Abigail Palmer

SPED 639
March 14, 2018

Project 1 Student Literacy Skills Assessment

 Harry is a fourteen year old 8th grade student and attending Middle School in Honolulu,

Hawai‘i. His primary race and ethnicity is Korean, which is also the only language spoken at home.

Harry was recently referred to Special Education and this quarter is his first time being eligible to

receive accommodations and supports. He receives 900 minutes per week of Special Education

services in the resource setting for all of his classes. Harry receives support four times a week for 45

minutes a day in the resource setting for English/Language Arts. Additionally, Harry is currently

receiving English Language Learner (ELL) services in the pull out setting. Current proficiency for

English: Entering at 1.0. Harry also received a score of 2349 for reading on the Smarter Balanced

Assessment (SBA) last year. After speaking with Harry, it was established that he does not receive

literacy supports outside of school. Harry lives with his mother in Makiki, a small area located

northeast of downtown Honolulu, while his older brother and father live in Korea. His mother

reported that she and Harry’s father are no longer together, requiring her to work full time. Harry’s

mother reported that she is unable to work on literacy at home with Harry because she goes to the

gym after work and does not come home until later in the evenings after he has already gone to bed.

Harry’s mother disclosed that communication with Harry is very hard because he has trouble

understanding her in Korean and also in English when it is translated. When asked about reading at

home, Harry said “Me no read. Me no books home.” Harry does borrow books occasionally from

our school library and enjoys “manga” comic books. Harry and I decided to work together after

school for his assessments.

Assessments administered included the following:

The first assessments administered were the word lists. QRI-6 recommends starting 8th grade

students with the 4th and 5th grade lists. Since I already have a strong background working with this
student, I decided to start him with the third grade spelling list first as my starting point and work my

way up or down if necessary.

Figure 1.1 shows that Harry had Total Correct Automatic 8/20= 40%, Total Correct

Identified was 2/20= 10% and Total Number Correct was 10/20 = 50% for the Third Grade Work

List. This placed him below 70% in the Frustration Level. (See Figure 1.1 below)

Figure 1.1 Third and Second Level Word Lists

My next step was to decrease the word list level to Second Grade List. Figure 1.1 also

displays Harry’s scores for the Second Grade Word List. Total Correct Automatic was 10/20 = 50%,
Total Correct Identified was 2/20 = 10% and Total Number Correct was 12/20 = 60%. Although

Harry’s score went up, he still was under the Frustration Level for the Second Grade List.

Figure 1.2 displays Harry’s First Grade Word List. Total Correct Automatic 11/20 =

55%, Total Correct Identified 2/20= 10% and Total Number Correct was 13/20= 65%. With the First

Grade List, Harry was still currently at Frustration Level, but the number was getting higher.

Figure 1.2 First and Primer Level Word Lists

I decided to try the Primer Word List with Harry. He was very excited reading this list.
Figure 1.2 displays the list with Total Correct Automatic 18/20= 90%, Total Correct Identified 2/20=

10% and Total Number Correct 20/20= 100%. This placed him at the Independent Level.

Because Harry received an Independent Level for the Primer Word List, this helped

me select a passage at this level. Figure 1.3 displays his first reading passage, The Pig Who Learned

to Read (Primer). Results indicated that Harry received a score of 33% for the Concept Questions,

placing him at the unfamiliar text. His Total Accuracy for the passage was 16 and Total

Acceptability was 9. Overall he placed in the Instructional Level. He was able to retell parts of the

story and identify the words in the passage accurately. He did often time leave off the endings of

words ending in “s” or delete transitional words. Harry’s word identification was fairly accurate and

he understood certain parts of the story but comprehension for the entire passage was low.

Comprehension questions for the passage were at an Instructional Level.

Figure 1.3 The Pig Who Learned to Read (Passage 1). Part 1
 Figure 1.3 The Pig Who Learned to Read (Passage 1). Part 2

The second passage that Harry read was called People at Work (Pre-Primer 2). I

wanted to give him a pre-primer passage to see how his levels compared to the first passage. Figure

1.4 displays his second reading. For the Concept Questions, Harry received a score of 67%, placing

him at familiarity. Total Accuracy was 1. Total Acceptability was 1. Overall, this placed him at an

Independent Level. I believe this really helped with his confidence and motivation to read. He was

very excited to meet again to read our next passage. He was able to retell a few parts of the story but

I think it was hard for him to make connections when it came to answering the comprehension

questions. He received a total of 3, which placed him at the Frustration Level for Reading
Comprehension. This was an eye opener for me and I will continue to work with him on

comprehension. He did not have much trouble at all with word identification and fluency in this

passage but he did struggle with comprehending what was going on in the story. He relied heavily on

the pictures for cues.

Figure 1.4 People Who Work (Passage 2) Part 1

 Figure 1.4 People Who Work (Passage 2). Part 2

The third passage Harry read was Who Lives Near Lakes? (Primer) on Figure 1.5.

Harry received a score of 44% for the Concept Questions, which placed him at unfamiliar text level.

I believe this passage was a challenge for him because he wanted to relate it to turtles that live in the

ocean, not near lakes. While reading the passage, Total Accuracy was 2 and Total Acceptability was

2. This placed him at an Instructional Level for reading. I found it interesting when Harry became to

discuss the retelling of the story. He identified a few details, but mostly activated his prior

knowledge. While this was a good strategy, he did get off track and begin to tell his own story about

sea turtles and how they lay eggs and eventually go back to the ocean. For the comprehension

questions, Harry was placed at the Instructional Level. His fluency was not an issue, nor was word

identification, but it seems he has trouble with understanding the meaning behind the words he is

reading.
Figure 1.5 Who Lives Near Lakes? (Passage 3). Part 1
 Figure 1.5 Who Lives Near Lakes? (Passage 3). Part 2

Summary Reading Analysis

The level for Harry was mainly Instructional. This compares accurately to his grade level in

school. He performs around the Kindergarten/First grade level. Harry definitely needs to work on his

decoding skills. If it is a word in isolation, such as a word list, he is able to often times able to

identify it if it is a basic CVC word or sight word. However, if it is in a text and a higher level word,

he either guesses at the word or skips it. Harry scored higher on texts he was familiar with. He was

able to make more connections and apply his critical thinking to answer questions. Harry still

struggled with the content, even with the ability to look back. He relied mostly on the pictures and

during the retell, often made up parts of the story based on what the picture looked like to him. I

think that the passages can sometimes be an overwhelming language barrier for him. Harry scored
around the same for retell vs. comprehension. The only time when there were more details in the

comprehension was when he was adding additional background information that was not in the

story. Harry often times guesses or skips a word that he does not know. He does not sound out

unknown words, which is something we will continue to work on together.

Figure 1.6 Miscue Analysis

 Spelling was one of the more difficult and challenging areas for Harry. I administered the

Elementary Spelling Inventory and he was able to spell a few words correctly (bad, train). He tried

his best but I believe that since he has not had a solid foundation of phonological awareness, his

ability to manipulate sounds is lacking. Language is definitely one of the factors, and it doesn’t

appear that he is hearing all of the sounds. (Ex: The word was Ship and he spelled it seep.) He will

need to develop the association of letters with their appropriate sound. Once he is able to work on

this, it will make spelling come much easier for him. He did well with spelling basic CVC words.

Figure 1.7 Spelling Inventory

Harry’s writing was a struggle for him. He was able to write a total of 20 words, with 14 spelled

correctly. His total correct writing sequence was one sentence. He tried his best but it is clear that

phonetics is a hard for him. He was unable to sound out a lot of the words he was trying to write. His
punctuation was good in his writing probe. He remembered to add a period at the end of every

sentence.

Figure 1.8 CBM Writing Probe

Overall strengths for Harry include his ability to recognize sight words and write simple

sentences with those sight words. Needs include reading comprehension (answering explicit and

implicit questions), decoding unknown words in reading, sounding out words for writing, and basic

sentence structure. Harry will require explicit instruction and modeling to help improve his reading

and writing skills. Harry would benefit from working on basic phonetics to help his language barrier

in reading and writing. Multisensory strategies would help keep his attention and motivation.
Figure 1.9 Student Profile Sheet Oral Reading
Figure 2.1 Student Interest Survey
 Project 2 Student Intervention

Student Case Written Report

Harry is a fourteen year old 8th grade student and attending Middle School in Honolulu,

Hawai‘i. His primary race and ethnicity is Korean, which is also the only language spoken at home.

Harry was recently referred to Special Education and this quarter is his first time being eligible to
receive accommodations and supports. He receives 900 minutes per week of Special Education

services in the resource setting for all of his classes. Harry receives support four times a week for 45

minutes a day in the resource setting for English/Language Arts. Additionally, Harry is currently

receiving English Language Learner (ELL) services in the pull out setting. Current proficiency for

English: Entering at 1.0. Harry also received a score of 2349 for reading on the Smarter Balanced

Assessment (SBA) last year. After speaking with Harry, it was established that he does not receive

literacy supports outside of school. Harry lives with his mother in Makiki, a small area located

northeast of downtown Honolulu, while his older brother and father live in Korea. His mother

reported that she and Harry’s father are no longer together, requiring her to work full time. Harry’s

mother reported that she is unable to work on literacy at home with Harry because she goes to the

gym after work and does not come home until later in the evenings after he has already gone to bed.

Harry’s mother disclosed that communication with Harry is very hard because he has trouble

understanding her in Korean and also in English when it is translated. When asked about reading at

home, Harry said “Me no read. Me no books home.” Harry does borrow books occasionally from

our school library and enjoys “manga” comic books. Harry and I decided to work together after

school for his assessments.

For this intervention, Harry learned two different strategies- RAP Strategy and the

Word Attack Strategy. He also worked on identifying sight words at the second grade level and

was assessed using reading passages from DIBELS DAZE at the third grade level. Initially,

Harry struggled with the second grade sight words. He recognized a few of them, but was

guessing at the word. Considering his background with recently moving from Korea to the

United States, I decided to let him draw pictures next to each of the sight words to help make a

connection to each of the words. This helped Harry immensely. It was also very engaging for
him to be able to have creative freedom to decide what connections to make and what to draw. I

noticed that he enjoyed the process more and was excited to play “the sight word game.” Using

Project 1 as a baseline, I decided to use the third grade level DIBELS DAZE passages for Harry.

At first, Harry was choosing a random word in the box, just to get to the next box. After some

practice, he started focusing more on reading the sentences and words before and after the boxes

to choose the word that fits best. Initially, we started the timer with three minutes. The frustration

level was very high for Harry, because he felt like he needed to rush through to get to the end of

the passage. He was highly engaged in the passage and enjoyed reading it, so I did not want to

count him down for needing “think time” to analyze the words. After reflecting on this, I decided

to increase his time to five minutes instead of three, thus giving him time to actually read and

sound out the words in the boxes and decipher the meaning for each before choosing the correct

one. When he read the next passage with the extra time, his score went from seven correct to

nine correct! The extra time proved to be extremely beneficial, and each time he read a new

passage, he was able to take his time reading the entire sentence, testing out each of the words

inside the boxes to see if the sentence flowed, and was able to choose correct words. The goal of

this intervention was to get Harry to be able to utilize the strategies, and I think that because he

spent a lot of time analyzing the words, he was able to work on comprehension as well. Harry

really benefitted from learning the RAP and Word Attack strategies. Although he preferred the

Word Attack over the RAP, once we found a book of high interest for him, he was able to

engage more and utilize the RAP strategy because he was very curious about the book he had

chosen.

This intervention shows that Harry needs explicit instruction and modeling. He is

capable of doing the work, but because he does not have that foundational background, he really
benefits from sitting down and having individual instruction, modeling what is expected. His

motivation is high and he wants to do his best. Overall strengths for Harry include his ability to

recognize sight words and write simple sentences with those sight words. Once he learned the

RAP and Word Attack strategies and had time to practice, he was able to utilize them in his

reading. Reflecting on the DIBELS DAZE, Harry needs extended time to work on sounding out

unknown words and understanding their meaning. It takes him a little longer to read a sentence,

read the words in the box, and test out each word to see if it fits in the passage. With time and

more practice, this will become more natural for him but until then, he will need extra time.

Needs include reading comprehension (answering explicit and implicit questions), decoding

unknown words in reading, sounding out words for writing, and basic sentence structure. Harry

will require explicit instruction and modeling to help improve his reading and writing skills.

Harry would benefit from working on basic phonetics to help his language barrier in reading and

writing. Multisensory strategies would help keep his attention and motivation. I would

recommend tutoring in reading strategies for Harry, specifically focusing on how to use context

clues to help decipher the meaning of unknown words. Practicing that skill will help him with

assessments such as DIBELS DAZE. In the classroom, Harry would benefit from chunking

reading information into smaller segments, and working with a teacher giving explicit instruction

and modeling the process for and with him. This will help him practice the skills with the goal of

working on them independently. Once he felt comfortable using the strategies (RAP and Work

Attack), Harry was able to successfully read and understand the passages. He will need to

continue to practice with a teacher, reminding him to use the strategies along with others, until he

is able to remember to do it on his own. At home, I would recommend Harry reading out loud

every night. This will help with fluency, word repetition and recognition and overall confidence.
 Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)Lesson Plan Template
Lesson Title: RAP Paraphrasing Strategy Subject: ELA Grade Level(s): Third Grade
Developed by: Abbey Palmer Date Developed: 4/4/18

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
1) STRATEGY OBJECTIVE: Given a paragraph at student’s instructional level (third grade), student will identify and apply each step
of the RAP paraphrasing strategy.

2) SKILL OBJECTIVE: After reading a paragraph at student’s instructional level (third grade), student will paraphrase the main idea
and details in their own words and in one sentence 2 out of 3 trials.

PLAN OF INSTRUCTION

The Teacher Will…. The Student(s) Will… (say, write, point,

underline etc.…)

Develop Background Knowledge: Ask the student what strategies they Sounding out words, stopping and slowing
intro/assess prior knowledge of text use when reading a paragraph. down.
content, necessary vocabulary, what
strategies are, strategies students are
currently using.

Discuss It: Introduce the strategy,
benefits (why student should use it),
when it can be used, student effort and
self-talk
“This strategy will help when you are
trying to figure out the main idea and
key details in a paragraph. This
strategy can be used anytime you
are reading a paragraph.”
The student will take out a pencil and
paper to write down the RAP Strategy
steps.

Model it: demonstrate steps, instructor
think aloud for each step
Step 1: Read the paragraph
(The teacher will model and read a
paragraph)
Step 2: Ask yourself, “what
happened in this paragraph?”
(The teacher will model finding the
Step 1: The student will follow Step 1 and
read the paragraph.
Step 2: The student will follow Step 2 and
Ask, locating the main idea of the
paragraph and key details.
Step 3: The student will follow Step 3 and

Memorize it: student memorizes
strategy mnemonics and what they mean
Support it: Guided practice
collaboratively using with student,
support with visual or graphic organizer
Establish independent practice:
How will independent practice be
incorporated in current and future
lessons?
main idea and key details in the
paragraph)
Step 3: Paraphrase
(The teacher will write down the
main idea and key details in their
own words on the RAP worksheet.)
The teacher will have the student
repeat the three steps for each
paragraph read.
The teacher will encourage the use of
the RAP worksheet along with having
the strategy written on the board in
an easy spot for the student to
locate.
Independent practice will be
incorporated after the student is
comfortable and ready to use the
strategy on their own. For example,
if the student is reading something
that is five paragraphs long, they can
work on the RAP strategy WITH the
teacher for the first four paragraphs,
then try using the strategy
independently for the fifth
paragraph.
paraphrase the main idea, and key details
in their own words. The student will record
their summary on the RAP worksheet.
The student will work with the teacher and
repeat the three steps in the RAP strategy.
The student will also use a piece of butcher
paper to make a poster of the strategy to
hang on the wall to reference.
The student will use the RAP worksheet
and work with the teacher to read each
paragraph, ask what the main idea and
key details are and paraphrase in their
own words. The student and teacher will
work on this together until the student is
able to perform the steps by themselves.
The student will work on the strategy for
the first four paragraphs with the teacher,
going over each step together. For the fifth
paragraph, the student will try it
independently. The previous paragraphs
AND the poster of the strategy will be a
guide for the student.
INSTRUCTION MATERIALS NEEDED (INCLUDE READING LEVEL ) Note, first introduction of strategies are best with materials at
students’ independent reading level, and then move to student’s instructional level.

 Copies of Read-Ask-Paraphrase worksheet

(http://www.interventioncentral.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/pdfs_blog/Read_Ask_Paraphrase_RAP_Worksheet_Interactive.p
df )
 Pencils
 Third Grade Reading Level text of choice

ACCOMMODATIONS OR MODIFICATIONS (COULD BE TIME, MATERIALS, HOW STUDENT RESPONDS, SKILLS OBJECTIVE)

 Working with the teacher on this skill until they are close to mastery
 Explicit instruction for the three steps in directions
 Extended time

ASSESSMENT (HOW WILL STUDENT DEMONSTRATE THEY MET OBJECTIVE(S))

The student will complete a RAP worksheet on their own and submit it to the teacher. This will show as a summative assessment
whether or not the student understands the strategy and has met the objectives.
 Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)Lesson Plan Template
Lesson Title: Word Attack Strategies in Context Subject: ELA Grade Level(s): Third Grade
Developed by: Abbey Palmer Date Developed: 4/4/18

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES:
1) STRATEGY OBJECTIVE: Given a unknown word in a text at student instructional level (third grade), student will choose and
apply one of three strategies (Name each letter, say small words/word parts you know, first sound + cover word+ read
sentence) to decoding the word, 3 out of 4 times.

2) SKILL OBJECTIVE: Given an initially unknown word in a text at student instructional level (third grade), student will identify the
word, 3 out of 4 times.

PLAN OF INSTRUCTION

The Teacher Will…. The Student(s) Will… (say, write, point,

underline etc.…)

Develop Background Knowledge:
intro/assess prior knowledge of text
content, necessary vocabulary, what
strategies are, strategies students are
currently using.
Ask the student what strategies Sounding out each letter, remembering
they use to decode unknown flash cards (OG card deck).
words.

Discuss It: Introduce the strategy,
benefits (why student should use it),
when it can be used, student effort
and self-talk
“This strategy will help you when
you come across an unknown
word. It gives you a list of things
to do to try to figure out the
word’s meaning.”
The student will take out a pencil and
paper to write down the Word Attack
Strategy steps.

Model it: demonstrate steps,
instructor think aloud for each step
Step 1: Say each letter’s sound
Step 2: Break the word into
chunks and sound out (find a
smaller word that you know inside
of the bigger word)
Step 1: The student will say each
letter’s sound.
Step 2: The student will break the word
into chunks and sound out (finding a
smaller word that they know inside out

Memorize it: strategy mnemonics and
what they mean
Support it: Guided practice
collaboratively using with student,
support with graphic organizer
Establish independent practice:
How will independent practice be
incorporated in current and future
lessons?
Step 3: Say the first sound, then
cover the rest of the word and
finish reading the sentence. Use
context clues in the sentence to
try to determine the meaning of
the unknown word.
The teacher will have the student
repeat the three steps for each
unknown word they come across
during their reading.
The teacher will continue to work
with the student, modeling the
three steps needed for Word
Attack. The teacher will also
reference the strategy written on
the board in an easy spot for the
student to locate.
Independent practice will be
incorporated after the student is
comfortable and ready to use the
strategy on their own. For
example, the teacher can do the
Phonogram Pyramids worksheet
with the student for the first two
questions. Then the student can
complete the worksheet on their
own as independent practice.
the bigger word.)
Step 3: The student will say the first
sound, then cover the rest of the word
and finish reading the sentence. The
student will use context clues to try to
determine the meaning of the unknown
word.
The student will work with the teacher
and repeat the three steps in the Word
Attack strategy. The student will also
use a piece of butcher paper to make a
poster of the strategy to hang on the
wall to reference.
The student will work with the teacher
using the Phonogram Pyramids
worksheet to practice the Word Attack
strategy. The worksheet will give a list
of words, then a clue.
Ex: animal __ _____ ___
Answer: b ea r
The student will work on the first two
questions on the Phonogram Pyramids
worksheet with the teacher. Then they
will complete the rest of the worksheet
individually.
INSTRUCTION MATERIALS NEEDED (INCLUDE READING LEVEL )

 Pencils
 Third Grade Word List
 Phonogram Pyramids Worksheet
(https://literacymethods.wikispaces.com/file/view/Phonogram+Pyramids+ai.pdf )

ACCOMMODATIONS OR MODIFICATIONS (COULD BE TIME, MATERIALS, HOW STUDENT RESPONDS, SKILLS OBJECTIVE)

 Working with the teacher on this skill until they are close to mastery
 Explicit instruction for the three steps in directions
 Extended time

ASSESSMENT (HOW WILL STUDENT DEMONSTRATE THEY MET OBJECTIVE(S))

The student will use the Word Attack Strategy to complete the Phonogram Pyramids worksheet on their own and submit it to the
teacher. This will show as a summative assessment whether or not the student understands the strategy and has met the
objectives.