Part of my Literacy class is to spend some time getting to know the reading and writing capabilities of a 4th grader. I have been able to sit with my 4th grade student now for three 30 minute sessions where I have been able to gather a fair amount of data on this topic. The following is my analysis thus far:
What have I learned about my buddy’s needs?
In the first meeting we focused on writing, spelling, and words. He showed he was average for a 4th grader in his capability to spell and read words based on the “Spelling Inventory” but his writing samples proved he misspelled about 15% of the words on the page. His penmanship was lacking in the traditional sense. I noticed his writing was “hurried but artsy”. With this in mind I ask that my student’s first need, SLOW DOWN, come on down!! He gets so focused on the idea in his head that he seems to want to get it on paper very fast. His penmanship suffers and so does his spelling.
What have I learned about his interests?
Designing cars, eating pizza, and talking about being creative top the list for my student. In fact, when I needed a new writing sample from him I asked him to write me a paragraph about what he will be like when he is older he wrote down many details of how he will design cars with his neighbor. In terms of books, he doesn’t have much interest in reading itself as writing and being creative seem to cause his face to light up with more energy. I brought in “The Little Prince” for him to read and he said he liked the story, but his energy wasn’t matching his words. My student, in a nutshell, is interested in the creative idea that is meandering through his mind at that particular point in time.
What have I learned about his capabilities?
Comprehension – When inferring information he was superb at remembering the context of the story. When it came to specific items from the story he did need to look back on a couple of them but he showed he did understand the passages.
Spelling – His Spelling Inventory Error Guide showed him as average when it came to focusing on spelling. In his writing samples his pen got ahead of his brain as his spelling slipped to about 15 of every 100 words incorrect.
Writing – Beyond the penmanship, he always seems to have an idea in his head. Convention wise he knows punctuation, but could use some help using examples to back up his ideas. For example…he talked in detail about how creative he was in his original writing sample “All about me” but didn’t back up the claim with any evidence. “My 9 page story about the talking dog was a great way for me to show my creativity” would have helped me as a teacher understand more of what he meant.
What am I thinking now about his lesson plan?
He will write up a story of his choice making sure to use 25 words that I provide him.
Learning Objectives:
- To speed up his reading
- To slow down his writing (or find away to get him to immediately read over his work for grammatical errors)
- To better his spelling and understand misspelled words can change the meaning of his creativity for others.
- Use examples as evidence for his ideas
- Get him to read books about car design.
Materials to be used:
1. Paper and pencil
2. List of 25 common misspelled 4th grade words
I am excited for your buddy because it seems obvious that you can see his strengths even when sometimes they are camouflaged in his areas to improve. For your lesson plan ideas I was reminded of some of the thoughts in Routman's Writing Essentials where she tries to progress student reading and writing at the same time by having them read their own writing. Am I right, are you thinking along those same lines for your lesson that includes reading and writing objectives?
ReplyDeleteI just flipped through the book again a little and in "Writing Essentials", chapter 6 is "Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection" (119), and p.126 has a section called "Do More Informational Writing". Maybe your student could use your list of words and all your objectives, possibly use another book or magazine on anything close to car design, and then he could write his own car design book, magazine, maybe even advertising poster? Or what about a poem to be put on display so that he could use his own artistic writing and ideas and hopefully find value in slowing down for correct spelling and grammar?
Ok, now I just looked at this assignment again, and I think I just overwhelmed myself in thinking about an assignment for your buddy. Maybe, it might be a little easier for you and your buddy to see immediate improvement if you shorten your list of objectives for this lesson. Especially since we're only with them 30 minutes and there needs to be a content and process objectives. Maybe if you come across (I'll keep my eyes open too) some kind of text that has to do with cars or design, you could work in learning some process too.
It sounds like you have put a lot of thought into the needs of your buddy! One thing I am wondering about is the handwriting aspect of your analysis. In class we have talked about first drafts versus final drafts, with some authors, like Lamott, feeling that pretty much anything goes on the first draft. I am curious to know what his final draft looks like. I also wonder what the current theory is about the importance of handwriting. I saw his handwriting and did not think it was too terrible. (Perhaps that is because I am comparing it to my second-graders!) I don't have answers to these questions, but was wondering if your focus on handwriting is based off of something we read that I forgot about. (Which is completely possible!)
ReplyDeleteYou seem to really know your buddy. I love how you are keeping his creativity in mind.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of incorporating cars into your lesson. I worry about his low reading fluency. As the fluency guide (Hasbrouck and Tindal) states, children lower than 10 points below the 50th percentile need a fluency-building program. Your kiddo seems way lower than that.
Routman suggests that to build fluency, students need to read and reread the same, appropriate level text (p. 129). Maybe once he writes something with those words, he could practice reading it to you. Perhaps you could even time him and see if he gets faster on repeated readings - make a "game" out of it. Or have him read it to many people (classmates, parents, other interns, his teacher, etc).
oooo - another idea (we all seem to have similar issues):
ReplyDeleteWhat if you tapped into his creative side by having him read his story with lots of expression. This might help the re-reads be interesting and fun for him.
Me again - check out the comments section here for reading with expression:
ReplyDeletehttp://myjourneyasateacher.blogspot.com/2011/02/moving-from-assessment-to-instruction.html#comments
What are your buddy's reading strengths and needs across all dimensions of reading? What kinds of reading skills and/or strategies might be appropriate for the focus of a lesson? What are your ideas about text selection?
ReplyDeleteWhoa, there is a lot to unpack here. So I'll manage it the same way I managed the decision about who I was going to take to senior prom...Who do I like the most?
ReplyDeleteAWAVE: I have a new found respect for your ability to see so clearly in the foggy world of reading analysis. Your take on how overwhelming it is to combine reading and writing objectives is understandable. His spelling and lack of examples in his writing is too much for me to overlook but his fluency rate is soooooooooo far below standard that it calls out for attention. You are correct in that my objectives were surrounding these two principles.
Leah's Litmus:
You asked with what I compared his penmanship to assume it is substandard...well, I compared it to students that have stellar penmanship. In other words, I compared it to the traditional sense of neat and tidy letters written in organized fashion on paper. His was artsy chaos. Readable, but disorganized. Your point is made though in that it doesn't need as much focus as his spelling and reading fluency.
Crayon lady:
Your enthusiasm is awesome!! I love the idea of anyone reading out loud with emotion as if they are the character (or narrator) telling the story to a group of people sitting on the edge of their seats. I really do like your idea of having him read dialog...most likely something he writes himself...multiple times and see if he gets faster each time through.
Guy with nothing but questions:)
What are my student’s strengths as a reader?
Comprehension!! He's slow as a slug but be understands what he reads. He scored 7 out of 8 on the Amelia Earhart questions, and it took him about 4 seconds to "lookback" and get the answer to the 8th question. He also scored 7 out of 8 when reading through "Early Railroads".
What kind of reading strategies are appropriate for the lesson? Looking back I see I got stuck wanting to push his creativity in him writing a story, when it is clear he could be creative in how he reads through, or acts out, a story. In terms of direct strategies, I LOVE Tovani's ideas in her "Fix it" Chapter (pgs 50 - 57). Finding ways for him to connect the text to his life, or other texts; Stopping to ask "What do I wonder about" after each paragraph; and visualizing the scenery of the story. Unfortunately these strategies focus on comprehension, something my student seems to have down pretty well. Routman (pg 128) indicated keeping fluency in perspective. Warning us that faster readers are not necessarily better readers as there is a good chance they don't remember what they read. She goes on to say the strategy to improve is through "repeatedly reading of familiar texts". In other words, like Lee Trevino always said, "Practice, Practice, Practice!"
Sounds like I'll be going back to the drawing board on this one, but with the great discussion from my group I'll have plenty of ammunition to paint a lesson plan worthy of a king (this included Burger King).
Thanks all.