentences that he is writing because he struggles with oral reading. This will reduce the load on working memory. Visual and graphic support will be given to help process what he is reading. 3. My turn/your turn activity will allow Garrett to see or hear examples and then repeat the process. This can help him improve substituting middle sounds. -Vocabulary Activities 1. Garrett needs to be able to make a connection to vocabulary words. He will be given a word map. He will write the vocabulary word in the middle and answer questions about the word, provide the dictionary definition, and write the definition in his own words. He will draw a picture to go with the words. This activity will help Garrett learn its meaning and give him a visual to associate with it. To familiarize him with the activity, he will first do ten words on the word maps. The words will relate to his interests which are camping and hiking. Then after he is familiar with the activity, he will begin working on words he is less familiar with. 2. Garrett will participate in a whole class activity by playing the game BINGO. The students will each receive a blank bingo card where they will write down a vocabulary word in each square. The teacher will provide the students with a clue for each word. The first student to have an entire row wins. 3. Garrett will be placed in a small group of his peers to play Roll the Dice. Each side of the dice is assigned an activity. He will choose a word from our word wall. Then roll the dice and complete the corresponding assigned activity on the Dice.
