Jenna Desiderio
Michigan State University
Fall 2010
TE 846
Term Project
“Katy”
Background Information
Katy, a highly motivated and witty second grader became the student I chose
for this term project. She demonstrates an excitement for reading and writing but is
hesitant in her delivery. I believe that the one-on-one instruction I can provide to
her will help cultivate her confidence and will address specific needs and skill sets
that are preventing Katy from becoming the reader she wants and can be.
I was able to gather relevant instruction information from her previous
teachers that helped to gain a better sense of her abilities and struggles. She
attended Pre-K on a part times basis in which the focus of instruction, in short, was
on environmental print and sound symbol association. Her kindergarten and first
grades school years showed a strong emphasis on the teaching of sight words and
sound symbol association. In addition to authentic literature in the classroom, basal
text and worksheets were used as instruction materials.
Her kindergarten teacher first expressed concerns about Katy’s reading
ability, early in the year. Her teachers, and parents, expressed that Katy had a
difficult time staying focused for extended periods of time, as she was a very active
child. As time progressed her teachers noticed this was proving to be a hindrance on
her ability to stay focused on task for shorter period of time than before. While
displaying some characteristics of ADD, her teachers were weary of classify her at
his time. It was believed that these behavior would dispel in relation to maturity
factors. However, anecdotal records were taken and kept in case these behaviors
persisted in her future.
Katy initially struggles with sound symbol associations, and later with
decoding and recognizing sight words. For the majority of his kindergarten year,
students were taught reading skill in a whole groups setting. In the last few months
of this school year, guided reading groups were introduced. Katy was placed in the
lowest level of those groups and showed minimal progress. It was recommended
that she receive remedial reading instruction, which would begin in the first grade.
At that time Katy’s records showed no indication of physical or developmental
concern, as she was a typically developing student with good eyesight and auditory
processing.
Since the beginning of first grade, Katy participated in pullout remedial
reading three times a week. It was in these sessions that Katy received more direct
instruction that was phonics based. Katy was reading from both basal texts series
and literature-based material. Much of the reading methods inside her classroom
revolved around daily oral reading from a variety of texts, the board, flashcards,
worksheets, and books. As a balanced approach writing was strongly emphases and
inventive spelling celebrated. I believe that due to the struggles she has with
reading, her writing is also suffering. The letter combinations she creates to “make”
a word often do not make sense. Students were given multiple opportunities
throughout the day read both independently and with a partner. Guided reading
groups met two to three times a week, where Katy received more direct instruction
on her individual needs.
It was evident that the combination of addition reading support and more
direct instruction that by the end of first grade Katy was reading more strategically
and at a more improved level. She tested at a DRA level 10 independent and on a
primer lever for work recognition. For Katy and her teachers, this was a success. As
a reference point, by the middle of first grade students should typically be reading at
an independent level 12.
When I met Katy, she was tested at a reading level of J/K according to
Fountas and Pinnell. Katy shows a continued interest in reading herself and enjoys
being read to. She gravities towards books that deal with animals, dogs in particular,
and with funny female characters, such as Amelia Badelia. When asked to read
aloud, she does so willing. In initial observations I noticed that she tends to sound
out each letter in each word. This causes Katy to ready extremely slow, which often
hinders her comprehension of the text. There also seemed to be a strong reliance on
picture clues. She did not stop often during reading, which signals again to me that
there is no comprehension of the text she is reading. Reading to her, at this point, is
simply sounding out words.
After initial observations of Katy were complete, the focus of my unit would
be on word recognition strategies. The three overarching goal I had were (1) Katy
needs to understand that words are composed of units of letters and sound, (2)
Katy needs to develop fluency in order to gain a better meaning of narrative and
expository texts, and (3) Katy needs to transfer word recognition strategies to
written texts. It is my hope that with the direct instruction I can provide to Katy, we
can begin to break down some of the walls keeping her from becoming a better
reader.
Goals For Instruction
(1) Katy needs to understand that words are composed of units of letters and
sound.
Although this is not the only word recognition strategy that would benefit
Katy, it is the one I chose to focus on for this study. I want Katy to begin to
understand what words are not read letter by letter, by instead they are units of
letters and sound. By implementing this skill, she will be able to focus more
attention on making meaning from the text, rather than spending considerable
mental energy on decoding each letter in a word. I feel that the most efficient
way I can do this is by helping Katy to understand words as units by teaching
phonograms.
(2) Katy needs to develop fluency in order to gain a better meaning of
narrative and expository texts.
Fluency can be developed with repeated reading of narrative texts at the
independent reading level. I have observed Katy having difficulty reading gradelevel texts. Thus the instructional foal is to engage Katy in reader’s theatre at her
independent level. I plan to use stories that are on her level and are of interest to
her; animals, girls, dolls. Katy will be engaged in several repeated readings with
the goal of increasing her reading rate with each subsequent reading.
(3) Katy needs to transfer word recognition strategies to written texts.
When the QRI was administered, Katy was able to recall words in isolation,
but not in context. According to Stahl (2003), words are better learned when
seen repeatedly in various contexts. Since reading and writing are so closely
interconnected, the goal is for Katy to use writing to help increase her reading
skill. Therefore I will present different forms of text, books, poems, posters, so
that Katy can begin to see words being used in different contexts.
Design of Case Study
The first session I had the goal of getting an overall idea of the student’s
reading abilities. Since Katy already knew me, it proved easy to get started quickly.
Katy expressed she had a great interest and a positive attitude toward reading. Katy
was asked to take the Attitude Toward Reading survey (Mckenna & Kear, 1990). Her
raw score for recreational reading was a 31 and for academic reading a 28. Katy
expressed the she enjoyed reading new books and loves going to the bookstore with
her mother. She also expressed that she likes to read aloud to her stuffed animals.
She also voiced that she likes to read in school for information but finds those books
harder to read. She does not enjoy reading aloud in class, she feels embarrassed and
cant read “as fast” as the other students.
Katy is highly distractible in large group settings and would benefit more
from one-on-one instruction. I had initially planned to work with her in a small
group but chose to alter this aspect. Katy and I worked in thirty minutes intervals
two to three times a week. During these session Katy was attentive and cooperative.
The first few sessions were focused on word families. I introduced Katy to
the concept of word families and in doing that also that words can have the same
rime, but different onsets. The concept of word families was revisited over the
course of the study as for practice, review, and retention. I knew that Katy was a
more tactile learner and thus for these sessions, Katy was able to use letter blocks in
the sorting and creation of words, dry erase boards, and also picture cards. The next
session was spent administering the Z-test and a DRA running record. These results
helped guide my future sessions with Katy.
Word identification while reading and spelling when writing are often closely
linked. It became apparent that Katy needed to increase his word attack strategies
to better his identification of words and thus increase his reading fluency. I
administered the QRI listening passage assessment was used to get a more
analytical view of Katy’s comprehension strengths and areas of improvement. It was
also an indication as to whether Katy’s attention to print was impeding her
comprehension abilities.
Upon my work with Katy it became clear that she was still in need of
identifying and reading words as units of sound. She had difficulty decoding words
with vowel digraphs. When she read words contain vowel diphthongs she also made
many miscues. It was clear that the direction our next few sessions were to
introduce, teach, and practice strategies in decoding words containing vowel
diphthongs and digraphs. In addition we continued working with different word
families to stress that words are read as units of sound.
Instructional Experiences and Outcomes
In my observations and informal assessments, for the first instructional goal
of understanding words and units of letters and sounds, Katy was able to process
words quicker and more strategically by identifying phonograms (onsets and rime).
I identified common phonograms based on frequency of appearance in texts, and
phonograms Ryan had difficulty reading on the Z-test. When a more deductive
approach was implemented in our sessions, Katy seemed to make more connections
and was able to retain and transfer these skills. For example, Katy make an
independent connection tot the sound of AW and AL. I used the word family poems
to help Katy transfer the targeted skill from isolation into context. This can be seen
in some of the writing I asked Katy to complete, showing her transfer of knowledge.
Katy would often challenge me to grab any book, since we worked in the library, and
find words that match the targeted word family we were working with. This
demonstrated to me that her excitement for reading and eagerness was and is
present still. By addressing phonograms that contained short and long vowel
sounds, which were particularly difficult for Katy, he began to read words more
fluency as a result of identifying rimes in certain words.
Again, based on observation and informal assessments, Katy’s reading rate
was a average of 11 words per minute (WPM), indicative of choppy reading. Due to
this, Katy’s comprehension was affected by her lack of reading fluency, determined
after administration of Listening Comprehension passage. In an effort to increase
Katy’s fluency, Katy and I selected texts at her independent reading level and
interests. Katy chose to read “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” which is, according to
Fountas and Pinnell, at a level ten difficult. I set aside ten to fifteen minutes a day to
devote to the rereading on the play. When we began she was reading about 20 WPM
and by the end of this study, it had increased to 40 WPM. Katy was hesitant in the
beginning to perform this play during reader’s theatre, but by the end of the study
she was eager and excited to participate. I enlisted three other students to assist in
the play of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.” The group of students had such a fun time
with this play, and I could see their excitement rubbing off on Katy. She stated that
the idea of Reader’s Theatre didn’t seem too scary now that she had (fully)
participated in one.
As previously stated, words are better learned when they are seen in a
variety of contexts. After explicitly teaching Katy the targeted skill, she was
encouraged to read the words in different contexts; poems and songs. In addition
she was expected to use the targeted words in her writing. For example, writing at
least one sentence using some of the words worked with in that session. Katy
demonstrated writing strengths on the Spelling Inventory (Mckenna & Stahl, 2003).
There was also an intention to connect reading and writing as they both strengthen
one another. The act of encoding is much slower than decoding, therefore writing
slows down the process and allows the writer to take time and focus on the targeted
skill. Katy was eager to write using the words she learned. She expressed that she
liked when I gave her the option to choose the words she would write in her
sentence instead of me saying to use a specific one in her writing. By writing her
own sentences, she was able to make a more personal connections. In one instance,
she choose to write about how her dogs barks really loud when he sees the
mailman, the targeted rime being “AN.”
Throughout our sessions together, I noticed an increase in risk-taking
behaviors, extending into different subjects such as math. She is reading with
greater ease and has been volunteering to read aloud and answer questions. This
may be a result of development as well as the increased one-on-one instruction. And
since reading books at her level is helping to build her confidence, she is more eager
now then ever to continue learning skills so that she can read higher level books.
She has her eyes set on some Judy Moody books, serving as a great motivator for her
to keep practicing and working hard.
Katy also enjoys reading and writing experiences that give her a sense of
ownership. When given the chance to free write in class, Katy is more willing to try
the task. She enjoys collaborative work with other students, but is still easily
distracted. We have made progress in the weeks we have worked together and I
plan to continue working with her if time permits.
Summary of Assessments
Word Recognition:
The word recognition of the Qualitative Reading Inventory: 3 (QRI) contain
eight word lists consisting of 20 words each. The word lists begin with a preprimer
readability level and end with a high school readability level. The word lists do not
contain context, so it allows the examiner to determine what strategies the reader
uses to decode words in isolation. Additionally, it allows the examiner to compare
the strategies the reader uses to decode words in isolation and context (since the
stories contain the words on the lists). It also permits the examiner to determine
what graphophonic clues the reader is using, or not using (initial, medial, ending) to
decode words in isolation. In addition, the examiner can determine whether the
student was able to identify the word automatically (read within one second), or
whether they required additional time to decode a given word.
Katy was able to read the word list at a primer level before reaching frustration.
She was able to read eighteen out of twenty words on the preprimer list
automatically or within one second. She misread “other” and “place” on the
preprimer list. “Other” was read as “ther”, and “place” was read as “plak.” Katy was
able to identify these words, even though they were not read correctly. Although
Katy made two miscues on the Preprimer list, it seems as though she was utilizing
initial, medial and final graphophonic cues. The preprimer list was read at an
independent level.
Katy was able to read fifteen out of twenty words correctly on the primer word
list. This word list was considered on Katy’s instructional level. Nine of the fifteen
words were read automatically, while six of the fifteen words on the word list were
identified correctly, but required Katy more than one second to decode. It also
became apparent on the primer word list that when Katy was unfamiliar with a
word she encountered, she would not attempt to decode the word when it was read
in isolation. Instead, she replied, “I don’t know” or “skip.” Of the five words she
miscued, “every” was not attempted. Katy also made some substitutions, for
example, she read “nell” for “need”, “wswa” for “saw”, “want” for “went” and
“combs” for “comes.” These substitutions indicate that Katy is able to use several
graphophonic cues, but does not attempt to self question whether the words she
substitutes make sense.
It became more evident on the first grade word list that Katy’s strategies
included “skipping” unknown words. In fact, five of ten words that were considered
incorrect were not even attempted. Five of the ten words that were identified were
graphophonically similar in relation to initial and final letter positions. For example,
Katy read “farther” for “father”, “three” for “there”, “beard” for “bread.” Since Katy
received a 50% total, this level is determined to be his frustrational level.
In sum, this word list allowed me to determine that Ryan is aware and uses
graphophonic cues to decode known and some unknown words. Specifically, that
Katy utilizes both initial and final letter positions most often. Although she does
display the use of medial letter positions, this occurred less frequently.
Katy was also given an Informal Phonics Survey. According to these results, Katy
has mastered consonant sounds, consonant digraphs, and short vowels in CVC
words. She could however use review of consonant and vowel digraphs, and Rcontrolled vowels. According to this assessment, Katy needs systematic instruction
on several vowel dipthongs.
Reading Comprehension
Katy’s comprehension also reached frustration on the pre-primer passage of
the QRI. She scored a 3/5 on the comprehension questions. Her level of
comprehension was decreased because she interchanged the word “bug” and “ant”.
For example, the question states, “Where was the bug?” Katy’s response was “The
first one?” Katy may not have recognized that the author used rhyming cues. For
example, the passage states, “Who do I see on the plant? Oh I bet it is an ant.” Katy
seems to have been worried about sounding out the words correctly, rather than
processing the meaning or cues in the text. This is supported by Katy’s statement (in
the Elementary Attitude Reading Survey) that reading means being able to sound
out words correctly.
Katy scored at an instructional level on the primer passage. Many of the
questions answered correctly on the primer passage were explicit. She scored lower
on implicit questions on both leveled passages. She also expressed a dislike for
answering questions.
Retellings are also used to indicate how well a student recalled the details of a
particular story. Katy’s retellings on both the QRI and the DRA showed that she may
benefit from explicit instruction on story structure. When Katy retold the stories,
she often left out important details and did not provide the details in sequential
order. She may recall more details if he is able to think in terms of story structure
and sequence.
Z- Test
The Z-test is a more advanced phonics assessment that targets a child’s
ability to make analogies to known words based on familiar rimes. The test consists
of 34 most familiar rimes, using the same onset, in order to focus the child’s
attention on the rime itself. The result is a series of pseudowords, all beginning with
the /Z/ sound.
Based on the DRA and the QRI it was determined that Katy frequently segments
each word letter by letter. As a result, her reading is very labored and slow. Her
reading fluency suggested that she does not always process words as units of sound.
A Z-test was given to determine which rimes (units) Katy was familiar with and
which ones needed further instruction. Katy’s overall score was 81%. She had most
difficulty with vowel digraphs and short vowels in four letter words. Although Katy
read 81% of the words correctly, he read them letter by letter. For instance, “zit”
was pronounced correctly, but it was read z/i/t. There were instances when Katy
read the “word” letter by letter, but then blended them together. Overall, Katy’s
reading was sounded out letter by letter, therefore, it is recommended that Katy
receive instruction on identifying onsets and rimes. In doing so, her reading rate and
fluency may increase, allowing more room for comprehension to take place.
Recommendations

I recommend that Katy continue studying phonograms and word chunking
strategies along with other decoding strategies. Deductive and explicit instructions
seem to work better for Katy. Therefore, a more systematic approach is
recommended.

Katy would also benefit from opportunities to read books at her independent level.
She should be given at least 15 minutes of independent reading time a day. She
would also benefit from learning how to select appropriate reading material, so she
can rely less on others for help when selecting texts.

Helping Katy to increase her reading fluency will help to increase comprehension
skills. Reader’s theatre and choral reading are excellent ways to develop fluency and
involves the participation of other students.

Katy should also continue studying story structure. If Katy begins to think about the
text in terms of story structure, it will increase her chances of recalling story details.

Katy should continue developing sight vocabulary and using those words in context.
The use of interactive writing and shared writing can be used as a strategy to show
Katy that sight words are found in many different contexts. She should also be
encouraged to use sight words in his writing.

It is also recommended that Katy engage in think-aloud strategies, so the teacher
can assess her thought process.

I recommend that Katy’s parents are familiar with what is being worked on
so that they can reinforce the strategies at home.
Session Lessons
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
“Teaching Project- Katy”
Date: 9/2011
Grade: 2
Duration: 30 minutes (one-on-one instruction)
Session Objectives: Introduction- to get an overall idea of the students reading abilities.
It is also to acquaint the student to the purposes of our sessions together.
Materials needed:
 Attitude Toward Reading Survey
 Pencil
Standard addressed:
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social
communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
(GET SPECIFIC STANDARDS)
Rational/Backgound:
Mini-Lesson:
Assessment:
Reflection:
Accommodations:
Assessments/Products