ARTIFACT #5: Field Study Intervention

Artifact 5 is a report of interventions used to support a 1st-grade student with a hearing

impairment who is having difficulty learning basic sounds of letters. It documents strategies
developed for use during RTI (response to intervention) sessions, including application of CBM
(curriculum based measurement). A variety of strategies were employed---highlight/comments were
added to help point these out in the body of the report.

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Field Study Intervention
a) IRIS assessment, part 2
https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/rpm/cr_assess/#content

1. 3 benefits of CBM Comment [Office1]: CBM: curriculum based

1) CBM are very short tests, they do not take up much time at all. measurement
2) CBM are given throughout the year, so they provide input for modifying curriculum.
3) CBM are very varied, there are many ways to assess progress (or lack of).

2. 6 steps
1) determine the appropriate type and level of CBM material
2) administration and scoring
3) graphing
4) setting goals
5) making instructional decisions
6) communicating progress

3. parent conference
CBM process provides graphed data that is easy to share.
CBM information covers the curriculum for the year, so it is always current information.

4. The graph that is falling below the goal line for several weeks indicates the student is not
responding well to whatever intervention is in place. It is time to change the intervention and try
another approach.

The graph that is consistently above the goal line is meeting objectives, so Ms Begay can let
that student be---hes doing well.

5. Treat him like any other student. Take a baseline, and ascertain the appropriate level the student
is working at. The CBM probes cover the whole years curriculum, so it doesnt matter that Mario is
taking one for the first time---he can just jump in with the rest of the class. Once data is taken over a
few weeks. The process and probes can be used with Mario right away to help make instructional
decisions. Ms. Begay may want to communicate her findings with special education teacher and
verify results/program.
b) CBM assessment: letter sound fluency
I selected to assess letter sound fluency because the student (in first-grade) could only

identify one letter by sound (baseline taken in August 2016).

c) intervention:

For first round, tried the intervention Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons

(Englemann, Haddox, and Bruner, 1983). The student had 3 20-minute sessions per week Comment [Office2]: FIRST intervention method used.
A set of lessons designed to introduce letter sounds in a
very systematic way.
during RTI block. Often the session would be provided with one or two peers so the target

student would have models to echo. He would echo for a while, and then gradually begin

to recite the letter at the same time as peers. However, with each new session he would

begin anew from echoing again, and he never got to point of maintaining the letter sounds

from session to session. He was not able to write the practiced sounds, nor recognize the

letters. Comment [Office3]: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

(CBM) to track student progress and make instructional
decisions.
For second round, I used the last weeks of data from first round to establish a goal line. Based on students lack of progress a decision was made
to change intervention methods.
Three changes were made: 1) Sound Partners was used, 2) initial Sound Partner lessons were Comment [Office4]: DEVELOPING methods to meet
the specific needs of the student.

delivered at a one-to-one ratio---then as the student became more fluent, he would

occasionally join 2-other peers to work on the same lesson together, and 3) an adapted set

of visuals for phonics was created.

Regarding intervention #1, Sound Partners: Per a review by What Works Comment [Office5]: RESEARCH on the methods.

Clearinghouse, Sound Partners was found to have positive effects with alphabetics, fluency,

and comprehension. It is a program that is designed to be simple to run, so volunteers and

classroom aides may help with tutoring with minimal training. The program was designed for

one-to-one tutoring, however once students get used to the routines it is possible to present
the lesson to a small group (Vannasy, Wayne, OConnor, Jenkins, Pool, Firebaugh and

Peyton, 2005). We have found working in a small group to be quite feasible. Comment [Office6]: MOTIVATIONAL elements in
form of social inclusion with a small group of students
who were having similar problems.
Regarding intervention #2, one-to-one intensity: Per Slavin, Lake, Davis, and Madden Comment [Office7]: ADJUSTING intensity of
interventions: as appropriate, student received
(2010), the most effective Tier 2 and Tier 3 RTI sessions are delivered at one-to-one intensity intervention individually and in small group.

and are using proven methods. In order to deliver the initial introductory lessons of Sound

Partners at a one-to-one ratio, I changed my classroom RTI routine to provide a window of

about 20 minutes during which I could slip in regular one-to-one time with Ben. The class

routine was also changed to provide daily RTI rotations within the classroom, which is an

increase from the grade-level minimum of 3 days per week. However, as mentioned before,

we are intermittently fading from one-to-one to a small group ratio of one-to-three whenever

student demonstrates adequate fluency with learned sounds. The student really looks

forward to joining with peers, and will ask to do so.

Regarding intervention #3, phonics visuals: Visuals to cue phonemes were adapted to Comment [Office8]: DEVELOPING and
IMPLEMENTING curriculum to meet specific needs of
student.
combine advisories from three-different sources regarding phoneme instruction. First, per

Murray (2012), there is great increase in engagement when the following four steps are

taken: 1) focus on the individual phoneme, 2) make the phoneme memorable, 3) explicitly

raise students awareness of the phoneme, and 4) apply phonemic skills to reading via short

sessions 10-20 minutes. Second, per Schirmer and McGough (2005), deaf/hard-of-hearing

(DHH) students appear to benefit from pairing hand gestures or finger spelling with specific

phonemes, so the adapted visuals have been paired with distinctive gestures. Third, phonics

programs geared toward DHH, such as Foundations for Literacy (Lederberg, Easterbrooks,

Miller, Tucci, and Connor), utilize cues that are different from typical programs. Typical

phonics cues require students to isolate the first sound of a word that starts with that letter. In

contrast, phonics programs tailored for DHH students cue the noise the letters make---for
example, the cue for m is ice-cream because thinking of ice-cream makes the student

say mmmmmmmm.

Ive noticed that when my target student uses the hand gestures, his articulation

improves---it is easy to hear that he is placing his tongue in the correct positions when he Comment [Office9]: ADJUSTING to meet specific
needs of student.
MULTIMODAL: kinesthetic motions
makes the sounds. Ive also noticed that when my student makes the noise of a letter, he
The unique sounds used for the letters are NOT initial
sounds that need to be isolated.
says the sound strongly and usually stretches it out---mmmmm or /t/t/t/t/t/.

His performance is graphed below:

figure 1: results of 2nd-round of interventions.

Sound Partners integrates writing into their daily lesson. My student was just so happy

when he started to write his sounds! Here is a sample of his work:

d) tutoring log

Outline for a Daily Lesson on Phonics during a read-aloud

Date:

Objective(s) for todays lesson:

I can identify letters by sound.
I can read CVC words.
I can spell _____(single consonant / CVC words).

CCSS:
R.F.1.3 Know & apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills to in decoding
words.
L.1.2.e Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and
spelling conventions.

Rationale (Explain why this content and/or skill is important and worthwhile, and
how you will work to make it relevant to your students lives):
Per Slavin et al. (2010) one-to-one tutoring is an effective way to impart reading skills,
especially when phonics is integrated into the reading lesson. Per Freisen (2011),
engaging students is very important to help them overcome the disappointments and
outright fears that stem from experiences with unsuccessful instruction in reading.

Materials & supplies needed:

Sound Partners materials
Adapted phonics visuals
Phonics game board and playing cards

Procedures and approximate time allocated for each event The desired
transition time
is no longer
than a slow 10-
count for
students to
transition to the
 reading area
Introduction to the lesson for this activity.
If the students need to settle down, run Focus 5---actors toolbox
to help them to re-center. 1-2 minutes

Select and post the learning target.

Call small groups to gather, one group at a time. 1-2 minutes
Give the group their work folder and briefly go over what their tasks
are (routine tasks).

OUTLINE of key events during the lesson (Include specific details about
how I will begin and end activities; what discussion questions I will use; how I will help children
understand behavior expectations during the lesson; when/how I will distribute supplies and
materials) (___ minutes)

Once all small groups are running, 10 minutes

pull targeted one-to-one student to an area off to side.

Begin Sound Partners lesson.

IF it is a new phoneme, take time to go over the visual cue and to 10 minutes
go through the movements/getures
Close with Sound Partners reader.

Targeted student returns to small group to join them to 10 minutes

play the phonics board game (or other activity).

Closing summary for the lesson (How will I bring closure to the lesson and
actively involve children in reflecting on their experiences? How will I help them make connections
to prior lessons or prepare for future experiences? What kind of feedback do I want from them at
this time?) (___ minutes)

At the conclusion of the RTI block, call for attention. 5 minutes

Congratulate and thank students for working so hard
on their own. Very briefly ask one student from each
group to say what they learned.
Call attention to the posted learning target, announce
whats next and change the target.

Transition to next learning activity

1 minute
Instruct students to put materials away and return to desks/seats
for next activity.

Assessment (How will I gauge the students learning as I implement the lesson plan and once the lesson is completed?
Specifically, what will I look for? How will I use what I am learning to inform my next steps?)

CBM probes for learned sounds. Observation on how well student independently
provides the practiced mnemonic and gesture.

(* the SoundPartners routine automatically generates a written piece of evidence daily)

log phonics card sound partner reading spelling

week letters letters /first 10 /first 10
of
10/24 2/5 s m group
10/31 1/5 m 1:1
11/7 --- group, frustrated
(hearing aides may
not be working)
11/14 amst 4/4 am 8/10 6/10 1:1 data at end
he likes the visuals!
11/21 amst dhno 7/8 s 6/10 7/10 1:1 cold
11/28 amst dhno 10/10 t 9/10 8/10 1:1 cold, prompt to
ib make gestures

e) results

For 100lessons: Overall, student appeared to like working on these sessions. He also got the idea of

starting on the dot and whether to pause along the way or to say the word fast. Over time, he was

getting more fluent with the blending together. However the difficult thing was he would get better

within the same days lesson, or over consecutive days when RTI sessions ran back to back, but then

start anew with struggling to recall the next session. The practice at our school is to consider

changing the intervention if the student does not progress, so at the 4th week, a switch was made.

The deciding factor was the demeanor of the student---his frustration level was climbing---his

declining enthusiasm could have been aggravated by malfunctioning hearing aids.

For Sound Partners: Overall, student really benefitted from reading the sounds and writing the

sounds during the same lesson. He was so tickled to realize he was writin g real words (e.g., am,

sat, mat, etc) from the very first lesson. He was also a bit surprised, then really happy to realize he

could recall letters from lesson to lesson. There were days when he was more easily frustrated---one

notable one was when he had started the lesson with two peers, and then got pulled for 1:1 work. He

was really grumpy and not cooperative through the session, and kept looking over to where the two

peers were working. From then on, we were careful to do the 1:1 session first, before he joined

peers. Sound Partners has really clear worksheets---it really is doable to have students work in
threes, possibly four at a time. As a teacher, I appreciate that the intervention helps me to eventually

fade off the 1:1, and work consistently in a small group.

For phonics visuals: Overall, student really enjoys these. There are days when he gets a little

frustrated but a quick prompt for the hand gesture or the mnemonic usually sets him straight quickly.

We are planning to continue with using the combination of Sound Partners and adapted phonics

visuals. Whenever the student demonstrates he can keep up with peers, we will fade back from one-

to-one intensity to small group on lesson. The objectives for our next RTI cycle is to identify all 26

letters sounds, plus attempt CVC-probes .

References:

Englemann, S., Haddox, P., & Bruner, E. Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. New
York: Simon & Shuster, 1983.

Lederberg, A., Easterbrooks, S., Miller, E., Tucci, S., & Connor, C. Foundations for literacy flyer.
Retrieved from http://clad.education.gsu.edu/files/2014/07/Foundations-for-Literacy-
recruitment-flyer1.pdf

Murray, B.A. (2012). Tell me about freds foot again. The Reading Teacher, 66(2), 139- 144.
doe: 10.1002:TTR.01096

Vadasy, P., Wayne, S., OConnor, R, Jenkins, J., Pool, K., Firebaugh, & M, Peyton, J.
(2005). Sound Partners. Boston: Sopris West.