Jenna Ferrara
RDG 696
Case Study: Becky
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Student, Parent and Teacher Interview .
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Assessment Results .
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Demographics
Student: Becky
Evaluator: Jenna Ferrara
Date of Evaluation: 9/21/11 – 12/2/11
Student’s Birthdate: 4/20/05
Grade: 1
Reason for Referral
Becky is a six year old in first grade at Valley View Elementary School. She was
identified by her special education teacher as a student that struggles in reading. Becky is a
student who has attended birth-3 programs, followed by pre-school, kindergarten and now first
grade.
She has received speech and language, occupational therapy, and physical therapy
services during her schooling career.
Interviews
Student Interview
Becky is a very talkative girl. She took her time answering the reading survey and was
honest about how she felt about reading. Becky’s ratings were almost equal towards recreational
reading and academic reading. Becky responded negatively to the questions that referred to
reading for fun at home, learning from a book, reading out loud in class, and getting a book for a
present.
When asked what books she liked, Becky responded, “Clifford” eagerly. She said she
loved that there was a doggy in the story.
When asked about her other interests, Becky
expressed interests in playing Candy Land, gym, music, going to Story Land, and chocolate.
Parent Interview
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Becky is the oldest child in her family. She has one younger sister who is 4 years old.
According to her parents, Becky is happy, friendly, a bit stubborn, and likes structure. At home
Becky likes to dance and color. She also likes to play tea party, board games (Candyland is a
favorite), and Leapster (an educational handheld game system with games for literacy and
numeracy). When outdoors Becky likes playing with big wheels and on her playscape.
Becky has shown interest in books from the age of six months. When asked what types
of books Becky likes to read at home, Becky’s mother responded, “I just asked her favorite and
she said Brown Bear, Brown Bear, but really that can change weekly. Some other favorites
recently are the Danny and the Dinosaur series, and a variety of Dora reading books, as well as
Dr. Seuss, Curious George and a particular Cowgirl book. She also likes the Sandra Boynton
books (Barnyard dance, Pajama time, etc.).”
In terms of schooling, Becky participated in a birth to 3 program, due to her Down’s
syndrome and speech and language difficulties, and then started preschool at Valley View when
she turned 3. She also was in Apple Tree Children's center from when she was 4 months old
until she started in Kindergarten, so she had early learning and preschool there as well. When
Becky’s homework attitude was questioned, her mother responded that her attitude is good, but
she needs minimal distractions to focus though. When it comes to reading, Becky’s mother
stated, “[her] attitude is great, [she] reads a book every night before bed.”
Becky’s mother also informed me that when Becky gets excited about something, she
tends to talk very fast and sometimes is hard to understand. Becky just needs a reminder to slow
down and pronunciate and she will.
Teacher Interview
According to Becky’s case manager, Mrs. Kelley, Becky has done well learning
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individual skills (letters, sounds, sight words, and numbers). Her sentence writing has improved.
Her sentences tend to be very simple, but she is able to generate them and write them fairly
independently. Rs. Kelley stated that Becky’s parents are extremely supportive and work with
her regularly at home. Her skill acquisition has been on grade level.
Some areas of concern for Becky are her listening and reading comprehension,
vocabulary, problem solving, work pace, fine motor skill, and elaboration in writing, When she
has to integrate skills/apply skills she needs more assistance. A big concern is whether Becky
can keep up with the pace of first grade.
Becky has some letter confusions (I and l) and struggles with rhyming, segmenting, and
blending. She is a visual learner who benefits from a lot of modeling, drill, and practice. Becky
sometimes does not understand the vocabulary used in directions and she requires extra wait time
to process what is being said/asked to/of her. Becky’s biggest weaknesses according to her IEP
are her language and motor skills. A main concern is if Becky will be able to keep up with the
pace of first grade.
Mrs. Kelley said that, “Becky loves to please her teachers and is generally a very good
worker. Occasionally she can become stubborn and be persistent doing things her way if she
doesn't want to do something. Last year she had a daily behavior plan that focused on having her
complete her work/best quality. Her parents were fully on board and rewarded her weekly if she
earned it with a trip to "the cow store" (Stew Leonard's). She LOVES it there and was highly
motivated to earn it.”
Assessment Results
The Qualitative Reading Inventory (5th Ed.) was administered. The Qualitative Reading
Inventory is an individual reading test. It consists of two parts: the Graded Word Lists subtest
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and the Passages subtest. The Graded Word Lists subtests contain a series of word lists that
gradually increase in difficulty. The Graded Word Lists subtest assesses the student’s ability to
read words immediately and also the student’s ability to sound out words that were not
recognized immediately. The Passages subtest is designed to indicate the level of reading
material a student can profitably handle with instruction in a classroom or small-group setting. It
also indicates the level of material that a student can read without any assistance of material that
would be very difficult for her to handle, even with assistance.
The Qualitative Reading
Inventory also gives information about the student’s oral reading, ability to sound out words in
context, and her ability to understand what she has read.
The Word lists were used to determine a starting point for assessment. Becky completed
two oral passages. Below find the results of these assessments.
Word Lists
Pre-Primer
Primer
First
Identified
Automatically
15/20
75%
14/20
75%
7/20
35%
Identified
Level*
1/20
80%
1/20
80%
3/20
50%
Instructional
Instructional
Frustration
*The levels in this table are defined by the QRI Word List Scoring System. They do not reflect Becky’s reading
levels, as the words in this assessment are out of context.
Becky began her assessment with the pre-primer list. She was able to automatically
identify 75% of the words. Becky skipped the words “who”, “write”, and “place”. Becky
paused when she came to “with” but was able to sound it out and identify it. Altogether, Becky
identified 80% of the words.
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Becky then read the words on the primer list. She was able to automatically identify 75%
of the words. Becky skipped the word “children”. Becky paused at the word “was” but was able
to identify it after looking over the word again. Becky missed the words were (where), every
(very), and help (lap). Altogether Becky identified 80% of the words.
Next Becky read the words on the first grade list. She automatically identified 35% of
the words. Becky skipped the words “father”, “sound”, “thought”, and “without”. Becky paused
when she came to “friend”, “then”, and “wind” but was able to figure them out. Becky missed
the words song (smock), move (morse), brain (brin), afraid (after), and heard (here-d). In her
attempts, Becky typically looks at the beginning of the word but does not follow through to the
end to check if she is correct. As the words became more challenging, Becky also began to
guess the words more instead of sounding them out. This led her to come up with some nonsense words. Altogether Becky identified 50% of the words
Overall, Becky utilizes the sounding out strategy when she can. If she did not sound out
the words, then Becky would make a guess by looking at the beginning of the word but not
follow through to the ending. Guessing becomes more frequent as Becky views the words as
more difficult.
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Oral Reading
Level
Passage
Miscues
Accuracy
PrePrimer
Who Do I
See
11
PrePrimer
Just Like
Mom
3
58/69
words
84%
41/44
words
93%
Words
Per
Minute
24
Retelling
Comprehension
7/21
33%
4/5 80%
Instructional
26
5/15
33%
3/5 60%
Frustration
Qualitative Reading Inventory - Oral Reading
Using the word list as a guide, the administrator started on the pre-primer passage, “Who
Do I See?” While reading, 11 miscues were made. Many of the miscues were from two words –
do and bet.
Becky kept stating “did” and “bait” respectively.
84% of words were read
accurately. If Becky’s repeated miscues for “do” and “bet” are counted as 2 miscues, instead of
5 miscues, Becky’s accuracy improves to 91% of the words. With miscues, Becky read 24
correct words per minute. This places her in the lower end of the range for reading rates for the
passage level - 13-55 correct words per minute. During the retelling, Becky was able to recall
33% of the text. She remembered all the animals in the text, but they were not in sequence
during the retelling. In terms of comprehension, Becky was able to answer four out of five
questions correctly. Becky answered all the questions explicitly, without looking back at the
text. During the questions, Becky pointed out that the words in the story rhymed. This may
have helped her in answering the questions. The one question missed asked what the pig was
doing. Becky had no knowledge of the word “jig” and that could have affected her ability to
recall this word as the answer. Her answers placed her at the instructional level.
To see if Becky performed the same on another text of the same level, the pre-primer
passage “Just Like Mom” was administered. In this passage, Becky had three miscues (wear for
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write, lost for lots, and omitting “to” from a sentence). 93% of words were read correctly.
Becky read 26 correct words per minute in this passage. During the retelling, Becky was able to
recall 33% of the text. Most of her recall came from the beginning of the text. Becky was able
to answer three out of five questions correctly.
The correct answers were from explicit
questions. When Becky was allowed to look back at the pictures (implicit questioning), she
referred to the computer and mouse in the picture, even though that was not a part of the text.
When asked where the girl works with mom, Becky was able to come up with one explicit
response, but looking back at the pictures confused her and she just began naming different
places. Her answers placed her at the frustration level for this text.
Becky’s oral reading informed me that she does not always go back and self-correct if her
reading does not make sense. Becky’s reading also helped show that she does not track her
words to their endings. If a word has the same beginning as the one on the page, Becky just says
it, whether it makes sense or not, never tracking to the end of the word to verify the word. I also
learned how strong of a visual learner Becky is. If I asked her to tell me what happened in the
pictures after reading, she had a more detailed retelling then just asking her to tell the story.
Without the text in front of her to guide her, Becky struggled to retell without visuals.
Becky’s independent reading level was not reached utilizing the QRI. Becky would need
teacher’s assistance with material at the pre-primer level. Material at the primer level or higher
would be too difficult for Becky to read even with the teacher’s help. Since Becky is such a
strong visual learner, listening comprehension was not assessed. According to her teachers,
visuals are extremely important in Becky’s success.
Digit Memory Span Lists
Becky was presented with the directions for the digit memory span assessment. The
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Digit Memory Span Test was administered to learn more about Becky’s ability to pay attention
to, concentrate on, and use working memory to remember a series of numbers. This assessment
tests working memory. Numbers are read to the student and she is to respond repeating the
numbers in sequence. The assessment is then done in reverse. Numbers are read and the student
must reverse the numbers and repeat them.
Becky was successful in repeating the two, three, and four digit numbers, 8-5, 3-7-4, and
7-2-9-5 respectively. When presented with the numbers 5-8-2-7-4, Becky stated 5-6-7-4. She
was then read the numbers 3-9-4-8-1 and she responded 3-8-1. One more chance was given with
the numbers 7-2-5-8-3, but Becky replied 8-3-6. In all but the last instance, Becky's responses
included correct numbers but she left out some digits.
At this point, the administrator said the directions for the reverse digits task. If 3-4 was
stated, the student should reply 4-3. The numbers 1-6 were stated and Becky responded 1-6.
Another attempt was done with the numbers 3-8 and she stated 3-8. The administrator stopped
the assessment at this point since Becky was not responding by reversing the digits. The
assessment was the last one done after a few that day, so Becky might have been tired. The
assessment will be given on another day to see if Becky is able to reverse the digits.
The administrator reviewed the directions for the reversal of digits two weeks after the
initial assessment. A visual was given to help explain what I meant by reversing the digits after I
stated them. Becky was able to reverse the digits when presented visually, but unable to do it
orally. I reviewed the numbers in sequence task as well. Becky once again was successful in
repeating the two, three, and four digit numbers.
Based on Becky’s performance, she has a standard score of 85. This puts her in the 16th
percentile for her age.
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Phonics Inventory
The Phonics Inventory consists of 50 words, 10 in each item. The Phonics Inventory was
administered in order to assess Becky’s ability to use phonics to sound out words. The words
start with short vowel words, then progress to words with short vowels with clusters (blends),
long vowels, r vowels, and other vowels. Students have 5 seconds to read each word. The
assessment is stopped when the student misses five words in a row. A student's instructional
level is found when he/she has more than 2 words wrong in any of the items.
Becky correctly identified all ten out of ten short vowel words.
At first, she had
pronounced "sip" for "top" but she self-corrected herself. Initially Becky read "not" for "hot",
but she self-corrected that as well. On the short vowel items with clusters, Becky reached her
instructional level. Becky stopped to sound out each word, but was able to figure out seven out
of ten words in the list. Her miscues were "sap" for "clap", "black" for "block" and "trick" for
"trunk." In all cases the ending of the word matched the list word. In two cases, the vowel was
incorrect and in the first case the beginning sound was incorrect.
Becky continued down the list since she had not missed five words in a row and she was
still motivated to continue. In the long vowels section, Becky correctly read 6 words. She
missed the words place (pence), hope (hop), sheep (shep), and coat (caught). These miscues
show that Becky needs some work on how to read words with long vowel patterns. Becky
matched the beginning and ending patterns in the words, but was unsure what vowel sounds to
make in the middle.
The r-controlled vowel items were next. Becky missed the first five words - nurse
(skipped), steer (seer), share (fair), smart (most), and fair (free). Becky had stopped sounding
out the words and was simply guessing. Her frustration level had been reached.
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Rapid Automatized Naming
In the Rapid Automatized Naming task, Becky was presented with a series to numbers,
letters, and objects to name as quickly as she could. This assessment was administered in order
to assess Becky’s ability to process symbolic information. This assessment measures a student's
lexical processing, or how long it takes students to retrieve and "name" the items presented.
Becky began with the object task. The pictures included on the page are of a cup, key,
shoe, hat, and clothes pin. 55 pictures of these assorted items and mixed up and presented on the
page. Becky kept interchanging the word "clip" and "pin" for the clothing pin. While working,
Becky developed the hiccups. This may have slowed down her time, but she finished in 116
seconds. This placed her in the second percentile.
Becky then moved to the numbers task (with hiccups). Instead of pictures, the numbers
zero through nine are presented mixed up 55 times. Becky named the numbers in 96 seconds.
Becky had lost her place one time. This put her below the first percentile.
Lastly, Becky moved to the letters task (with hiccups). Becky named the letters in 74
seconds. This placed her in the 10th percentile. Becky’s ability to process the names of objects,
numbers, and letters is below average.
Orthographic Knowledge
In this assessment, Becky needed to look at a given word and then underline which of the
four choice words was the same. Out of the fifteen words, Becky selected ten words correctly.
For the word "cat", Becky selected "cap". When presented with the word "walk", Becky kept
saying that the word was not in the four choices. Other miscues were choosing "then" for "than",
"were" for "where", and "here" for "hear". In most instances when Becky selected the incorrect
word, she selected one at the beginning of the four choices. It seemed as if she chose words
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quickly if they looked the same at a glance. She did not read through all the words and then
select the incorrect response.
The results show that Becky has some difficulty accurately
processing all the letters in words.
Slosson Oral Reading Test (SORT)
For the SORT, Becky was presented with a list of twenty words. This assessment was
administered in order to compare Becky’s ability to read words with that of other students in her
grade. The entire SORT includes ten word lists ranging from primer (pre-first grade) to high
school (grades nine-twelve).
Becky started her assessment at the primer list. Becky automatically read sixteen words
correctly. The words "help" and "baby" tricked Becky at first, but she sounded them out and
read them correctly. Becky missed the words want (w-ant), three (there), and run (ran). All of
her attempts were close to the target words. The only non-word she stated was w-ant.
The first grade list was given next. Eight words were automatically read. Four words
were incorrectly stated at first, but self-corrected. The missed words were road, basket, wish,
puppy, very, and what.
Since Becky’s ceiling was not reached, the administrator moved to the second grade list.
Becky skipped most words on this list, but did read “large” correctly. She also stated “gas” for
“grass” and “hop” for “hope”. One word was read correctly so the administrator moved to the
third grade list. Becky reached her ceiling and was unable to read any of the words on the third
grade list.
Vocabulary
The General Vocabulary Survey was administered. The General Vocabulary Survey
consists of a series of graded words. The student is asked to select from four words the one that
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has the same meaning as the test word. During the assessment, the test words and answer
choices are read to the student. This assesses the student’s listening vocabulary.
Becky understood 3 grade level words. She matched “watch” to “look at”, “leave” to “go
away”, and “mail” to “letters”. For “glad”, Becky chose two answers, “happy” and “good”.
When I prompted her to pick one, she stated that they both matched the word glad. For “leap”
Becky once again selected two words, “fall” and “jump”. Most of the words she chose as her
answers have an association to the underlined word presented. For example, bake and eat,
almost and maybe, and talk and think. For the words “choose” and “hurry” Becky’s choices
were very quick and did not relate.
Academic Aptitude
The Slosson Intelligence Test was administered in order to gain more information about
Becky’s cognitive functioning. The Slosson Intelligence Test is an individually administered test
that consists of questions about general knowledge, memory, and reasoning.
While assessing Becky, there were many times when I needed her to state her answer
again. I was unable to understand some of her responses, even with the rearticulating. In these
situations, I took my best guess at what she was saying and repeated it back to her. She would
then verify if I repeated it correctly or not. This would lead me to decide whether or not she
answered correctly.
Even though Becky is six years old, the assessment began at the beginning which is
geared as the four year olds’ starting point. This was done to get Becky used to the questions
and increase her familiarity in the types of questions asked. Becky reached her ceiling at
question 43. She answered 23 questions correctly. Becky’s score is below average for her age.
Primary Reading Inventory - Words Their Way – Pre-Assessment
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Overall, Becky was able to spell 4 out of the 15 words presented to her. The assessment
was stopped at number 15 due to Becky getting a few words in a row wrong. The features of the
words following number are ones that Becky has not had a lot of exposure to (ex: igh, ew, oi and
ow).
In terms of the features of the words (beginning consonants, short vowels, long vowels,
consonant blends), Becky received 21 out of 38 points. The only miscue that Becky had in the
beginning consonants section was writing a "g" for a "d" in the word dig. Becky also had one
miscue in the final consonants section. She wrote “hook” for “hope”. Becky received all the
points for short vowels, except for the short e in sled (spelt slad).
In terms of diagraphs, Becky missed the “st” in stick (skik) and the “dr” in dream (jrem).
For long vowel words, Becky received no points. She wrote “blad” for “blade”, “cosh” for
“coach”, “fit” for “fright” and “janin” for “chewing”. Some of Becky’s spelling errors could be
do to her speech and language difficulties. Her responses show that more work is needed on
digraphs, blends, and long vowels.
Classroom Observations
Becky was observed twice in the classroom. The first observation was during a math
lesson. The lesson focused on different ways to make ten. During the lesson students need to
put ten counters in a cup and turn the cup over. Students then wrote a number sentence based on
how many counters were red and how many were yellow. Becky had a paraprofessional by her
time throughout the lesson.
Becky would want to keep shaking the cup and would need
prompting to turn it over. When it turned over, Becky wanted to put the counters right back into
the cup. The paraprofessional would take the cup and separate the red and yellow counters for
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Becky. She then put a pencil in Becky’s hand and had her count both sets of counters and write
the numbers down on her paper.
When that section of the lesson was over, students needed to follow directions of the
teacher to highlight key words in word problems. Becky kept trying to play with the counters or
her shirt. The paraprofessional was there to guide Becky and help her highlight the key terms.
Becky seemed more focused on herself than on the teacher. The paraprofessional was very good
about getting Becky on task while also allowing Becky time to attempt her work on her own.
The second classroom observation was during reading groups. Unfortunately Becky
went to the nurse for approximately fifteen minutes because her back hurt. She came back with
an ice pack for her back which she played with throughout the rest of the observation. Becky
repeatedly adjusted the ice pack or would move it around.
Her group was at the writing center. The students needed to role the die to see what topic
they should write about. Becky rolled the die multiple times and then a paraprofessional stepped
in and assisted Becky in picking a topic. Becky sat down with her topic sentence starter next to
her. She went right to work copying the sentence starter to start her writing. When she came to
the end of the sentence starter, she began drawing her picture at the top of the page. Teacher
prompting was needed to get Becky to continue writing. Becky was trying to sound out words as
she wrote. She also kept going back to the picture to draw more. She wanted her picture to be
perfect but was not motivated to do the same with her writing.
Her teacher stated that Becky tends to need a lot of structured support in her writing.
Usually during writing time the occupational therapist is present to help Becky with her
thoughts. Becky has a lot of trouble figuring out what to write. According to her teacher, Becky
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has trouble using her imagination. If she is given a topic to write about, like during a writing
prompt or assignment, she cannot write a story unless she has experienced it herself.
Summary
Becky started the year at a DRA level of 3. She has progressed to DRA level 4. Becky is
showing growth, but still needs time to develop a stronger skill base. As a visual learner, Becky
learns best from drill and practice. She needs to see things multiple times before she can take
ownership of them herself. Becky’s cognitive ability is below average for her age, but her
positive attitude helps her immensely.
Becky’s teachers are all providing Becky with
differentiated instruction to help her experience success at her level.
Having constant communication with Becky’s case manager, teacher, and special
education teacher has helped to monitor Becky. They are all aware of Becky’s assessment
results and areas of concern. Meeting together allowed time to discuss the results and where
instruction should go.
Becky’s areas of concern were her digraphs, blending, long vowel sounds, retelling, selfcorrecting, and writing. Since digraphs, blending, segmenting and vowel sounds are included on
her IEP goals, it was decided that lessons should focus in on these areas. They all decided to try
and weave these topics into their own teaching with Becky as well.
Becky’s strengths include her positive work ethic. She loves to please her teachers so she
does listen when she is told to do something. Becky also is a very strong visual learner. She
performs better on tasks when there is a visual in front of her. Becky also works best when
support is right next to her. This helps her to keep focused and on task.
Intervention Program
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Becky’s interventions took place in a one on one setting. She received the interventions
after school or in her pull-out time. The focus of the sessions was going to be on segmenting,
blending, and long vowels. She utilized making and breaking activities, phonics games, Words
Their Way activities,
During the sessions, Becky had a positive attitude.
She loved that games were
incorporated into the sessions. Becky was willing to try whatever lesson put in front of her.
While she sometimes got off task, she was easily to get back on track. As Becky benefits from
drill and practice, not as huge amount of content was covered as desired. Multiple sessions were
presented on the same objective to make sure that the material presented was understood. Data
was kept throughout the lessons and can be found in the “results” section of each lesson.
No post-assessment data was given due to time constraints.
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Lessons
Lesson 1
Lesson Learning Objectives: The student will practice blending short vowel words.
CT Language Arts Framework Standards: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to
literary, informational and persuasive texts.
IRA Standards Connection:
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior
experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics).
Procedures:
1. Oral Blending - Guess It
In this activity you orally segment words and have the class try to guess what they are. For example, you might tell
children that you are thinking of the names of farm animals. Teacher: "I'm thinking of an animal. It's a /p/... ig. What am
I thinking of?" Children: "A pig!" Continue with other categories such as zoo animals, classroom objects, numbers,
colors, or household items. (From Scholastic.com)
2. Blending Game
In this activity, Becky was presented with a board similar to the one below. She started with the words based on short
“a” words.
Becky needed to choose the first letter of a word from the left side and then choose and ending from the bubbles on the
right side. Both bubbles were then covered with a counter, forcing her to try and use the other letters/endings. (From
kids-reading-games.com)
Outcomes:
1. Becky did well with the oral blending activity, as long as I gave her the category for the word. If no category was provided,
Becky did not have the context for the word and therefore struggled. She was able to get about 85% of words within categories.
She was able to get 50% of words without given a category.
2. Becky needed support choosing different letters/endings. She kept wanting to say the same word, so covering the used letters
with a counter helped her. There were times that she attached endings making nonsense words and needed to try again. With
support Becky was successful.
Reflections:
I think that making my time with Becky fun and incorporating games is the way to go! She loved our lessons today, even though
it was early in the evening and she had already had a long day. Just as in the classroom, I needed to refocus her so that she did not
get silly with the materials, but she was able to pull it together. I will continue with another oral blending game next time,
followed by another blending game, utilizing a different vowel.
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Lesson 2
Lesson Learning Objectives: The student will practice blending short vowel words.
CT Language Arts Framework Standards: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to
literary, informational and persuasive texts.
IRA Standards Connection:
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior
experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics).
Procedures:
1. Oral Blending - Blend Baseball
As the "pitcher," you say aloud a word in parts, such as /s/ /a/ /t/. If the child who is "at bat" can successfully blend the
word, he or she goes to first base. Proceed just as in baseball, earning a point when a child makes it to home plate. Short
“a” words were utilized from the previous lessons blending game, as well as other high frequency words. (From
Scholastic.com)
2. Blending Game
In this activity, Becky was presented with a board similar to the one below. She started with the words based on short
“i” words.
Becky needed to choose the first letter of a word from the left side and then choose and ending from the bubbles on the
right side. Both bubbles were then covered with a counter, forcing her to try and use the other letters/endings. (From
kids-reading-games.com)
Outcomes:
1. Becky did okay with the oral blending activity. She had more trouble with this activity today than the previous lesson. In the
last lesson I was chunking the vowel sound and final consonant. For today’s lesson all sounds were kept segmented. Becky was
able to answer about 70% of questions correctly.
2. Becky did a little better with the activity since she had already played this game. While she still needed guidance deciding if a
word was nonsense or not, she tried to do more by herself.
Reflections:
Becky is doing well with her blending of short words. While she needs guidance to decide whether the word is real or not, she is
blending the beginning sound to the ending independently about 80% of the time. Blending will continue through another lesson.
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Lesson 3
Lesson Learning Objectives: The student will practice blending short vowel words.
CT Language Arts Framework Standards: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to
literary, informational and persuasive texts.
IRA Standards Connection:
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior
experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics).
Procedures:
1. Build a word
Becky was given the sheet below with all the pieces cut apart. Once again she needed to take the beginning sound and
blend it with the ending. To support her, she would pick a letter and I would choose 3 possible endings. She then
needed to choose the one that would make a word and read it aloud. We then made up sentences orally for the words.
2.
( <- Number 1)
( <-Number 2)
Blending Game
In this activity, Becky was presented with a board similar to the one below. She started with the words based on short
“u” words.
Becky needed to choose the first letter of a word from the left side and then choose and ending from the bubbles on the
right side. Both bubbles were then covered with a counter, forcing her to try and use the other letters/endings. (From
kids-reading-games.com)
Outcomes:
1. Becky was able to pick the correct endings to words in order to make “real” words. She got 95% correct. She picked the
beginning consonant and I put three choices in front of her for her to choose from. Restricting her choices provides her with more
structure.
2. The blending game (2) was repeated again using short u words. This time I left three bubbles uncovered and she needed to
choose the one that made a real word. She was much more successful with fewer choices.
Reflections:
Becky was much more successful with the blending lesson today due to restricting her choices more. She may get overwhelmed
when too much is in front of her and therefore guess an answer. The next lesson will focus on blending initial diagraph sounds.
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Lesson 4
Lesson Learning Objectives: The student will practice blending initial diagraphs in words.
CT Language Arts Framework Standards: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to
literary, informational and persuasive texts.
IRA Standards Connection:
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior
experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics).
Procedures:
1. Blending Bowl (http://pbskids.org/lions/games/blending.html)
Students select two football players to “blend”. The first one has the initial blending sound. The second player has an
ending. The two players move towards each other saying their parts. For example: “pl” “an” “pl” “an”. The players get
closer and closer together and eventually the parts as said as the whole word.
2.
WordBlender Game (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/clusters/blender/gamefs.shtml)
The site says a word. Students then need to select the correct beginning digraph from three choices. After that, students
select the correct ending sound.
3.
See and Spell Blends (http://www.primarygames.com/see-n-spell/blends/start.htm)
“Look at each picture. Click and drag the letters into the grey box to spell the word. Click on the Check Work Button to
check your answer. This game has 10 questions.”
Outcomes:
1. Becky liked picking the players for the Blending Bowl. It was a lot like the blending games we played in previous lessons so
she was familiar with choosing a beginning and ending to make a word. I would have Becky blend the words with the computer.
She would listen the first time and then needed to repeat it each time it was stated after. She was successful with this after I
modeled one example.
2. Becky then moved to website 2. Using the choices, she had to choose the ones that matched the picture. She was able to do
this correctly 95% of the time.
3. Becky moved to website 3. This one was a challenge for her because she needed to spell the whole word herself and the letters
were all scrambled up to choose from. Due to the lack of structure on the website, I assisted her with this one. I covered the
scrambled letters with my hand and had her tell me the letters. I would then drag them into the gray box for her. She was correct
with the blends about 75% of the time.
Reflections:
Becky loved using the computer! I knew she was a fan of games, but never knew her love of the computer. Becky was very
successful on the first two websites. The third website was a challenge due to its format, but she still loved playing. My
modifications made her more successful then she would have been independently.
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Lesson 5
Lesson Learning Objectives: The student will practice blending initial diagraphs in words.
CT Language Arts Framework Standards: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to
literary, informational and persuasive texts.
IRA Standards Connection:
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior
experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics).
Procedures:
1. Reading Dominoes Game (www.kids_reading_games.com)
Students are presented with beginning blend dominos. Students need to match the blends up to the picture on the end of
each domino. For example: The “fl” domino should be connected to the “bl” domino because there is a block picture
there and so on. See sample below.
Outcomes:
1. First Becky and I went through all the pictures to make sure she knew what they all showed. She stated “bed” for
“blanket” so that was clarified and then she began matching. Becky was able to match up all the dominoes.
Reflections:
1. This was a short lesson due to time constraints but Becky was very successful in the dominoes game. We will try
another game tomorrow where she gets to be the teacher.
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Lesson 6
Lesson Learning Objectives: The student will practice blending initial diagraphs in words.
CT Language Arts Framework Standards: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to
literary, informational and persuasive texts.
IRA Standards Connection:
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior
experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics).
Procedures:
1. Bingo Games (www.kids_reading_games.com)
Becky was the teacher in this lesson. She was the “caller” for Bingo and I was the player. She needed to read the words
to me and I would mark them on the board.
Outcomes:
1. Becky LOVED being the teacher. She was able to read the blended words except for the word “twelve”. She kept
wanting to pick the next word for me while I was still “struggling” to find the word she read. A few times I pointed to
the wrong word and asked if it was correct. 1 out of 3 times she said yes, but the other two she laughed at me!
Reflections:
1. Becky was again very motivated. She was successful at reading all but one blend word independently with little to no
sounding out. I would love to do a spelling or writing activity next to see if Becky can apply these blends in her writing,
or if she is not yet able to do so.
*Unfortunately, due to the power outage, absences, and my sister delivering her baby, I ran out
of time with Becky and no other lessons were completed.*
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Recommendations
Following the lessons, all of Becky’s teachers met again.
They all noted slight
improvement in Becky’s ability to read blends in words both in and out of context. In terms of
phonics and retelling, some recommendations for Becky are found in the charts below.
Becky’s writing is another area that needs improvement. She is still a beginning writer
and needs daily opportunities to practice. This daily practice will help her practice and learn
how to take her ideas and put them down on the paper. Graphic organizers might also help her if
she knows that she needs to have five, or whatever other number, details about her desired topic.
Becky’s continued practice will also help her to practice blending, sounding out, and spelling
words.
Becky’s teachers all do a great job reading material to Becky that is above her reading
level. Material is presented at her level and support is present as needed. Becky definitely
benefits from one on one instruction. Having a paraprofessional in her classroom is a huge
support for Becky and her classroom teacher. The paraprofessional is really good about reading
Becky directions that she may be unable to read or understand. She gets Becky started on a task,
but then provides her enough space to attempt work on her own. If she sees Becky is struggling
or not completing her work, she steps in to assist her.
Becky is motivated to please all of her teachers. Distraction comes when there are other
students playing a game around her. When playing a game one on one, it is easier to get Becky
to stay on task and not fool around.
When Becky was in a whole group setting (math
observation) playing the game, she would watch all the other kids play and therefore wanted to
keep playing with her counters in the cup as well. My recommendation to the paraprofessional
would be to move Becky to a less distracting area when the class is using manipulatives in math
or needs to play a game. This might help her stay more focused and “play” less.
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26
Evidence
Words
Their
Way
Critical Focus
Area
Phonics
Blends
(dr, bl, st, cr are
some example)
Digraphs
(sh, ch, th)
Segmenting
(pulling words
apart: ex: cat =
c-a-t)
Objective
Home Activities
Student will explore
and learn various
blends and digraphs
to better help her
decode while reading
and spell while
writing.
From:
http://childparenting.about.com/od/elementaryreadi
n1/a/phonics.htm
-
-
-
-
-
Team up with the teacher. Ask how you can
highlight phonics and reading. If you have
concerns, share them.
Listen to your child read daily. If your child
stumbles on a word, encourage him to
sound it out. But if he still can't get it,
provide the word so he doesn't get
discouraged.
Boost comprehension. Ask questions like,
"What do you think will happen next?" or
"What did he mean by that?"
Revisit familiar books. It's okay if your child
wants to read favorites from earlier years.
Read aloud. Choose books on topics that excite
your child, and read with expression,
using different voices for the characters.
Spread the joy. Show your child how much
you value reading by having plenty of
books and magazines around the house.
And visit the library and bookstores often.
You'll cultivate a lifelong love of reading
in your child.
School Activities
-
Word sorts
Words Their Way games/activities
Using words in context
Reading Rods
Word wall search for words
Phonics Games from kids_reading_games.com
Making and breaking words
Building words
Sound boxes for segmenting
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Evidence
QRI - All
Critical Focus
Area
Comprehension
– Visualizing /
Retelling
Objective
Home Activities
School Activities
Student will form
visual images of text
while reading to aid
comprehension and
ability to retell.
- Explain to your child that you are going to read a
story and then act it out! Let your child pick
whatever book she’d like and start by reading the
story together. Stop after every 2-3 pages to talk
about what’s happening. At the end of the story,
ask your child:
- Graphic organizers
- Picture walks
- Problem/Solution papers
- Read/draw, read/draw as we progress through the
book
- Using the senses to help picture
- use puppets to act out the story as students read



Who was the story about?
Where did the story take place?
What happened in the beginning of the
story?
 What happened in the middle of the story?
 What happened at the end of the story?
- make a picture book of what you are reading
- draw a picture of the main character or the setting
- write and draw what you would see, hear, feel,
taste or touch if you were in the story
- both parent and child draw a picture of what is
happening in the story and see if your pictures are
similar
*From BrainPopJr.com
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Evidence
QRI – All
Critical Focus
Area
Comprehension
– Sequencing /
Retelling
Objective
Home Activities
The student will
sequence events
correctly.
- Our Day
Spend the afternoon with your child doing a
few different activities. You may want to go to
the park and play a game, or go to the library
and hear a read-aloud. At end of the day, have
your child describe or write down what
happened, using time-order words and
transitions. What happened first? What
happened next? You may want to write a
diary, journal entry, or blog post together.
- Recipe
Create a recipe together. You may want to
choose something simple, such as making a
peanut butter and jelly sandwich. List all the
materials you need (such as a plate or knife) as
well as the ingredients, and measure each one
out. Make the dish together. Then have your
child write down the recipe using time-order
words. You can repeat this activity and create
your own kid-friendly recipe book!
From: BrainPopJr.com
School Activities
- Sequence objects
- Signal words
- Ordering daily events
- Using text – modeling and thinking aloud
- Graphic organizers
- Do-It-Yourself
Have students write a do-it-yourself guide to
completing an activity. This may be a guide
that teaches how to cook something, build
something, or even do a dance. Encourage
children to be creative! Remind them to use
transitions or time-order words as they write
their guides. Then have students swap their
work and read how to do the activity. Have
them circle the transition words their partner
used, and follow the guide to learn something
new! Afterward, have students talk about how
the transition words helped them determine
the order of events.
- Put it in Order
Have students draw a series of pictures that
tell a story. They may want to illustrate a few
scenes from a book or even a movie. Then
have them cut the pictures out and have a
partner put the pictures in order. What clues
let them know how to order the pictures?
Challenge students to write a caption for each
picture, using transitions or signal words
where appropriate.
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