ELL
Case Study: Struggling Reader
For my field observation hours, I worked in a classroom
at the Olean Intermediate Middle School in Olean, New York. The Olean
Intermediate Middle School, better known as OIMS, serves students from fourth
through seventh grade. Upon completion of seventh grade, students move to the
Olean High School for eighth through twelfth grades. The OIMS population
consists of 635 students. 80.6 percent of the population is made up of Caucasian
students, 7.9% African American, and 4.7% of students are made up of two or
more races. As observed in the demographic information the student population
(along with teacher population) is not very diverse. Between two elementary
schools, one middle, and one high school, I have heard of one classroom
dedicated to ELL learners. Currently, there are no students who speak a primary
language other than English. For this reason, I did my case study on an
individual who is struggling immensely in reading and language arts.
The student I chose to observe and work with is a
fifth-grade student performing at a first-grade level. The classroom the
student is a part of is a 12-1-1 life skills class for students with
disabilities. The students in this class are developmentally delayed, and have
difficulty with social situations. Grade levels of the students vary from
fourth grade to seventh grade. The students push out for specials such as gym,
art, and music, but the rest of their classwork is done in their home classroom
under the instruction of my cooperating teacher. My target student will be referred to as TM
throughout this case study. TM is a ten-year-old, Caucasian male who comes from
a low-income family. He is very shy and doesn’t talk much. Although he is not
an ELL, he is not only a struggling reader, but also has difficulty having
conversations with people he isn’t extremely comfortable with. The fact that he
is so quiet may have something to do with his social skills, but is most likely
a result of his poor language and literacy skills.
Although TM and the other students in his class all speak
English as their primary language, their unique learning difficulties and
classroom setting require the classroom teacher to be creative with differentiating
instruction. Some of the activities I was able to observe TM participating in
were breakfast games, binder work, calendar, and book study. For each of the
activities or lessons, there were modifications made to meet the needs of the
different students. During calendar
time, the class goes over the calendar, weather, and news each day. Although TM
is such a quiet student, the teacher makes it a point to call on all the
students. With a total of only twelve students in the class, all the students
have an opportunity to answer questions. One thing I immediately noticed about
TM is that he answers questions with one word answers that are sometimes
difficult to understand. He also has trouble remembering things such as the
month or day even after it has been discussed already. Binder work is done
independently with help from teachers and aides as needed. The worksheets in
the binders consist of a review of the morning calendar, and what I observed
was practice with sight word recognition. Book study requires the students to
listen to a chapter being read out loud from a novel (during my observation the
students were reading a book from the popular book series “Judy Moody”) and
follow up the chapter by answering questions in their binders. Some of the students
have pictures they circle to answer questions, and others are writing students.
In TM’s binder, he has a worksheet where he is expected to record the answers
with a short writing activity. The teacher writes the answers down on the
overhead after it is discussed as a class, and the students can copy down the
answers. For TM, many of his responses are short, incomplete sentences that
just provide the basic gist of what happened. If someone were to go back and
look at his binder, they would not get a complete understanding of the chapter.
The last activity I observed TM work on was called breakfast games. The
students are given a board with vocabulary words on them. Students are asked to
find the word and place a snack on it, and then they go over the words as a
class. Again, as with the book study binders, some of the students have
pictures on their breakfast boards and others have the written word. TM has a
word board, which requires him to read the word instead of just locating it
based on a picture.
After observing and performing a running record with TM,
I identified some of the issues that were contributing to his problems with
reading fluency and comprehension. Following the running record, I also used
the SOLOM scale and the NYS limited English proficient rubric to identify
issues the student was having and what developmental level he was performing at
to help identify different strategies and make recommendations for future
instruction. TM’s running record helped me to understand that some of his
difficulty with fluency and comprehension when reading, is a result of not
knowing many sight words, and confusing similar looking high frequency words.
For further instruction based on the running record, one of the things I came
up with, with the help of my cooperating teacher, is for TM to work with
different sight words and words that he struggles with every week. To practice
these sight words, TM would build the word out of blocks, build the word out of
clay or playdoh, and write the word in shaving cream. I also worked with the
student to create interactive flashcards of the high frequency words for him to
practice during down time.
Following the running record, I used the SOLOM scale and
the LEP/ELL rubric to determine TM’s language proficiency. Because TM is not an
ELL, I had some difficulty matching his levels on the scale and rubrics to
exactly what I was observing of him. On the SOLOM scale his total score was a
14. This places him in phase two on the SOLOM scale. Per this scale, his
weaknesses are in fluency and vocabulary for the most part. This is consistent
in what I observed in TM. He is often quiet, due to language limitations and
his misuse or confusion of similar looking words causes him to have problems in
comprehension. For comprehension and pronunciation, he rates are a level three
on the SOLOM scale which is consistent with what I have observed. The scale
states that students coming in at this level understand most of what is being
said, but at a slower pace and their pronunciation problems make it difficult
for other people to understand what they are saying. This is also consistent
with what I have observed of TM in class. His strongest point is in grammar
according to SOLOM. This is where I found the biggest difference. Because much
of TM’s work is modified, it is difficult to see where he really stands with
his grammar. For the work that I have observed, when TM is responsible for
writing in class, his worksheets are either fill in the blank, or the writing
is projected for all students on the overhead board. The LEP/ELL rubric and
scales was a little more difficult for me to use to rate my student. Because he
is not an ELL, a lot of the categories only partially fit for the student. For
the LEP/ELL, TM fell between beginning high level, and intermediate low level
in all categories. There were some variations between the LEP and SOLOM chart,
but this student fit some categories of each well.
For further instruction to help TM, I would like to focus
on improving his weaknesses. With this student, it seems like he needs to go
back to building foundational skills so that his higher order thinking,
comprehension, and writing skills can grow. The student struggles with reading
comprehension, fluency, and word recognition, which causes him to feel
uncomfortable speaking. To address these basic needs, I would suggest focusing
on word recognition and sight words to start. For high frequency words, I would
have the student first find a picture of the word you are asking for. I would
then have the student identify the word, and finally I would have the student
work on spelling the word correctly. As I mentioned above, I would also work
with the student on using different manipulatives to build or write the word he
is working or has confused with other words. The student could write the word
in shaving cream, build the word out of blocks or playdough, or spell the word
with cereal or another manipulative. This hands-on activity will help the
student explore the word in a different way each time, and the repetition will
help him recognize these words later. I would also work with the student on his
IRLA, or leveled reading, to work on reading at a level where he can soon read
independently and that features his practiced sight words, before moving onto
more difficult text. One addition thing I would focus on would be helping the
student become more comfortable with his speaking. I would provide different
opportunities with peers, and other adults, to help the student feel
comfortable with the words he does know. As he becomes more confident in his
speaking ability, he will be able to explore more difficult words and reading
passages. As the basics are focused on for TM, he will then be able to increase
work with his writing and retelling.
As I look back on the case study and overall field
experience, I found both to be very beneficial in helping me be more
comfortable in a classroom, and working towards having my own class. In
general, field experience has allowed me to see that in every class, in every
lesson there are modifications that need to be made to meet the needs of each
individual. With each day of observation, I learned more about classroom
management, different lesson ideas, and how to creatively meet the NYS Common
Core State Standards. I also learned a lot from this specific case study.
Having one student to focus on with specific guidelines was limiting but helped
to create a strong focus on the needs of that student. Completing the running
record, the SOLOM, and the LEP rubric helped me to see that there are so many
different levels of students development just in one classroom, and that
students call fall multiple places on those scales. The most important thing to
keep in mind is to differentiate when needed, and have high expectations for
all students. Whether they are on grade level, or well below, students are
capable of progressing and exceeding expectations if given the help and support
to do so.
Links to documents:
SOLOM Scale
Student Work Samples
