Nathan Tamborello

QUIZ: WEEK 3

1. In Walter’s lesson plan, Morris helps him improve first by designating trade books of
increasing difficulty for Walter to read that Walter has an active interest in pursuing – he
enjoys the topics and is eager to learn more. Morris also designated Walter to conduct
repeated readings of these books, drawing on Walter’s previous knowledge. Word study
was the major component of his plans, and Morris has Walter work on his short-vowel
patterns due to Walter’s struggles with word recognition. Morris also has Walter write
about topics he is familiar with, activating spelling patterns previously introduced in the
word recognition studies. I think Morris’ lesson plans are effective.

2. Wendy had a more advanced case of word recognition issues than Walter did. I think the
way Morris breaks her word study down to individual syllables is effective, and the way
he uses guided reading is important for Wendy’s development. Wendy could benefit
more from her syllable study if she were able to write more, maybe partner writing in the
future.

3. Since Wendy is a seventh grader reading at the fourth grade level, I would have her read
books that toe the line between fourth and fifth grade to begin with. A book like Frindle
by Andrew Clements, which deals with lexical issues and language morphology, would
be a great introductory novel for Wendy to read. A book like the Phantom Tollbooth, by
Norton Juster, which plays with words and puns, would be a great novel for Wendy to
read aloud, as the book has a very distinct rhythm and flow where she could practice her
fluency.

4. Cory shows a marked improvement – Cory’s reading rate now is about the same level as
his oral rate and his silent comprehension is improving. Cory worked through low-
frequency patterns such as a, i , and o vowels and is learning to both read and spell these
patterns.

5. Morris used easy readings, repeated reading, and tape recorder readings to help Faye with
her fluency. He also read to Faye so that she would get a sense of the idea of the pattern
of speech for the texts she was to read and also to gauge her interest in the topics of
books he was presenting.

6. In cases 5 & 6, Morris used different techniques for both children, with some similarities.
For Faye, it was more important to have sections devoted to reading to her to gauge her
interests; for Frank, it was about the 1 + 1 + 1 technique, where a majority of the time is
devoted to Frank either reading aloud or silently reading. Faye’s word study concentrated
on high and low frequency contrasting patterns, whilst Frank’s was centred around the
division of longer words into syllables.

7. The “workhorse” activity to improve Carol’s comprehension was guided silent reading.
Nathan Tamborello

8. Carol’s area of strength is writing – he does not bring it up again in the rest of the case
study.

9. I would have Carol practice her fluency by writing about topics she is interested in. I
would have her fill out a pre-writing story map, much like Wendy, to write stories of her
own. This will help her practice words that she has encountered before and utilize
interesting words that she reads during her reading time.

10. Greg was a fourth grade students reading at barely a first grade level. He could neither
read nor spell short-vowel words consistently. After a year of stagnant tutoring, Morris
pulled out an old book for teaching severely disabled students. Morris used the
Gillingham-Stillman procedures on teaching phonics and short vowel patterns to help
Greg.