ECI 551: Clinical Practice in Reading

Final Diagnostic Report

By: Angela Graziano

Student Name: CB Age: 6 years old

Date of Testing: January 16, 2018 Grade: 1st

A. Description of Student

CB is a six-year-old, first grade girl who attends XX Elementary School in the Pendergast
Elementary School District. She is a very outgoing, sweet, and loving girl to her classmates and
teacher. CB has been identified as a student who learns reading information at a slower pace than
her peers. Despite being behind her classmates, CB continues to try her best when practicing
sight words and repetitive reading along during whole-group time. CB set a goal at the beginning
of the first grade year to be able to read more fluently and understand what she is reading. CB
turns in her reading log weekly with a list of decodable readers and selections of her choosing, in
which she completes for homework. Most weeks her log is filled from top to bottom because
when she is able to choose the text, she enjoys reading. At home, CB lives with her mother,
father, and two older brothers. She enjoys riding her bike, running around outside, having fun
with her L.O.L. dolls, and playing with and making slime.

B. Factors Affecting Reading Progress

1. Physical Factors

In kindergarten, CB saw the reading interventionist once a day, four days a week. The
interventionist pulled CB with a small group of her peers. While she was there, the
interventionist worked on letter formations, letter names, and letter sounds. CB was able to
master this concept toward the end of the school year, so she no longer had to see the reading
interventionist. In first grade, CB scored close to mastery on the Houghton Mifflin Diagnostic
Phonics Screener (assessment discussed in “Achievement”). Because of her score, she was
higher than some of her peers. Those students who scored not toward mastery in letter names,
sounds, and reading CVC words began to see the reading interventionist.

2. Social-Emotional Factors

During the student interview with CB, I learned that one of her favorite subjects in school
is reading. She told me that she loves learning our new weekly sight words and completing our
activities with them. During our reading block, CB is a student who always participates. Every
time I look at her, she is repeating the sight words, sounding words out, and listens to my
dictation of sentences to then repeat them under her breath. She tracks her reading with her
pointer finger, or special fake finger. When completing worksheets as a whole-group, CB
follows along, raises her hand to share answers, and her work is always finished. Another thing
she mentioned to me during her interview was that she enjoys reading at home. Almost every
Friday, I receive a reading log that is either filled out by her or her mother. Many of the books
listed on her reading log are our weekly decodables. The decodable readers are simple short
stories with the sight words and phonics patterns we are learning about. They differ each week
and the students take them home about once a month. She told me that she likes reading them to
her mother before bed.

3. Educational Factors

CB’s desk is located at one of the front tables. Her table consists of both girls and boys that
are at a similar educational level as CB in reading and mathematics. I believe this helps CB stay
focused because her table is located so close to the front carpet, board, and my desk.

C. Test Behavior

CB was assessed in the morning during interventions, after the first grade reading block.
Unfortunately, I have twenty-one other students in my classroom, so the atmosphere was not
completely quiet. The other students in the classroom were completing independent tasks and
reading silently. With my “with group” signs displayed, rarely students came up to me. The other
students know that if I am working with a student and they need my help immediately, they
either raise their hand or come up to the back table and wait quietly. Although, at times when CB
was reading, there was minor background noise and distractions. During the testing, she was
sitting at the back small group table, which faces the word wall- having her back turned to her
peers. CB was excited to work with me individually and did not seem to tire from the
assessment tasks. From start to finish, she took her time.

D. Potential

Because cumulative files are confidential, I am unable to report the specific information it
contained. A few points I can list are that CB started school when she was five years old. She
attended XX Elementary School for both kindergarten and now first grade. CB’s most recent
health screening was in the fall of 2017. She passed both her vision and hearing test.

E. Achievement

1. Informal Word Recognition Test

For this assessment, CB was asked to read from multiple leveled word lists. Each list had
twenty-five words. First, CB was shown a word flashcard for about two seconds and then was
asked to repeat the word. If CB said the correct word immediately, she has mastered that specific
sight word. I continued this process until CB missed 30%or more of the words on the list.
Second, CB was show the list of words and asked to read the words aloud. I did not time her
during this process. CB started with the preprimer level words and moved through the primer and
level one words. The results from this assessment are presented in the table below.
 Word List Level Flash Assessment Untimed Assessment
Preprimer Level 96% (24/25) 96% (24/25)
Primer Level 68% (17/25) 80% (20/25)
Level 1 24% (6/25) 40% (10/25)

As CB began the preprimer word list, she was reading at a rapid pace. When she came to
the word said, it was not familiar to her so she said “skip.” She then continued to read the
remainder of the list. For the preprimer words, CB was able to repeat the same number of words
during both the flash and untimed tests. At the primer level, CB was not able to read some words
on the flash test. A few of those words she sounded out for the untimed test and was successful
in reading them. Because of that, I moved on to the level 1 words. For the level 1 words, CB was
only able to read a few of them during the flash test. Again, for the untimed test she was more
successful being she was able to read a few more words. Overall, this information depicts that
with unfamiliar words, CB needs time to process the grapheme and decode the sounds.

2. Informal Reading Inventory

For this assessment, first CB read a leveled passage orally. As she was reading, I made
notes on the words she did not read correctly, omitted a word, and dashed the words that she had
to sound out. At the conclusion of the passage, I asked CB to answer comprehension questions.
Her score was assessed based on the number of word recognition errors she made (accuracy) and
the number of comprehension questions she was able to correctly answer. If CB scored on the
frustration level for word recognition (below 95%) or comprehension (below 70%), I concluded
the oral reading portion. Second, CB read a leveled passage silently. After reading in her head, I
asked her comprehension questions. For this passage, I took a comprehension score for the
number of questions answered correctly. If CB scored on the frustration level (below 70%) on
the comprehension, I concluded the silent reading portion. Lastly, I assessed CB’s listening
comprehension. I read a passage aloud, as CB followed along with a copy in front of her. I then
asked her comprehension questions regarding the passage I read. If CB scored on the frustration
level for comprehension (below 70%), I concluded the listening comprehension portion. On all
of these assessments, CB began on the preprimer level.

Level Word Recognition Oral Comprehension Silent Comprehension Listening Comprehension

Preprimer 87% (75/86) 67% (4/6) 33% (2/6) 100% (8/8)
(Test 1)
Preprimer 91% (58/64) 17% (1/6) 50% (3/6) -
(Test 2)
Primer - - - 67% (4/6)
(Test 1)
Primer - - - -
(Test 2)

When CB was reading, she read at a fluent pace until she came to an unfamiliar word.
With words she was unsure on, she attempted to sound out. Every word that she sounded out, she
was then able to blend to form the correct word. CB continued to get stuck on the names with
apostrophes (e.g. Jill’s); She kept saying “Jill is”, even after being corrected each time. She also
struggled with some sight words on the preprimer list. If CB pronounced a word incorrectly,
before I corrected her I gave her a second to see if any self-corrections would be made. This
occurred once, but other than that instance, she continued reading on. During the silent
assessment, CB seemed to be reading the text. She was tracking with her pointer finger and even
mouthing some words. For the comprehension assessments, CB wanted to reread the passage to
help her, but I only gave her a few seconds to state the answer. For any words that CB read
incorrectly, when she was answering questions she said the same incorrect attempt to the word-
which was consistent.

Reading Levels:

Reading Levels Grade Level

Oral Silent
Independent - -
Instructional - -
Frustration Kindergarten/First Kindergarten/First
Listening Capacity Kindergarten/First N/A

When identifying CB’s reading levels, I was stumped. Because CB only orally and
silently read the preprimer passages at the frustration level, there was no levels that occurred
before that. The preprimer level is considered late kindergarten to mid-year of first grade. Before
that, there is nothing but language development and vocabulary. CB’s comprehension ability also
followed this dilemma. She struggled comprehending the text that she read because she was
unfamiliar with many words, which affected her overall understanding.

3. Spelling Inventory

For this assessment, CB was instructed to spell words from the informal spelling survey
as I read them aloud. she understood each word that I read and did not need clarification. For a
majority of the words, she sounded them out quietly as she wrote each letter. The testing process
continued and leveled up until CB missed 50% or more of the words, with each list having a total
of twenty words.
Level Percentage Correct
1 70% (14/20)
2 40% (8/20)

Since CB is in first grade and we are just over the mid-year mark, it was not surprising
that she could only spell 70% of the words correctly. A similarity in CB’s spelling pattern was
that she missed a lot of words with digraphs (e.g. instead of th, she only wrote the t.) A second
commonality that appeared was leaving off the silent e in words that have long vowels (e.g. see
(se), table (tabl), hope (hop), more (mor). One last error I saw was the misspelling of common
sight words. CB tended to sound out the word before writing it, as we practice in class, and those
words are not often spelled how they sound (e.g. mother (muthr), was (wus), of (uv), many
(meney), saw (sol). On a side note, there were other words spelled incorrectly that included the
“bossy r”, but we have not learned that in our first grade curriculum yet.
 4. Other Diagnostic Procedures- Houghton Mifflin Diagnostic Phonics Screener

For this assessment, CB was provided with a larger-font student sheet, while I completed the
phonics/decoding summary sheet. This screener begins with alphabet skills and then moves into
reading decoding skills with isolated real and nonsense words. The tasks are split into categories
based on the alphabet or phonics pattern. Below is a table of CB’s scores related to the levels of
mastery.

Alphabet/Reading & Decoding Skills Score Mastery

Letter Names (Uppercase) 26/26 24/26
Letter Names (Lowercase) 26/26 24/26
Consonant Sounds 21/23 21/23
Short Vowel Sounds 5/5 5/5
Long Vowel Sounds 5/5 5/5
Short Vowels in CVC words 10/10 8/10
Short Vowels in Digraphs and Trigraphs 8/10 8/10
Short Vowels and Consonants 19/20 16/20
Long Vowel Words 1/10 8/10

CB scored at mastery level for all of these tasks, except the long vowels. For consonant
sounds, she was unable to tell me the sound that the soft c and g make, so that is why she missed
two points. For the short vowels in digraphs and trigraphs, she was unable to read two nonsense
words (wheck, phitch). For the short vowels and consonants, she read the word spell with the
wrong vowel sound. And the long vowel words are what she struggled with. In the first grade
curriculum, we recently started learning about long vowels. We learned about long vowels with
the silent e, but vowel pairs have just been introduced.

F. Summary

In conclusion, CB’s greatest area of struggle was in word recognition. This factor affects her
fluency and comprehension. I observed this during the informal word recognition assessment.
CB was able to read more words when she was reading down the list, rather than being flashed
the word. This was because some of the words she was actually able to sound out, remembering
her phonic rules. While CB was reading the oral passages, she made many mistakes with high-
frequency words and words with blends/digraphs, inflectional endings, and the silent “e.” As CB
was reading aloud, if she made a mistake I corrected her. Although, many times when she came
to those words again, she pronounced it incorrect or struggled with automatically decoding.
Because of CB’s lack of word recognition, she was more focused on attempting to decipher
unfamiliar words, rather than understand the words and information she was reading. When it
came to the comprehension questions, CB was unsure of a lot of the elements she just read.

It was interesting to see that on the first preprimer oral reading passage, CB scored with a
lower word recognition, but higher comprehension. In the second preprimer oral reading
passage, CB scored with a higher word recognition, but lower comprehension. Both of the
passages were considerably close in length and had the same number of questions to answer. The
reading selections were also the same genre, fictional. Though, on the preprimer listening
comprehension passage, CB scored a perfect score. As the vocabulary became more challenging,
even when listening to me read, she was not able to fully comprehend the passage.

Specifically the comprehension questions that CB had a difficult time with were ones that
asked what clues from the text… . Much of this was because she was unable to explain what
words meant and even give examples of them. As CB was reading, I could somewhat tell when
she did not know what a word was or what it meant, because her voice tone sort of changed and
she sounded hesitant. She looked up at me sometimes too, thinking I would help her figure out
the word, similar to what happens in our reading block.

Lastly, CB struggled with spelling common high frequency words. Even sight words that
she was able to quickly read, she was unable to spell. Many of her patterns seemed that she was
using phonetic spelling. The other few exceptions were missing a letter in a digraph/blend and
missing a “magic e” on the end of a word with a long vowel. With that being said, CB needs to
be reminded and reinstructed of all the phonics rules and patterns. CB is considered somewhat
below grade level in reading, and is lower than many of her peers. Working in a one-on-one,
direct instruction, with hands-on activities, will engage her and help her utilize reading skills in
isolation and within context.

G. Recommendations
Based on the analysis of the initial diagnostic assessments, the recommended focus of a
remedial program for CB should be the following:

1. Word Recognition- CB struggled identifying commonly used sight words in

isolation. Because of this, she was unable to read the words in context, which
affected her fluency and comprehension. After isolating the sight words, CB
needs to instruction to become more automatic with reading them in text.
2. Phonics- CB needs review with spelling and reading words with digraphs and
blends. The frequently used diagraphs are forgotten when she spells words, even
though she sounds them out correctly.
3. Vocabulary- CB struggled with explaining what words mean. She needs to build a
larger vocabulary by learning how to use the context clues around her to
determine an unknown word and its definition.
4. Comprehension- CB struggled with answering questions whether she was reading
orally or silent. Many incorrect answers were based on the words she read
incorrectly. Her lack of fluency affected her understanding of the passages.

H. Instructional Program
CB received instructional sessions that varied from a half-an-hour to an hour. These sessions
were completed at least once a week and also included the various lessons created for the course.
The sessions mostly focused on word recognition, phonics, and comprehension. Intertwined in
the lessons were practices on vocabulary and spelling. As the weeks passed, each time I met with
CB, she became more and more excited to work with me and read. One could really tell that as
CB was progressing in reading, she was eager to read. During all of the sessions, CB was
actively engaged and could not wait to show me what she mastered by the end of the lessons. In
many sessions, CB mastered the lesson goals and I thought it would be appropriate to challenge
her. When gathering materials, I made sure to pull another word/reading level up from the one
she was working on. I began my assessments with her current level and then moved into more
advanced pieces. During this time, CB knew how well she was doing which encouraged her even
more.

All of the sessions and lessons focused on the first grade Arizona Common Core- ELA
standards. I began with choosing kindergarten passages and as she mastered them, I moved
toward first grade. Most of the passages were fictional and were chosen with CB’s likes and
interests in mind. This ensured that she was focused and on-task because she favored what she
was reading about. Being CB’s teacher, I provided accommodations and scaffolding when I
thought was necessary.

1. Phonics Skills
From studying the trends on words CB either read or spelled incorrectly, I saw a pattern:
most of the words were either high frequency words or words with blends and digraphs. I
focused on the high frequency words throughout all of the lessons. An explanation of how I
taught and had her practice those words can be found under #3. Word Recognition. As for the
blends and digraphs, I began drilling that specifically in the fourth lesson. In our reading
curriculum, we recently finished learning about the various blends and digraphs that can appear
in the beginning or end of words. With that being said, CB displayed the need of a quick review
of the sounds these letters make, in order to become more automatic.

The lesson began with reviewing the common sound cards for blends and digraphs. The
blends and digraphs we worked on were /sh/, /ch/, /th/, /wh/, /ph/, /dr/, /fr/, and /tr/. For the
explicit instruction portion, we reviewed in a repeated reading format. I first said the blend or
digraph letters, then what the picture was of, and finally made the sound. CB then repeated after
me, three times to ensure it really “stuck” in her brain. Then, we worked together to finger tap
out the word on the picture card and chunk it out in order to spell it correctly. CB was able to
spell the words correctly after tapping them out- by using two fingers for the blend/digraph and
one finger for the remaining independent sounds. During guided practice, we moved on toward
reading simple phrases and sentences that contained words with blends and digraphs. My hope
for CB was that she would become more automatic in reading these words, without having to
sound them out in order to decode them. CB was able to read a large amount of the words in a
larger context. For the independent practice exercise, CB moved toward reading words with
blends and digraphs in a passage context. She began by reading independently and then
“performed” her reading fluency and accuracy aloud. CB’s assessment goal was to display her
knowledge of blends and digraphs through spelling words and reading a simple first grade
passage.

CB was so eager to review her digraphs and activate her background knowledge, that she
wanted to share some digraphs that she remembered. She not only told me various digraph
sounds, but also was able to remember the picture on the sound card that was on our focus wall.
This really gave me insight that CB probably has a photographic memory. During the
assessment, I began by reading the title of the passage to CB. CB then picked up and read the
entire text. Out of 81 words, CB was able to read 77 of them correctly, scoring her at a 95%
accuracy (at her instructional level). The three words she struggled with were: surprise, paint,
wheels, and could. Instead of telling her the words, I helped her use strategies to decode them.
She was able to read all of the words that contained digraphs in the passage correctly. She was
even able to do so without sounding out. It came very automatic to her after providing her with
multiple opportunities to practice reading and writing words with digraphs.

2. Comprehension

Three lessons had a large focus on comprehension. In the third lesson, CB was guided
through gradual release of responsibility. This began with explicit modeling with reading and
applying comprehension skills (visualizing, highlighting, and thinking aloud). These strategies
were modeled while answering written comprehension questions. We then moved on to guided
practice where we both read together and took turns using our comprehension skills. Again, we
worked together to complete written comprehension questions. After, CB engaged in her
independent practice where she had to read a passage silently and aloud, and then answer written
comprehension questions. Pausing while reading to utilize these strategies really helped CB stop
and think about what she was reading to ensure she was understanding the context. For this
specific lesson, mastery of the objective was made. CB read aloud a reading passage, while I
marked words that she read incorrectly (because fluency was a separate objective in this lesson
to ensure she is maintaining it). She was able to read 35/37 words correctly which transfers to a
95% accuracy. She was right on the cusp, but was able to score this passage at her instructional
reading level. When it came to the comprehension, I again read all of the questions and answer
options aloud. There were two multiple choice questions and three questions where she had to
color the answer back in the text. For this part of the lesson objective, CB mastered her goal of
answering 5/5 comprehension questions correctly (100% accuracy). While answering the
questions, she was able to think and record the answer within seconds. She was able to remember
the text information and did not have to go back in the passage, unless it was to find the words
she had to color; And even with those questions, she stated the answer aloud before going back
in the passage.

In the fifth lesson, CB worked toward using her context clues with unfamiliar words and
homophones. The goal of this lesson was for her to focus on the vocabulary because that all ties
together with understanding a text. For this lesson, I created an extension activity for CB to
answering comprehension questions (multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank) to show she
understand what she was reading. As she was answering the fill in the blank question, she stated
the answer aloud, but wanted to go back tin the text to ensure she was spelling the word
correctly. I told her that was a great idea as that will help with her writing knowledge. She was
able to answer 3/3 of the questions correctly, with a 100% accuracy. Even when the passage was
missing words, and CB had to use context clues to determine what the words were, she was able
to understand what she read.

The sixth lesson was cumulative. It focused on all areas of need from word recognition to
comprehension. Regarding comprehension specifically, CB engaged in answering both oral and
written questions. I wanted her to be exposed to various formats of showing her understanding of
text. As we were reading, we stopped at pre-determined points for me to ask her some
comprehension questions. Another skill that we focused on in previous lessons was
understanding what we are reading, and the guiding questions allowed me to assess her
understanding. At the conclusion of reading, I looked at what comprehension questions she was
and was not able to answer. Out of five questions, she was able to answer four of them correctly.
She identified the characters, problem, text-to-self connection, and solution. Although, she
needed some scaffolding with the question asking her to identify the setting. She also had to
show that she understood what she read by placing the story cards in sequential order. For her
activity, she had to arrange the story cards in sequential order. She enjoyed cutting, gluing, and
arranging the pictures dependent what happened first, second, third, etc. She was able to
correctly place all of the story cards in order.

This was also important because our class reads a story each week from our reading
curriculum. Not only does the story include the phonics pattern and high-frequency words that
we are working on, but we also listen and read for comprehension. At the beginning of the week,
we have whole-group discussions thinking aloud and answering questions. Toward the end of the
week, we take a written comprehension test that includes multiple choice questions. Since
working with CB in our lessons and weekly sessions, I have seen her comprehension test scores
“rocket”. She has been scoring on-grade level with an 8+/10.

3. Word Recognition
All of the lessons focused on word recognition with high-frequency words. The first
lesson reviewed and practiced the pre-primer and primer words from the word list that CB did
not master during the initial assessment. These words were practiced in isolation with different
activities including reading the word, sentence fluency with sight words, finding the word among
a group, and building the word. In order to become more familiar with the words that were
selected, I used repetitive teaching. I began the lesson with modeling by reading the word or
sentence aloud. Then, I had CB repeat. After repeating, we read together in a “ready, set read”
starter. I designed my lesson with this format in mind because after you model how to read a
text, students must have the opportunity to reread it. The more CB read the word, phrase, or
sentences, the more her fluency and word recognition improved. From the beginning of the
lesson, she was actively engaged and that is really what contributed to her gains. At the
conclusion of the lesson, CB was tested on reading all of the words in the pre-primer and primer
word lists. She was able to master them all. She was even so proud of herself that she wanted to
read the words from both lists again, so I encouraged her. The second time she read them, she
also was able to read them with 100% accuracy. If CB made an error, she self-corrected herself
before I made a comment.

The second lesson solely focused on word recognition within context. While reading the
fluency triangles during the explicit instruction, CB wanted to go ahead of me when she knew
the words. At times I had to slow her down and then we went back to the beginning of the line to
start again. I applauded her for knowing the words quickly, but I wanted to be sure I was
releasing the responsibility and this was just the first step. After we read a few of the triangles in
a repeated style, she wanted to read the entire triangle independently. I allowed her to read it to
me because I liked how she was getting excited about reading. For the assessment piece, I think I
chose reading passages from Reading A-Z. The passages were similar to the fluency triangles
and I Can Read! in that it was repetitive. The assessments had many of the same sentence stems.
I started by assessing her on the Level B passage. She made one error on the word walk. She
scored a 38/39, which indicates that she read this passage with 97% accuracy (instructional
level). I then gave her the Level A passage, just with hopes that she would also score high and it
would be good practice. She scored a 23/24, which indicates that she read this passage with 96%
accuracy (instructional level). On this level, the word that she made a mistake on was table. We
went back to it at the conclusion of the passage and after she sounded it out, she was able to
decode it with her knowledge of long vowels. Lastly, I gave her the Level C passage to challenge
her. She scored a 56/58, which indicates that she read this passage with 97% accuracy
(instructional level). On this level, she mispronounced the word balloon (ball-on) and was
unable to read the word card.

I really wanted to ensure that CB was continuously practicing and exposed to these
words. At the opening of our weekly sessions, I activated her background knowledge by
prompting her to read both the pre-primer and primer word lists. Throughout the entire semester,
she was able to read all of the words independently. As weeks went by, she began reading the
words quicker.

4. Writing

Writing was not a main focus, but was included in every lesson and most weekly sessions
when we met. In the first lesson, CB was building high-frequency words with letter tiles and then
transferred it onto her sight word form. While writing, she had a “bumpy sheet” under her paper
to give the writing a more tactile feel. In the second and third lessons, CB worked on reading
fluency with repetitive phrases and passages, and also comprehension. Along with multiple
choice questions, CB did answer some open-ended question. When she was writing her answers,
she wanted to make sure she was spelling her words correctly, so she referred back to the
passage. In the fourth lesson, the first activity with blends and digraphs was with writing/spelling
instruction. After reviewing the sound cards, CB had to finger tap the spelling of the picture on
the card and then write it down. A goal was for CB to align her phonics knowledge while she
was writing to ensure she was spelling the word either phonetically or correctly. When she was
writing her words with digraphs on the highlight and record sheet, she was able to spell all of the
words. She tried to challenge herself by not looking back in the passage until she wrote the word.
Instead, she finger tapped out the sounds and wrote the letters as she heard them.

The sixth lesson was a cumulative review. As an extension activity, I asked CB to write a
different ending to the story. We discussed orally what else could have occurred at the end of the
story if it didn’t conclude the way it did. As she was writing, she finger tapped words, used her
sight word dictionary, and the reading passage to assist her with spelling. After looking at her
writing, she was able to follow the patterns and rules we have talked about: transition words,
capital letters, punctuation, and spaces. Her handwriting is also very neat. Using the large-lined
writing paper, she was able to form letters correctly and legibly. In addition, the ending that she
wrote was very creative and appropriate for the passage.

5. Vocabulary
 During the fifth lesson, the main focus was vocabulary and comprehension. CB worked
on using context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and homophones. I decided
to involve homophones in a lesson because it is important for children to recognize these words
and be able to grasp the context of sentences or passages that include words with more than one
meaning. I also remember CB’s mother writing on the parent information form that she wanted
her to become more accustomed with homophones. CB completed each activity in this lesson
with accuracy. Using the picture task cards, she was able to complete the last 3/3 by using
context clues to correctly identify the missing word in the sentence. At this time, she also
explained her thoughts, by thinking aloud. She pointed out specifically what context clues she
used, whether it be the surrounding words or the picture. Using the reading passage, CB correctly
identified and wrote in each missing first letter or word by using the picture and other words in
the sentence or previous sentences, along with predicting. For the assessment activity, CB was
able to read most of the words on the task cards. There were some higher-level words that she
was unable to read, but it did not hinder her overall understanding of the sentence. She was able
determine the meaning (definition) of the underlined word in 4/4 of the sentences, with 100%
accuracy.

6. Spelling
While spelling was not a main focus of any lessons, it was practiced briefly. The first lesson
had CB making words by using the letters of her high-frequency words. CB was instructed to
find a specific sight word, take the letters out of the zip lock bag, and then build the word. She
mastered the spelling portion of this lesson. Furthermore, she wanted to challenge herself during
this activity, by not looking at the word on the bag. She flipped over the zip lock that had the
word written on it, built the word, and then flipped the bag back over to check her spelling. I
wanted to interconnect spelling a little because research shows that for high-frequency words, if
children can spell them – they can read them. So I used that as an activity to familiarize herself
with memorizing the sight words on the preprimer and primer word lists that she was struggling
with. At no time did XCB show frustration with spelling.

I. Post-Tests
1. Informal Word Recognition Test

Word List Level Flash Assessment Untimed Assessment

Preprimer Level 100% (25/25) 100% (25/25)
Primer Level 100 % (25/25) 100% (25/25)
Level 1 68% (17/25) 80% (20/25)
Level 2 64% (16/25) 72% (18/25)

2. Informal Reading Inventory

Level Word Recognition Oral Comprehension Silent Comprehension Listening Comprehension

Preprimer 100% (86/86) 83% (5/6) 100% (6/6) 88% (7/8)
(Test 1)
Preprimer 98% (63/64) 83% (5/6) 83% (5/6) -
(Test 2)
 Primer 97% (93/96) 100% (6/6) 100% (6/6) 88% (7/8)
(Test 1)
Primer 97% (74/76) 88% (7/8) 75% (6/8) -
(Test 2)
Level 1 95% (104/109) 100% (6/6) 63% (5/8) 75% (6/8)
(Test 1)
Level 1 93% (82/88) 70% (7/10) 70% (7/10) -
(Test 2)
Level 2 38% (3/8)
(Test 1)

Reading Levels:

Reading Levels Grade Level

Oral Silent
Independent Preprimer Primer
Instructional Level 1 Primer
Frustration Level 2 Level 1
Listening Capacity Level 1 N/A

3. Spelling Inventory

Level Percentage Correct

1 75% (15/20)
2 40% (8/20)

4. Other Diagnostic Procedures- Houghton Mifflin Diagnostic Phonics Screener

Alphabet/Reading & Decoding Skills Score Mastery

Letter Names (Uppercase) 26/26 24/26
Letter Names (Lowercase) 26/26 24/26
Consonant Sounds 21/23 21/23
Short Vowel Sounds 5/5 5/5
Long Vowel Sounds 5/5 5/5
Short Vowels in CVC words 10/10 8/10
Short Vowels in Digraphs and Trigraphs 9/10 8/10
Short Vowels and Consonants 20/20 16/20
Long Vowel Words 5/10 8/10

J. Conclusions and Further Recommendations

CB really tried her best from the moment I began working with her on the initial
assessments. That attitude and motivation carried all the way through our very last final
 testing. I gave CB the final assessments over the course of the morning and afternoon, during
two different days. I wanted to ensure that I had her full attention and she was focused. There
were other children in the class during this time, but they were working on independent
reading and on educational computer programs. Therefore, the classroom environment was
quiet and CB was attentive to the tasks at hand.

It was a joy to work with CB, as she explained to me that she loves to read and she was
so excited that I was working with her to become a better reader. In each lesson, she wanted
to go straight to the independent practice, where she was able to read by herself. I was
constantly reminding her that we have to go through all the learning steps and processes,
before we get there. Her results from the independent practice and objective measures on the
lessons where exactly where I expected her to be, meeting the goal of the activities. Because
of that, I always challenged her with an enrichment piece. Sometimes that was an extra
reading and answering questions activity, while other times it was a short writing assignment.
As CB’s first grade teacher, this work allowed me to see all of her areas of strengths and
needs.

When comparing reading skills and looking at results, CB improved tremendously from
her initial assessments. I think all of the lessons and weekly sessions led her to be successful.
For oral reading, she is able to read a passage at the first grade level (level 1), either at her
independent or instructional level. She is also able to comprehend what she is reading. For
silent reading, she performs at her independent or instructional level with a primer reading
level. For listening comprehension, she is able to accurately understand passages being read
to her all the way through the first grade level (level 1).

The informal word recognition was another skill that was a major accomplishment from
the initial assessments. At the conclusion of the intervention plan, she was able to read both
preprimer and primer words with 100% accuracy, both timed and untimed. She was able to
read 80% of the level 1 words and even 72% of the level 2 words, untimed. I was beyond
impressed because at the beginning of the semester, she struggled with the preprimer words.

However, when it came to the spelling inventory, CB performed almost identical as she
did on the initial assessment. She correctly spelled 70% of the level 1 words and only 40% of
the level 2 words. Many of the words on the lists could be sounded out and spelled
phonetically. Many of those words also had the long vowel spelling patters, the silent magic
e, etc. The other words happened to be some of our first grade sight words. Something that I
noticed was that CB can correctly identify/read these words, but she struggles spelling them
out.

Recommendations for CB as she continues working on progressing through her reading

successes:
1. CB needs to continue working on informal word recognition with the weekly first grade
sight words. This will build her sight word vocabulary and help her with being and
accurate and fluent reader.
2. CB needs a review on long vowels. She needs to be more automatic and realizing if a
word has a silent magic e, the vowel is going to make a long sound. She also needs to
 remember the “two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking” rhyme. Many
words that she read incorrectly were words with a combination of long vowels.
3. CB would benefit from spelling practice. Research has shown that if a child can spell a
word, he/she will be able to read it. I really think that since CB is able to read these
spelling words, she needs to remember all of the phonics rules of digraphs, blends, long
vowels, etc. when she is writing. It has been helping her when she finger taps the words
in order to help her sound them out. (We do that many times in class when we are reading
or spelling words).
4. CB would benefit from slowing down while she is reading. Sometimes if she rushes
through the text, she will mispronounce a word or omit a word. Other times, if she is not
tracking with her reading finger or a pointer, she will forget to read a whole line. In
return, that affects her fluency and comprehension. I think she is always just so eager to
read quickly, answer questions, and move on and do more reading- which is a great
attitude to have; But she will become a more fluent and accurate reader if she just takes
her time.
5. CB will continue to improve her reading with continuing to read daily, whether that be in
class, at home, or better yet- both.

Signature: Angela Graziano April 12, 2018