Weekly Intervention Plan

Student Name: Johnny

Grade Level: Second

Instructional Level: First

Teacher: Tamara Dixon

Date: 11/4/14

Instructional Goals based on Assessment:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Affective: John will understand that reading can be valuable even for children for entertainment and learning. John will also gain confidence in his own reading skills. This will
result in an overall MRP score of 80% by December.
Word Identification: John will be able to identify words out at an instructional 2 nd grade level on the San Diego Quick assessment by December
Words in context: John will reach independent first grade reading level reading words in context on the QRI by December
Fluency: John will improve his reading rate to 45 WPM on first grade texts CORE assessments by December
Spelling: John will improve in spelling vowel digraphs and igh/ough word teams, reflected by a move to late within word pattern on the Words Their Way spelling inventory.
Writing: John will write a 3 sentence paragraph without help. Each sentence will contain an independent clause. All sentences will be on topic, and will not repeat ideas. The
paragraph will be legible.

Materials:

Plans: Description of
Instructional Activities

Affective Warm-Up

John will ask a burning question for

a topic he wishes to know more
about, and I will bring in a couple
texts on this topic that we can read
together.

Objective: Now that John knows how

entertaining reading can be, he will also
see that it is useful for learning new
concepts.

What was actually done

Analysis of skills (Reflection)

Next Steps

What Was Done: At first, he could not think of a question. I offered some suggestions
like, Do you want to know what the fastest animal in the world is and just how fast
they can run? He was not interested in that. Then he said, I want to know, how was
the universe made? Where did it come from? And when were dinosaurs here? I dont
get where they fit in in the bible. I had certainly lead myself into a trap by opening up
any question to him. I know Johnny comes from a very conservative Christian family,
and I did not want to expose him to what they might find to be objectionable ideas. I
asked his parents what they would like me to cover, and how they had addressed these
issues with the older children. Because their older children had never asked these
questions, Johns parents had never discussed how to approach the subjects, so they
said they would leave it to my judgment. I asked if it was okay if I presented a few of the
most popular theories, and they agreed. Johnny knew I would have something to bring
him for part 2.
Analysis of Skills and Next Steps:

At home I began researching websites for kids that discussed these questions. I cut and
edited down information for 3 theories. The first is what I call the standard textbook
answers, which explain the big bang and the existence of dinosaurs more than 60

million years ago. The second theory is a popular Christian theory called Young Earth
Theory. It attempts to explain how dinosaurs lived with people on Earth, and it fits
everything into the biblical genealogies which go back about 6000 years. Everything by
this theory must fit in to chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis when it is read literally. The third
theory is Old Earth Creationists theory, which also fits everything we know into the
first 2 chapters of Genesis, which they also claim to take literally, but certain words like
day are translated more loosely. This theory allows the scientific textbook theory to
fit into the parameters of the bible. I ran these by Jonnys mom before the next session,
and she accepted them.

Skill: Building Fluency

Objective: John will re-read a familiar
story with 95% accuracy. He will also
gain exposure to new words in a
genre he is unfamiliar with.

John will read the story he

completed for me last week. He will
also read aloud more complex
expository texts.

What Was Done:

Part 1: I had Johnny read the story I wrote for him last time with the addition of the
portion he wrote. He was able to read it much more quickly with much less help. Then
we revisited the Prelutsky poems we had previously read, and we took turns reading
whole poems to one another. After reviewing the poems we read before, Johnny chose
3 new poems to read to me. While his reading is still slow, there is a noticeable
improvement in his cold-reads from when we first began. He still often skips a word or
replaces it with something similar at a glance. He seems more eager to move through
than to be accurate in his reading, and I frequently remind him to read the word on the
page.
Part 2: I went over some of the hard Tier 3 words with John first, and then I had him
read the first part about Big Bang Theory to me. Because this reading, though meant
for kids, was still above grade level, I told John the difficult words rather than making
him decode them. I focused more on the content than on the reading itself, and
stopped frequently to clarify and ask comprehension question as we read. I had him
read Genesis 1:1-1:2, which he was familiar enough with to read without too much
trouble. I read the next two theories aloud to him, letting him pause me when anything
was interesting so that he could highlight it. I still frequently stop to ask comprehension
questions and explain concepts and vocabulary as we went.

Analysis of Skills and Next Steps: I wish there had been more time to cover a wider range of texts.
As it was, only part two of this week gave Johnny any exposure to expository texts. Still, I can say that
even with the parts of these unfamiliar texts that he read to me, there is certain growth from where he
was in reassessments 6 weeks ago when he could only get through primer level texts. Reading even

more complex texts is not nearly the painful process simpler texts were in the very beginning.

Skill: Writing
Objective: John will keep a KWL
chart, recording new and separate
ideas of what he learns.

John will make a KWL chart and

add to it as he learns new
information.

What Was Done: I had Johnny make a KWL chart so he could keep track of what he
learns. This proved to be kind of fruitless. In retrospect, this would have been easier if
we practiced KWL charts with a simpler topic. As it was, John could not recall what he
already knew. Then, as we read, he seemed to have already known everything (or so he
claimed), and he needed a lot of prompting to add things he had learned.

Analysis of Skills and Next Steps

While a KWL chart might be a good study and comprehension tool, it did not actually meet any purpose
in my writing goals. I was too busy with the content of the lesson to encourage better writing skills in his
chart. However, he did frequently refer back to the texts for help spelling words he did not know, and
that was without any prompting.
Closing Activity: Wanting to be sensitive to the delicacy of the topic and the family value for faith, I briefly reviewed each of the theories we discussed. I pointed out again how the textbook
theory could easily fit in with what the bible says in Genesis. His parents, who were both present in the kitchen throughout the lesson. His father, a pastor, asked for a copy of the texts I had
used. I include this out of gratefulness for an experience that could have gone very badly, and which I will not attempt again in the future.