Stephanie Duthie

Glen Forest ES
March 11, 2015
Literacy Collaborative Year One:
Case Study Research Project

Introduction

For my case study research project, I am going to share information about my

student, Student Z. She has attended Glen Forest Elementary School since
kindergarten and lives in a nearby apartment complex with her mother, father, and
younger sister who is kindergarten. Her parents are very supportive and seek out
ways to help improve Student Zs academics at home, specifically reading. Her
home language is Arabic, and she is currently an ELP Level 3 (developing). Student
Z is a helpful, friendly student in our classroom who exhibits strong life and
citizenship skills. Although she can sometimes become easily discouraged when she
is challenged, she generally enjoys coming to school and learning. She willingly and
enthusiastically participates in reading, but her strong suit is math.

September 2014

Student Z came to second grade reading at a DRA level 10, which indicated that
she experienced a significant summer slide considering she ended first grade

reading at a DRA level 16. Her fluency was the main factor holding her back on this
assessment. This was also evident while reading with Student Z daily. She was
reading in shorter phrases as opposed to longer. In order to help her with reading
fluency, first, I knew it would be important for her to hear what fluent reading
sounds like. Therefore, I was sure to demonstrate what fluent reading sounded like
on multiple occasions. According to Allington and Gabriel in Every Child, Every Day,
one of the six elements of effective reading instruction is every child listens to a
fluent adult read aloud. Another strategy I used with her was using the voicerecording computer program, Audacity. We recorded Student Z doing a cold read
of a fall-themed poem and then recorded her again after having time to practice
reading the poem fluently several times. She really enjoyed this, and I believe she
was really able to see how her fluency improved in the second recording. During
this time, I also used specific teacher language during my guided reading lessons. I
used Prompting Guide 1: A Tool for Literacy Teachers by Fountas and Pinnell as a
resource for specific prompts to use. For instance, I often used the prompt, Make it
sound like talking and would demonstrate this. (Appendix A) After this, I did
notice a shift in her reading fluency and that she was reading in longer phrases,
especially with familiar reads that she read multiple times.
Although her running records indicated that her errors put her at an
instructional level, she was not monitoring her reading and often made errors
without self-correcting. Her errors typically did not interfere with meaning, but one
pattern I noticed was that she was not looking all the way through her words. I
knew this was a teaching point I would really have to focus on, so I stayed consistent

with my prompt and used Readers look all the way through the word to make sure
they say all the parts. During guided reading, I noticed and named when Student Z
read all the way through a word, specifically words with ed, ing, and -s endings,
since these were the words she missed most often. Since then, Student Z has made a
great deal of improvement. Although from time to time she does not look all the
way through a word, she has now begun to self-correct that error. For instance, on
her running record from November 13, she substitutes in for into but selfcorrects it after reading all the way through the word. (Appendix B)

January 2015

When assessed in January of second grade, Student Z passed the DRA level 18,
meaning she met her mid-year reading goal of a 16 and was on track to meet her
end-of-year goal for one and a half years of growth. (Appendix C) While her fluency
had improved since September, it was evident that she now needed to focus more
on comprehension, specifically retelling with details. During her assessment, she
only included one detail found on the provided list. Because of this, I decided to
integrate Who can retell this story? to the end of each of the guided reading
lessons (seeing as the other students in her group needed this instruction as well).
While we had worked on this other times previously, I knew I had to focus on this
more by scaffolding my readers and giving them more opportunities to retell. I
decided to follow the I-we-you structure. First, I explained how readers can retell
a book to make sure they understand it or to tell a friend about it. I explained that

they do this by including the beginning, middle, and end, characters names, and
details. At first, I demonstrated for them by retelling a guided reading book. Next,
we practiced together. Finally, students did it independently. Each day I selected a
different student to do a retelling when we finished a book. When students included
the important elements we had discussed, I was sure to point it out by noticing and
naming exactly what they did. I definitely noticed a shift in Student Zs retellings,
and I think this is something that is becoming more natural for her. I do believe that
this is due to the scaffolding, daily practice and the notice/naming from guided
reading. It is something I continued to integrate into guided reading lessons so that
Student Z and the other students could continue to receive that practice.

March 2015 (current)

As of March of second grade, Student Z continues to grow and is being instructed

at a level 20 in a reading group where much of the focus is on beyond the text and
not all within the text like it was toward the beginning of the year. One area I have
noticed Student Z specifically needs improvement in is reflecting on the stories and
really making sure she understands what she is reading. For instance, after reading
a page in one of her books, I asked her, What does Rebecca want to be able to do by
herself? She was unable to answer the question and had to reread to figure it out.
(Appendix D) In guided reading, I am using question cards on a ring as a strategy to
help with comprehension. Each time we use the question cards, we focus on a
different question. I leave the question card out on the table for students to think

about while they read. For instance, one card asks, How does the character feel
throughout the story? Another asks, What was the most important part of this
story and why? While I introduce that discussion question for the lesson, I
demonstrate by showing students how I might answer the question based on a
familiar book from a previous lesson. After students read the new book, we come
back to the question and students have a group discussion centered on the question
card. In When Readers Struggle: Teaching That Works, Fountas and Pinnell discuss
the importance of teaching after reading and having discussion time. They say,
The discussion after reading a text can be brief, but it is essential. You have
attended to the deeper meaning of the text in the introduction and sometimes in
brief interactions during reading. There may be little left to say, but now you have
an opportunity to return briefly to the text and ratchet up the understanding.
Although I have not seen a major shift quite yet, I do believe that if Student Z
continues to participate in these conversations about the text, her overall
comprehension and understanding of stories will improve.

Summary of Learning

Working with Student Z and all of my students for the past six months has
definitely taught me so much about how to teach readers. I have learned that it is
important to truly get to know your students and cater your lessons to their specific
needs. It is not enough to simply go by their reading levels because a students
reading level can only give you so much information. It is important to frequently

read with them one-on-one in order to take running records and anecdotal notes.
This helps you truly understand your students as readers.
The Literacy Collaborative course taught me how to make guided reading a
rich, meaningful time for my readers. One way it helped with this was by teaching
me how to choose teaching points that best fit my students needs and how to use
appropriate, effective prompts to go with it. I also learned how to analyze my
running records to better understand the types of mistakes my students were
making in their reading, which in return, helped me make decisions of next steps
to take. I was also able to learn from experienced teachers who have had much
success with helping their readers grow and continuously improve. I have definitely
learned a great deal since starting this course and am looking forward to continuing
to grow and learn more ways I can help my students.

Works Cited

Allington, Richard L., and Rachael E. Gabriel. "Every child, every day." Reading 69.6
(2012): 10-15.
Fountas, I. C., and G. S. Pinnell. "Prompting guide part 1: A tool for literacy teachers."
(2009).
Fountas, I.C., and G.S. Pinnell. "When readers struggle: Teaching that works."
(2009).

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Teacher

Duthie,
Stephanie J.

Last

First

Grade

BOY
DRA

10

Midyr
Level

18

Midyr Quarter
Target
3

18

EOY
DRA

EOY
Target

28

Appendix D