While watching this video with Professor Duke, she was describing different ways students process and take in text in order to comprehend it. As future teachers this has us thinking about certain ways we can incorporate these strategies into our own lessons.

What do good readers do?
I think as readers, and as teachers there are behaviors we do naturally but it is important that we understand what we are doing and why we are doing it so that we can model and accentuate this behavior for our students. She reminds us that good readers are active readers, are constantly evaluating themselves, set clear goals for themselves, look over the text before they begin, construct questions, try to construct meaning of concepts and integrate prior knowledge and activate it. Good readers also engage in different types of texts differently.  For instance, with narratives the reader may pay close attention to setting and character.

What can teachers do to develop comprehension? I think this is in important aspect of the video because we know what good readers are but as future teachers, learning how to develop comprehension is trickier. Duke tells us to create a supportive classroom and not to just offer good instruction. What I got from this is that one major thing is that a good chunk of time must be spent reading!

Yes, instruction is important but one thing your mom used to tell you is still true, practice makes perfect. You cannot expect your students to improve in short periods of time. I think I took away from this video that you have to consistently spend large amounts of dedicated class time to this, and be dedicated to it as a teacher. Also just reading for reading sake is not good enough. We have to model that reading "real texts for real reasons" is important. To become strong readers the student has to read beyond the reading program and relate to the text. Also Teacher modeling and think aloud sessions is key with a do as I do formula.

What can teachers do to help struggling readers?
I think something i have encountered to be a struggle aside from obvious student issues is motivation. I think keeping students motivated is very important. I think keeping students engaged by allowing choice and having conversation about the text is the way to engage the average struggling reader.

The true struggler reader is another story. This why the assessments we have been learning about is so important. Theses ongoing assessment is important because we can diagnose and form an intervention as soon as possible and work this in to our classroom strategy. Duke talks about effective comprehension routines, and I think creating one for a struggling reader is important. I think an intervention in combination with a comprehension routine and ongoing assessment is the scaffolding struggling readers need.

Which ideas from the video struck you as most relevant to your teaching of comprehension?
For me I think the use of predicating, and thinking aloud before the text. I think this gets the students brains working and gets them engaged in the txt. It gets them interested and helps you spot any motivation issues right from the start.

What new instructional practices will you implement in your classroom?
I hope to be able to implement them all lol! I think Modeling and think aloud is invaluable. Showing the students how I read, then how I think and process the information will be the most important thing I take with me. This way the student has a model. It is somewhat met cognitive, but it is basic really. I think it is how I learned to read from my mother when I was young!

Comparing QRI-5 and DIBELS as Assessment Tools for the Classroom

Although the QRI-5 and DIBELS assessment both test for literacy measures, both tests are very different and should be used at different moments and for different reasons in the classroom. When I began learning about both forms of assessment I was initially comparing the two against each other. One checks for fluency, one comprehension. Is this assessment appropriate for fifth grade level? Then I realized a large fault in my thinking. I was comparing tests small measures, what each test could do or would gauge for, rather than considering my student as a whole child and looking at his/her education in a holistic approach. In order to really examine each students with merit, and develop interventions when necessary, or on the other end of the spectrum develop enrichment a teacher needs to step back and take a whole look at the student from finish to end and see the students progress. I think fro this very reason; both DIBELS and assessment such as QRI-5 are needed in tandem.

Assessment such as DIBELS which is often used a screening test and measures components such as phonemic awareness, alphabetic principles, fluency, vocabulary and initial comprehension is a good and quick way of an educator getting an initial understanding of where his/her student stands in terms of level. Screening tests such as DIBLS help the districts place students in appropriate classes, and help get students the initial appropriate interventions. However as a classroom teacher it could also be used as a quick way to gauge your class and inform instruction. As a new teacher, a testing system such as DIBELS may help develop scaffolding systems for lessons if for instance the teacher notices many students are having difficulty with the same phonemic principles.

 

DIBELS screen assessment, shows you if the student is at risk or not

The QRI-5 assessment system, is very different and much more intensive then the DIBELS system. This system uses a combination of Miscue analysis, site words, retelling and implicit and explicit questions to gage comprehension of both narrative and expository texts. This system is much longer, and a more rigorous form of assessment which gives you more detailed information about the students’ literacy level, and comprehension. This is also particularly useful for understanding if the student is better at comprehending narrative or expository text, or what type of weaknesses the students may have in terms of literacy. The QRI-5 is also one of the strongest methods for finding and forming and intervention strategy for a student. This means a teacher can assess a student and react quickly with the classroom. By administering such tests a few times throughout the year, a teacher can gauge the students level, react, intervene and monitor the students and progress.

Just one part of the QRI-5 assessment where the student is being analyzed for miscue and retelling.

In order to benefit the student, just as many forms of teaching and scaffolding are necessary, there is no difference with assessment. Each test holds a different value, and while a few of the measures such as phonics overlaps, each of the assessments has a different purpose and is meant to be administered in a different way at a different point in the year. The best and most holistic approach as a teacher is to learn how to master these test and use them in tandem and to your advantage. The DIBELS is best used a screening tool, it’s strength is the quickness and the information it provides for emergent readers, however it quickness is also a downfall as the teacher must be a master of the test and must practice it carefully before administering it to the student or the results could be altered at the fault of the teacher. The QRI-5 is much longer and more intensive but is a much more holistic and detailed view of comprehension and the  miscue analysis of a student’s reading level. It is also appropriate for a much older readers and is very good for forming intervention strategies. As a future teacher, although I know it will take a lot of practice, I hope to master these test and interweave them into my lesson plans and create lessons that both scaffold struggling readers and gifted ones. Using assessments such as DIBELS and QRI-5 will give me the information necessary to not only decide which students are at what level, but also what the group as whole needs to discover and through lessons and what I need to scaffold.

What Contributes To An Effective Writing Program?

• Discuss the components of an effective writing program and why they are important.
• How might you rearrange your schedule to create more time for students to write in general and, in particular, for students to write about their personal experiences?
• How can you create ways for students to make personal connections in different subject areas through writing?
• How can student work help you decide which conventions to teach?
• When can you promote student inventions and experimentation with different formats in writing?

Case Study Findings

I am pasting in the synopsis of the results of the QRI-5 and also the lesson plan I create to target my case study student Jose and his struggle with comprehension skills.

Results

The student demonstrated much of what was suspected before the QRI-5 was administered. However, this was not the data that was shown by purely administering a Miscue Analysis. Jose was on an Instructional Third grade level. His Miscue analysis was borderline, however there were clear comprehension problems that identified on the third grade level QRI-5 level test, as opposed to the second level. As a teacher this should make one pause for concern. This student has demonstrated strength in phonics, and that is pulling him through his reading levels, however his comprehension is very week.  He struggled greatly with many of the implicit questions, and even when allowed to go back and look for the questions, there was indifference and no more answers were provided. His miscue analysis showed that he was borderline instructional. With a little help he could be boosted to independent. As an educator, I do not feel that is true and that could be cause for alarm, especially for ELL student where comprehension could be greatly based on prior knowledge.

Strategy for Intervention

In many ways, although the teacher has made Jose background and level tests available to me, I am not privy to confidential information like conversations between the resource room teacher and the classroom teacher. I do not think Jose has an RTI, and I know for a fact his resource room time has been slowly declining as he slowly gains level. However, once again, I feel that with the simple QRI-5 test Jose was failing comprehension his grade level. Could it be that neither teacher noticed this? Mrs. P has a guided reading group and one of the main components is comprehension. She is diligent about asking compression questions, and having the students formulate their own inquiry questions.

So what went wrong? I can assume there are certain variables that could affect a student’s literacy at any time. I do not think the QRI-5 was too far off. Right from the start Mrs. P told me Jose was on third grade level but struggling. This is what the results found. In certain context prior knowledge can have a huge impact on comprehension, as can a comfortable setting. After the first administering of level-2 the student lost focus. As a classroom teacher trying an intervention on a student I would try different stories and different levels, and administer the tests multiple times sequentially, of course giving the student a few days break in between so not to frustrate them. This would help gauge the level of the student and allow the teacher to be certain with the level. Unfortunately in the case study, I was only able to administer it twice.

Observations Week 3/28- Research

Another excerpt from my report, and what I struggled with in terms of trying to administer the test as a Grad student:

"As a means to getting to know Jose and his personality, reading habits and level, I first casually examined him multiple times in a guided reading circle. The first few times he read orally and answered comprehension questions. After getting to know each other a little better a casual miscue analysis was administered to get a better idea of the technicality of his reading ability. It seemed Jose was at independent level with his third grade R level reading book. There are some questions to be raised about this, because this was not completely the truth. Jose has demonstrated strength with phonics. He has also demonstrated tremendous potency with oral reading, conversation and prosody. What he did scuffle with occasionally was comprehension. As soon as possible this student was to be administered the QRI-5, which would give the research a better holistic sense of how the student can identify the words and comprehend the text. The miscue analysis would be addressed, however the QRI-5 also considers concepts, retelling, key words and explicit and implicit thoughts.

The only downfall to administering the QRI-5 is that it does take some time. It is necessary that some time be set-aside for a student such as Jose. A quiet area in the classroom was set aside where the student and the teacher could work alone on the test and reading material, so that the student would not be disturbed."

Observations Week 3/28- Case Study

I was very fortunate that things have calmed down around the classroom this week. On mOnday morning, I arrived early on and my case study "Jose" was ready to go for the QRI-5 assessment. As I mentioned before I have assessing him all semester and have been trying observe him and build a repore.

Observations week 3/24

So this week I had a great observation week in terms of observing a group, but unfortunately the teacher was on a tight schedule and I was not able to administer the QRI to the student, she apologized, but it is getting close to testing and now is the time when they are reviewing math , and it just happened I was there during that time. She assured me I can come back early next week and she will make time for me to sit with the student and give the testing. After looking at the test, she just felt it took too much time to pull the student away. Unfortunately I do not know any kids to practice this test on which is frustrating! All of my friends kids are infants or toddlers and I have no neighbors with that I know well enough with kids that age. So unfortunately, this is going to have to wait until Monday morning. This is a bummer to to me because I had free time this week to do this report, but at the same time I have a great relationship with this teacher and school and they have already offered me a position for student teaching and subbing afterward so I do not want to mess that up!

Patience is a virtue lol!

Concepts of Comprehension Assessment: COCA

The COCA, which is an informal assessment designed to test the literacy of first and second grade students tests four areas they believe is the foundation of literacy:(however they realize more then four areas exist) comprehension stragtegies, vobaulary strategies, and knowledge, knowledge of text and comprehension of graphics. Michigan has deigned this as an nalternative system to a QRI for example, as a means to determine intervention or evaluate comprehnsion.The idea is that the assessmnet would measure if the student is enganing and using the sort of thought processess used by a good, or on level reader. Are they making predictions? Are the activating prior knowledge? Are they making infrences to help them comprehend? Are they summarizing?

Administration
They offer two diffwerent forms of the assessment; Dragonflies and Salmon. They also provide for specific adminstration guidelines. There should be aquiet setting, the text and prompts should be followed EXACTLY, it should be read with good prosody, the page should be pointed to, there should be a clear break betwen reading and questions and the information should be recorded as soon as possible.

Assessment
Michigan provides a worksheet assessment booklet for each of their systems which provides very clear cut text and prompts. For instance in the "Salmon" book page 8, the student reads: When salmon are one year old they hunt small fish called minnows.The teacher must ask: This page tells you the defintion of a word. What is that word? Hopefully, the child usues the skills mentioned like using inference, prior knowledge and predictions. If not the booklet instructs to follow up and re-ask and they provide the specific prompts with which to do so.

Data Interpretation
The system also provides a clear scoring guide for each of the books. The authors provides tools to assign scoring, and tally the scores. It is importnat to remian consistent and document any scoring decsions for student answers that are not listed in their booklets, or reralted to they samples they provide. On the scoring , obne can see that each area is labeled for what dimension or skill is being assessed, this is helpful because the test not only gives a broad view o the childs literacy skills, but a pinpointyed explantion of their struggkles as well.

Informational Strategic Cloze Assessment: ISCA

After examining the ISCA program, I cam to really enjoy this, and hope to be able to use it in my class. I like that it was content specific lit3racy, because often it is not. The ISCA is focused on grades 1-3 and in science (weather and geology). They provided very nice books on each of the subjects and the administration process and testing. This sort of system is very helpful to a primary teacher because there is so much vocabulary associated with content area literacy, that the student most likely is not familiar with. They are already trying to learn and absorb literacy skills, and then content area adds another level of difficulty for them. The ISCA is designed to test four areas: comprehension strategies the student used, vocabulary strategies, and knowledge, knowledge of informational text features and comprehension of graphics. I think the graphics part id interesting because it is something we shy away from with lieracy as the child advances, but in content area it is different. In content like science the student needs to be able to read, analyze and understand the pictures that for instance would show the the difference between metamorphic and igenous rock.

Interestingly enough, the third grade classroom I was observing was covering the same geology topic, so Michigan state was right on in terms of their content level, standards and area.The ISCA does mention that they do not expect you to administer such a measure to every student. This sort of system is best used for students with an intervention strategy in place, or one who may need an RTI or extra support.

Observation Report 3/12/11

I was very happy to return to the DK school this week, and I had a of of progress and success so I feel some of the frustration with getting settled with my student has passed. I have selected to work with a third grade boy, Conrad. Conrad's family is from the Philippines. They cam to America when he was at the end on=f kindergarten. Luckily, he came here early enough and is strong enough in his own language that he has picked up quickly and stayed on track. Conversationally, Conrad is excels, aside from a faint accent you would never know he is an ELL student. However, his reading level is a bit different. He struggles in literacy and has been working very hard in the last few years to keep up and stay on track. He has little support with English reading at home, so it is a constant struggle to keep him at least on track. Ms. P has three levels of literacy circles and reading abilities (there are some individualization projects for above level or Intervention students) but Conrad is in the lowest level group, reading at a "Q" level. The average readers in his class read at "R".

His workshop is currently reading "The Hamster in my Lunchbox". Mrs. P has been great because she understands exactly what I have to do. So she went around the table having each child read an excerpt. This allowed me to do a quick running record on the Conrad, so I feel this is a good step. As soon as I type it up I will share. I was also able to assess his word lists and listen to comprehension which gave me a good understanding of his abilities.  Right now the missing component is his writing sample. Hopefully next session she will share one with me. I was also able to observe a content specific reading and vocabulary assignment, which I have a copy f. t focused on geology, but it incorporated reading and vocabulary. We went to the computer lab for an Math activity and while there, Mrs. P showed me that in fact the frequently use Kidspiration and inspiration for literacy as well as other programs. I have another observation next Wednesday morning.

Class tonight

I am sorry, but I am going to be missing class. Hopefully one of my classmates can fill me in. I have been suffering from Migraines, and seeing a neurologist and having Physical Therapy. Today was the first day and she warned me it would trigger a migraine, which it did. I apologize and I will see everyone next week.

Observation report 3/7

So the good news is that I called my co-op teacher and she apologized because she is bad at checking messages. So I am all set to go in this Thursday.

Question for my classmates....

After viewing the video on Christopher Myers, what techniques do you think you could incorporate into your class to help gain  positive self confidence and increase the desire to read, especially with ELL students.

Christopher Myers

What a wonderful message this author has to send to students. I have never heard of Myers before, but after seeing this video, I am sure to find a book of his and take a look for use in my future classroom. His message is a positive one, the instills self confidence into students. Being different is ok, and we all have things that make up different. As teachers, we know that self confidence is one major key to being successful in school, and by using Myers books this can show students that even though they are all different , it is who they are and they are all cool.

Another major thing for me, was when Myers talked about reading. He asked the class if they liked reading and most responded yes. One boy, shook his head no, and when asked why he said it was too hard. My heart sunk. This is a reality that many students hate reading because they are being frustrated in school, and most likely not given the appropriate levels, skills, strategies and interventions. I like how Myers answers by saying do you think it is always easy for me to write books? no, but sometimes challenging things are the most fun in the end!

Observation Report week 3/6

As I mentioned earlier, the teacher cancelled our observation the week before their winter break because she was sick, then winter break passed. I left her a message last Monday tot see if I could go in last week but she never called back.

My next step is to call again and if not, call the front desk to see if I can set up another round for this week!

Response to Podcast

"Writing Across the Curriculum"
Writing strategies help upper elementary and middle school students with reading 


In this podcast, the author speaks about the importance writing plays in literacy. There are different types of writing when it comes to education. There is "learning to write" which typically and English Language Arts topic which teaches students how to write for expression, narrative essay etc. What teachers need to consider as well is that there is also "writing to learn". This is an instructional approach which uses different strategies and writing techniques to help create a deep understanding and comprehension. Many teachers in upper elementary level, middle school and high school find these techniques particularity helpful for content reading. Frequently in content reading the ideas and concepts can be difficult for the student to have true understanding, so using writing strategies in combination with the reading strategies proves successful.


There are many different writing strategies teachers can adapt with their reading, but they are essentially broken down into pre-writing, during writing and after writing assignments. Many of the pre-reading assignments concentrate on activating students prior knowledge and creating inquiry. For instance, using a technique such as Brainstorming, the students can work in groups and jot down ideas about what they think the reading will be about. Then they could read the text and return to their brainstorming notes and writing to see what was correct about their assumptions and what was not. Another pre reading assignment is something called a one minute paper. The student would write quickly about a question the teacher assigns. The question could be as easy as what do you think about photosynthesis? Or s complex as discuss important components of photosynthesis.


Many of the during reading strategies focus on note-taking skills, and teaching the students how to take notes during their reading. It's a read, stop, think technique. I have actually seen this in process in a fourth grade class. The students were reading fiction books but were provided sticky notes. On each of the pages they were supposed to stop reading, think about what they read and jot down some key ideas. Later the students were to refer back to the stickies during a conversation about the reading. These sort of techniques help slow down the reader and increase comprehension.


Post reading techniques are important because they demonstrate student comprehension. These small activities can be used as informal assessment and conversation about comprehension between the teacher and student. One popular strategy is to have the students create an index card which has a compare/contrast and analyze portion and one that answers open ended questions provided by the teacher. This can indicate the level of compreheshion to the teacher very quickly, and the teacher can hand back an index cards with notes on where the student is and what the student can do to increase their level. One of my favorite tools are graphic organizers, and this is a good way for students to organize and record their own thoughts.


The idea is to create techniques and strategies to arm the students with the ability to have creative and critical thinking and writing skills. This helps deepen literacy in your classroom, especially if you are concerned with ways to create comprehension, in sometimes tougher content areas.

Waiting for Superman.

I have a lot to say about this documentary so I thought I would share with you all. I have never seen a movie or documentary where it had made me feel so conflicted inside. It questioned many things I believe are inherent rights for teacher protection, as it was very biased and anti-union. On the other hand, you heart goes out to so many of the students in schools across the country who are being lost in our failing system.

In many ways, while watching this I was thanking god I live on Long Island, as competitive as the job market is, our schools (in general) are so amazing. Living here you become trapped in an education bubble, a little naive that the education system in America is truly failing, because in all our schools are so great.

While I know there are issues with the unions, and tenure because nothing is perfect, it is a necessary evil to protect teachers from a corrupt system. That's why it was created. Can it be reformed? Absolutely. The creators, however, feel they should be demolished. I can not write too deeply about matters of which I am not completely involved, but I am very lucky to have many a friend who is a teacher, mostly young , untenured ones, and believe it or not they were not too happy with the film.

I think had the creators put all the politics aside, the film would have been much more appealing to the masses. The heart and soul of the film is the education system that is failing so many students. Way too many kids are not graduating High School, and so many factors are involved as to why. This is not only happening in low socio-econmic areas either. Along with following students from the bronx, D.C. it also follows an upper middle class, primarily caucasian student in a "good" district in silicone valley.

It is a very eye opening film!

Reader Response

The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP: Why the States Aren't Measuring Up


The authors of this article state that not all reading test are created equal, and state test could be less effective then the NAEP. One thing the state and NAEp framework have  in common is that both require more than just the "ability to extract information from text." Both require some level of comprehension and thoughtful response from the student.

The research uses many methods and test and things like vocabulary knowledge, familiarity with genre, text organization, characterization, detail, text emphasis items, and higher order interpretation items. The first thing was to examine the "portion of items that assessed comprehension in an open-ended as opposed to multiple choice format" between the NAEP and state tests.It appears that the NAEP places a lot of weight on the readers capacity to create a response to the text, where the state places more merit on the student's ability to recognize and distinguish it from other less adequate responses.

In the NAEP vocabulary knowledge was seldom used, where in some state test 25% or more of the test checks vocabulary. The problem with these vocabulary test portions is they are trying to test for the ability to use contextual clues. There is one big problem with that: prior knowledge. There is know way to know if the student is performing well because they are using appropriate contextual clues, or they have learned he word elsewhere.

In the NAEP genre accounts for avery small percentage as opposed to the 11% on state tests. Some of the poor assessment genre features include just asking the student to apply a mindless definition of a genre element to a text. This can lead to problems because the student can easily answer this question with no reference or comprehension of the text.

 The authors also compare the state test and the NAEP in terms of recognition and interpretation. Which test are created to have the students recognize the information and which is actually having them interpret them. This is smart, because one can thinking of the higher orders of thinking and true cognitive ability, and to have true understanding the student must synthesize and interpret,  not just recognize. The research shows the NAEP helps foster higher order thinking.

In all, the research and analysis of the authors of the article found that teachers who encourage higher order thinking and engagement with text will prepare their students better for both test, regardless of which test is a better model of assessment. In the end, that is the most important thing for teachers to remember.

Reader Response

Response to intervention: What Teachers Need to Know


Response to Intervention (RTI) is a hot button topic in schools today. It is a new way to respond to students needs, before they can get support and also diagnose learning disabilities. RTI was created because of the problems in the model used for identifying students with learning issues. Usually by the time the school has diagnosed a student who needs help, the student has fallen even further behind in their curriculum. This is a way general classroom teachers can intervene and help the students before and during the whole process.

There are five steps in the RTI process:

1. Universal literacies are established. Screenings help identify students who may be at risk.

2. research based interventions are used when the student does not reach the benchmark. With most models the intervention is first administered to small groups.

3. The progress of the student must be monitored and observed. RTI demands that progress monitoring be the continuously collected through assessment. The assessment should be administered repeatedly and should be sensitive to small changes in the student.

4. The intervention needs to me individualized for the student. Some students may still struggle after an intervention is put in lace, this student will require more intense and targeted interventions.

5. The teacher should be a decision make and so should the school. They must determine if the student needs support/special education help.

RTI in real life practice can be confusing, and the authors use case study student "Mark" to demonstrate the intervention. The walk through the five steps above to show how Mark reacts and how the teachers and school react through each of the five steps. After going through the five steps, after one year Mark's development improved. If it had not the final step (5) would be to have diagnosed Mark with a LD and recommend him to special education support.

One of the major questions the authors attempt to answer, and one which is so valid to new teachers such as myself is, why RTI? The short answer is through assessment and intervention strategies a general classroom teacher can deliver strategies that immediately affect and benefit a struggling student.

Reader Response

Linguistically Responsive Teacher Education: Preparing Classroom Teachers to Teach English Language Learners


In this article, the authors inform us about the growing number of English Language Learners. The skills to work with ELLs  is something that every teacher today must be equipped with. However, the authors feel this is not being covered in many Teacher Education programs and they are reaching out to drive home the importance of preparing young teachers for these new classrooms.

There are key principles which teachers who have ELLs in their classroom must understand. First, conversational proficiency is very different from academic language proficiency. Some ELL use the English language fluently in conversation but struggle academically. Secondly, ELLs should have access to not only material on their level, but also material a bit beyond their level. This can help the student read fluently, but also increase learning in the content area.

Social interaction and group work can help ELL's develop their language proficiency and conversational skills. This can be tied in to similar theories of Vygotsky, for native speakers as well. The peer interaction can benefit both the ELL and native speaker. Also, ELL students who are strong in their own native language, tend to achieve a higher level of english proficiency then ELLs who are weak in their native language.

Another important thing to consider, is creating a safe and welcoming classroom and environment. This can help ease anxiety about performance. As a teacher paying attention to linguistic form and function is key. There should be emphasis on communicative approach.

The main focus of a general classroom teacher in relation to the ELL student is to make sure the student is learning the curriculum. If the student is cognitively able to learn the content, but the language is  problem, this should not hold them back from the content. There should be interventions and techniques used by the teacher to facilitate the curriculum.

Reader Response

Organizing Instruction for Struggling Readers in Tutorial Settings


The authors of the article suggest that many teachers struggle with organizing assessment and instruction in their classroom. This according to them, originates from  struggling readers difficulty"related to the types of text read (print or online), the tasks or activities readers engage in and the sociocultural contexts of reading." When the students needs are kept in mind, the struggling reader can be taught to read if their plan is thoughtfully organized.

They use a case study "Alyssa" who is in third grade and at frustration level, a struggling reader, as a case study. She had scored poorly on the Iowa's reading State test and the teacher felt it necessary to continue further assessment to get to the bottom of her reading troubles. She struggles with vocabulary, decoding and greatly with comprehension.

The authors share three "practical guidelines" of how the teacher was able to put together a plan to help Alyssa.

1. "Use multiple assessment data to help design and guide instruction". In other words, as a teacher who may need to create a plan similar to this for a struggling student, one must use various forms of assessment to test fluency,  word recognition etc and use those finding to inform the lessons. If the student has fluency problems, modeling fluency and prosody would be helpful.

2. "Implement an instructional framework for organizing and managing instruction." When a teacher is in a tutorial setting with a student, time is limited. It is important to use a prearranged studied plan. The authors' use an adaption of Rollers framework: use easy books, read new books, writing activity, a mini-lesson, and an introduction of a new more challenging book. Also reaffirm that the student should spend at minimum 5 minutes a day out side of school reading, involve the parents if necessary.

3."Monitor student's response to instruction." Observing the student, and seeing how prepared, how engaged and how responsive the student is to the intervention methods is key.

I thought there were some very good aspects to this article, and ones I would practice in my classroom. However what strikes me is the amount of time the teacher needs to spend with "Alyssa". This would not be possible in a class of 20+ students. Of course, some individual time is necessary and an intervention is a must, but I feel like the full tutoring plan would be impossible for e to completely implement and it makes me a bit nervous, thinking I may have to do so.

Observation updates week of 2/21.

Two weeks ago I observed a third grade, and a first grade classroom at the DKschool. The teachers there are so helpful. I was able to pick my case study and also see the progression of reading in two years. It is quite amazing!

In the first grade class, they were doing "Fun-dations" and using root words to learn vocabulary and phonics. In the third grade class, the teacher Dr. P (who is a reading specialist, but teaching third grade right now), new I was trying to do a literacy case study so she set up a guided reading group so I could see how it was run, and hear my case study, who I will call John, read orally. She had four groups in her class, all reading at different levels, so it was nice to compare John's reading ability to the other levels. I also was able to do a very informal miscue analysis on him without him even realizing because the teacher was doing the guiding. All in all I am so very happy with my placement and I think this will help my research as long as I can get in to the school in a timely manner. Also I am not so sure they are willing to share the students records and body of work, as they seemed hesitant about that as it breaks all sorts of "laws" without parental consent. However, I can probably get a copy of a writing sample or two.

I was supposed to observe last Weds. at DK school. Unfortunately the teacher called out sick, so we have to reschedule. This week they have off for winter break, so hopefully I will get to go next week.

Question for my classmates....

Learning about the structure of Response to Intervention and what an RTI actually is, has me thinking about how it would affect my daily routine as a classroom teacher.

How do you think RTI will affect your classroom, and how does it change what you have learned about your future daily routine, the way you interact with students and your lessons?

Observation Report

The school I am going to be observing at has asked I come in this Weds. to meet the two teachers I will be working with and the principal. I will be observering two different first grade classes, both have ELL learners I can work with. Now I have to make an observation and choose my case study!

Week 2 Reader's Response

Linguistically Responsive Teacher Education

This article examines how although ELL's are increasing in numbers across the nation, teachers a re drastically unprepared. The teacher needs to have content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pshycology, and knowing how to teach to a diverse population. There are additions to the classroom which can be added to help ELL's gain fluency.

1. ELL's should have access to on level and above level content.

2. Social interaction and cooperative learning.

3. Understating of the students native skills ability. Students with stronger native language skills tend to gain English skills with greater accuracy.

4. An understanding of the students language.

Scaffolding is an important key to helping a diverse student population. Through scaffolds the mainstream teacher can a variety of students with different needs all participating in the same project. This also lends itself to group learning such as literacy circles.The teacher can use scaffolds such as supplementing text, and modifying oral language facilitating the use of the students oral language.

Organizing Instruction for Struggling Readers in Tutorial Settings

The authors of this article suggest that struggling readers tend to have difficulty with the type of texts, the tasks the student must participate in, and the social context of the content.The authors use a "Alyssa" a third grade struggling reader as a case study for their research.

Alyssa was referred to the project because she had scored poorly in the general reading area of her state tests. The researchers felt it was necessary to assess the student further to understand the case study's strengths and need using the QRI-4. Not only did Alyssa's reading scores show low performance, but her ERA's demonstrated that she has a poor attitude toward reading.

The teacher put together a three step program to help Alyssa  as she tutored her for an hour, four days a week. This strategy includes:

1. "Use Multiple Assessment Data to haelp Design and Guide Instruction." Using the information from the assessments Sarah had given Alyssa, she targeted her fluency first. She used tactics such as sight word recognition, modeling, and building vocabulary and context. Sarah also provided time to select appropriate reading.

2. "Implement an Instructional Framework for Organizing and Managing Instruction".  The researchers us an existing reading framework called "Roller's tutoring" which included reading easy books, reading new book, writing activity, minilesson and introduction of a new more challenging book.

3."Monitor Student's Response to Instruction." Observations of the student and ensuring that Alyssa is engaged in the sessions is the final component to the stratagey.

It's all ready to go!

I have set up my blog, and I am ready for the Spring project!