Katherine+Barrood

Katherine Barrood Tutoring Log 6 Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 Student: Matthew Age: 8 years Grade: 3rd Time: 6:30 – 7:30 pm Location: Matthew’s house 1. Goals/Objectives: The goals for my sixth meeting with Matthew are as follows: 2. Summary/Observations: It has been one week since our last tutoring session. Matthew joined me at the table right away this week; however, he was very reluctant to do any of the activities I had planned. He rocked back and forth in his chair, banging the legs of the chair on the floor even after I asked him to stop several times. His behavior has progressed from reluctance to join me at the table, to eating when we are to begin, to rocking and banging his chair. Fluency I asked Matthew to begin our session by reading aloud last week’s poem, “Wearing of the Green.” He showed a marked improvement in his fluency when reading the poem to me this week. Over the course of the past week, Matthew had obtained five “lucky listener” signatures for reading his poem aloud to his family members. We moved right into a new poem, “Under a Mushroom” by Judy Strickland. I read the poem to Matthew and then we discussed the meaning. Then we read the poem together, and finally Matthew read the poem to me. Since the poem contained several compound words, I decided to focus on those words in the poem. Matthew said that he had heard the phrase, “compound word” before but he didn’t know what a compound word was. I taught him what a compound word is and then we found them in the poem. Again, as part of his homework, I asked Matthew to read the poem aloud to as many people as he can and ask his listeners to sign the back of his paper. Read Aloud Matthew insisted on reading more poems from // Where the Sidewalk Ends // by Shel Silverstein. I read aloud two poems titled, “Melinda Mae” and “My Beard.” We took some time to discuss the meaning of each poem. Matthew asked if we could read more poetry because these two poems were so short. I know he enjoys being read to, but I think he was looking for a way to put off doing the reading and writing activities I had planned. Writing As I tried to transition to our writing activity, Matthew expressed some anxiety over writing stating that he hated writing and that in school he avoids writing unless his teacher is standing right beside him. He said that not only did he hate writing, but he hated school. I tried to ease his discomfort with writing by telling him that we would work together and that I was there to help him. I have noticed that Matthew does much better when we “share the pen.” He is not an independent writer. In fact, now that Matthew knows I want him to do some writing every week I find he looks for ways to put off the activity whether by eating, talking or complaining about how hard it is. I began by asking Matthew to list ten things that he knew a lot about. He wrote the first six items quickly, and needed some coaching to complete the list of ten. On his own, he gave each item a percentage which indicates how much he knows about each. His list was as follows: 1. football- 50% 2. math-40% 3. baseball- 0 4. video games- 100% 5. basketball-90% 6. school, no one likes school- 4% 7. family- 0 8. best friends- 80% 9. TV- 110% 10. movies- 105% Based on his ranking, I told Matthew that we would begin a pre-writing web using TV as our topic. Together we came up with three paragraph ideas. They were, “shows I like,” “favorite show,” and “why I like it.” We added three details for each paragraph that we will use to write sentences. We will use this web to write a three paragraph narrative next week. Instructional Text I asked Matthew to tell me what happened in the chapter he read as homework. He was able to explain the gist of the chapter. I asked him to reread the end of the chapter aloud in order to refresh our minds before reading the last chapter. I had Matthew read the last chapter silently and then we discussed the ending of the book. Matthew understood the plot of the story, and could explain how the main character found a clever way to solve his problem. I asked Matthew if he knew that the goal of reading is to understand the text. He said that he thought the goal of reading was to read all the words. We talked at length about smaller goals such as reading the words and reading with fluency that lead you to the main goal of understanding what you read. I tried to relate the concept to basketball in that the smaller goals of playing good defense and shooting baskets are a way to achieve the main goal of winning the game. Word Study I prepared a word sort with long ‘o’ spelling patterns this week. I gave Matthew three key words and asked him to sort all twenty-four words. Matthew was able to sort the words but overall he was inattentive and careless with the sort. He was able to read most of the words easily. After Matthew sorted and read the words, we discussed the meanings of the words. Then we did a speed sort. 3. Critical Reflection: According to Crovitz and Miller, students need to see relationships between words and explore their meaning. The authors support the use of a visualization technique for helping students see the appropriateness of choosing a particular word over another. Graves and Watts-Taffe also discuss the importance of word consciousness. They believe that students need an appreciation of the power of words and an understanding of why certain words are used instead of others. Though I agree with the authors mentioned above, I find it really hard to work on word choice with a struggling student who has a difficult time getting any words onto paper. I feel as if a student has to have some control over their own writing before they can even begin to consider alternative word choices. I feel the best way to address word choice for struggling students is through teacher modeling and shared writing activities. Caldwell and Leslie state that vocabulary knowledge is closely related to comprehension. I was interested in the lesson they suggested, comparing word meaning. I think Matthew would benefit from comparing how two words are alike. I think he would also benefit from an understanding of how words interrelate. As I have gotten to know Matthew, I realize that his vocabulary is limited. Though he can read many more words as a result of our weekly word sorts, he often doesn’t know what the words mean. Though he has begun to analyze words more critically, he doesn’t automatically know how words interrelate. He definitely needs more instruction in these areas. Greenwood and Flanigan make an important point when they claim that the size of an individual’s vocabulary is a powerful predictor of how well that person comprehends. When we consider this statement in light of Caldwell and Leslie’s claim that we learn most words by listening and reading, it seems obvious that read-alouds and wide reading are the most effective methods to build vocabulary, and thus the most effective way to improve comprehension. 4. Next Steps:
 * Student will make a list of topics that he knows a lot about
 * Student will create a pre-writing web with one topic from the list
 * Student will discuss the reading homework assignment
 * Student will read the last chapter of the instructional text
 * Student will read a seasonal poem aloud for fluency practice
 * Student will look for compound words in the poem
 * Student will sort words which feature long ‘o’ spelling patterns and will revisit last week’s long ‘i’ words
 * Begin the session with a writing activity using the web created this week
 * Read a seasonal poem for fluency practice and find rhyming words
 * Word sort with long ‘u’ spelling patterns
 * Administer the San Diego Quick Assessment
 * Teach a Spelling In Parts lesson for decoding multisyllabic words

** Case Scenario ** I am continuing my tutoring with Matthew, a third grader who has struggled with reading for several years. When Matthew was tested at the end of second grade, he was deemed borderline for needing basic skills instruction in reading. He was placed in a third grade classroom with an in-class support teacher so that he may receive extra support with his reading. According to his mother, as the year has progressed, Matthew has had increasing difficulty with reading and writing. According to his teacher, as reported to me by his mother, Matthew especially struggles with writing, comprehension tasks and following directions. In an effort to address the problem, Matthew recently started receiving one-on-one reading instruction twice a week in school in addition to his regular classroom reading instruction.

Matthew and I meet once a week in the evening at his home. This semester, Matthew has been reluctant to begin our tutoring sessions. I attribute this to the fact that I am requiring him to read and write for longer periods of time. He prefers to do short reading assignment and play games. Last semester we spent the bulk of our time doing QRI-5 informal reading assessments and doing word sorts. This semester we have continued with the word sorts, and we have been working on reading fluency, reading comprehension and writing.

Matthew is a Within-Word speller who needs practice with long vowels. He is reading a Fountas and Pinnell level L text. His reading is choppy and he often re-reads words. In my opinion, Matthew’s weakest area is writing. He has trouble coming up with ideas. In fact, on the two occasions that I asked him to write on a particular topic, he wasn’t able to write for more than five minutes before he got stuck.

I have the following questions: 1. How can I bring back Matthew’s enthusiasm for our sessions? 2. What types of writing assignments are appropriate for our time together?

One concern I have is that Matthew in not encouraged to read at home. His parents seem genuinely concerned about his progress in reading, and yet they do not make daily reading a priority. What is the best way to address this situation?

Thanks!

End of scenario.

Katherine Barrood Dr. C. McLean Wed. 4:50-7:30pm

** Tutoring Log 1 ** Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Student: Matthew Age: 8 years Grade: 3rd Time: 6:30 – 7:30 pm Location: Matthew’s house

** 1. Goals/Objectives: ** The goals for my first meeting with Matthew are as follows:
 * Poetry read aloud
 * Word sort with vCe words
 * writing
 * introduce instructional text
 * create a bookmark
 * explain homework routine

** 2. Summary/Observations: ** According to Matthew’s mother, Matthew has continued to decline in his performance at school since our last tutoring session, especially in regards to reading. It has been just over two months since I last tutored Matthew. He was a bit reluctant to join me at the table and begin our session. Once we got started, we fell easily into our usual routine and Matthew seemed to enjoy our time together.

** Read Aloud ** I began our session by reading aloud a poem by Shel Silverstein titled, “Ickle Me, Pickle Me Tickle Me Too.” I thought a read aloud would be a nice transition activity to ease into our session. Matthew loves being read to and he really enjoyed the poem. In fact, after I began reading he realized he was familiar with the book and requested I read aloud, “Warning,” a poem about the dangers of picking your nose. ** Word Study ** I prepared weekly word sorts for Matthew when I tutored him in the fall, so word sorting is a familiar activity for him. However, Matthew does not do word sorts in school. According to his mother, the spelling program Matthew’s school uses is phonics based and is not based on spelling patterns. I gave Matthew 24 words and asked him to sort them into four groups. On the first try, he made one large group and realized that putting all the words that ended in an ‘e’ into one group would not give him four groups. I had to prompt him to look at the other vowels in the words in order to sort them. After sorting the words correctly, I asked Matthew to read them to me. At first he read the words with a short vowel sound, for example: time as tim. After we discussed how the ‘e’ at the end of the word changes the vowel sound, he was able to read all the words correctly except for the aCe words. He struggled with those words so much that I will prepare a sort focusing on aCe words for our next session. ** Writing ** I began our writing assignment by asking Matthew if he liked to write. He told me that he hated writing and that at school he sat at his desk for great lengths of time trying to think of what to write about. I told him to use the poem he selected, “Warning,” to give him ideas to write about. I asked him to write for 10 minutes. He stopped after 5 minutes, having written one long run-on sentence. I asked him to write for 5 more minutes, prompting him with ideas of how to continue. He stopped after 1 minute stating that he had nothing else he could write. My goal is to get Matthew to write for at least 15 minutes without stopping. ** Instructional Text ** Since Matthew enjoyed //Marvin Redpost: Kidnapped at Birth// last fall, I chose another Marvin Redpost book for him to read. After introducing the new book, //Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me?// I asked Matthew to read the first chapter silently. Since we were out of time, I was not able to go over the procedures of the ‘bookmark.’ I will have to do that at our next session. I asked Matthew to re-read Chapter 1 to a parent in the coming week in an effort to improve his fluency. Two additional goals I have are to improve Matthew’s fluency and comprehension.

** 3. Critical Reflection: ** As stated by Caldwell and Leslie (2009), effective intervention programs base instruction on the individual needs of the student. Since I spent several sessions last semester assessing Matthew’s strengths and weaknesses, I began this first session with several goals in mind that are based on his individual needs. I will try to focus our sessions on long vowel spelling patterns, reading comprehension techniques, fluency activities and writing experiences. Caldwell and Leslie also stress the importance of a consistent structure for lesson plans. Successful lessons have a consistent structure and are balanced. I have decided to stick with a consistent structure during my tutoring sessions, which includes a read aloud, word study, writing and reading. I know that when lesson structure is consistent, students know what to expect and feel more confident. The term scaffolding, as discussed in both the Collins article and the Gavelek and Raphael article, refers to a teacher’s role in supporting the struggling reader. Scaffolding helps students carry out tasks that are beyond their capabilities and naturally fades as learners become independent. I found that Matthew needs a lot more support with writing than I originally predicted. I will be using the scaffolding technique as our tutoring sessions progress in an effort to get Matthew more independent with writing.

** 4. Next Steps: **
 * Keep the same overall format: read aloud, word study, writing, reading
 * Word sort with ‘aCe’ words
 * 10 minutes of writing in an effort to slowly increase duration
 * Read Chapter in book and fill out the bookmark