running head: CASE REPORT: MALKA 1

Case Report: Malka

Aliza Robinson

CILR 622

Fall 2017
Case Report: Malka 2

Abstract

This case study focuses on Malka, a first grade student who is academically below grade

level. After assessing Malka I decided to focus on three specific fluency, phonics, and

language/writing goals as follows:

1. (Fluency) Malka will be able to identify and read 50 first grade sight words to support her

reading fluency at the primer level.

2. (Phonics/Blending) Malka will be able to decode all CVC words in a primer text and

decode consonant digraphs and blends to support her reading fluency/comprehension.

3. (Language/Writing) Malka will be able to write at least 3 complete sentences, including

correct use of capital letters (names and beginning of sentence), end punctuation, spacing,

and phonetic spelling all while staying on topic.

I worked with Malka 2-3 times a week for 7 weeks, totalling 10.5 hours of tutoring. Malka made

the most growth towards her phonics/blending and fluency goals. She is also able to write 3+

sentences confidently in regards to the texts she reads. Malka was assessed at the beginning of

the year and one week after our tutoring sessions (December 4th) using i-Ready, our school’s

main assessment program. From the beginning of the year to now, she has made exactly 1.5

years worth of growth!

Case Report: Malka 3

Instructional Plan

Malka is a first grader in my general education class who struggles in the areas of

reading, language, and writing. Malka is an ELL student who spends her weeknights with her

grandmother who does not speak english. Malka has little academic support at home, often

completing homework (reading and reading responses) independently. I chose Malka based on

her academic level and lack of an IEP. In our last course I assessed Malka using the Reading

Interest Survey, Alphabet Knowledge Assessment, Print Concepts, Phonemic Awareness

Assessment, Early Names Test, Informal Reading Inventory, Word Recognition Inventory, a

writing sample, and the Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory. Based on her results I

decided to focus on fluency, word study, and writing/reading response. I was not concerned with

her listening comprehension, but her fluency/ word decoding skills were negatively affecting her

reading comprehension. My areas of focus (fluency, word study, and reading response through

writing) were chosen specifically to address my concern regarding her reading comprehension.

Strengths and Instructional Needs

The first inventory I completed with Malka was the Reading Interest Survey. According

to Malka and my personal observations, Malka enjoys reading and being read to. She has a

positive attitude towards learning, teachers, and takes initiative to practice skills from our

sessions at home and on her own. When we first started our sessions, Malka was able to

recognize 26 upper- and 24 lower-case letter names, 16 of 21 consonant sounds, and 3 of 5

vowel sounds. Although her letter knowledge is high, her fluency was a concern of mine. During

our sessions we spent a lot of time practicing skills to decode words using newly learned in-word

spelling patterns and learning sight words. These two focuses impacted her fluency and reading
Case Report: Malka 4

comprehension greatly. She learned to use the illustrations in the text to help her decode words

as well as the sight words she practiced during and after our sessions.

I learned very quickly that as an ELL student, Malka needs extra time to answer

questions about the texts we read. She was able to answer many more questions than I initially

realized when I gave her “think time.” This is true for both reading and listening comprehension.

When we first started, Malka was able to provide one sentence with many errors in regards to a

text we had been reading for over a week in class.

Instructional Practices Used

During our sessions, my lesson plans focused on four major components to address her

literacy goals: fluency, word study/blending, reading comprehension skills, and reading response

(writing). I wanted to support her attainment of the foundational skills that she lacked all while

strengthening the more challenging skills such as reading comprehension and responding/

making connections to texts. Barone and Mallette state “...it is important to recognize that

foundational skills are necessary but not sufficient to achieve high levels of reading

comprehension and should not dominate the early literacy curriculum” (Barone & Mallette, pg.

176, 2013).

Gambrell & Morrow state “Fluency is an integral component in reading development and

text comprehension and, over the past decade or so, it has become central to the literacy

curriculum…” (Gambrell & Morrow, pg. 268, 2015). Fluency practice started each of our

sessions. Each week I picked out 10 sight words for Malka to practice. During our first session of

each week Malka created flash cards that she would then use for the rest of our sessions that

week as well as for practice at home. We proceeded with blending practice. The blending
Case Report: Malka 5

practice revolved around consonant blends and long vowel patterns (needs identified using the

Words Their Way Spelling Inventory). Our fluency practice ended with a fluency passage, that

was added about the third week of tutoring. Malka practiced the fluency passage, that also

focused on the in-word spelling pattern chosen for that week, once a day and her WPM were

recorded on our last session of each week.

“To become good readers and writers, children must learn to decode words. In the

beginning stages of learning to read, phonemic awareness is crucial to success” (Gambrell &

Morrow, pg. 170, 2015). We followed fluency with word study practice each session. During the

first weeks of our tutoring sessions, I made alphabet flashcards that she practiced as a warm-up

to her word sorts. I created word sorts using the in-word spelling pattern focus for that week and

some of the words from her blending practice. She would cut these out and sort them each day;

Malka also enjoyed bringing them home and sorting them for her grandmother. After she sorted

all of the words, she would read them to me and put them back in her sandwich bag.

The next component in our lessons were our new readings. This time was focused on

comprehension and comprehension skills. “Becoming fully literate has come to mean...using

strategies independently to construct meaning from text, using information to build conceptual

understanding, effectively communicating ideas orally and in writing, and developing the

intrinsic desire to read and write” (Gambrell, Malloy, & Mazzoni, pg. 13, 2007). We utilized

various comprehension skills to discuss the texts each week such as retelling, predicting, using

illustrations to gather more information, rereading, and various DOK leveled comprehension

questions. We would focus on the same text for the remaining sessions each week. “It could be

surmised that if they returned to this book again, they would find additional details in the
Case Report: Malka 6

illustrations that would shape clearer inferential understandings of text (Ganske & Fisher, pg. 86,

2010).

We ended each session with a response to reading through her independent writing. For

each writing session we had a specific focus to guide her writing this could be predicting and

confirming predictions, retelling using “first, next, last,” or making text to self connections.

“Reading response notebooks are used for responding to reading through writing: to record

feelings, reactions, and questions about what was read. This type of writing supports the

student’s higher-order thinking skills” (Fisher, Bates, & Gurvitz, pg. 169, 2014). Often times I

gave her a sentence starter as an ELL support, as time went on we switched over to using a word

bank. At first, I chose words she could use and wrote them for her in a word bank. As she

became more independent I would simply ask her, prior to her starting her writing, what words

she thinks she will need for her reading response entry, and I would write them on the board for

her. Fisher, Bates, & Gurvitz state “A variety of language frames can be used as scaffolds to

support students’ written responses.”

Further Literacy Development

Malka has shown huge improvements in her decoding, encoding, and sight word

recognition. These skills and pieces of knowledge will positively affect her comprehension skills

and overall ability as an independent reader. Malka still has quite a bit to accomplish before she

is where she needs to be academically. Malka should continue to receive explicit instruction in

fluency, word study, and writing to continue the amazing progress she is making. Malka will be

expected to learn all 100 first grade sight words by the end of the year, per her goal she has

already achieved over 50 of them in seven weeks. She will also be expected to read 67 WPM
Case Report: Malka 7

using a first grade level passage. I will assess her weekly, starting in January, since I am her

general education teacher. Malka should also receive explicit word study instruction to continue

strengthening her independent decoding skills. She will receive this in my RTI small group

during daily interventions. Lastly, Malka needs to continue responding to her readings through a

reading response journal. “...students need to learn to use writing as a way of offering and

supporting opinions, demonstrating understanding of the subjects they are studying, and

conveying real and imagined experiences and events” (Fisher, Bates, & Gurvitz, pg.161, 2010).

She has a response journal that she writes in nightly after her 15 minutes of reading at home. I

am hoping she will continue our work by writing predictions, retellings, and text

connections/opinions, because I will certainly be checking! Malka is an amazing child and

beginning reader, I know she will continue to make impressive gains this year.
Case Report: Malka 8

Resources

Barone, D. M., & Mallette, M. H. (2013). ​Best practices in early literacy instruction​. New York:

The Guilford Press.

Fisher, P., Bates, A., & Gurvitz, D. J. (2014). ​The complete guide to tutoring struggling readers:

mapping interventions to purpose and CCSS​. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gambrell, L. B., Malloy, J., & Mazzoni, S. (2007). ​Evidence-based best practices for

comprehensive literacy instruction .​ New York: Guilford Press.

Gambrell, L. B., & Morrow, L. M. (2015). ​Best practices in literacy instruction​. New York: The

Guilford Press.

Ganske, K., & Fisher, D. (2010). ​Comprehension across the curriculum perspectives and

practices K-12​. New York: Guilford Press.