Practicum in Clinical Teaching of Reading

Final Case Report

Dalton Teague

Practicum in Clinical Teaching of Reading

Spring 2010

Appalachian State University

Susan Hines

April 26, 2010

Final Case Report

Progress report –second six weeksReading tutor: Susan Hines

I had the pleasure of working with Dalton Teague from March 15, 2010 to April 26, 2010. Dalton worked hard this semester and was cooperative and interested in our sessions. Below is a summary of our work together and a continuation of the discussion of his progress in reading, writing, word study and being read to.

Reading

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) – I continued having Dalton read stories as I conducting a DRTA with each new book that was introduced. In January, Dalton’s first tutor began by having him read level 3 books (preprimer-1). By April, he progressed to reading level 5 books (preprimer-3), with 95-100% accuracy. When he made an error, he often self-corrected. When I helped him with a word, he could read it correctly the next time he saw it. I stopped at points of anticipation and asked him to make predictions as to what might happen next in the story based on what he had read. He made rational predictions based on text at this level.

Fluency – I continued having Dalton read four previously read books on preprimer level for fluency at each session. One of the books would cycle out during each session and the new book would be added as a reread for the next session.The rereadings supported and built sight word recognition and fluency. These books provided a challenge, but were not frustrating. He gained confidence and increased fluency each time he read a book.

Assessment results: Dalton showed progress on the Appalachian State University’s Informal Reading Inventory. Automatic word recognition (flashed presentation) progressed from

preprimer 2 level (65%) to primer level (85%). Oral contextual reading progressed in all areas. His instructional level progressed from preprimer (accuracy on words read correct 95% with adequate prosody) to primer (accuracy on words read correct 94% with adequate prosody and rate). Comprehension at primer level was 100%. His performance on primer level in January was 86% for accuracy and reading was disfluent.

Writing

Work in writing continued with Dalton sharing stories about sports. He increasingly enjoyed this activity. He had previously shared and written stories about baseball and basketball. When we began, he shared a story about his sister’s soccer game. He was eager to share his story as I wrote it down in a plan (circle map). He easily shared details as I wrote. He asked to do some of the writing himself. We continued by taking turns to complete the story. We continued by writing stories about sport’s games involving his family members.

Word Study

Work in word study (phonics) continued with Dalton categorizing and sorting word cards that contained short vowels and a sort with short /a/ and long /a/ (CVE pattern). Consonant blends and digraphs were also included. According to his initial assessment, these were the sound patters he indicated he needed and was ready for. I began with a speed sort with the short vowels and he demonstrated, by his accuracy and speed, that he was ready to leave this and continue with sorts differentiating long and short “a”. He worked with this sort for several sessions and indicated he was ready to add the next vowel sound by scoring 100% on a spelling assessment.The next sort included words with short /i/ and long /i/ (CVC pattern). He sorted four words incorrectly and relied on the spelling pattern to correct his mistakes. He had difficulty “hearing” the difference in the vowel sounds. I presented the words visually auditorally with each sort. After practice, he was able to sort quickly accurately. The next sort included words with short /u/ and long /u/ (CVC pattern). The long /u/ sound presented him with some difficulty. We ended our sessions with this sort. He should continue with this sort for mastery.

Assessment results: On his initial assessment, Dalton’s spelling indicated his instructional level to be below level 1 (33%). Results below 50% on level 1 require each word to be scored individually. Dalton’s average for each word was four, indicating he was spelling beginning and ending consonants, but incorrectly using medial short vowels. On his post assessment, he scored within the instructional level (67%). He consistently spelled short medial vowels correctly, but continued to be inconsistent spelling long vowel (CVC pattern) words.

Being Read to

I continued reading books aloud to Dalton at first and early second grade reading level. As I read to him, I stopped at points of anticipation and asked him to make predictions based on what he had heard. I read fiction and nonfiction selections. He was able to make accurate predictions, but did not seem to be able to see patterns within stories. During the nonfiction selections, he needed more support and prompting to answer questions. I included several nonfiction selections to provide more practice with nonfiction books. He could benefit from continued practice with listening to books with predictable patterns to begin to anticipate what will happen next and develop more understanding of book language and sense of story.

Recommendations

Reading instruction should continue with Dalton reading books at preprimer 3 and rereading books at this level to build fluency and sight word recognition. Directed Reading Thinking Activities should be included to encourage Dalton to rely on text to understand content. He should continue with word sorts that discriminate short and long vowel sounds (CVC pattern). Instruction should include a review of “a” and “i” patterns and continue with “u” patterns and then add “o” and “e”. Since Dalton has difficulty with phonemic awareness (hearing sounds), blind sorts should be included as an integral part of each sort. Ample time needs to be spent with these sorts. The mistakes Dalton made while reading aloud evidenced that he is still not applying the skills he is practicing. He also needs to continue being read aloud books at his grade level so he can have access to grade level vocabulary and content. He needs to be supported with comprehension by being asked questions at points of anticipation.