A CASE STUDY ON MIKE

1
A Case Study on Mike
Introduction

Going into my practicum classroom on the first day was intimidating. I knew
I had to scope out the class to find a case study child on top of getting to know the
children and my cooperating teacher on a surface level. I was excited to find a child
to really get to know well. I asked Mrs. L, my cooperating teacher, who she thought
would be a good fit. She named a few children and I narrowed down my list of
potential students. I was debating between two students that were very different.
One student comes from a very rough home life and is a second language learner.
Mike on the other hand comes from a great home and is very intelligent for his age
according to Mrs. L. When I finally made the decision to study Mike this semester, I
asked Mrs. L to send home the required permission forms. She said I had made a
good choice in choosing Mike because his family would be very supportive in my
efforts to learn about their son. Luckily she was right.
In the end I decided on Mike because in my one day of observation I could tell
he was ahead of his classmates. I had a few short conversations with him and it
seemed like he would be open enough to talk to and get information from. He did
not get in trouble at all and was on task all day. He answered questions correctly
and seemed attentive. I figured he would be an easy child to study because he was
so normal. I was wrong, but I am so glad I was wrong. Mike has taught me a lot
about the normally developing child and developmentally advanced children
throughout this semester.

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The purpose of the case study is not to only learn about one child, but to
learn about all children. In studying Mike, I have also studied normative data and
have learned what a normally developing child looks like. A case study is a
comprehensive narrative of the child (Nilsen, 2010). It can be used as an end of the
year report for parents or as a referral for special services. The case study should be
extensive because of the many details obtained through the ongoing observation of
the child (Nilsen, 2010). Once the case study is complete many observers may
choose to discuss the development of the child with appropriate people like parents
and specialists. The purpose of this case study was to learn how to appropriately
form a case study and to become aware of the many observation methods we should
be using as future teachers.
Methods
In studying Mike I used a variety of forms of observation from checklists to
videography. Each type of observation I used was for a specific purpose and
assisted me in gathering as much information on Mike as possible in the short time I
had with him. This section will review the tools and observation methods I used in
working with Mike. As I was looking for a child to study, I was able to pick up on a
lot about Mike through incident reports. An incident report is a very brief episode
that is recorded with generalities (Tools for Observing Young Children). One of the
most detailed and structured observations is the time sample, in which the observer
records two ten-minute samples of the childs day. The observer observes the child
for one minute, records during the next minute, and continues this until he/she has
a full five minutes of information on the child. The observer then waits at least

A CASE STUDY ON MIKE

twenty minutes and does the same observation again (Tools for Observing Young
Children).
There are many observation types that are somewhere in between the
descriptiveness of the time sample and the brevity of the incident report. The
anecdotal observation is the most often used tool because it captures an episode
with just enough detail from beginning to end. Checklists are commonly used in
classrooms as a form of assessing the children as well. It identifies the behavior
being studied and indicates something about the items being observed (Tools for
Observing Young Children). Finally, the work sample is an artifact produced by
children (Tools for Observing Young Children). This is something the child created
or worked on in class. It is often accompanied by a conversation piece.
Fortunately I was also able to photograph and video record Mike on a daily
basis. His parents agreed to allow me to do so as long as they were not posted on
the James Madison University website. He often asked why I was taking his picture.
My response was, Youre helping me with my homework. He would smile and
continue on with his work. I was able to go back after writing an observation and
look at the pictures I took to make sure everything lined up. Technology is a great
resource in doing a case study and should be treated as such and used frequently.
I observed and collected data on Mike for sixteen days beginning Wednesday,
September 4, 2013 through Wednesday, December 4, 2013. I was present at Lake
Elementary School each Wednesday between these dates except for November 27,
2013, due to Thanksgiving break. I was also present during immersion week, which
consisted of three extra days in the classroom from Monday, October 7, 2013 to

A CASE STUDY ON MIKE

Thursday, October 10, 2013. Each of these days I arrived by 8:00a.m. and left
around 3:15p.m., thus clocking over 117 hours at Lake Elementary School with Mrs.
Ls Kindergarten class.
Lake Elementary School is located in Southhaven, a small rural town in the
Shenandoah Valley with approximately 2900 residents (Town of Elkton, 2013).
Southhavens schools are located within the greater Stoneham County Public School
district. Lake Elementary is one of two elementary schools in the town, and is the
newest of Stoneham Countys 15 elementary schools. Lake Elementary Schools
enrollment is 313 students for the 2013-2014 school year (RCPS: About RCPS,
2013). The school is made up of a majority of White students. In reviewing the
schools report card from the Virginia Department of Education, it was interesting to
see that there were so few Black and Hispanic students that they were unable to
report data for the group. It is a group below state definition for personally
identifiable results (Virginia Department of Education, 2013). The economic
structure of the schools families is varied. There are more students that are middle
class than any other economic class, but there are more lower class than higher class
families.
Mrs. Ls classroom consists of fifteen children, all but one of which are White.
There is one Hispanic child in the classroom. About 75% of the students in my
practicum class are from middle class families and 25% are from lower class
families. There is a range of children who live in trailer parks to those that live on
large plots of land with decent sized houses. There are 8 boys and 7 girls in the
class. There are only a few children with IEPs, all of which are speech related.

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The resources in the classroom are abundant with tons of books and centers
filled with toys and supplies. Appendix A shows the set up of the room. Image 1
shows the art area of the room. There is plenty of paint and paper as well as an
easel and drying rack for paintings and other artwork. Image 2 shows the reading
rug and calendar area. To the left of the reading rug is the blocks center where there
are many kinds of blocks and puzzles for the children to work with. Image 3 is the
view from the door. The science center is in the forefront of the picture. The rice
and puppet center are behind it. In the back of the picture is the class library where
there is an abundance of books on many topics and for many reading levels.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend each special the students had
while I was present. Each Wednesday I was able to accompany the students to
music and guidance. Music class was characterized by the students sitting on the
ground and singing. Every once in a while they would stand up and do a movement
song, and there were some instruments but the students did not get to use them.
Guidance class was similar in that the students sat down and listened to the teacher.
They would get up and do an activity at the end of class, but that was the only
movement involved. The majority of guidance was based on reading a book and
discussing it. It was great to be able to hear them talk about their emotions in such a
real way. During immersion week I was able to see them in P.E. twice. The gym is a
nice facility and they have the resources to play fun games with the children.
Two of the best days I had at practicum took place on field trip days. I was
able to see the students, and especially Mike, with their families and outside of
school. The first field trip was to the apple orchard and the second to Brethren

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Woods. Mikes mom chaperoned the first and his granddad the second. It was great
to be able to talk to his family about him and ask questions about his personality
and growth outside of school. His family was very open to answering questions and
talking about Mike with me.
Data & Interpretations
I focused on four developmental domains this semester: physical,
social/emotional, cognitive, and language. The observations and data I collected all
aided me in understanding Mikes level of development within each domain.
Child and Family System
At the beginning of the school year, Mike was 5.11 years old. His immediate
family consists of his mom, dad, brother, and himself. His mom and dad both work
at Merck, a pharmaceutical company. According to Mrs. L they are well off with
regards to money and do not have any economic issues as far as she knows. His
brother James is in third grade at Lake Elementary School and also had Mrs. L as his
Kindergarten teacher. He was recommended for Challenge courses, a sort of gifted
education system in place at Lake Elementary School. Mike is also very close with
his grandfather. His family moved in with his grandfather mid-November because
they are having a house built, but sold their original home faster than their new one
was built. In discussing this change with Mike, it does not seem to have a huge
impact on him, but Berk (2012) says otherwise. Grandparents do promote
childrens development both directly, by forming a relationship with the child, and
indirectly, by offering financial support to the parents of the child. In this instance

A CASE STUDY ON MIKE

Mikes grandfather is part of Mikes immediate family and thus it does have an
impact on his development.
Mikes development is characterized by a complex system of relationships
known as the ecological systems theory by Bronfenbrenner (Berk, 2012). The four
main systems that impact development are the microsystem, mesosystem,
exosystem, and macrosystem. Each system encompasses different happenings and
people that impact the child. Mikes microsystem is the most difficult to see as an
observer. It is his feelings and how he interacts with his surroundings (Berk, 2012).
His personality and temperament are two ways I see the interactions he has with his
microsystem. Mikes temperament is consistent with The Easy or Flexible Child
(Curde & Duitch). He is adaptable, approaches new situations relatively quickly, is
happy, and wants to please people.
His mesosystem is the relationships he has with his family and in his school
(Berk, 2012). Mike talks about his mom often and she has a good relationship with
him. During the field trip to the apple orchard on September 18, 2013, I was able to
see them interact. Mike held her hand and wanted her to interact with his friends. I
have not met his father and he does not talk about him much. I was able to meet
Mikes brother James, who he speaks very highly of, on the playground on October 2,
2013. He came over after Mike called his name repeatedly. Mike introduced him to
me and James left after meeting me. Mike then told me James is mean to him and
that he does not like when he is mean. From the interaction I saw, James was not
being mean, but just seemed to want to play with his friends rather than his brother
and me. Generally Mike has a great relationship with the people in his life.

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The next system is the exosystem, which Berk (2012) describes as the social
settings that do not impact the person directly, but affect their life in some way. In
Mikes life, his exosystem includes his parents work schedule. Luckily his parents
must have some sort of leave built into their schedules because his mom was able to
be on the field trip with him and brings him to school every morning. This is helpful
for his social/emotional development because it allows him to have more time with
his mom, thus creating a trusting relationship between the two of them. The
outermost system is the macrosystem, which consists of cultural values and laws.
Mikes family identifies as Christian, but does not often attend church according to
his mom. The values his family instills in him are part of his macrosystem. He sees
those values in the classroom because Mrs. L is also a Christian.
Physical and Motor Development
Mike has blonde hair and blue eyes. His height and weight are typical for a
six year old, but he is one of the tallest in his class. He still has all of his primary
teeth. He is a healthy young boy with a lunch packed from home every Wednesday.
On October 9, 2013 Mike had the following in his lunch box: a bologna sandwich,
applesauce, carrots, a brownie, water, and milk. He ate everything except for some
carrots. This is a typical lunch for Mike. Snack in the classroom usually consists of
yogurt, cookies, or fruit. He eats the snack every week unless he does not like it. On
November 6, 2013 the class had celery sticks and carrots with Ranch dressing. Mike
did not eat the celery sticks because he did not like them. He did not try them
before telling me he did not like them. Children need a well-balanced, plentiful diet
to provide energy for successful learning in school and increased physical activity

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(Berk, 2012). Mike is very successful in school in all domains. His balanced
nutrition likely has something to do with that.
Mike is very physically active at school and home. On September 18, 2013 at
the apple orchard, his mom told me he is part of two baseball teams and is often
outside playing with his brother James. He has played baseball for two years, so
since he was about four and a half. I have witnessed him use his baseball skills
multiple times in school. During the field trip, Mike picked an apple and moved into
a pitching position as if he were imitating pitching the apple like a baseball. On
September 25, 2013 the class was sitting on the carpet and Mrs. L was passing out
paper books they had colored. She tossed Mike his book and he caught it saying, I
catched it because I play baseball! He began playing because his brother James had
been playing for a while according to his mom. This family dynamic influences
Mikes gross motor development. Older siblings provide developmentally more
advanced models for younger siblings and help create a stimulating, enriched
environment that seems to enhance younger siblings development (Berger &
Nuzzo, 2008). Having James as an older brother gives Mike a very different
environment than one would have without siblings.
Mike is a big fan of climbing. On multiple occasions I have witnessed him
climbing when outside. On September 11, 2013 during recess, Mike went down the
slide with no hands and ran over to the white ladder, looked at me and said, See
what James teached me. He held onto the gate above the ladder and hung with his
legs in the air behind him (Appendix B, Image 1). On September 18, 2013 Mike was
climbing a red structure with multiple holes for hands and feet (Appendix B, Image

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2). He moved to the dome shaped climbing structure on October 1, 2013 (Appendix
B, Image 3). On the field trip to Brethren Woods on October 8, 2013, he was able to
play on the monkey bars (Appendix B, Image 4). Mike consistently climbs when he
is given the opportunity. His ability to do so shows his strength and gross motor
development. By six most [children] are proficient in their abilities to climb
various surfaces (Reddick & Park, 1998). Mike is a skilled climber as he is able to
successfully climb each of these pieces of equipment. According to Reddick & Park
(1998), Mike is an elementary climber because he climbs using his hands and feet
alternating left and right, but not simultaneously as a mature climber would do.
Mikes climbing ability shows his great gross motor development as he was not yet
six during these incidents.
With regards to fine motor development, Mike is ahead of his peers and is
developmentally advanced. I had him cut out different lines to see if he was able to
use scissors correctly and successfully (Appendix B, Images 5 & 6). This observation
took place on September 25, 2013 just after lunch. He was asked to come cut the
lines I had drawn on a piece of paper. They were straight, curved, zigzag, and
circular shapes. Mike was able to hold the scissors correctly using a two-finger grip,
meaning his thumb and index finger were in the two holes (Lazarus, 1965). He was
able to cut the straight line without any help. When he began working on the curved
line, he was a little hesitant. After starting, he moved through it relatively quickly. It
is great that he was able to track the line so easily because tracking the line with
scissors means he is refining his tracking skills both with his hand and eye muscles.
This is a skill that will help him with reading in the future (Lazarus, 1965). The

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zigzag line proved to be a little harder for him. Once he was at the top of one zigzag
he seemed to think about how to turn his scissors to go back down. He needed a
little guidance on this. Finally the circular shape was the hardest for him. He really
took his time and seemed like he was trying to get it perfect, but in moving so slowly
the circle ended up bumpy instead of smooth. Overall he had no problem getting
through the task on his own and had very little help from me. I asked him why the
circle was the hardest for him and he responded that he had not cut many circles.
It is even more impressive that Mike is so well developed with his fine motor
skills because boys normally develop fine motor skills later than girls (Copple &
Bredekamp, 2009). I was very surprised when I saw how well Mike could tie his
shoes (Appendix B, Image 7). He was in the hallway when he squatted down,
kneeled on his left knee and started to tie his shoe. He first pulled the shoestrings
away from his feet, making the shoe tighter. He crossed the right over the left string
and pulled the right string through the bottom of the crossing. After pulling it tight
again, he created a loop with the string on the right. He looked away from his foot
and to Mrs. L as he was tying. During this time he did not slow down, but completed
his shoe tying by looping the left string around the existing right loop, pulling it
through the bottom hole, and pulling the new loop tight. This task is not mastered
until around age six for most children (Berk, 2012). He was 5.11 years old at this
time. He had no trouble tying his shoes, but even more he was able to look away
from his foot while doing so. His ability to do this so easily could be credited to
James. Older siblings may serve as an incentive for younger siblings to gain
independent mobility they can imitate the older siblings more easily if they can

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keep up with them (Berger & Nuzzo, 2008). Because James was learning to tie his
own shoes when Mike was only four, Mike probably wanted to be like his brother
and thus learned to tie his shoes quickly. Regardless of the reason for his ability to
tie his shoes, Mike is clearly advanced in his fine motor development.
Emotional and Social Development
Mike knows who he likes to play with and oftentimes plays with the same
people every day I observe him. Jordan and Mark are the two boys Mike chooses to
play with, sit next to, and generally be around on a day by day basis. By age 6,
children play with same-sex peers 11 times more than they play with other-sex
peers (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009). On October 9, 2013 in the lunchroom, Mike sat
down and asked me to sit to his right. I sat down and we began unpacking our food.
Brittany sat down on Mikes left. He looked at her and asked why she had to sit next
to him and that she took Jordans seat. She did not seem to care and was not
moving. He asked me if I could make her move and I told him I could not do that. He
eventually asked me to sit across from him so Jordan could sit to his right. I of
course complied.
This is not the first time Brittany has sat near Mike and frustrated him. I am
curious if it is intentional. They are line partners and are around each other quite
often. Mike was unhappy in this situation but was able to regulate his emotions and
use conflict resolution strategies. He used two strategies to fix the situation. First
he asked me if I could solve the problem for him. After I said I would not, he
suggested I move across from him. That way he could still sit next to Jordan and be
close to me at the same time. In asking me to move he was creating a compromise.

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5- to 7- year olds tend to rely on friendly persuasion and compromise, to think of

alternative strategies when an initial one does not work, and to resolve
disagreements without adult intervention (Berk, 2012). While he did try to use
adult intervention, he was not persistent about it and was able to fix the problem
himself.
Like I said, Brittany frequently frustrates Mike. There have been multiple
instances where Mike has moved away from Brittany on the playground and in line
in the hall. Being line partners they are supposed to hold hands. Later that day,
Brittany was trying to hold Mikes hand in the hallway. He let go of her hand and
put his hands across his chest. On October 23, 2013 Mike would not hold her hand
in the hallway again. He would not sit next to her on the rug at circle time either.
She tried to sit by him, but he got up and moved. I think this shows his maturity in
that he is not fighting with Brittany, but fixing the situation without causing a
problem for the class. This supports the easy temperament previously described.
He is able to adapt and change when necessary.
October 7, 2013 was a rough day for Mike. He started out the day great
working on his journal entry and finishing his morning work early. He even got to
go to P.E. today for specials. He told me he loves P.E., and he was very involved
during the games (Appendix C, Image 1). During the second bowling game they
were playing, Mike rolled a ball and it hit my leg. When I looked up his eyes were
wide and his hand was over his mouth as if he was afraid he was going to be in
trouble. He ran over and apologized. For the rest of the game he did not look at me.
He seemed ashamed of hitting me. During the final game, Mike backed up into Sean

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hitting Seans nose and giving him a pretty bad nosebleed. When I got back from the
nurse with Sean I asked Mike what happened. All he said was, We bumped heads.
As he said it he seemed very sad and nervous. He is not normally nervous kid. He
felt bad about hurting Sean on accident. I actually spoke with his mom the next day
when she brought him into school and she said he talked about how bad he felt all
night and that he hoped Sean was ok. Luckily Sean was fine, but Mike seemed to be
emotionally bruised from the situation.
Mike was experiencing complex emotions during this day and he was able to
differentiate and deal with them. In the morning he was happy that he had finished
his morning work, he seemed much more timid after hitting my leg, and then once
he bumped heads with Sean he experienced an onslaught of emotions. He seemed
shocked when he screamed my name from across the room, and was looking at Sean
with a face of horror. He apologized to Sean multiple times during the day and
seemed embarrassed and very sorry for what had happened. Mike never explicitly
told me he felt proud of his morning work or ashamed of hurting Sean, but that is
what it seemed like. By the age of 6 children should be able to fully understand
these complex emotions (Kuebli, 2009). According to Kuebli (2009), interpreting
and understanding emotions is referred to as emotional experience. It is important
that we allow children to go through these experiences to be able to develop and
become socially competent. Mike was able to talk to his family and myself about the
experience he had. After a week, he was not talking about the accident anymore, so
he was hopefully able to get over it in a healthy way. I was concerned that his

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studies were hurting because of the overwhelming emotions he was feeling that day.
I think talking through them would have been beneficial.
Cognitive Development
From the very first week I could tell that Mike was intelligent. He was
writing at a level I would never have imagined a Kindergartener would be at. He
had one year of preschool, but according to Mrs. L it was not the best preschool. His
work samples show significant improvement over the course of the semester.
Appendix D shows nine samples of Mikes writing from August 22, 2013 to
December 2, 2013. Image 1 shows that Mike knows that sentences are dictated left
to right and that letters represent words in some form. He is in early Letter NameAlphabetic Spelling at this stage (Tompkins, 2011). Mike uses I L F to represent I
like flowers. He got each of the letters correct, but did not space them out or use
punctuation. Less than a month later, Mike is able to write A Ferris Wheel as A
Fars weil. Mike has shown significant improvement in that short amount of time.
He is now using vowels and has begun to understand the concept of spacing, yet not
very well. Image 3 shows that Mike still has not yet mastered long vowel sounds,
but is beginning to use them as he does in pie, which he spells pi. Using long
vowels in writing is a characteristic of stage three of spelling development, WithinWord Pattern Spelling, which is normally seen in children ages seven to nine
(Tompkins, 2011).
While most of Mikes spelling in Image 4 is not much better than that of
Image 3, the fact that he has a few sight words down is great. He uses me, dad,
and is correctly in the sentence that should read, Me and my dad is playing my

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computer. Another impressive word Mike was able to write was computer, which
he spelled computr. That is pretty close for a 5.11 year old, and is certainly not
typical for that age group. He was able to use both long and short vowel sounds in
the same word correctly. That is not seen until stage three or seven years of age
normally. Mike is finally starting to see the necessity of spacing in Image 5, his work
from October 7, 2013. I was surprised with how poor his spelling was in this piece.
I think he either must have been distracted when he was writing or forgot what he
wrote as he told Mrs. L his sentence. The reason I say this is because the word at the
end of the first line is unrecognizable. When asked about it he shrugged his
shoulders. Ocean is written as ochi in this piece. I can see that he is starting to
understand blends, but does not have it correct quite yet. The same week Mike
completed this journal entry, I assessed him on letter sounds. Included in this
assessment of 26 sounds were three blends, /sh/, /th/, and /ch/. Mike did not
correctly produce the sounds for /th/ and /sh/, but did accurately pronounce /ch/.
I find it interesting that he used ch in ocean when phonetically it sounds more
like sh.
Images 6, 7, 8, and 9 are all readable without dictation for the most part.
Mike is the only child in the class with the ability to write at this level. In watching
him work on his journals, he pronounces each sound in the word and writes them
down as he works. He oftentimes does rush through his journal work in the
morning when he wants to play centers. Image 6 was taken on October 9, 2013. We
had read The Three Billy Goats Gruff and the students were asked to write about
the book. Mike chose to write what the troll said to the goats as the crossed his

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bridge. The reading had taken longer than it normally would have, so the students
had less time to work on their journals. They would have had time to finish them
after music special, but Mike does not like to have to go back to his work after
specials. He rushed through this piece, which I believe is why he only wrote e u for
eat you. It is not typical for him to write only the beginning sound of a word this
late in his year.
Image 7 shows even more use of sight words and spacing. He spelled 5 of 8
words correctly in this sentence. Mike had turned six just before this journal entry
was done. He is still not getting the blends th as in birthday. He spelled every
word correct except Christmas in Image 8 taken just a few weeks later. His
spelling is impressive for being 6.0 years old. Finally, Image 9 shows his invented
spelling, but he is using spacing and is able to consistently spell sight words
correctly. I am surprised he did not spell went correctly because they were
working on that word a week before this journal was completed.
Overall, Mikes spelling skills are very above average for his age, especially in
comparison to his peers. Most children at this age and with only 4 months of
Kindergarten are not able to spell this well. Mike is in the early part of the WithinWord Pattern Spelling Stage (Tompkins, 2011). He is able to use long vowel sounds
and consistently spells sight words. He has come so far from the beginning of the
year when he was just beginning Letter Name-Alphabetic Spelling to being where he
is after less than four months.
Beyond his spelling, Mike is also advanced in math. During our field trip to
the apple orchard in September, Mike noticed patterns without any prompting. We

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were riding on the tractor and he noticed that the orchard had a pattern of: tree,
tire, tree, nothing, tree, tire, tree, nothing The class had not yet spoken about
patterns, but began to about two weeks later. Once the class was working on
patterns, Mike seemed bored. He is often very patient and attentive in class. He sits
with his legs crossed, hands in his lap, and eyes on the teacher. He is very rarely the
kid that needs to be spoken to about goofing off. On October 2, 2013 he was acting
differently. He would successfully move the unit cubes into the pattern he was
asked to and then would start playing with his shoelaces and chewing on them
(Appendix D, Image 10). I have recorded him chewing on his shoelaces four times
over the course of the semester. I believe he was bored because there was not one
pattern that stumped him. The teacher was teaching to the middle level of students
and he was above that, so he was not getting much content knowledge out of it.
While Mike has not been identified as gifted, he fits some characteristics of
gifted children. Tompkins (2011) definition of gifted is, displaying exceptional
intellectual strengths. Based on normative data for spelling, Mike is exceptional in
that field. Oftentimes gifted students excel in a few specific subjects rather than all
of them. Mike is clearly talented and advanced in writing and literacy. When not
sufficiently challenged, they [gifted children] sometimes lose their drive to excel
(Tompkins, 2011). This would explain Mike rushing through his work at times. He
is given the same thing to do each day: write a sentence and draw a picture in his
journal. They focused on patterns for a week when Mike did not even need a full
day of instruction. He did not seem to work hard on either activity when I know he
is capable of more.

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Language Development
Mike needs the most assistance with retelling and comprehension. He is able
to read level C books fluently, but when asked questions about the book he has
trouble answering them. I assessed Mike using a retelling assignment using The
Three Billy Goats Gruff on October 23, 2013. I explained that I would read the book
to him and retell the story, and then I would ask him to retell the story using the
props I had. He saw the props and started setting them up, but I asked him to wait
until I had done my part. As I read the book, Mike was reading along with me. I
began my retelling, but he grabbed the props from me. He set up the props with the
troll under the bridge. He went through the three episodes of each goat going over
the bridge and asking for the troll to wait for the next goat to eat. Mike knew the
story, but seemed to have a hard time retelling it with his words. He set up the
props and acted it out properly, but did not explain it completely. During each
episode he did use inflection and a specific voice for each character.
I was curious about whether he would have scored higher on this assessment
without using the props to tell the story for him, so I sat in on his reading group on
November 13, 2013, when they were working on comprehension and fluency. The
reading group Mike is in consists of four other students in Mrs. Ls class. They were
reading Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, a four-page book with pictures on each page.
As Mrs. L read the book to the group, she would ask questions. Like a diamond in
the sky, they read together. What does a diamond look like, Mike? asked Mrs. L.
Mike used his pointer fingers and thumbs to create a sort of kite shape with them.
Mrs. L explained that a star sparkles like a diamond, so a diamond looks like a star.

A CASE STUDY ON MIKE

20

There were other questions about why the boys wondering expression was
the way it was and if the stars were far away or close to Earth. He did not jump to
answer these questions. The questions he had his hand up first for were the
questions like, Where is the word star on this page? and Who wants to read page
two for me? Mike is so far advanced in reading that he is able to identify every
word and read each page without help. He is the only child in the class able to do
this. His comprehension is not quite at the same level. He knows how to read, but it
does not seem that he has been taught to use comprehension strategies in order to
understand the text. Some helpful comprehension strategies include activating
background knowledge, summarizing the text, questioning the text, predicting what
may happen, and connecting the text to self, world, and other texts (Tompkins,
2011). In Mikes case, using a text-to-self connection would probably be best. He
could do this through conversation or on paper since he is a strong writer. Linking
ideas he is reading about to his personal life may help him understand the text
better (Tompkins, 2011).
Mike scored highest in the class on his PALS Assessment at the beginning of
the year. His score was 95/102, the second highest in all of Kindergarten at Lake
Elementary School. He scored first in Mrs. Ls class in the every category: rhyme
awareness, beginning sound awareness, lower case alphabet recognition, letter
sounds, and spelling. During part of his PALS assessment on October 2, 2013, I was
able to observe him complete the beginning sound piece of the PALS assessment. He
worked ahead on most of it. The reading specialist would read each line, fish
field, fish mop, fish bell. Mike was finished with the question before the

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21

specialist got to the second pairing. She would ask him to wait until she completed
her part, but he never did. He was able to complete each beginning sound question
correctly without waiting for the auditory cues. The beginning sounds tested, all of
which he answered correctly, were: v, d, s, w, p, b, r, s, c, and h. F was the practice
question. The PALS assessment screens children for phonological awareness and is
provided by the state (University of Virginia, 2007). Mike was way above
benchmark for every category.
Mikes receptive and expressive speech are normally developing. He is able
to verbalize his knowledge except with regards to comprehension, where he needs
some extra help. He shows a wide range of vocabulary through both his written and
oral language. His knowledge and understanding of grammar and syntax are still
developing. He will sometimes use the wrong tense of a word or will mix up his
words in a sentence. For example, on October 2, 2013 he said, He does be mean,
when talking about his brother. Does be is not correct, but is expected for a 5.11
year old. He is working with irregular verbs. He often writes sentences such as, Me
and my mom is rather than are. To combat this, teachers should repeat what he
says back to him using the correct grammar (Tompkins, 2011). Say, He is mean, or
You and your mom are rather than ignoring the improper use of the verb to be.
Conclusion
Mike is advanced in almost every domain of development. He is normally
developing in regards to his physical form due to his nutritious diet and regular
physical activity. His gross motor skills are impressive for his age in regards to
climbing. His fine motor skills are typically developing. Mike looks up to his

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22

brother, which should be watched because he may push himself harder than his
body can handle. Emotionally, Mike is stable and developing according to the
normative data. He likes to be around peers of his same sex rather than those of the
opposite sex, and handles conflict resolution maturely. He has learned to ignore
Brittany instead of arguing with her, but I do not think he deals with his complex
emotions fully.
Regarding Mikes cognitive development, he is definitely advanced. His
spelling and math skills are much higher than those of his peers and are typical for
children a few years older than him. Mike knows many sight words and uses them
often. He does still need further instruction on blends, spacing, and needs to stop
rushing through his work. Language development is closely related to cognitive
development. Mike is advanced in this domain as well. He is able to read
appropriate level books fluently and can retell stories using props, though he does
need to improve on his verbal retelling skills. He is way above the benchmark for
his PALS assessment, showing his strength in phonological awareness. He struggles
with comprehension and using irregular verbs correctly.
Implications
If I were able to continue working with Mike, I would want to support him in
each domain. I can see he is advanced for his age, but that does not mean we should
not push him to succeed even more. He likes to please his teachers and his parents,
which is why he does normally work hard in class. I would want to give Mike the
opportunity to develop even more gross motor skills like running. I know he is able
to climb and play baseball, but his lower body strength is not something I see him

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23

using often. He rarely plays tag or chases his friends. Creating a play environment
in which he would be able to do this would be beneficial for him. Setting up a game
rather than having all of recess be free play is a method I could use to make sure all
of the major muscles are being worked to their full extent.
More play would also help him with his emotional development. Mike has
experienced many emotions, but does not talk about them as much as he should.
Play is a great atmosphere in which to learn about controlling emotions and how to
react. Play areas may encourage children to act out social interactions into which
emotions figure (Kuebli, 2009). The physical environment of the play centers or
the play structures outside can be manipulated in order to make sure these
developmental goals are met (Nicolopoulou, 2010). A great way to make sure this
happens is to play with the children. Jumping in on their pretend play is easy to do
and I could create new situations for them to explore through play by doing this.
With regards to cognitive development, I would like to work with Mike on his
understanding of consonant blends and push him to create longer journal entries, or
possibly even short books. He is capable of creating a short story if given the time. I
would not have him sit down and write the whole thing at once since he does tend
to rush through tasks if he is not interested in them. Looking at his improvement I
would love to seem him improve that much more in four more months. I can see in
his writing that he is writing words with inflectional endings, but does not know
how to use them correctly (Appendix D, Image 6). I would work with him on those
suffixes as well. According to Tompkins (2011), Mike is spelling at a second grade
level and he is only in Kindergarten. That is huge. He would also be encouraged to

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24

go back and edit his work after a day to see if he notices any incorrect spelling.
Because he is so advanced, he is not supported as much as he should be. Making
sure Mike is encouraged to continue improving is very important for his further
development.
Further, I would recommend Mike for gifted screening. He lines up with
characteristics associated with gifted children and should be examined to see if he
should require special services. Using Gardners theory of multiple intelligences is
one way to further study Mikes intelligence. Activities that tap into each
intelligence serve as a great context for assessing strengths and weaknesses
(Tompkins, 2011). I would attempt to create lessons based on the multiple
intelligences to see where he is with each.
Comprehension is where Mike needs the most help when it comes to
language. He is able to read appropriate level books with little help, but he needs to
be taught comprehension skills in order to succeed as a reader. I also think Mike
needs more energy in his lessons. Instead of reading round robin style, Mike should
be sent off with a partner to read. I would implement that strategy in order to get
Mike more engaged in reading. In addition, I would make sure to discuss the topic
of the book with Mike before reading it with him to see if he has any background
knowledge (Tompkins, 2011). If there is vocabulary he would not know the
meaning of, it is important to explain it to him. In order to comprehend the book,
Mike needs to be able to read it fluently.
In order to help Mike with his fluency and comprehension, I would
implement readers theatre. He would read a book with a partner a few times and

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25

then perform the readers theatre. He would be assessed based on confidence and
expression as well as his ability to read the text. Because he would not be
memorizing the text as a script, he would need to interpret the text as he goes, thus
helping with his fluency (Young & Rasinski, 2009). While readers theatre is
traditionally an approach to fluency instruction, I think it would help Mike in
comprehension. In acting out the book rather than just talking about it, he would
likely be able to answer more questions about it afterward. He is a very active child,
so I think he would benefit from being able to move around rather than just talk
about a book.
Mikes speech is average for his age, but rather than ignoring the syntax
issues he has at times, literacy activities should be used to help him develop proper
oral language. Explicit instruction on irregular verbs does not come until later in the
educational system, and while this may be true, we teach kids correct grammar on a
daily basis just by using it. By correcting Mike when he uses a verb incorrectly, I am
teaching him the correct way to use it.
The case study truly impacted me as a future educator and as a current
learner. I now know how to accurately observe and report on children along with
all the knowledge I have of normative data. The most meaningful implication of this
case study for me has been really getting to know and understand children on a
deeper level. It is one thing to read about children, how they develop, and what they
do, but it is yet another to experience it and write about it in such a detailed manner.
Being able to put my knowledge to use in this case study has helped me understand

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26

the information on a more personal level. I now know how to apply what I have
learned about child development in the classroom.
My beliefs on children have not changed drastically because of this case
study, but it has taught me to stray away from assumptions. If I were to have
written a paper on where I assumed Mike was on the developmental spectrum, I
would have been completely wrong. Knowing that assuming is not the same as
assessment will help me as I recommend children for special education, gifted,
speech, or any other kind of services in the future. I did not know if I was going to
be able to obtain as much information as necessary for this case study at the
beginning of the semester. I have learned that observation is not always done in the
form of time samples and extensive anecdotes. It is often done in the form of
incident reports and is not as time consuming as I originally thought. Just looking
through my practicum notebook at all the scribbled notes I have has made me
realize just how easy it is to observe and interpret a childs behavior.
Using the resources I have, whether it be people or textbooks, I am able to
interpret pretty much anything thrown my way. Anyone can as long as they are
willing to put in the effort. As a future teacher I want to put in the effort for each of
my students. While I likely will not end up doing a case study on all of them, having
the incident reports will be very helpful when parent conference time comes
around. This case study has truly shown me what I am capable of and what I should
strive to be as a teacher. It is not all about shoveling information into their little
brains; it is about their overall development as a person physically, socially,
cognitively, and linguistically.

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27
References

Berger, S. E., & Nuzzo, K. (2008). Older siblings influence younger siblings' motor
development. Infant & Child Development, 17(6), 607-615.
doi:10.1002/icd.571
Berk, L. E. (2012). Infants and Children: Prenatal through middle childhood. 7th ed.
Boston: Pearson.
Copple, C., & S. Bredekamp, eds. 2009. Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early
Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8. 3rd ed.
Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Curde, P. & Duitch, D. (n.d.). Flexible, Fearful or Feisty-ways to succeed with all
children.
Kuebli, J. & Kusto, A. R. (2009). Young children's understanding of everyday
emotions. In E.L. Essa & M. M. Burnham (Eds.), Informing our practice: Useful
research on young children's development (pp. 35-49). Washington, DC:
NAEYC.
Lazarus, P. W. (1965). Cutting: A Kinesthetic Tool for Learning. Exceptional Children,
31(7), 361-364.
Nicolopoulou, A., Barbosa de Sa, A., Ilgaz, H., & Brockmeyer, C. (2010). Using the
transformative power of play to educate hearts and minds: from Vygotsky to
Vivian Paley and beyond. Mind, Culture, and Activity, (17), 42-58. doi:
10.1080/10749030903312512
Nilsen, B. (2010). Week by week. (5th ed.). Cengage Learning

A CASE STUDY ON MIKE

28

RCPS: About RCPS. (2013). Retrieved from

http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/aboutRCPS.html
Reddick, C. A., & Park, J. J. (1998). Achieving great heights. Young Children , 53(6),
14-19. Retrieved from
https://blackboard.jmu.edu/@@/9131FA8350787AD590BB5BC032ADB49
9/courses/1/ELED308_1_3_FA12/content/_2923068_1/Young Children
Climbing.pdf
Tompkins, G. (2011). Literacy in the early grades. (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Tools for observing children . (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://blackboard.jmu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id
=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_147
994_1&url=
Town of Elkton. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.elktonva.gov/index.html
University of Virginia. (2007). Background of pals. Retrieved from
https://pals.virginia.edu/rd-background.html
Virginia Department of Education, (2013). River bend elementary school report card.
Retrieved from website:
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=82&schoolNa
me=7018
Young, C., & Rasinski, T. (2009). Implementing readers theatre as an approach to
classroom fluency instruction. The Reading Teacher, 63(1), 4-13. doi:
10.1598/RT.63.1.1

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29
Assessment of Development

Developmental
Domain
Physical

Strengths

Areas of Concern

Mike is physically
healthy as a 6-year-old
boy. His height and
weight are normal, but
he is taller than most of
his peers.

Mike looks up to
his brother James.
If he tries to do the
same tasks as his
brother, he could
get hurt because he
is not as strong as
James.

He brings a nutritious,
packed lunch every day
and eats most of it.
Mike plays baseball
outside of school and is
constantly running
around and climbing
during recess and on
field trips. He is a
proficient climber. His
gross motor
development is typical
for his age.

He needs to work
on cutting circular
shapes.

Progress
Observed
Mike moved from
climbing
structure to
climbing
structure as the
weeks
progressed. He
started with the
simple ladder and
moved to the
more complex
dome shaped
structure.

He can use scissors

appropriately.

Emotional/
Social

Mike can tie his shoes

without looking.
Mike plays with same
sex peers daily.
His conflict resolution
strategies are advanced
for his age, and he is
able to regulate his
emotions well.
Mike knows that
apologizing is
important and he does
not intentionally hurt
anyones feelings.

Mike did not deal

with his complex
emotions fully from
what I saw. He did
not talk about them
until he was home
with his parents. I
would like for him
to be able to talk
about them so that
they do not affect
his studies as
emotions often do.

Instead of arguing
with Brittany,
Mike learned to
move away from
her when he was
able to.

A CASE STUDY ON MIKE

Cognitive

Mike is using beginning,

middle, and ending
sounds for his words.
He is beginning to use
long vowel sounds,
which is typical for
seven to nine year old
children (Tompkins,
2011).

Mike needs to be
reminded to use
spacing and
punctuation in his
writing.
He should be
working on blends,
as he is not yet
using them
correctly.

Mike moved from

the early Letter
Name-Alphabetic
Spelling stage to
the early WithinWord Pattern
Spelling stage in
less than four
months.

Mike rushes
through his work
more often than he
should.

Through his
journal entries he
has shown that
his sight word
knowledge has
grown.

He seems bored in
class often, which
could lead to him
losing his drive to
excel (Tompkins,
2011).

Mike shows
improvement in
his use of long
vowel sounds,
like in
computer.

Mike is able to read

appropriate level books
fluently and has a large
sight word vocabulary.

Mike needs further

instruction with
regards to verbal
retelling.

He can retell stories

using props.

He is not often able

to answer
questions about
text. He needs
assistance with
comprehension.

Mike has acquired

more written and
oral vocabulary
over the course of
the semester.

Mike knows many sight

words and is using
them in his writing
consistently.
His journals are often
readable without
dictation.
Mike is able to
recognize and create
patterns without
prompting or help.
Language

30

Mike is able to find

words on a page when
asked to do so.
He is proficient in
rhyme, beginning
sound, alphabet
recognition, letter
sounds, and spelling.
Mike has a large oral
and written vocabulary.

Mike does not use

the verb to be
correctly.

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31
Executive Summary

Dear Parents,
I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to observe Mike this semester. I
have been able to learn so much about the normally developing child and about
advanced children. I have seen Mike grow in four major areas over the course of the
semester: physical, social/emotional, cognitive, and language. The data I collected
was done from September 4, 2013 to December 4, 2013 during the sixteen days I
was in Mrs. Ls classroom as a practicum student.
Mikes physical development is appropriate for his age and even a little
advanced with regards to his climbing ability. He always has a nutritious lunch,
which greatly impacts his development in this area. Mike is always up and moving
around, yet he is able to work with his fine motor skills just as well. He uses scissors
appropriately and is able to tie his shoes without looking, a feat many cant
accomplish until much later than Kindergarten. I observed Mike challenge his
physical abilities as he moved from a simple ladder climbing structure to the dome
shaped climbing structure on the playground. He enjoys pushing himself to succeed.
His social/emotional development is right on track. He enjoys playing with
boys rather than girls, which is totally normal for this age. I have seen progress with
Mike dealing with his emotions and frustrations with some of his peers. Instead of
arguing with peers, he has learned to walk away or ignore them, which shows his
maturity. He is great with conflict resolution and knows that he should be kind to
everyone in his life. He is never late to apologize when he has hurt someone
accidentally.

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32

Regarding Mikes cognitive development, he is very advanced. Mike is able to

produce and recognize each letter of the alphabet and even the sound /ch/ just by
seeing the letters. This is not typical for a Kindergarten student this early in the
year. He is using beginning, middle, and ending sounds in his writing, which is not
normally seen until much later in the Kindergarten year and even sometimes not
until first grade. He knows many sight words and is beginning to spell words with
the long vowel sound in them. Normally children are not able to do that until age
seven or later. Mike is also great at math, recognizing patterns and producing them
with no problem at all. I recommend having Mike assessed for gifted classes.
Finally, his language development is also very strong. He is able to
communicate appropriately and has a large vocabulary for his age. He is currently
able to read level C books and is working on his fluency and comprehension. His
phonetic awareness is impressive, and he actually scored second highest in all of
Kindergarten at Lake Elementary School on a phonetic awareness assessment called
PALS. I have seen Mikes journals progressively get better and better this semester.
I truly cannot wait to come back to Mrs. Ls class next semester and see just
how much more Mike has learned. He is a quick learner and is on track in all of the
developmental domains. He certainly has the potential to succeed academically and
personally. You have raised a kindhearted and intelligent young boy that I am so
blessed to have worked with. Thank you for this opportunity.
Sincerely,