Basic Reading Inventory
Case Study:
Antonio Johnson
Wilmington University
MEE 7998
Practicum III
Jonathan Gianacoplis
Student Profile
Name:
Antonio Johnson
Age:
15
D.O.B.:
10/9/1997
Grade:
10th
Sex:
M
Race:
African American
Reason
for Referral: Antonio is currently
enrolled in Mrs. Sharkey’s PAW Reading class because he failed to achieve a 3
or better on the DCAS Reading test last year.
In the small group setting of PAW (there are 6 students in his class),
Antonio participates and shows understanding and mastery of many concepts.
However, in his larger English class which Mrs. Sharkey also teaches, Antonio
often seems lost. He rarely hands in
homework or volunteers to participate.
School History: As stated above Antonio has been
placed in PAW reading because of his performance on the reading DCAS as a 9th
grader. PAW reading focuses on
previewing vocabulary and concepts that will be taught in regular English
class, while also providing additional instruction on basic reading
skills. In addition, he has also been
placed in a PAW math class for similar performance on the Math DCAS. As a 9th grader, Antonio failed Algebra I,
Civics and Physical Science. As a result
he is making up all these classes this year as a 10th grader. Therefore he has 2 math and 2 science
classes. With the idea that he will pass
all these classes Antonio has been moved on to the 10th grade; however, as an
11th grader he will have to take two social studies classes to catch back up
with his classmates. On his first
marking period report card, Antonio failed Biology, Algebra I, Geometry, and
Civics. He did pass English with a 78%
and PAW reading with a 88%. Many of his teachers offer extra help after school,
which Antonio has not yet taken advantage of.
In addition, Antonio’s parents did not attend parent-teacher conferences
which for failing students were recommended. Teachers personally called each
parent of students who failed. In terms
of attendance, Antonio has only missed 2 days of school thus far. He is also very rarely late for class.
Pre-Test Data
I started Antonio on the 6th
grade level of the graded word lists. He scored correct 19 words out of 20,
missing only the word yacht. We moved on to the 7th and 8th
grade lists where he scored 18 on both lists. Once again he missed words that
have different sounds than the typical phoneme suggests, i.e. orchid and pneumonia. When we moved on to the 9th grade list
he scored 16 having similar trouble with words such as siesta and crochet.
Antonio hit the frustration level on the 10th grade list. On this
list there were 7 words (sterile, maternity, fictitious, cuticle, panorama,
inquisitive, and artisan) which he could not attempt. He said he had never seen
these words before. Based on this BR,I I believe that Antonio’s vocabulary
level is at an 8th grade independent level and a 9th
grade instructional level.
Based on the results of the word
lists, Antonio started off reading an 8th grade passage. On this
passage Antonio only made three miscues. He repeated one word and inserted they and the, at two different parts of the passage. When he moved up to the
9th grade passage his miscues doubled from 3 to 6. This trend
continued when he moved on to the 10th grade passage and finished
with 13 miscues. Based on the BRI results I have determined that Antonio is
reading at a 9th grade independent/instructional level and a 10th
grad instructional level.
The comprehension component of the
BRI was the toughest part to administer to Antonio. I started him off on the 8th
grade passage and he only answered half of the questions correctly without
looking back in the passage. This same pattern continued into the 9th
and 10th grade passages as well. It is clear from this information Antonio
struggles with comprehension of the text.
|
Grade
|
Isolation (Word Lists)
|
Context (Passages)
|
Comprehension
|
|
III
|
Sight
|
Analysis
|
Total
|
Level
|
Miscues
|
Level
|
Questions
Missed
|
Level
|
|
7
|
17
|
1
|
18
|
Inst.
|
|
|
|
|
|
8
|
16
|
2
|
18
|
Inst.
|
3
|
Ind.
|
5
|
Frust.
|
|
9
|
14
|
2
|
16
|
Inst.
|
6
|
Ind./Inst.
|
5
|
Frust.
|
|
10
|
12
|
1
|
13
|
Frust.
|
13
|
Instructional
|
6
|
Frust.
|
Problem
The BRI reveals that Antonio needs
help in all three main areas of reading; vocabulary, fluency, and especially
comprehension. When he comes across words that he has never seen before and is
too hard to sound out he does not try to say them. As he reads he misses
punctuation and his fluency is affected by both of these problems. It also
seems as though he is trying to read accurately and decode words appropriately
but in doing so he does not comprehend what he has read. I will work with
Antonio in these three areas.
GLEs and Student Goals
According to the Common Core State
Standards, 10th grade students should be able to craft ideas and
concepts, determine key ideas and details, and should be able to build upon
knowledge and ideas from both literature and informational text. Antonio must
develop a broader vocabulary and build vital skills needed for comprehending
texts. Fluency is also a key component
necessary to have when comprehending what has been read.
Goals I have determined for Antonio
to achieve are as followed:
1. Build upon vocabulary and learn how
to access information on unfamiliar words including proper pronunciation of
these words
2. Work on fluency through repetition of
reading and reading aloud
3. Build skills in comprehending while
reading
Hypothesis
I believe that my time with Antonio
will not produce drastic results. It is too short of a time period and too inconsistent
of tutoring to see a noticeable change in Antonio’s reading ability. I do
believe that he will gain more effective reading skills and maybe even develop
a deeper desire and appreciation for reading.
Implemented Strategies (Lessons)
Lesson #1: Vocabulary Define
DE- Delaware Curriculum
Standards
Subject: English
Standard 2: Students will construct, examine, and
extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through
listening, reading and viewing.
Grade Range:
9-10
Performance Indicator 1: develop an increasingly extensive
vocabulary and actively seek the meaning of unknown words as an important facet
of comprehending texts and messages by
Benchmark b: using reference works, technology,
and human resources to learn the meaning of unknown words.
Objective/Essential Question: How can we determine the proper
pronunciation and meaning of an unfamiliar word?
Lesson Summary
Using the internet, Antonio will
research the difficult words he had trouble with on the BRI 10th and
9th grade graded word lists. The words are the following: embryo,
sterile, maternity, fictitious, cuticle, panorama, inquisitive, vacate,
crochet, debatable, and artisan. Using a graphic organizer Antonio will write
the word in one column, pronunciation and definition in the second column, and
give descriptions or examples in the third column.
Lesson Procedure
Antonio and I will search for the
definition of the words online separately. We both will then fill in the
graphic organizer. When this is finished we will then come together and discuss
the vocabulary words. I will have Antonio read the words out loud so I can hear
him pronounce the words correctly. We will then discuss the definition and see
what examples Antonio came up with.
Closure
After we discuss these words Antonio will then choose 3-4
words and write a paragraph using those words properly.
Lesson #2: Word Sort
DE- Delaware Curriculum
Standards
Subject: English
Standard 2: Students will construct, examine, and
extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through
listening, reading and viewing.
Grade Range:
9-10
Performance Indicator 1: develop an increasingly extensive
vocabulary and actively seek the meaning of unknown words as an important facet
of comprehending texts and messages by
Benchmark b: using reference works, technology,
and human resources to learn the meaning of unknown words.
Objective/Essential Question: How do knowing synonyms and antonyms
of words help us define unfamiliar words?
Lesson Summary:
I am going to give Antonio a stack of
cards with vocabulary words he should be familiar with and the words he
struggled with on the BRI graded word lists (see list from lesson 1). There
will be familiar words Antonio knows that are synonymous and some which are
different than the words he did not know. He will be given time to sort through
these words and group them in different ways.
Procedure:
Antonio will be given the word cards
and I will tell him to group them any way he wants to. This could be word size,
syllables, word definition, word opposites, and so on. Next we will discuss how
he grouped the words and why. He will then proceed to group the words
differently than he did the first time. Again we will discuss his thought
process. Antonio will do this a few times.
Closure:
Antonio will pick a group of words
from his final grouping and write a small paragraph using those words properly.
Lesson #3: SQ3R (Wilmington
University Lesson Plan)
Lesson Title
Subject/Topic Area: Language Arts (English), Reading
Author's Name: Jonathan Gianacoplis
Grade/Level: Grade 10
Context for Learning: Antonio is a 15 year old 10th grade student in Delmar High
School. This student has failed 3 classes last year and is currently failing
two this year. He is in a remediation class (PAW) due to his failed courses and
poor DCAS scores.
Standards:
DE- Delaware Curriculum Standards Subject:
English Standard 2: Students will
construct, examine, and extend the meaning of literary, informative, and
technical texts through listening, reading and viewing.
Grade
Range: 9-10 Performance Indicator 2: self-monitor
comprehension while listening, reading, and viewing by
Benchmark
a: generating a purpose for reading,
listening, or viewing;
Benchmark
b: assimilating information with
prior knowledge to revise predictions and understandings, and to make
inferences;
Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to use the SQ3R method to help retain
and comprehend what they are reading.
Lesson Rationale: The purpose of this lesson is to help Antonio gain a method
to help build reading comprehension.
Lesson Essential Question(s): What can be used as an effective method to help with reading
comprehension?
Beginning of the Lesson/Orientation
Instructional Strategies: I brought in a couple of my Sports Illustrated magazines for
Antonio to look at. Antonio then chose one article to read and complete an SQ3R
on. He chose and Article on Robert Griffin the 3rd the quarterback of the
Washington Redskins.
Time Frame: 5 minutes
Presentation of the Lesson
Instructional Strategies: The first part of this exercise was for Antonio to Survey the
article. He looked at the title of the article, pictures in the article, bold
words or highlighted phrases in the article, read the first paragraph and the
last paragraph, and looked for and subtitles. The next step was for Antonio to
ask questions that his surveillance stirred.
Formative Assessment (ongoing): I will be working alongside Antonio and assessing the
questions he is asking about the article as he is completing the assignment.
Time Frame: 10 minutes
Practice:
Instructional Strategies: The next part is the 3 R's. Antonio will read the article. As
he is reading he will answer his questions. Then he will recite his questions
and answers he found from the text. He will answer the questions in his own
words. Then finally he will he will review the questions and answers and look
to see if he has any more questions or any questions that were not answered.
Formative Assessment (ongoing): I will be assessing Antonio as he reads, recites, and reviews
the article.
Time Frame: 20 minutes
Closure and Summarizing:
Instructional Strategies: At the end of this exercise I will have Antonio write a
paragraph or two and summarize the article in his own words.
Summative Assessment: I will assess Antonio's progress based on the overall
assignment and the summary he writes.
Time Frame: Antonio will have to take the article home and finish his
summary at home. Hopefully he will bring it back to me next time we meet.
Lesson #4: Repeated Reading
DE- Delaware Curriculum
Standards
Subject: English
Standard 2: Students will construct, examine, and
extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through
listening, reading and viewing.
Grade Range:
9-10
Performance Indicator 2: self-monitor comprehension while
listening, reading, and viewing by
Benchmark c: taking appropriate actions (e.g.,
rereading to make sense, adjusting rate of reading, seeking the meaning of
unknown vocabulary) to enhance understanding of oral and written text.
Objective/Essential Question: How can repetitive reading help build
reading fluency?
Lesson Summary:
I picked a poem for Antonio to read
from www.poets.org. Once he was given the poem I had him read it once silently.
Then we would record him reading the poem out loud. I would have him practice
reading this poem out loud to help build his fluency.
Procedure:
I chose the poem Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night, by Dylan Thomas from www.poets.org. Antonio then read this poem
silently. He then listened to the recording of this poem from the website.
After he listened to this recording I recoded on my cell phone Antonio reading
the poem. He then listened to this recording. The next step was to have Antonio
read the poem again to build on his fluency.
Closure:
At the end of the lesson Antonio was
recorded again to listen to his improvement on reading out loud. We then
compared his two recordings and the recording on the website and discussed the
differences and improvements.
Lesson #5: Choral
Reading
DE- Delaware Curriculum
Standards
Subject: English
Standard 2: Students will construct, examine, and
extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through
listening, reading and viewing.
Grade Range: 9-10
Performance Indicator
2: self-monitor
comprehension while listening, reading, and viewing by
Benchmark c: taking appropriate actions (e.g.,
rereading to make sense, adjusting rate of reading, seeking the meaning of
unknown vocabulary) to enhance understanding of oral and written text.
Essential Question: How does reading aloud with another
person help build reading fluency?
Lesson Summary:
Antonio and I will read a short story out loud together in
unison. This will help Antonio build on his fluency. We will also discuss the story as we read,
talk about what is happening, and make predictions about what will happen.
Lesson Procedure:
I picked out the story To
Build a Fire, by Jack London from http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html. Antonio and I read this story out
loud in unison together. I read the story in such a way to illustrate proper
pausing and voice control. This should help Antonio see how fluent readers
read. We also talked about the story and made predictions of what might happen.
Closure:
Antonio and I closed discussing the story and talking about how we would
react in a similar situation this man was in.
Lesson #6: KWL
DE- Delaware Curriculum
Standards
Subject: English
Standard 2: Students will construct, examine,
and extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through
listening, reading and viewing.
Grade Range: 9-10
Performance Indicator 3: demonstrate an overall understanding
of oral and printed texts by
Benchmark e: organizing the important points of
the text via summaries, outlines, and/or graphic organizers;
Benchmark k: relating the text’s content to
real-life situations.
Essential Question: How is the story of Lance Armstrong
similar to that of a Greek Tragedy?
Lesson Summary:
Antonio is interested in Lance
Armstrong and the controversial story of him taking PEDs (Performance Enhancing
Drugs) while winning his many Tour D’France bike races. So Antonio researched
an article found at ESPN about Lance and the PED use. Then he wrote up a KWLS (Know, Want to Know, Learned,
Still want to know) graphic
organizer. We then discussed what was learned from the article.
Procedure:
I asked Antonio if he knew of any
athlete, movie star, or famous person who had recently been “on top” but then
got in trouble and become a tragedy. He mentioned Michael Vick, Lindsay Lohan,
and Lance Armstrong. I asked him to do some research on one of these people and
to write up what he knew about the situation. Then he would ask questions he
wanted to answer about the situation.
Antonio picked lance Armstrong and researched his PED story.
After reading the article he answered the questions he had or corrected
anything he thought he knew which was wrong. The final step was to figure out
if he had any more questions since reading the article or if he still had
questions which remained unanswered. I then asked how he could find these
answers.
Closure:
In closure I had Antonio write a
paragraph explaining how Lance Armstrong’s story was similar to a Greek
Tragedy. This took a topic (Greek Tragedy) which Antonio was learning about in
English class and related it to a real life story.
Post-Test Data
My hypothesis was correct. I did not
really notice any change in Antonio’s reading ability in my short time with
him. In fact he did worse on the graded word lists the second time I
administered the BRI test. I feel the
main reason for this is due to the inconsistent time I had with him and due to
the fact it was a short period of time. I would love to see how well he does at
the end of the year. This is when a big difference may be observed.
|
Grade
|
Isolation (Word Lists)
|
Context (Passages)
|
Comprehension
|
|||||
|
|
Sight
|
Analysis
|
Total
|
Level
|
Miscues
|
Level
|
Questions
Missed
|
Level
|
|
8
|
15
|
2
|
17
|
Inst.
|
2
|
Ind.
|
4
|
Ins./Frust.
|
|
9
|
13
|
1
|
14
|
Inst./Frust.
|
6
|
Ind./Inst.
|
5
|
Frust.
|
|
10
|
12
|
1
|
13
|
Frust.
|
14
|
Frustrated
|
5
|
Frust.
|
Reflection
I was very frustrated with this
assignment. I felt that I could not meet with Antonio consistently enough to
make an impact in his life and really help him with his reading. I knew I could
fulfill the requirements for the course but this just felt wrong. I was working
with him more for my benefit than his. This truly bothered me. It was no one’s
fault but just a product of many different factors which no one could control;
scheduling conflict, work schedule, hurricane sandy, the election, DCAS, a new
baby, and so on. I do feel good that Antonio is in this PAW class and has an
excellent teacher who is there to do exactly what my tutoring was supposed to
do.
As far as the BRI test I have
learned a lot. I did see how valuable this test can be when trying to determine
reading levels and instructional activities to help students with their reading
skills. Once the BRI was practiced a few times it was easier to administer to
the student. This test is a great tool for all teachers to have to use to help
all students. This test procedure also reinforced the importance it is for
students to learn how to read at a young age. This foundation is crucial for
their overall success in school and in future careers.
Recommendations
My recommendation for Antonio is to
be exactly where he is. The PAW reading class Mrs. Sharkey is teaching is
purposely created to help students like Antonio. He seems to do very well in
this class. My concerns are why he does so poorly in other classes. It seems from my interactions that Antonio is
a bright student but lacks motivation or does not take school seriously enough.
It is almost as if he does not care. Parent involvement could possibly change
this. From what I know his parents are not too involved. They do not attend
parent/teacher conferences nor have they responded to emails that have been
sent to them by Mrs. Sharkey. I feel that Antonio is a bright student but just
does not put any effort in is academics.
