Rebecca Harrison

EDR 317-04
Case Study Report
November 21st, 2016

I.

Background Information
My Case Study students name is S she is a young female around 6
years of age. She is currently a 1st grader at Media Elementary School. S lives
with her mother, who is currently a single mom. S is very friendly and talks
to many students in her class, sometimes too much. From interviewing with S
briefly she really loves to spend time with her family and playing with her
friends outside of school. As of right now, S sits at the same table as one of
her close friends. Both girls have been off task more often since they have
switched tables. To help with this Ive tried to work more one on one with her
so that she is still getting her work done. With observing and talking to S, it is
apparent that writing is not her favorite part of the language arts block. As
for reading, she enjoys having someone to read too. When asked to
challenge her brain she is all for it and excited to try out a new book.
During teaching time or work time S shows to get distracted very
easily. She wonders her eyes to other students and other objects in the room.
When asked to discuss things with peers, she says things that match with the
topic most times. Sometimes she will get confused on what the question is
but tries her best to at least say something in the discussion. Currently S is
on a reading level D, with one brain stretch book on level E. She does not
have an IEP and does not have any identified disabilities at this time.
At this time to help S succeed in her reading mini-lessons with the
teacher have become weekly implementations. At these mini-lessons the
teacher will discuss way that she can decode unknown words, how to use
pictures to add more detail and other things she may be struggling with. As
for writing, S works best when she can talk her thoughts out to someone.
When she tells you what she is thinking out loud she tends to focus better
and write the words down more. This does not work all the time, especially
when there is only one teacher in the room. Other times S will be prompted
with pointing to the part where she should be working or by saying, hows
your story coming along?. The writing part of the language arts block is

when she tends to check out the most. To understand just how much, other
students in her class are on their 4th writing piece/ books and she still had
not completed her first book. This is a large gap, which can be hard to close
since the teacher cannot always work one on one with her every day.

II.

Assessment and/or Literacy Strategies/Activities

At the beginning of the semester, I was asked to assess the students
on sight word recognition. Each student except for a few, had to start at list
one and work their way up. Only a few students were able to complete all 15
list provided. As for Soleil, she was able to complete the first and second list
with minimal struggle. As for the third list she knew some words but
struggled with majority of them. I noticed during this assessment that she
was trying to finger spell the words. Since it was an assessment I was not
allowed to help or say anything about that. Most times we try to get students
to not finger spell sight words/ red words, theyre supposed to be my
recognition words.
Each week I attempted to read with S at least once while I was there.
Some weeks I got to read with her more often. First I would have her read her
level book, after that I would ask her if she wanted to stretch her brain a
little. She was always very excited to try a new book, especially when it was
something she was interested in, such as animals. Most times these readings
went really well, other times it was a great in the moment teaching lesson for
me. If S did not know a word, we would talk about our decoding skills and the
first few things we do when we dont know a word. I would have her look at
the picture or illustration, then I would have her look at the first letter in the
word. We would talk about if there were any objects in the illustration that
could start with that letter. S seemed to really pick up on this after, this in
the moment lesson. The next few times I would read with her, she would
read the words on the page and point to the illustrations. It was great to see
improvement in this area.

The next thing I wanted to make sure, was that she was
comprehending the information she was reading. When reading our brain
stretch books, I would first stop her about half way through and ask what is
going on this the book so far?. If she was correct I would have her keep
reading, if not we would go back and look at the details the author was
giving us. As So started to improve on these skills, I waited until the end of
the book and would ask more in depth questions. S may read at a lower level
than her peers, but she works hard and seems to be engaged when reading.
She showed me that she can use her strategies to decode words and
comprehend books that are higher level for her.
As for writing, I have not been able to do a full out assessment with
her. There writing time extends 15 minutes after we leave but I have worked
with her a lot one on one before I go. As I said before, S works best in writing
when she is able to talk out what she wants to write. When I am able to work
with her, I ask her questions like what do we have to write about today?
shell tell me what the assignment is and then I will ask a follow up question.
The follow up question could be oh so what do you think your book is going
to be about?. After she tells me and I give her positive reinforcement, Ill
proceed to ask her or point to where she should start writing. From knowing
S for a few months now, she really wants that one on one attention. I took a
day to work with her for a few moments, then I left to see what would
happen. A few minutes after I left, she stopped writing. She stared at other
students writings, talked to her friend at the table or just sat there. When
this happened I walked back over to her and encouraged her to keep writing
the sentence she was on. Most times she would start writing again and very
quickly stop again. When I am in the classroom, it is easier to work one on
one with students but when its only the teacher and the aide it can be
difficult. Thats why when I am there, I work with her for a little and then
encourage her to keep going with her thoughts.

III.

Evaluation
Getting to know S personally was a great experience, as a student she
has some strengths and some roadblocks like any other student might.
Some of Ss strength include: participating in class discussion, working
well with partners, sounding out words as she writes. She also, is able to
focus majority of the time during independent reading. S is able to use the
strategies she has learned from her teachers and other grownups.
Although S has many strengths with her reading and writing, she does
have some roadblocks. It is hard for Soleil to get started on her tasks,
especially early in the morning and she can get distracted very easily
during any task. Another roadblock is that S does not enjoy writing, this
could also cause a lot of the off task behaviors. For many students in her
class they are starting to write their 4th writing piece, whereas S is still
working on her first book.
In the future, I would recommend that S work with a small group that is
led by the teacher or the classroom aide for writing. If this is not a possibility,
I would have S work with another student who she is friendly with but not
someone she will get off task with. If she was to work with either she could
talk out what she wanted to write about and bounce ideas off of the other
students. If I was to stay in the classroom, we would work on time
management skills. Id possibly create a reinforcement system such as the
token economy system. We could create this and use it as time on task or
when the teacher notices that she is on task throughout her work, she would
gain a token. After say 5 tokens gained she would earn something, such as
the break basket or any appropriate within the classroom.
In the future, I would recommend that S does a few more brain
challenge books during independent reading time. Ive noticed over the past
few weeks she has kept the same brain challenge book in her bag of books.
Although its good repetition for her, I would like to see her challenge herself
more. I would also suggest that she be given a brain challenge book every

other day. This could help expand vocabulary that she does not know,
another thing she could do is have vocabulary list to practice. S is very good
with sounding out words and tapping them out, even if she does not know
the words on the list she could try her best. If she had tried to decode them
and did not get them she could be told the word and practice it that way. If I
was to stay in the classroom during reading time, I might try to implement
this. I believe it would benefit her in the long run. When she is able to read
the words in the book, she is also able to comprehend the story better.
In regards to goals for S, I would first start with a on task goal. This
goal would be: Before the end of the year, I would like to see S get into her
tasks faster and stay on task longer. This would require her to get her folders
and books out when asked, not talking to friends and also getting her pencil
and paper ready, etc. I would start with verbal prompts, from there I would
work to non-verbal ques. If this did not work, I would have the student work
on a reward system like I mentioned previously. Then a writing goal, this goal
would be: Before the end of the year, as S works up her on task stamina I
would like to see her writing at least 3 books a unit and engaging more with
writing activities. Finally, a reading goal, this goal would be: By the end of
the school year, I would like S to be at reading level F, this is 2 reading levels
from where she is now. These goals would help each other out in the long run
by gaining on task stamina, Soleil could begin to write more books. By
improving her reading level to F, Ss writing could also improve. If I could be
in the class room for the entire year, I would try to get these going.
Moving forward I would suggest 3 reading level D books. These books
are mostly about animals and are majority are non-fiction with a few fiction
books. S could learn a lot of helpful information from these books and since
she loves animals I think these would be a good match. These books are all
from Reading A-Z (all cited below), Animal Costumes, Where Animals
Live, Frog is Hungry. For brain challenge books, I suggested books that
have word patterns in them. I suggested these because since she is not on
this level quite yet. I want her to be able to use her strategies to decode

when she comes to an unknown word. As time progresses in this level she
will be able to read more un patterned books. These books are also from
Reading A-Z (all cited below), Grandparents Day, All About Orcas.
Overall, S is a great student who just needs a little nudge to get
started. It was pleasure working with her this semester and getting to know
her on a personal level. I wish I could continue to work with her for the rest of
the year. I wish her the best of luck and hope the best for her!

IV.

Support Materials
Leveled book citations:
Level D: Animal Costumes by Nancy Helen Kessler:
https://www.readinga-z.com/books/leveled-books/book/?id=2441
Kessler, Nancy Helen. Animal Costumes. N.p.: Reading A-z, n.d.
Reading A-Z. Web. <https://www.readinga-z.com/projectable/book.php?
id=2441&lang=1&type=book>.

Where Animals Live by Robert Charles: https://www.readingaz.com/books/leveled-books/book/?id=50

Charles, Robert. Where Animals Live. N.p.: Reading A-z, n.d. Reading AZ. Web. <https://www.readinga-z.com/projectable/book.php?
id=50&lang=1&type=book>.

Frog is Hungry by Maribeth Boetelts: https://www.readingaz.com/books/leveled-books/book/?id=950

Boetelts, Maribeth. Frog Is Hungry. N.p.: Reading A-z, n.d. Reading A-Z.
Web. <https://www.readinga-z.com/projectable/book.php?
id=950&lang=1&type=book>.

Level E: Grandparents Day by Dori Hilestad Butler:

https://www.readinga-z.com/books/leveled-books/book/?id=1649
Hilestad, Dori. Grandparents Day. N.p.: Reading A-z, n.d. Reading A-Z.
Web. <https://www.readinga-z.com/projectable/book.php?
id=1649&lang=1&type=book>.

All About Orcas by Ellen S Mulkrin: https://www.readingaz.com/books/leveled-books/book/?id=2942

Mulkrin, Ellen S. All About Orcas. N.p.: Reading A-z, n.d. Reading A-Z.
Web. <https://www.readinga-z.com/books/leveled-books/book/?id=2942>.
Observation notes:
10/24

 Flipping through non-fiction book

Says non-fiction books are made up
Struggling to get started
A lot of wait time
Looking around room, watching other students
Needs constant reminders
A lot of one on one attention
Not sitting on bottom
Slow to get moving to seat
Slow to get work out
10/26
Chews on hair
Looking/listening to story
Plays with things on her body
Got started right away
Participates
Focused on hand writing
Eagar to raise hand and participate
Distracted with classroom movement
Only wanted to add one, didnt want to write anymore
Needed to e directed multiple times
10/31
Sitting and staring at morning work
Singing
When Ms. Welc said mix, she mixed with her arms
Same when said fold in, folded with hands
Engaged
Started off during writing
Didnt want to write
Constantly walking over to sink
Did not write until I said the sentence she gave me
Started to feel like she wanted to me to do it/ spell each word for her
(opinion)
Every time I walked away, she would stop doing it
Prompt her 3 times to start coloring her picture
Engaged pointing at book
Eating her hair piece
Talked when reader said, what did she say
11/4
Rocking while listening to lesson
Read a level E book to me during reading

11/6

Asked her what happened at the end

Was able to tell me what happened first, next, after and finally
Wanted to make sure she comprehended a level E book
Looked away while student answered teacher
Makes comment about picture in the book during the lesson
Tells partner what kind of animal does not have legs
Spinning around then says they bounce commenting of the page
about frogs and toads
Student work samples: