DIAGNOSTIC PLANS (EDRD 637)

Date: May 20, 2015

Session: #1
Your Name: Meghan Williams
Your Student's Name: DG (4th Grade)

Diagnostic Reflections:
N/A

Diagnostic Strategies and Rationales

(1) Getting to Know You Activity: All About Me Poster (20 min)
a) Procedure: I will introduce myself and show the student my All About Me Poster. I will then
explain my poster and explain how the poster will allow me to get to know him better. I will
give my student time to work on his All About Me Poster

I will then explain what we will be working on today. (5 min)

b) Rationale: To get to know my student and build a relationship with him.

(2) Reading Interview: ARI Reading Interview (15 min)

a) Procedure: I will administer the ARI Reading Interview and ask an additional question about
his feelings towards writing.

b) Rationale: To get to know my students interests and feelings about reading and writing to
help me plan my instruction.

(2) Word Recognition: Analytical Reading Inventory Word Lists Form A (20 min)
a) Procedure: Student will be administered Form A (pg.161) of the ARI. Student will be asked
to read the lists of words. At the end of each list, the student will be asked to put several
words in a sentence to determine the childs word comprehension. Assessment will
discontinue after student has missed 5 words on a given list.
b) Rationale: The results of the Word List assessment will enable the tester to determine the
starting level for narrative comprehension. In addition, it will determine students
Ability to decode and read words in isolation
Patterns in errors (i.e. use of initial, medial, ending letters; vowel patterns)
Ability to comprehend words in isolation

(3) Writing as Meaningful Communication: (30 min)

Narrative Writing Prompt -
a) Procedure: The prompt You have to babysit a pet monkey for a day. Write a story about what
happened. will be used. DG will be asked to write a narrative story about having a pet
monkey. The FCPS Grade 4 writing rubric will be used to evaluate and analyze students
strengths and areas of need. After writing the narrative, I will have DG use the rubric to self-
evaluate his own writing.

b) Rationale: A narrative writing prompt is being administered to determine if the student can
generate ideas and write a story with a beginning, middle, and ending. According to Romeo
(2008), students should use rubrics to self-evaluate their writing and include a rationale for
the score they thought they deserved. Teachers can then use information from the students
self-evaluations at writing conferences and during focus lessons to guide instruction and
promote goal setting (pg.39).

Expository Writing Prompt

a) Procedure: The prompt What is your favorite summer memory and why? will be used. DG
will be asked to write an expository writing piece detailing what his favorite summer memory
 is and why. In addition, the rubric FCPS Grade 4 writing rubric will be used to evaluate and
analyze students strengths and areas of need.

b) Rationale: An expository writing prompt is being administered to determine if the student can
write a nonfiction piece using main idea and supporting details. As previously stated, rubrics
are beneficial to use when helping students set goals and determine next steps.
DIAGNOSTIC PLANS (EDRD 637)

Date: June 3, 2015

Session: #2 and #3 (DG was absent for session 2 so these were combined)
Your Name: Meghan Williams
Your Student's Name: DG (4th Grade)

Diagnostic Reflections:
DG seems to have an interest in reading, but is hesitant when it comes to writing. He says that he
feels uncomfortable writing if he does not know how to spell words. He will ask me how to spell
the word before attempting it on his own. DG is comfortable reading just right books. He is
especially interested in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books because he believes they fall into his
reading level. He spends his free time reading and enjoys taking trips to the library.

Diagnostic Strategies and Rationales

(1) Getting to Know You Activity: N/A

(2) Word Recognition: N/A

(3) Writing as Meaningful Communication:

Narrative Writing Prompt N/A

Expository Writing Prompt

c) Procedure: The prompt What is your favorite summer memory and why? will be used. DG
will be asked to write an expository writing piece detailing what his favorite summer memory
is and why. In addition, the FCPS Grade 4 writing rubric will be used to evaluate and analyze
students strengths and areas of need. After writing the expository, I will have DG use the
rubric to self-evaluate his own writing.

d) Rationale: An expository writing prompt is being administered to determine if the student can
generate ideas and write a story with a beginning, middle, and ending as well as provide
details. According to Romeo (2008), students should use rubrics to self-evaluate their
writing and include a rationale for the score they thought they deserved. Teachers can then
use information from the students self-evaluations at writing conferences and during focus
lessons to guide instruction and promote goal setting (pg.39).

(4) Interactive Assessment: N/A

(5) Fluency development:

a) Procedure: I will administer Narrative Form A of the ARI comprehension portion to DG. After
DG is done reading the passage, I will rate his fluency based of the ARI indicators and give him a score. I
will rate his fluency on each level passage until I find his instructional level.
b) Rationale: The comprehension and fluency portion of the ARI assessment will be administered
to DG to determine his reading fluency and help me plan fluency instruction and strategies. According to
Marcell (2012), fluency and prosody while reading can affect and alter comprehension. If DG is not
reading fluently or using prosody, it may affect his understanding of the passages. By analyzing his
fluency, I can plan my instruction.

(6) Comprehension instruction using expository and narrative text strategies:

a) Procedure: I will administer the Narrative Form A of the ARI comprehension portion to
DG. I will begin with Form A level 2 based off his word recognition score. I will continue to
administer until I find DGs independent, instructional, and frustrational reading levels. After
finding DGs narrative reading levels I will then administer the Social Studies comprehension
portion beginning at level 2. I will continue to administer this portion until I find his
reading levels.
 b) Rationale: The comprehension portion of the ARI is being administered to DG to determine his
ability to retell and understand what he is reading. It also analyzes his prior knowledge and ability
to make and confirm predictions. I will use the knowledge gained from the assessment when I am
planning the comprehension strategies to teach to DG. According to Keene and Zimmerman
(2013), Comprehension strategies help children build content knowledge. Children are more
likely to retain and reapply what they learn when they are metacognitive (p. 602).

Reflections
DG feels comfortable in his reading abilities, but is unsure of his writing abilities. I would like to
find more strategies to get him motivated and feeling confident in his writing. Through analyzing
DGs narrative writing, I have learned that he needs instruction on vowel patterns and how to
transfer them into his writing. I also noticed by analyzing the ARI word recognition assessment
that DG would benefit from vocabulary instruction. I would like to teach him strategies to use
when he comes across unfamiliar words in his reading. After my final diagnostic session, I will
have more of an idea of where DG is as a reader and writer and how to continue with my
instruction.

Instructional Strategies and Rationales

(1) Concepts of print/phonemic awareness/phonics or word recognition, vocabulary building;
Strategy: I will use Lesson 28 from Making Words 2nd Grade to teach the vowel pattern ight. The
first part of the lesson will be making the specified words on the lesson. Next, we will sort the
words by rhyme. After the sort, I will show DG how we can use the rhyming words to create new
words to use in his writing.
Rationale: When analyzing DGs narrative writing sample, I noticed he struggles with vowel
patterns. One particular vowel pattern that he was not familiar with was ight. In his writing he
wrote fight as fiwit, which is why I decided to begin my instruction with that particular
pattern. Through the use of the Making Words lessons, DG will not only learn how to create new
words using vowel patterns, but also transfer those words into his writing. Along with learning
vowel patterns, DG will also be exposed to new vocabulary when making the new words.
Materials: Making Words 2nd Grade Lesson 28, Making Words letters, notecards with the ight
words written on them
Formative assessment: In order to determine if DG understood what was taught, I will dictate and
have him write the sentence At night you might see stars in the sky. I will also have him write a
sentence using the word fight. This will allow me to see if he can transfer what he learned about
the vowel pattern ight into his writing.
DIAGNOSTIC AND INSTRUCTIONAL PLANS (EDRD 637)

Date: June 17, 2015

Session #: 4
Your Name: Meghan Williams
Your Student's Name: DG

Reflections
Overall my last diagnostic session with DG went well. I was able to assess him on his comprehension
and fluency as well as administer the expository writing prompt. After administering the ARI, I noticed
that DG would benefit from learning comprehension strategies. He often had misconceptions about what
happened in the passages and would benefit from scaffolding. He needs to learn how to use details and
identify the main idea of passages. DG also failed to use specific vocabulary from the passages in his
retellings. I can tell that he would benefit from learning new vocabulary strategies to help him with his
comprehension. Although I was able to administer all of the components of the ARI assessment for both
narrative and expository, I was unable to determine DGs expository independent level because the lowest
level that they offer in the assessment was his instructional. After discussing this with my coaching
partner, I realized that I needed to use the Fountas and Pinnell assessment to determine his independent
expository reading level.
It seemed that DG was more confident when writing the expository piece than he was when he was
working on his narrative piece. I think this is because it was easier for him to write about a real memory
than it was for him to generate ideas. DG easily loses track of his thoughts when he is writing and often
needs to go back and reread to remember what he was writing about. He would benefit from using some
type of a graphic organizer to prewrite and keep track of his thoughts when writing. Administering these
assessments made realize how many different types of assessments there are and that teachers need to
determine their purpose before giving them. I also realized that it can become frustrating for both the
teacher and the student to have to go through so many different assessments. The analysis of the
assessment is the most important part to help determine the next steps for instruction.

Diagnostic Strategies and Rationales

(1) Comprehension instruction using expository and narrative text strategies:
a) Procedure: I will administer the expository Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment to DG. I
will begin with level I. I will continue to administer until I find DGs independent expository reading
level.
b) Rationale: I am using the Fountas and Pinnell assessment because I was unable to find DGs
expository independent reading level from the ARI assessment. I was only able to determine a
frustrational and instructional level. .The comprehension assessment is being administered to DG
to determine his ability to retell and understand what he is reading. It also analyzes his prior
knowledge and ability to make and confirm predictions. I will use the knowledge gained from the
assessment when I am planning the comprehension strategies to teach to DG. According to Keene
and Zimmerman (2013), Comprehension strategies help children build content knowledge.
Children are more likely to retain and reapply what they learn when they are metacognitive (p.
602).

Instructional Strategies and Rationales

(1) writing as meaningful communication;

Strategy: DG will use the 4th Grade Rubric to self-evaluate his narrative writing piece. He will
read his writing and score it himself. After he scores his writing, I will ask DG what he thinks he
needs to work on as a writer and we will set a goal for him. I will show him how to use a graphic
organizer to gather his thoughts before writing. He will begin planning a narrative piece of
writing using the graphic organizer.
e) Rationale: I chose to have DG use a rubric to self-assess his writing during this lesson
because I want him to promote goal setting and have him come up with a goal for himself.
According to Romeo (2008), students should use rubrics to self-evaluate their writing and
include a rationale for the score they thought they deserved. Teachers can then use
information from the students self-evaluations at writing conferences and during focus
 lessons to guide instruction and promote goal setting(p.39). I can then use that information
to guide my instruction further in the next tutoring sessions. For todays session I chose to
begin with a prewriting strategy. After watching DG write his narrative piece and analyzing it
with the rubric, I noticed that DG had a hard time coming up with ideas to write about. While
writing, he often got distracted and did not know how to continue his story. This was because
he did not plan his story before he started writing. Using a graphic organizer will help DG
gather his thoughts and come up with a sequence before he starts his story. He will be able to
brainstorm ideas and put them down on paper so that he does not lose track of his thinking.
Materials: Fourth Grade Writing Rubric, Paper, Pencil
Formative assessment: Rubric and discussing it
(2) concepts of print/phonemic awareness/phonics or word recognition, vocabulary building;
Strategy: I will use Lesson 28 from Making Words 2nd Grade to teach the vowel pattern ight. The
first part of the lesson will be making the specified words on the lesson. Next, we will sort the
words by rhyme. After the sort, I will show DG how we can use the rhyming words to create new
words to use in his writing.
Rationale: When analyzing DGs narrative writing sample, I noticed he is struggling with vowel
patterns. One particular vowel pattern that he was not familiar with was ight. In his writing he
wrote fight as fiwit, which is why I decided to begin my instruction with that particular
pattern. Through the use of the Making Words lessons, DG will not only learn how to create new
words using vowel patterns, but also transfer those words into his writing. Along with learning
vowel patterns, DG will also be exposed to new vocabulary when making the new words.
Materials: Making Words 2nd Grade Lesson 28, Making Words letters, notecards with the ight
words written on them
Formative assessment: In order to determine if DG understood what was taught, I will dictate and
have him write the sentence At night you might see stars in the sky. I will also have him write a
sentence using the word fight. This will allow me to see if he can transfer what he learned about
the vowel pattern ight into his writing.
(3) fluency development
Strategy: DG will read a fluency practice passage from Reading A-Z. I will read the passage to
him first so that he can hear how a fluent reader reads. After reading, I will ask DG to highlight
the punctuation in the passage. I will ask him what he noticed about how I read the punctuation.
Next, I will have him read the passage paying attention to punctuation. While he is reading the
passage, I will score it using the errors and rate. After reading, DG and I will discuss how he
sounded and I will give him immediate feedback. I will also ask him to tell me the main idea of
the passage. I will have him read the passage a second time and again ask how he thinks he did
on his fluency and then ask him to tell me facts from the passage. I will also use the second
reading as his formative assessment.
Rationale: During my administering of the ARI to DG, I noticed that his reading was sometimes
choppy and he read in short phrases. I especially noticed this in his expository readings. DG also
had some difficulty recalling details and finding the main idea of the reading passages, which
may have been caused by his lack of fluency. Marcell (2012) discusses how repeated reading can
help students improve their fluency when it is combined with comprehension strategies. Teachers
need to inform students that with additional readings of a passage or text, not only with accuracy
and rate improve, but also the level of comprehension. Students should not be solely focused on
rate, but how improving their rate can help them understand what they are reading.
Materials: Reading A-Z fluency passage Getting to School
Formative assessment: I will score DGs fluency using the A-Z fluency passage on his second
reading.
(4) comprehension instruction using expository or narrative text strategies.
Strategy: I will teach DG strategies to determine the main idea of a narrative text. I will show DG
several objects in a bag. I will ask him to describe the objects and tell me how they are connected.
I will write his details on a whiteboard for him to see. I will tell him the main idea (what the text
is mostly about) of the bag of objects is. I will explain to him that details give more information
about the main idea. I will tell him that readers can identify the main idea when they read a story
and they can use details to support it to better understand what they learned. Next, I will write
several sentences on the write board about school: I like to read. I like to go to recess and play
 with my friends. We have fun in art and music. We eat in the cafeteria and talk to our friends.
Then I will ask him what he thinks the main idea of those sentences is (school). Next, I will have
him come up with a sentence about the sentences such as School is fun. This will be the main
idea. In order to assess DG, I will provide him with a paragraph about soccer and see if he is able
to come up with a sentence for the main idea of the paragraph. I will inform DG that the next time
that we meet we will read a book and determine the main idea using a graphic organizer.
Rationale: I chose to focus on a main idea strategy with DG because he had difficulty
summarizing the reading passages on both the narrative and expository ARI assessment. Instead
of summarizing the passages he tended to provide a detail instead of the main idea. In order to
summarize a passage, the reader needs to be able to recall details and determine the main idea. I
want him to be able to find the main idea in a passage and back it up with details so that he can
determine what the passage is mainly about and come up with a summary statement.
Materials: Main idea bag filled with candles, birthday bag, ballons and a separate bag with a dog
collar, toy, and bone, as well as white boards and markers.
Formative assessment: DG will read a paragraph about soccer and determine the main idea.
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANS (EDRD 637)

Date: 6/23/15
Session #: 5
Your Name: Meghan Williams
Your Student's Name: DG

Reflections
My last tutoring session with DG went well. We were able to finish up the expository assessment and
had time to work on a word recognition lesson and some writing. Unfortunately, time did not permit us to
get to all that I had planned for the session. I had to bump a lot of the lessons to this week. Even though
we were able to finish, I was surprised by how long the Fountas and Pinnell assessment took. I had only
planned on giving DG two level to read, but ended up having to give him four. He was not at all bothered
by this. He enjoyed reading and discussing the books. I was surprised by the results of the assessment as
his final reading level was much lower than his DRA level that Dr. Vance gave me. One explanation for
this is that I do not know DG as well as his classroom teacher and have not worked with him as long. She
may see things that I do not. The difference in levels could also be due to the fact that the assessments are
very different from each other and he was in an unfamiliar testing environment. DG went from being in
school all day to having to read and complete assessments. Since his ARI, F&P, and DRA levels are so
different, I will need to choose texts that are somewhere in the middle for our tutoring lessons in the
future.
DG did well with the self-evaluation of his writing. His grading with the rubric was almost the
same as mine. He knows what areas of the rubric that he needs to work on and he enjoyed setting a goal
for himself. He does not see himself as a strong writer, but with continued practice I think he will begin
to. Towards the end of the tutoring session, DG began to become distracted. He wanted to eat another
snack and play banagrams since we did not get to that in the previous session. This made me realize that
he needs more breaks throughout our sessions to stay focused. I am excited to work with DG for longer
periods of time so that I can get to know him better and find more strategies to help him as a reader and
writer.

Instructional Strategies and Rationales

(1) Writing as meaningful communication;

Strategy: At the last tutoring session DG self-evaluated his expository piece and wrote a goal for
himself using the writing rubric. This time he will evaluate his narrative writing. DG will use the
4th Grade Rubric to self-evaluate his narrative writing piece. He will read his writing and score it
himself. After he scores his writing, I will ask DG what he thinks he needs to work on as a writer
and we will set a goal for him. I will model for him using a graphic organizer to gather his
thoughts before writing. He will begin planning a narrative piece of writing using his own graphic
organizer.
Rationale: I chose to have DG use a rubric to self-assess his writing during this lesson because I
want him to promote goal setting and have him come up with a goal for himself. According to
Romeo (2008), students should use rubrics to self-evaluate their writing and include a rationale
for the score they thought they deserved. Teachers can then use information from the students
self-evaluations at writing conferences and during focus lessons to guide instruction and promote
goal setting(p.39). I can use that information to guide my instruction further in the next tutoring
sessions. For todays session I chose to begin with a prewriting strategy. After watching DG
write his narrative piece and analyzing it with the rubric, I noticed that DG had a hard time
coming up with ideas to write about. While writing, he often got distracted and did not know how
to continue his story. This was because he did not plan his story before he started writing. Using a
graphic organizer will help DG gather his thoughts and come up with a sequence before he starts
his story. He will be able to brainstorm ideas and put them down on paper so that he does not lose
track of his thinking.
Materials: 4th Grade Writing Rubric, pencil, paper
Formative assessment: Rubric and discussion on rubric
(2) Concepts of print/phonemic awareness/phonics or word recognition, vocabulary building;
 Strategy: I will use Lesson 29 from Making Words 2nd Grade to teach the vowel patterns igh and
ight. The first part of the lesson will be making the specified words on the lesson. Next, we will
sort the words by rhyme. After the sort, I will show DG how we can use the rhyming words to
create new words to use in his writing.
Rationale: After completely lesson 28 with DG last week, I could tell that he needed more
practice with the ight and igh patterns. When creating the words in the lesson, he needed
continuous support to spell the words correctly. More practice with particular patterns will help
him remember them when he is writing independently. Through the use of the Making Words
lessons, DG will not only learn how to create new words using vowel patterns, but also transfer
those words into his writing. Along with learning vowel patterns, DG will also be exposed to new
vocabulary when making the new words. Materials: Making Words 2nd Grade Lesson 29, Making
Words letters, notecards with the ight words written on them
Formative assessment: In order to determine if DG understood what was taught, I will dictate and
have him write the sentence The moon was high in the sky in the middle of the night. I will also
have him write a sentence using an additional ight word of his chooisng. This will allow me to
see if he can transfer what he learned about the vowel pattern ight into his writing.
(3) Fluency development
Strategy: DG will read a fluency practice passage from Reading A-Z. I will read the passage to
him first so that he can hear how a fluent reader reads. After reading, I will ask DG to highlight
the punctuation in the passage. I will ask him what he noticed about how I read the punctuation.
Next, I will have him read the passage paying attention to punctuation. While he is reading the
passage, I will score it using the errors and rate. After reading, DG and I will discuss how he
sounded and I will give him immediate feedback. I will also ask him to tell me the main idea of
the passage. I will have him read the passage a second time and again ask how he thinks he did
on his fluency and then ask him to tell me facts from the passage. I will also use the second
reading as his formative assessment.
Rationale: During my administering of the ARI to DG, I noticed that his reading was sometimes
choppy and he read in short phrases. I especially noticed this in his expository readings. DG also
had some difficulty recalling details and finding the main idea of the reading passages, which
may have been caused by his lack of fluency. Marcell (2012) discusses how repeated reading can
help students improve their fluency when it is combined with comprehension strategies. Teachers
need to inform students that with additional readings of a passage or text, not only with accuracy
and rate improve, but also the level of comprehension. Students should not be solely focused on
rate, but how improving their rate can help them understand what they are reading.
Materials: Reading A-Z fluency passage Getting to School
Formative assessment: I will score DGs fluency using the A-Z fluency passage on his second
reading.
(4) Comprehension instruction using expository or narrative text strategies.
Strategy: I will teach DG strategies to determine the main idea of a narrative text. I will show DG
several objects in a bag. I will ask him to describe the objects and tell me how they are connected.
I will write his details on a whiteboard for him to see. I will tell him the main idea (what the text
is mostly about) of the bag of objects is. I will explain to him that details give more information
about the main idea. I will tell him that readers can identify the main idea when they read a story
and they can use details to support it to better understand what they learned. Next, I will write
several sentences on the write board about school: I like to read. I like to go to recess and play
with my friends. We have fun in art and music. We eat in the cafeteria and talk to our friends.
Then I will ask him what he thinks the main idea of those sentences is (school). Next, I will have
him come up with a sentence about the sentences such as School is fun. This will be the main
idea. In order to assess DG, I will provide him with a paragraph about soccer and see if he is able
to come up with a sentence for the main idea of the paragraph. I will inform DG that the next time
that we meet we will read a book and determine the main idea using a graphic organizer.
Rationale: I chose to focus on a main idea strategy with DG because he had difficulty
summarizing the reading passages on both the narrative and expository ARI assessment. Instead
of summarizing the passages he tended to provide a detail instead of the main idea. In order to
summarize a passage, the reader needs to be able to recall details and determine the main idea. I
 want him to be able to find the main idea in a passage and back it up with details so that he can
determine what the passage is mainly about and come up with a summary statement.
Materials: Main idea bag filled with candles, birthday bag, ballons and a separate bag with a dog
collar, toy, and bone, as well as white boards and markers.
Formative assessment: DG will read a paragraph about soccer and determine the main idea.
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANS (EDRD 637)

Date: 6/24/15
Session #: 6
Your Name: Meghan Williams
Your Student's Name: DG

Reflections
One strategy that went well today was the self-evaluation of DGs writing. He enjoyed rereading
his writing and thinking about what he can improve. When asked to write a goal for his narrative writing,
he wanted to include more than one goal. He is clearly motivated to become a better writer. He seemed to
enjoy the process of self-evaluation and goal setting. As a reading teacher, I sometimes find it difficult to
find the time to set goals and revisit them throughout the year with my students, but now I see how
beneficial it can be. DG was also motivated to improve his fluency when he was given a role in our
readers theater. I think that this is because he knows that he will have an audience of peers listening to
him read. I also learned today that my student benefits from breaks from instruction and I need to
incorporate more throughout the tutoring period.
After reflecting with my coaching partner, I began to think about the difference between activities
and strategies. As a reading teacher, I want to make sure that I am teaching DG strategies that he can use
independently in the future, not just throughout this week. This is an important thing to remember when
planning instruction. I need to remember to ask myself what the purpose of the activity is and is it
beneficial to my students. I will continue to plan strategies that DG can use to improve his reading and
writing.

Instructional Strategies and Rationales

(1) Writing as meaningful communication;

Strategy: First, DG and I will revisit his writing goal to set a purpose for todays lesson. Next, I
will model and show how to use the graphic organizer I made yesterday to create a sequence of
events in a narrative story. When modeling, I will be using the think aloud strategy. Once I am
done modeling, DG will use his graphic organizer to create his own sequence of events for his
narrative writing piece.
Rationale: Yesterday, DG began to plan for his narrative writing piece with the use of the graphic
organizer. This was the area on the 4th grade writing rubric that he felt he needed the most work
on. The next step is to organize his thoughts and create a story. Organization was an additional
area on the rubric that DG felt he needed to improve. He can organize his thoughts by creating a
sequence of events. By modeling how to think aloud during the writing process, I will show DG a
strategy that he can use when planning and writing independently. Migyanka, Lui, and Policastro
(2006) mention that expert readers need to think about and reflect on their reading and that this
can be accomplished through think alouds (p.177). I believe the same is true with writing.
Materials: Graphic organizers, paper, pencil
Formative assessment: We will revisit the 4th grade writing rubric and look specifically at the
planning and organization sections. DG will self-evaluate his planning for this piece and revisit
his writing goal.
(2) Concepts of print/phonemic awareness/phonics or word recognition, vocabulary building;
Strategy: In order to build DGs vocabulary, he will use a vocabulary rating scale to determine
what words he is already familiar with and what words he needs to learn to help him understand
the book The Umbrella by Jan Brett. He will look at the words that I selected on the rating scale
and decide how well he knows each of the words. The rating scale requires the student to decide
whether they know the word well and can use it, know it a little bit, have seen it or heard it, or
have never heard of it before. I will explain to DG that this vocabulary strategy will help him
better understand the text. If there is time, we will also read the text together today.
Rationale: When analyzing DGs word recognition assessment, it was determined that DG needs
to learn vocabulary strategies to help figure out word meanings. He was unable to use several
words from the word recognition lists in context. He also had some difficulty when he was asked
to give the meaning of words in the comprehension passages. According to Marzanno and
Pickering (2005), rating scales can help students actively look at new vocabulary and activate
 prior knowledge that could help them determine new word meanings. The rating scales also help
teachers to determine what words students will need instruction in so that they are better prepared
to discuss and read a new text. Previewing vocabulary before reading is a strategy that DG can
use independently to help him get a better understanding of texts.
Materials: The Umbrella, Vocabulary Rating Scale
Formative assessment: I will use the Vocabulary Rating Scale to determine what vocabulary
words to instruct DG on in the next lesson.
(3) Fluency development
Strategy: DG will learn the strategies of repeated reading and self- evaluating to help him
improve his fluency. I will show DG a fluency rubric that he will use to evaluate my reading and
his own reading. We will go through each section of the rubric to make sure he understands it.
Next, I will read the Reading A-Z fluency passage, Getting to School, from yesterday. I will
record myself reading it on Audacity (technology incorporation). Next, we will play the recording
back and use the rubric to evaluate my fluency. DG will then record himself reading the same
passage and use the rubric to self-evaluate himself. Finally, I will give DG immediate feedback
on his fluency for the piece.
Rationale: Based on DGs ARI and Fountas and Pinnell fluency assessment, it was determined
that he needs to learn strategies to improve his fluency. His reading often sounds choppy and fails
to heed punctuation. Repeated reading is a strategy that DG can use independently in the future.
According to Marcell (2012) it is suggested that repeated reading is strengthened by corrective
feedback. I will provide immediate feedback to DG so that he knows what he needs to work on to
become a more fluent reader. This combined with his own self-evaluation will make him more
metacognitive.
Materials: Reading A-Z passage, Getting to School, iphone with Audacity, fluency rubric
Formative assessment: Fluency rubric and discussion about the rubric.
(4) Comprehension instruction using expository or narrative text strategies.
Strategy: DG will learn how to use a graphic organizer to support the main idea of a narrative
story with evidence and details from a story. I will remind him that details give more information
about the main idea and that readers can identify the main idea when they read a story. Readers
also use details to support the main idea to get a better understanding of what they learned.
Before reading, I will ask DG to make a prediction about the story. Next, I will have him read the
story and remind him to think about what the main idea might be. After reading the story, I will
ask DG what he thinks the main idea of the story was. He should say something like Sharing is
fair or You should share with friends. If he cannot come up with the main idea on his own, I
will scaffold and provide him with the main idea on the graphic organizer. Next, I will show him
how to find supporting details in the text by revisiting it.
Rationale: After yesterdays main idea lesson, DG seemed to have a firm understanding of what
the main idea is. He was also able to figure out the main idea of short passages, but he had some
difficulty supporting the main idea with details and evidence from the text. It was also observed
that he had difficulty recalling details from the passages that he read on the ARI assessment. If
DG is able to find the details to support the main idea within a text, this will help him when he is
asked to summarize a text or a passage. By providing the main idea for him, I am scaffolding the
lesson so that he can focus mainly on finding supporting details, which will aid him in his
comprehension.
Materials: Reading A-Z book Crow Shares a Pie, Reading A-Z main idea graphic organizer,
pencil
Formative assessment: Completed graphic organizer
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANS (EDRD 637)

Date: 6/25/15
Session #: 7
Your Name: Meghan Williams
Your Student's Name: DG Gonzales

Reflections
The last tutoring session went by especially fast. I realized as a teacher you need to be flexible
with timing and your plans. I had originally planned to have DG continue planning his writing with a new
graphic organizer, but he wanted to continue adding more to his graphic organizer from the day before. I
knew not to stop him from this since he was getting creative with his ideas. He wanted to give his story
more details in the middle and include an ending. I was flexible in moving my new strategy to the next
day. I noticed that my think aloud helped DG with generating ideas for his writing.
I also learned how engaging the use of technology can be in a lesson. DG seemed to become
more engaged when I got my computer out and told him that we would be using it. After listening to
himself read the fluency passage he was motivated to use the strategy of rereading to improve his fluency.
He used the rubric and picked a fluency goal for himself without my help. I am noticing that he is very
self-reflective and motivated by setting goals. This is something that I will continue to work with him on
and my own students as well.

Instructional Strategies and Rationales

(1) Writing as meaningful communication;

Strategy: First, DG and I will revisit his writing goal to set a purpose for todays lesson. Next, I
will continue to model and show how to use the graphic organizer I made yesterday to create a
sequence of events in a narrative story. When modeling, I will be using the think aloud strategy.
Once I am done modeling, DG will use his graphic organizer to create his own sequence of events
for his narrative writing piece.
Rationale: Yesterday, DG began to plan for his narrative writing piece with the use of the graphic
organizer. This was the area on the 4th grade writing rubric that he felt he needed the most work
on. The next step is to organize his thoughts and create a story. Organization was an additional
area on the rubric that DG felt he needed to improve. He can organize his thoughts by creating a
sequence of events. By modeling how to think aloud during the writing process, I will show DG a
strategy that he can use when planning and writing independently. Migyanka, Lui, and Policastro
(2006) mention that expert readers need to think about and reflect on their reading and that this
can be accomplished through think alouds (p.177). I believe the same is true with writing.
Materials: Graphic organizers, paper, pencil
Formative assessment: We will revisit the 4th grade writing rubric and look specifically at the
planning and organization sections. DG will self-evaluate his planning for this piece and revisit
his writing goal.
(2) Concepts of print/phonemic awareness/phonics or word recognition, vocabulary building;
Strategy: I will use Lesson 30 from Making Words 2nd Grade to teach the vowel patterns ire and
ight. The first part of the lesson will be making the specified words on the lesson. When asking
DG to make the words, I will use them in a sentence so he can hear them in context. Next, we will
sort the words by rhyme. After the sort, I will show DG how we can use the rhyming words to
create new words to use in his writing.
Rationale: After completeling lesson 29 with DG on Tuesday, I could tell that he still needed
more practice with the ight and ire patterns. When creating the words in the lesson, he needed
continuous support to spell the words correctly. With some prompting, he was able to spell them
correctly. More practice with these particular patterns will help him remember them when he is
writing independently. Through the use of the Making Words lessons, DG will not only continue
to practice the new words that he learned and using vowel patterns, but also transfer those words
into his writing. Along with learning vowel patterns, DG will also be exposed to new vocabulary
when making the new words and hearing me use them in sentences
 Materials: Making Words 2nd Grade Lesson 30, Making Words letters, notecards with the ight
words written on them
Formative assessment: In order to determine if DG understood what was taught, I will have him
write a sentence using an ight and an ire word of his choosing. This will allow me to see if he
can transfer what he learned about the vowel pattern ight into his writing.
(3) Fluency development
Strategy: In order to improve DGs fluency, he will participate in a readers theatre with peers.
Throughout the week of tutoring, DG has rehearsed the script of The Umbrella with four other
students. He will continue to rehearse his lines today to become more fluent and they will work
together to record their script on Photo Story (Technology Transformation).
Rationale: DG has been working on reading in longer phrases and heeding punctuation when
reading. When DG self-evaluated his fluency he decided that he also needed to improve on his
phrasing and expression. This was something that I also noticed when I analyzed his fluency with
the Fountas and Pinnell assessment and the ARI. Thoermer and Williams (2012) state that
Readers theatre encourages students to focus on prosody because reading their lines with
meaningful expression helps the audience to further understand the story (p.444).
Materials: Computer, PhotoStory, script of The Umbrella
Formative assessment: Fluency rubric
(4) Comprehension instruction using expository or narrative text strategies.
Strategy: DG will listen to an online read aloud on MyOn and use a graphic organizer to recall
facts from an expository text. I will model the think aloud strategy for DG as he listens to the text.
As I am reading, I will model how to stop and think about the important details. I will ask
questions and explain to DG that asking questions during reading helps readers better understand
the text. I will inform him that this will also help him later when he is recalling important details
from the story. After reading and modeling thinking aloud, I will ask DG to recall facts from the
text and record them in a graphic organizer.
Rationale: When administering the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment, it was determined
that DG would benefit from learning comprehension strategies to understand expository texts.
When asked comprehension questions, DG has a hard time recalling specific details and using
vocabulary from the text. According to Migyanka, Policastro, Lui (2006), Students need to be
taught meta-comprehension skills that will help them to engage in self-monitoring and to realize
whether they are understanding what they are reading (p.177). The think aloud strategy that I
am modeling for DG is a strategy that he can use independently to monitor his understanding of
expository texts. As he is monitoring his understanding, he will also be thinking about facts and
information that he has learned throughout the text.
Materials: Computer, Graphic Organizer, Pencil, MyON book Bugs on the Move
Formative assessment: Graphic Organizer
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANS (EDRD 637)

Date: 6/26/15
Session #: 8
Your Name: Meghan Williams
Your Student's Name: DG Gonzales

Reflections
During the writing portion of the last tutoring session, I found several teachable moments. The
writing focus for DG has been on his planning, but today I was able to help him on his mechanics as well.
The writing portion took up a large chunk of time. In the future, I would break the lesson up over several
days so that the student does not get worn out. Towards the end of the lesson DG became distracted and
needed to take a break. A large chunk of time was also taken up by recording the Readers theatre. As a
teacher, it is important to find a balance of time. The technology portion of the readers theatre took much
longer than expected.
Throughout the sessions, I have noticed DG becoming more engaged and motivated to improve
his fluency since hearing himself on audacity and participating in readers theatre. The use of formative
assessments has helped me track DGs progress as well as change my instructional focus to fit his needs.
For example, DG was able to create ight words today without any support. As a teacher, this informed
me that he is ready to move on. His next focus will be on vocabulary.

Instructional Strategies and Rationales

(1) Writing as meaningful communication;

Strategy: First, DG and I will revisit his writing goal to set a purpose for todays lesson. DG will
learn how to use words to describe something. I will first read a paragraph that I wrote using
descriptive language to describe a polar bear. I will have the picture of the polar bear covered up
so that DG does not know what I am describing. He will need to use my descriptive language to
figure out what is going to be in the picture. Once he realizes that I am describing a polar bear, I
will explain to him that my descriptive language created an image in his head of the polar bear
and that is how he figured it out. I will inform him that good authors use these types of words so
that their readers can make images in their heads. This is called using details. I will then allow
him to write a descriptive paragraph. He will then read his descriptive piece to another student
and they will guess what he is describing.
Rationale: In addition to improving his planning, DG set a goal to improve his writing by adding
details. When he used the 4th grade writing rubric he noticed that was an area where he needed
work. I saw the same thing when I analyzed both his narrative and expository writing pieces. He
needs to use more descriptive language and details. His sentences are very broad. One way to
teach how to add details is by teaching how to use descriptive language.
Materials: Pictures of things to describe, paper, pencil
Formative assessment: Writing rubric for DGs descriptive writing
(2) Concepts of print/phonemic awareness/phonics or word recognition, vocabulary building;
Strategy: I will be teaching DG how to use context clues, and how to create online flashcards to
remember word meanings. DG and I will look over the words on the Vocabulary Rating Scale
from a previous tutoring session. We will find the words within the text The Umbrella and I will
use the think alouds stategy to model how to use context clues to figure out word meanings. We
will then create flashcards by using an online flashcard maker so that DG can record the word
meanings. I will print the flashcards for DG to take home.
Rationale: When analyzing DGs word recognition assessment, it was determined that DG needs
to learn vocabulary strategies to help figure out word meanings. He was unable to use several
words from the word recognition lists in context. He also had some difficulty when he was asked
to give the meaning of words in the comprehension passages. I used a vocabulary rating scale to
choose what words to teach DG to be successful when reading and acting out The Umbrella.
According to Fisher and Frey (2009) Without vocabulary knowledge the reading material at
hand, is incomprehensible (p.4).
Materials: Computer, The Umbrella, Completed Vocabulary Rating Scale
 Formative assessment: Flashcards (Definitions will be in DGs words)
(3) Fluency development
Strategy: In order to improve DGs fluency, he will listen to an online read aloud of his choosing
on Storyline online and listen specifically for the readers expression and phrasing. After
listening, Dulgaz will read a fluency passage from Reading A-Z that has dialogue. DG and I will
work together to highlight the punctuation and quotations throughout the reading passage. He will
read the passage several times to improve his fluency.
Rationale: DG has been working on reading in longer phrases and heeding punctuation when
reading. When DG self-evaluated his fluency he decided that he also needed to improve on his
phrasing and prosody. This was something that I also noticed when I analyzed his fluency with
the Fountas and Pinnell assessment and the ARI. I chose to have DG listen to an online read
aloud because I wanted to expose him to and have him listen to an additional reader besides
myself using prosody. Thoermer and Williams (2012) state that the benefit of using digital read-
alouds over traditional is that the same reading pattern can be played over and over so the student
can analyze the prosodic features (p.443). I also chose to have him listen to an online read aloud
because the use of technology is more engaging than listening to me.
Materials: Computer, Reading A-Z fluency passage Aiko
Formative assessment: I will use the Reading A-Z fluency passage to score DGs fluency.
(4) Comprehension instruction using expository or narrative text strategies.
Strategy: DG will listen to an online read aloud on MyOn and use a graphic organizer to recall
facts from an expository text. I will model the think aloud strategy for DG as he listens to the text.
As I am reading, I will model how to stop and think about the important details. I will ask
questions and explain to DG that asking questions during reading helps readers better understand
the text. I will inform him that this will also help him later when he is recalling important details
from the story. After reading and modeling thinking aloud, I will ask DG to recall facts from the
text and record them in a graphic organizer.
Rationale: When administering the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment, it was determined
that DG would benefit from learning comprehension strategies to understand expository texts.
When asked comprehension questions, DG has a hard time recalling specific details and using
vocabulary from the text. According to Migyanka, Policastro, Lui (2006), Students need to be
taught meta-comprehension skills that will help them to engage in self-monitoring and to realize
whether they are understanding what they are reading (p.177). The think aloud strategy that I
am modeling for DG is a strategy that he can use independently to monitor his understanding of
expository texts. As he is monitoring his understanding, he will also be thinking about facts and
information that he has learned throughout the text.
Materials: Computer, Graphic Organizer, Pencil, MyON book Bugs on the Move
Formative assessment: Graphic Organizer
 References

Frey, N. & Fisher, D. (2009). Learning words inside and out: Vocabulary instruction that boosts
achievement in all subject areas. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Migyanka, J.M., Policastro, C., & Lui, G. (2006). Using a think-aloud with diverse students: Three
primary grade students experience chrysanthemum. Early Childhood Educational
Journal, 33(3), 171-177.

Marcell, B. (2012). Putting fluency on a fitness plan: Building fluencys meaning-making muscles. The
Reading Teacher, 65(4), 242-249.

Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., (2005) Building Academic Vocabulary, 1-7.

Keene, E.O., & Zimmerman, S., (2013) Years later, comprehension strategies still at work. The
Reading Teacher, 66(8), 601-607.

Romeo, L. (2008). Informal writing assessment linked to instruction: A continuous process for teachers,
students, and parents. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 24, 25-51.

Thoermer, A. & Williams, L. (2012). Using digital texts to promote fluent reading. The Reading
Teacher, 56(7), 441-445.

Woods, M. & Moe, A.J. (2015). Analytical reading inventory with readers passages (10 th edition).
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