Case Study

Case Study Heather Rutherford University of Northern Colorado Greeley, Colorado May 31, 2013

EDSE 442: Language and Literacy for Students with Severe Delays Instructor: Lorna Idol, Ph.D.

Case Study CASE STUDY: Part 1 Student Information JJ is a 5th grade boy who was born on 02/19/2002. JJ is on an Individualized

Education Program and has been identified as having a moderate intellectual disability. JJ receives the majority of his academic support in the resource room with the severe needs special education teacher. JJs 1st grade brother also has a disability and receives the majority of his academic support in the resource room. JJs parents have recently divorced, and he is adjusting to new family dynamics. Strengths JJ enjoys technology and has shown great interest in reading leveled books on electronic readers in the classroom. When he comes to word he does not recognize, JJ will raise his hand and ask for help. Challenges In reading, JJ struggles with letter-sound correspondence, sound blending, beginning word sounds, recognizing sight words, and comprehension. Assessments Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). The DRA (See Appendix A.) showed JJ to be at a Level 3; this is the benchmark for the end of Kindergarten. The DRA showed that JJ is unable to consistently show letter-sound correspondence while reading a passage in a book, produce correct initial word sounds, and use a solid foundation of

Case Study sight words to read at a more fluent pace. At a Level 3, JJ is 5 years behind his peers in reading.

Monster Spelling Test. The Monster Spelling Test (See Appendix B.) showed JJ to be in the semi-phonetic stage for spelling. JJ was able to express letters to represent some of the sounds he heard in the words on the spelling test. Most of the letters he wrote represented either the beginning or ending sound of the word. Two of the words JJ attempted to spell contained both the beginning and endings sounds of the word. This shows that JJ is aware that letters represent sounds, but is unable to correctly identify the letters that represent the sound he is trying to express. Burkes Reading Interview. The reading interview (See Appendix C.) showed that JJ has learned to ask for help from his teacher when needed. JJ's answers to the reading interview were short and repetitive. When asked who he thought was a good reader, JJ looked up, saw a fellow classmate, and said his name. The classmate had been in the same room and was trying to answer the questions in the interview along with JJ. When JJ heard one of his answers, he immediately used it for his next answer. Giving short repetitive answers, and using an answer he heard from a classmate, shows that JJ is not confident about what strategies to use when he is reading. 6 Trait Assessment for Beginning Writers. The writing sample (See Appendix D.) showed that JJ is at the emergent level for writing. JJ struggles to develop a complete idea in his writing; he uses repetitive sentence structure and struggles with writing transitions.

Case Study Summary JJ is a struggling 5th grade student in the pre-reading stage. JJ would benefit from receiving one-on-one reading interventions. JJ lacks a solid foundation of sight words, letter-sound correspondence, and sound blending to help him be successful in reading. The DRA showed JJ to be 5 years behind his peers in reading. The Burke's Reading Interview showed that JJ lacks confidence in using appropriate reading strategies. The Monster Spelling Test showed that JJ is able to only partially express sounds into letters. The writing sample showed JJ's lack of skills in completing a thought in his writing. Conclusion JJ would benefit from direct instruction in letter-sound correspondence, sound blending, and recall of sight words. Building a solid foundation of sight words will help JJ to build his fluency in reading. Due to the variations in the English language, not all

words can be phonetically sounded out. Without having a foundation of sight words to draw from, JJ will struggle with reading words that do not follow phonetic rules. With a solid understanding of letter-sound correspondence, and a foundation of sight words, JJ can be successful in reading.

Case Study CASE STUDY: Part 2 Intervention Plan JJ is a 5th grade student who struggles with reading and would benefit from interventions based on phonemic awareness, phonics, and sight word recognition (See Figure 1.). Birsch (2011) noted that older struggling readers, those who were higher

than grade 3, can still benefit from interventions in phonemic awareness and sight word recognition. These interventions were typically thought of as inappropriate for the older reader, but Birsch (2011) has noted that these interventions are appropriate for older struggling readers. Final Assessment The use of progress monitoring through the Multi-Band Chart (Idol, 1997, p. 157) will be used as a final assessment. The data gathered will show how JJ is, or is not, progressing with the selected reading interventions. All decisions for instruction will be made based upon the progress monitoring data. Reasoning for Specific Skills and Activities JJ is a student with an intellectual disability, and the book Reading Success, (Idol, 1997) has proven to be successful for students with intellectual disabilities; therefore, the skills and activities targeted for JJs intervention plan have been taken from the Reading Success program. The specific activities chosen are as follows: Sound Sheet Program, Sound Blending and Word Analysis Program, and Basic Sight Word Program (Idol, 1997, pp. 69-97).

Case Study Colorado State Standards The intervention plan addresses the content area of Reading, Writing, and

Communicating in the Colorado Academic Standards. The specific standard addressed is 5th grade Standard 2.a Reading for All Purposes: Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context. (CCSS: RF.5.3a) ("Cde: 5th grade," 2010) The lesson plans for the intervention will address the above standard by first targeting the sub-skills needed to attain the grade level standard. The sub-skills that JJ needs are as follows: a solid foundation of sight word recognition, letter-sound correspondence, and sound blending. Once JJ masters these sub-skills, he can then move onto syllabication patterns, and morphology. This continuous progression will help JJ to move towards attaining his grade-level standard.

Case Study Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan #1 Phonics Sound Sheet Program from the book Reading Success (Idol, 1997) Reading Passage from Reading A Z (Readinga-z.com, 2002)

Lesson Plan #2 Phonics Sound Blending and Word Analysis Program from the book Reading Success (Idol, 1997) Reading Passage from Reading A Z (Readinga-z.com, 2002)

Lesson Plan #3 Phonics Sound Sheet Program from the book Reading Success (Idol, 1997) Sound Blending and Word Analysis Program from the book Reading Success (Idol, 1997) Reading Passage from Reading A Z (Readinga-z.com, 2002)

Lesson Plan #4 Phonics Basic Sight Word Program from the book Reading Success (Idol, 1997) Reading Passage from Reading A Z (Readinga-z.com, 2002) Figure 1. Phonics

Lesson Plan #5

Basic Sight Word Program from the book Reading Success (Idol, 1997) Reading Passage from Reading A Z (Readingaz.com, 2002)

Case Study CASE STUDY: Part 4 Proposed Summative Informal Assessment Progress monitoring by the use of Multi-Band (Idol, 1997, p. 157) and teachermade data charts will be used as the summative informal assessment. These charts

will be used to monitor the students progress after each lesson. These charts will have data that directly correlates to each lesson taught. The data collected throughout the five lesson plans will give the teacher direct information regarding how the student has progressed in the areas addressed: sound sheets, sound blending, and sight word recognition. The teacher will then be able to make a data driven decision regarding the outcome of the specific skills taught in each lesson.

Case Study References (2002). Retrieved from http://www.readinga-z.com/ Birsh, J. R. (Ed.). ( 2011). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (3rd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co. Carreker, S., & Birsh, J. R. (2011). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills: Activity Book (Revised edition) (p. 149). Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co. Colorado Department of Education, Office of Standards and Instructional Support. (2010). Cde: 5th grade reading, writing, and communicating. Retrieved from website: http://www.cde.state.co.us/CoReadingWriting/Documents/RWC_5th_grade.pdf Idol, L. (1997). Reading success: A specialized literacy program for learners with challenging reading needs. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.