Analysis of Case Study Student as a Reader

Fallon

3rd Grade 2006-07 School Year

Fairborn Primary School

by Becky Gerardi

Benchmark level in the Fall: M (instructional)

•Fallon was able to accurately answer 5 of 6 questions about the reading selection.

•She had the most difficulty with inferential thinking. (beyond the text)

•Her written response was minimal, and she needed help in understanding the directions.

•Her oral reading was error free, but the fluency was poor. She received a score of 2 for slow, labored reading.

•Her reading interests were Dr. Suess and R.L. Stine. She indicated reading at home about two times a week. She felt that a good reader read “until they get tired or it starts getting boring”.

Analysis of Fall Benchmark Assessment Data•Fallon has greater control of strategies for thinking within the text. She is able to relate basic information about the selection and tell the literal meaning.

•She reads slowly and deliberately, most likely because she was being “tested”. Her perception of a good reader is one who doesn’t make mistakes.

•Her minimal written response and confusion with the directions show that she needs experience and support writing out her thinking.

•Fallon is ready to build her fluency by attending to phrasing, intonation and rate.

•She is ready to build on her foundation of “within the text strategies” and begin thinking “beyond the text” by inferring characters’ motives and feelings, and noticing vocabulary she is not familiar with.

•She is ready to learn strategies for talking about books and writing thoughtful responses to them.

What is Fallon ready to learn?

Reader’s Notebook Analysis- Fall• Fallon is able to tell basic

information about the text.• Her sight word spelling is

appropriate for this time of the year.• She used the format of a friendly

letter. What is this reader ready to learn?• How to write a title.• How to write more about your

thinking.• The response letter format.• Writing legibly. (when intended for

others to read)• Choosing a variety of books. (Trying

out new genre.)• Making connections or reacting to

events, characters, and author’s moves.

Reader’s Notebook analysis - Winter:

• Fallon has included more of her thinking beyond the text. (predicting, noticing the writer’s craft)

• Is showing appreciation of the text’s poetic quality.

• She is using her own voice in the piece.

• She is enjoying a read-aloud book.

• She had a question about her reading.

What is this reader ready to learn?

• How to write a title.

• Writing a short summary.

• Responding using paragraphs.

• Themes of a story.

• Character motivations and reactions.

• Sustaining interest in chapter books.

• Choosing a variety of books.

Reader’s Notebook Analysis - Spring

• Evidence of inferring.

• Enjoyment of chapter book.

• Title written correctly

• Using paragraphs.

• Connecting with character motivations.

What is this reader ready to learn?

• Writing a summary of a chapter.

• Elaborating on a connection.

• Discussion of literary elements, plot, setting, theme, and language.

Thinking about Reading : Poetry, Guided Reading - Fall

Poetry:

• Connecting text with personal experiences.

Guided Reading:

•Getting your thinking in writing.

•Responding to questions in writing.

•Noticing how characters change.

•What do I wonder?

•T-chart of character traits.

Poetry, Guided Reading - Spring

Guided Reading:

• Inferring character motivations, feelings. Including evidence for thinking from the story.

• Responding quickly and fluently.

• Restating the question.

Poetry:

• Personal connections

Thinking and Talking About Books - Book Club

Fallon prepared thoughtfully for our first book club discussion. She was able to demonstrate thinking about characters, their motivations and traits. The Secret Garden

Again, Fallon thoughtfully prepared for our latest book club discussion Should There Be Zoos? She was able to connect past reading with this non-fiction book and have questions ready for discussion.

Analysis of Reading Behaviors- Spring. (RR and comprehension conversation of Fictional Book level N)

• Fallon is re-reading, monitoring.

• Reads with expression. Fluency = 4

• Self corrects at point of error.

• Looks at word parts to figure out new words.

• Uses context to figure out meaning of new words.

• Connects text to self most often.

• Shows evidence of inferential thinking by

stating the theme of a story.

• She has the attitude that reading is

enjoyable, you can learn from it,

and now she reads every day.

How has Fallon grown as a reader?

0

1

2

3

4

5

Sept. Oct. Nov. J an. Mar.

Within Beyond About

Evidence of thinking within, beyond and about the text in Reading Response Notebook.

Quality of Reading Responses

0

1

2

3

4

Sept. Oct. Nov. Jan. Feb. Apr.

Response Quantity Clarity Conventions Format

Future Instructional GoalsFallon is ready to:

• Continue thinking beyond the text. In addition to connecting the text to self, she needs to connect with other books she has read by comparing or contrasting.

• Write a summary of a section or chapter of a book.

• Continue to develop inferential thinking - writing and discussion.

• Notice and talk about how a text is organized and a writer’s style.

• State opinions about her reading and be confident about her thinking to back them up with evidence from the text.

• Write extended response letters, continuing a conversation for several cycles.

• Participate in a book club discussion with little or no teacher direction.

Fallon as a Writer

Fall Writing Prompt

What does Fallon know about writing?

• Writes in sentences.

• Uses punctuation.

• Conveys a message or story.

• Has a sense of structure.

• Varied sentences.

• Writes for an audience.

• A strong developing writer.

0

1

2

3

4

5

Ideas Org. Voice Words Sen. Flu. Conv.

6 Trait Analysis

Fall Writing Diagnostic

Informational writing prompt with use of note cards. Fallon used the notes directly from the cards as they were. Overuse of exclamation points.

Fall Writer’s Notebook Entry

Responding to a picture, personal connections.

What is Fallon ready to learn?• Living the “writerly” life.

• Writing from a seed.

• How to write a discovery draft.

• Adding descriptive words and details.

• Finding your voice.

• Using the writing process.

• Spelling principles

Fallon’s knowledge of how words work.

Fall -Schlagal Developmental Spelling Test Score: 11/25

Fall -Slosson Oral Reading Test: 107 GL equivalency= 4.0

0

2

46

8

10

12

1416

18

20

Oct. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.

Spelling Errors in Word Study Principles

(2 writing pieces sampled)

Analysis of Word Study Application:

• As spelling principles are taught, there are fewer errors.

• Sight word errors have stayed about the same.

• Still confusions on changing y to i and adding an ending.

• Pronunciation confusions.

• Homonym confusions.

• Large vocabulary base.0123456789

10

Oct. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.

Sight

vowels

pattern

y at end

r-cont.

Mini-Lesson Application Fall

Mini Lessons for this cycle:

• Writing about what you know.

• Adding descriptive words and details.

• Using writing paper.

• Revision - using carrots, some editing marks.

• Using writer’s notebook for ideas.

Future Mini lessons and conferencing points:

• Using writing paper.

• Organizing for writing.

• Purposes for writing.

• Sharing and getting feedback.

Mini-Lesson Application Winter

Mini lessons for this cycle:

• Mimicking writing style of mentor texts.

• Using webs and lists for writing.

• Listening to how your writing sounds.

• What is your story about?

Future Mini lessons and conferencing points.

• Showing, not telling.

• Using dialogue.

• Using specific words to create interesting and powerful writing.

• Using a story mountain.

Mini-Lesson Application Late Winter

Mini lessons for this cycle:

• Using a story mountain to develop the plot.

• Beginnings, setting

• rising action

• problem/solution

• ending

• Using dialogue to help develop characters.

Future mini-lessons and conferencing points.

• Adding descriptive details about your character to a story.

Mini-Lesson Application Spring Mini lessons for this cycle:

• Research project

•asking questions

•choosing a topic

•taking notes

•organizing your notes

•writing a draft, notes to paragraphs

•using specialized vocabulary

•revising your reportFuture Mini lessons and conferencing points.

• Final Draft

• Presenting your information.

• What have you learned about writing?

Journal Entries that reflect growth as a writer.

September

December

February

Spring Writing Diagnostic

Future Instructional Goals:

• Continue to explore a variety of mentor texts and try out writing styles.

• Apply conventions.

• Develop fictional stories with characters.

• Write poetry.

• Experiment with ways to organize a piece.

• Develop interesting leads, and endings.

0

1

2

3

4

5

Oct. Dec. Jan. Mar. Apr.

Ideas

Organization

Voice

Words

Sentence

Conventions

6 Traits Analysis Oct.-April