Introduction

According to Johnson & Blair (2003), reading is more than a cognitive

process of decoding the words, reading fluently, or comprehending the text. It
is becoming deeply involved, captivated, absorbed and immersed in a text - in
other words, engaged. Reading engagement integrates the cognitive,
motivational, and social dimensions of reading and reading instruction (Baker,
Dreher & Guthrie, 2000; cited by Johnson & Blair, 2003). This means that
several factors affect a students reading development. Foertsch (1992) for
instance, found out how instructional approaches, reading experiences, home
influences, and demographic characteristics either improve or challenge
reading proficiency. He proved that the volume of reading positively relates to
reading achievement and that students whose home environment supports
reading activity had higher reading achievement. Furthermore, personal
motivation poses a huge factor in reading competence. According to Baker,
Dreher, and Guthrie (2000), "If motivation is treated as secondary to the
acquisition of basic reading skills, we risk creating classrooms filled with
children who can read but choose not to. As time pass by, however, students
tend to become less motivated to read especially with the emergence of
technology. They become too quick-tempered in getting information and
acquiring knowledge so they spend less time reading (for reading consumes
substantial amount of time).
These factors pose a challenge for teachers and instructional planners.
Blaire (2003) believes that the difficulty in providing students with necessary
instruction lies in continually aligning ones instruction with students abilities
in reading, including phonological and phonemic awareness, word recognition,
listening comprehension as well as silent and oral comprehension. Hence,
extensive reading diagnosis must be conducted to know which reading skill
needs more attention. Only the results of diagnosis should be the basis for
implemental several reading intervention programs. Leinhardt, et al., (1981)

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believe that the way teachers structure the learning environment makes a great
significance in how students spend their time learning.
Students Background and Assessment
A. Students Profile and Physical Description
Name: MJ
Grade Level: Ten
Birthdate: Oct. 30, 1997
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Fathers Educational Attainment: Elementary Graduate
Occupation: Master Baker
Mothers Educational Attainment: Elementary Graduate
Occupation: Farmer
Number of children in the family: Five (3 female, 2 male)
Special Skills/ Talents / Interests: singing, dancing, playing basketball,
badminton, cooking
Ambition: To be a policewoman
Physical Observation: no visual, auditory or speech defects

B. Home Observation
MJ currently lives with her sisters and brother in GMA, Cavite. Her
parents are separated and both have their own new families so her older
sister serves as her guardian. Her usual chores at home are cooking and
washing clothes. She would wake up at 4oclock in the morning to
prepare the food that her sisters will bring to work. Sometimes, she also
helps them sell banana cue and other food products. After school, MJ
prefers to stay with friends because she and her sisters dont seem to get
along well. This is despite the fact that they are all of the same gender
preference MJ is a self- acclaimed lesbian. She said she started having
identity crisis after being a house helper in her relatives house in the

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 province. Their younger brother, on the other hand, studies in the same
school and of the same grade level with her and ranks first in his class.

C. School Observation
MJ was in 2nd year High School in Isabela when her father brought
her to Manila. As a transferee from the province, MJ found it difficult to
adjust with the environment. She experienced a lot of bullying from her
classmates so she chose to stop. Hence, she is now 19 years old but still
in Grade 10.
MJs current academic performance is generally poor. Although
she does not cause any disturbance in class, she rarely participates. In
class ranking, she is consistently low. (see Table 1). Out of 47 students,
MJ ranked 43rd on the 1st quarter and 42nd on the second quarter.
During the 3rd quarter, the number of students decreased to 44 and she
ranked last while on the 4th quarter she gained a few steps higher and
ranked 37th but this still belongs to the lower half.

Table 1: MJs place in class ranking and average grade per quarter

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 According to her former and current teachers, she is always
absent-minded and she rarely recites. She pretends to be attentive but
when asked personally, she couldnt answer. The teacher would have to
repeat or explain the instruction to her specifically just so she would
understand. She chooses the tasks she would comply. If the task
involves speeches or performing in front, she intends to be absent or
prefers not to have a grade. However, some could still praise her
especially in her attitude. She is very diligent and she doesnt get any
enemies; she even had the most behaved award in Elementary.
MJ also had a poor record of attendance in school (see Table 2).
Out of 202 school days, MJ has only attended 174. She would normally
have three or more absences in a month which is quite. Her usual reason
is being late not in waking up but because she had to cook for her
sisters.

Table 2: MJs record of attendance for S.Y. 2016-2017.

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 Reading Assessment
A. Reading Interest
An individuals reading preferences contribute greatly to his reading
habits and motivation. However, many students struggle in reading because
the materials they are required to read are either too difficult or too boring.
Hence, reading for them becomes a burden and must only be done for
academic purposes and not as a hobby. Personal motivation is imperative if
teachers would want the students to engage in reading. One way to achieve
this is when the student like what he/she reads. Administering an interest
inventory can help the teacher locate the most suitable material that suits
the childs interest.
MJ was asked to answer a reading interest survey Adapted from The
Literacy Teachers Playbook, 2014 (see appendix). The survey reveals her
poor reading habits due to lack of motivation and resources to read. She
couldnt remember a time when she actually read and finished a book of her
interest aside from academic requirements. This is because reading is the
least of the activities she would do when she has spare time. When she has
nothing to do, she would normally scan her Facebook page and chat with
her friends. Moreover, she doesnt have materials to read at home. Her
sisters have few copies of wattpad or pocketbook but she is not allowed to
read them. However, if given the chance, she would prefer to read comics
and fantasy stories like Harry Potter.

B. Vocabulary Word List

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 Sight vocabulary is a collection of frequently used words that readers
must learn to recognize and memorize as a whole without having to use
decoding strategies. When a reader masters sight words he/she is able to
understand at least half of the words in a particular text. The reader then is
able to focus on the more difficult and less familiar words. Hence, mastering
sight vocabulary serves as a foundation for reading fluency.
This reading diagnosis involves an examination of the students sight
vocabulary to know if this contributes to the childs over-all reading
difficulty. The word list consists of 25 words each level (pre-primer to level 8)
developed using Basic Reading Vocabularies (Harris & Jacobson, 1982). MJ
only had few miscues on the first four levels but this increased as the words
become more complicated. She was given only until the 5th level because it
becomes too difficult for her to continue.

Table 3: Miscues in Vocabulary Word List

Level Number of Miscues Example of Miscued Words
Pre-primer 0
Primer 0
Level 1 3 other, coming, heard,
Level 2 1 clothes
Level 3 6 chosen, unusual, maple, underneath,
screeched, arrived
Level 4 5 athlete, slopes, convince, icicles,
disappointment
Level 5 8 reassured, frontier, ranger, thrashed,
thunderbolts, spectacular, rampaging,
adventurous

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 After reading, MJ was also asked to identify which among the list is
unfamiliar to her and her answers are relatively higher in number
compared to the reading miscues (see table 4).

Table 4: Unfamiliar Words from the Vocabulary List

Level Number of Example of Unfamiliar Words
Unfamiliar Words
Pre-primer 1 Said
Primer 3 sat, saw, got
Level 1 8 other, coming, heard, noise, sounded,
bark, stuck, soon
Level 2 5 spend, packed, clothes, seemed, knew
Level 3 15 chosen, unusual, maple, underneath,
screeched, arrived, dusk, bandage
Level 4 16 slopes, convince, icicles, skater, gear,
disappointment, approval, competes
Level 5 22 restore, belongings, adventurous,
thunderbolts, spectacular

Interpretations:
According to the record of miscues in vocabulary list, the student
could immediately recognize almost all the words with one-to-two
syllables but when the words become a little longer and more
complicated, she also struggles in decoding them. She also has the
tendency not to try reading the word when she doesnt know it.

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 Moreover, majority of the words she was able to read correctly are
still unfamiliar to her. Most of these words are those in the past tense
and those with prefixes and suffixes.

C. Informal Reading Inventory

An informal reading inventory is a diagnostic tool that helps assess
the students reading level. It enables the teacher to create the most
suitable reading instructional plan for the student. For this case study,
Jennings Informal Reading Assessment was used to determine her word
recognition, comprehension and fluency level. It consists of two passages
per level (Pre-primer to Level 8. The student was asked to read the first
five levels orally and answer the comprehension questions that follow.
Table 5 shows that MJs words recognition is generally
independent although not perfect. She had errors pronouncing words
with silent sounds such as would, could, thought. She also had
difficulty reading contractions such as hasnt, didnt.
Moreover, her comprehension level ranges from instructional to
frustration and majority of the questions she wasnt able to answer were
inferential rather than literal. (see table 6).
Finally, her reading fluency rate was calculated using the formula:
words per minute = # of words read correctly / # of seconds to read the
passage x 60. Her fluency rate ranges from 94 to 116wpm which is below
average for her age and grade level.

Table 5: Informal Reading Inventory Summary Record Sheet

Level Word Comprehension Rate/ Fluency
Recognition Level
Accuracy Level
3 Independent Instructional 52. 66 sec. = 95wpm
4 Independent Frustration 51.30 sec. = 110wpm

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5 Independent Frustration 55. 83 sec. = 116wpm
6 Independent Instructional 1 min. 26.98 sec. = 94wpm
7 Independent Instructional 2 min. 19.15 sec. = 80wpm

Table 6: Number of correct answers according to the kind of question

Kind of No. of Observation
Question correct
answers
Literal 17 The subject had to scan the text again after reading.
She couldnt remember the details immediately after
one reading. She answers only by citing key words
and couldnt expound further.
Inferential 6 The subject tends to generalize that the answer to
the first question would normally be found at the
start of the text, the second question written next,
and so on. Hence, she wasnt able to answer the
inferencing questions because they were not written
directly.

D. Comprehension Test
For further diagnosis on reading comprehension, CORE Reading
Maze Comprehension Test was conducted. This measures how well the
students understand text they read silently. Every seventh word in the
passage is replaced with the correct word and two distracters. Students

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 choose the word from among the three choices that fits best with the
passage.
MJ was asked to read two passages silently without any time limit.
Table 7 shows that MJs errors are half or almost half of all the items.
She also spends too much time trying to answer. She even asks help
from the teacher in identifying the meaning of some words.

Table 7: Summary of scores in CORE Reading Maze Comprehension Test

Title of text Number of correct Number of errors
answers
A City Walk 8 13
Rabbits in the Garden 10 10

Interpretations:
Based on IRI and Comprehension Test, it seems that MJ could
recognize majority of words and her miscues are tolerable. Most of her
miscues are just generalizations such as saying /cold/ for the word
could and the like. However, generally due to her limited range of
vocabulary as presented in Table 4, her comprehension level and reading
fluency seem poor.

E. Retelling
Jennings Informal Reading Inventory also contains passages in
which the student will be asked to retell. He/ She should identify the
basic elements of the story i.e characters, problem, events and
resolution. If the student gives immediate response correctly, the teacher
ticks on the 1 column. If the student answers correctly with assistance,

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 the teacher ticks and if the student cannot give any answer, the
teacher ticks 0. The total score will have an equivalent whether
frustration, instructional or independent. For this case study, two
passages were chosen for retelling and the students response was
recorded using the guidelines.

Table 4: Retelling Summary Record

Story A (184 Students Response Story B (224 Students Response
words) words)
Story 1 1/2 0 Story 1 0
Element Element
Characters Characters
Problem/ Problem/
Issue Issue
Event 1 Event 1
Event 2 Event 2
Event 3 Event 3
Event 4 Event 4
Event 5 Event 5
Resolution Resolution
Total 3 Total 4
Equivalent Frustration Equivalent Frustration
Interpretations:
The student generally struggles in retelling. She could identify the
characters immediately but had difficulty with the other parts of the
story. She could only recognize basic nouns and verbs then guesses the

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 event through them. Only after numerous teacher prompts was she able
to give subtle responses.

Results
A. Reading Strengths
Word recognition of basic sight words
Answering literal level questions
B. Weaknesses
Word accuracy on longer and more complicated words
Vocabulary range
Comprehension and Inferencing
Reading fluency/ speed

Instructional Strategies
Based on the results of the diagnostic test, the following objectives are
developed to give intervention on the students specific reading weaknesses on
vocabulary and comprehension.
Objective 1: increase vocabulary range specifically on words on the past tense
and those with prefixes and suffixes
Objective 2: improve reading comprehension through sentence repetition
Objective 3: infer events based on the details of a text

Instructional Plan 1

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Subject Matter: Word Derivation Web
Objectives:
At the end of the session, the student must be able to:
identify the meaning of words in the past tense
identify the meaning of words with prefixes and suffixes
Time Allotment: 1 hour
Procedure:
1. The teacher will present sample words and will let the student identify
the difference between them. This will be used to introduce the lesson for
the student.
Example: teacher, teaching, reteach, taught
painter, painting, repaint, painted
2. The teacher will list down at least five words on the base form. Each
word will be written on the center of a web.
3. Around the web are the derivations of the word on the base form. The
student will put them on the proper web.
4. The student will explain his/her answers. The teacher will explain if the
there is any correction.
5. Another list of words will be given the next day.

Instructional Plan 2
Subject Matter: Reading Comprehension
Objectives:
At the end of the session, the student must be able to:
show understanding of a text by identifying its basic details
Time Allotment: 1 hour
Procedure:
1. The teacher will ask prior knowledge about the text.
2. The student will read the whole text orally while being guided by the
teacher.

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 3. The student will read the text again but this time it will be segmented
into parts. The teacher will ask questions so that the student will be able
to identify the basic details; thus, repeat the sentence.
Example:
Teacher: Sarah picked up the rabbit. Who picked up the rabbit?
Student: Sarah
Teacher: What did Sarah do?
Student: picked up the rabbit
4. The same process will be done until the text is finished.

Instructional Plan 3
Subject Matter: Inferencing
Objectives:
At the send of the session, the student must be able to:
infer events based on the details in a text
Time Allotment: 1 hour
Procedure:
1. The student will be orally read several situations/ scenarios.
2. The teacher will explain unfamiliar words and make sure that the
student understands the scenario by asking wh-questions
3. The student will be asked inferential questions reading the text. He/she
must explain his/her answer.
Example:
Scenario: Grandmas car was coming down the road. She got out of
the car holding a big box. Ben heard a noise coming from the box.
It sounded like a bark!
Question: What do you think does the box contain?

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 Conclusion

With the data gathered through the reading assessments, it is revealed

that the student has an alarming problem on reading comprehension. Her
family background and poor reading exposure could have affected her personal
motivation to reading. Because of this, she became reluctant in reading and
less participative in school. Hence, the instructional plans aim to enrich her
reading comprehension through more vocabulary and reading tasks.

Recommendation
The researcher highly recommends more reading and vocabulary
activities to be given to the student. She could use the approaching summer
vacation to practice reading at home. It is better if her sisters could assist her
at least 15-20 minutes every day. For the next school year, her new teacher
could provide more assistance to her in terms of reading especially because she
is already in Senior High School. Her reading diagnosis must be relayed to the
next teacher to be used for next instruction.

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 References

Allington, R. (2011). What Really Matters: Kids Need to Read a Lot. Pearson
Education, Inc. USA.
Bursuck, W. & Damer, M. (2007). Reading Instruction for Students Who Are at
Risk or Have Disabilities. Pearson Education, Inc. USA.
CORE Reading Maze Comprehension Test. (2008). Academic Therapy
Publications.
Jennings, J. Jennings Informal Reading Assessment.
Johnson, D. & Blair, A. (January, 2003). The Importance and Use of Student
Self-Selected Literature to Reading Engagement in an Elementary
Reading Curriculum. Reading Horizons, 43, 3.
Serravallo, J. (2014). Reading Interest Survey. The Literacy Teachers Playbook,
Grades K2. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Appendices

A. Reading interest survey

B. Jennings Informal Reading Assessment
C. CORE Reading Maze Comprehension Test

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