Case Study: Individual Literacy Assessment

First Grade, Nunaka Valley Elementary

Mariah Brashar
December 3, 2017
Table of Contents:

Target Student Introduction … … 3

Student Background … …

Student Temperament … …

Student Interests … …

Concepts about Print … … 4

Assessment of Student Work … … 5

ASW Student Data … … 6

ASW Class Profile … …

ASW Objectives … … 7

ASW Next Steps … … 8

Oral Running Record … … 9

Oral Running Record Conference Information … …

Student ORR Example Sheet … … 10

Book Introduction … … 11

Summary of Current Academic Skills … … 12

Summary of Understanding of Literacy … … 13

On Teaching Literacy … … 14

On Conversation … …

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 Target Student Introduction:

The target student for this assessment portfolio, Jhodessa or JoJo, is a six-year-old,

Alaska Native girl. She is currently enrolled in the first grade at Nunaka Valley Elementary in

Anchorage, Alaska. She attended kindergarten at the same school last year. She struggles with

several behavioral issues, including difficulty controlling impulses and concentrating. Jhodessa

is a warm and affectionate student with a tendency to withdraw when she feels threatened.

Her interest is easily piqued and just as easily lost.

Jhodessa is drawn to literature and stories about animals and Alaska. She is a

moderately capable reader at the first-grade level with few misconceptions about the

mechanics of English written language. However, when faced with difficulty, JoJo has a

tendency to become frustrated and resistant to continuing the challenging activity. She attends

a reading intervention class with a reading specialist, in which JoJo has made noticeable

progress over the last month. The specialist uses dialogic techniques and positive

reinforcement.

In our work together, Jhodessa has shown interest in reading and being read to. Her

excitement can be sustained for reasonable periods of time if she is actively involved in a

successful endeavor (for example, if she is reading a book within her level of comprehension).

She has insights to offer about illustrations, text, and the meaning of books. She enjoys drawing

and is drawn to colorful pictures and creative activities. She also enjoys writing and likes to

illustrate her own writings.

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Concepts about Print:

4
 Assessing Student Work:

This emergent writing sample was collected in the first grade at Nunaka Valley Elementary. The

student, Jhodessa, was one of several students whose work was analyzed. The ASW is a process

reflecting the analysis of all samples. However, the names and writing samples of classmates

other than Jhodessa have been removed. The data was left unchanged and is included within the

presentation for continuity. Jhodessa’s work sample is included.

Jhodessa:

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ASW Student Data:
Jhodessa: demonstrated partial competence in this assignment. She was developing the
objectives for this assignment.

Students are expected to:

Write a sentence stating something that they like (an “I like” statement) using capitalization,
punctuation, and word spacing. If time allows, they are expected to draw an illustration to accompany
their statement.
- Alaska English/Language Arts and Mathematics Standards (June 2012)
Response: First Grade Text Types and Purposes W.1.1. W.1.2. and
Production and Distribution of Writing W.1.5
Students will not use any assistive devices beyond those they normally use in the classroom. They have
an alphabet chart and some common sight words are displayed around the room.

Student work will be considered proficient if there are word boundaries, correct capitalization, correct
punctuation, and illustrations that relate to or support the print. Letters should resemble or approximate
conventional forms and text should be writing left to right (as in standard English)

The assessment gives students the ability to demonstrate their understanding of the conventions of print
and illustration.

ASW Class Data:

Met Students have already demonstrated consistency with key knowledge

objectives and skills for the assignment.

Developing Students are appropriately prepared to meet the demands of the

objectives assignment.
Not Yet Students have not yet met the pre-requisite knowledge of skills
objectives necessary to complete the assignment.

Met Developing Not Yet

objectives objectives objectives

Johnny, Landon, Alena Troy, Maia, Aveya JoJo Valelai, Riley, Delaney, Natalie, Clark,
Holden, Camila, Michaela,

20 % of class 53 % of class 27 % of class

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 Met Developing Not Yet
progressing work samples incomplete work samples
best quality work samples
-Includes end-of-sentence punctuation -Includes clear word boundaries -Includes printed words/statement of
-Every word is attempted -Every word is attempted idea
-Includes beginning of sentence -Includes some correct capitalization -Print contains the message
capitalization or punctuation -Includes capital letters and lowercase
-Phonetic approximation of spellings -Phonetic approximation of spelling letters or punctuation
-Clear word boundaries -Illustration supports or relates to -Contains at least one word
-Consistent letter spacing statement -Left to right directionality evident.
-Print contains message -Print contains the message
-Illustration supports or relates to -Understandable statement
statement -Consistent letter boundaries
-Doesn’t contain repeated words (and -Left to right directionality evident
and and)
-Organized thought

Met Developing Not Yet

possible skills to work on for possible skills to work on for possible skills to work on for
this group of students: this group of students: this group of students:

Does not include conventional Does not include multiple-thought Does not include conventional
spelling. sentences/statements. spelling.

Does not include multiple-thought Does not include punctuation Does not include multiple-thought
sentences/statements. variation (?!) sentences/statements.

Does not include punctuation Does not include conventional Does not include punctuation
variation (?!) capitalization throughout statement variation (?!)Does not include
illustration that supports or relates to
Does not include punctuation statement.

Disordered capitalization/punctuation

Unclear word boundaries

Disordered statement (omitted or

added words)

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 Instructional Strategies/ Next Steps
What will you focus your instruction on for the student or students in each group?

Met Developing Not Yet

Students who demonstrated full Students who demonstrated partial Students who attempted to complete this
competence in this assignment need to competence in this assignment need to assignment need to focus on the following
focus on the following skills next: focus on the following skills: skills:
These students need to focus their These students should focus their These students should review how
energies on writing more complex energies on capitalization and illustrations can support a story.
statements. Students should be punctuation. They need to form an
encouraged to write sentence that understanding of the conventions of These students should explore reading
include more than one statement (ie I beginning and ending sentences. though their own written work to
like dogs because…) determine extra or omitted words.
These students could also focus energy
These students might benefit from on writing more complex sentences. These students should review word
practice using descriptive language boundaries and punctuation.
(ie I like big furry dogs) These students might benefit from
more focus on conventional spelling These students should focus their
These students might benefit from and practice with sounding words out energies on capitalization and
more focus on conventional spelling. and sight words. punctuation. They need to form an
Practice phonetic spelling and sight understanding of the conventions of
words. Instructional methods and Strategies: beginning and ending sentences.
Writing groups and writing workshops
Instructional methods and Strategies: working with “critical friends”. Daily These students could also focus
Guided writing and critical reading messages or jokes that are discussed energy on writing more complex
groups (discussing how an author and explained with the teacher. sentences.
made his or her writing vivid). These
students need to be given more These students might benefit from
opportunities to expand their writing. more focus on conventional spelling.

Instructional methods and Strategies:

One on one or small group work with
teacher.
Writing groups and writing workshops
working with “critical friends”. Daily
messages or jokes that are discussed
and explained with the teacher.

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 Oral Running Record:

ORR Conference:

Jhodessa completed eight Oral Running Records. After the first of these records, I met

with Susan Andrews, the instructor for this course, to discuss the record and what the next

steps in the ORR process should be. She instructed me on choosing appropriate books, giving

book introductions, and using the conventions of the ORR form.

After our conference, Jhodessa and I continued on to do several more successful

records. After starting with a book (Black Bear Cub) that was far above her instructional reading

level, we were able to use the leveled books to find a set of books with which she was much

more successful. While the initial record was very informative and she put in a great deal of

effort and used her considerable skills to decode much of the text, subsequent books in the A-B

level range were much more accessible to her.

With each book, we incorporated a detailed book introduction, as Dr. Andrews

suggested. In the included record, a short description of the book introduction is included as

the back page of the record sheet. The book introduction process proved to be very helpful not

only in orienting Jhodessa to the book, but in helping to pique her interest.

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Oral Running Record Sheet:

10
Book Introduction:

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 Summary of Jhodessa’s Current Academic Understandings:

Over the course of this semester, Jhodessa has progressed noticeably in her

understanding of reading. She started the semester with a strong understanding of the

conventions of written English, as was evidenced by her C.A.P. assessment.

JoJo is also a strong narrator and illustrator. She is interested in creating her own stories

and can match illustrations with text successfully, as one can see from the Assessment of

Student Work example. She performs best when given the autonomy to create something

original without extensive restrictions. She is excited by writing and is an active artist. If one can

harness these interests, Jhodessa will likely develop her skills in writing and drawing.

While her sight-word recognition and phonetic decoding skills have progressed and

improved, she has also gained some understanding of using illustrations as a reference point.

She shows more interest in reading than she did at the beginning of our time together. She also

has much more success in using the various tools in her tool box. She is working on testing out

words to see if they make sense, and self-correcting if she finds that a word she’s guessed

doesn’t seem to fit.

Jhodessa still struggles with perseverance, but with her recent successes during the Oral

Running Record process, she’s gained a moderate amount of confidence. As she gains

confidence, she seems to also be gaining interest and enthusiasm for reading. The more

literature that she is exposed to that is geared towards her interests, I believe the more she will

be interested in reading.

In reading closely with JoJo, I have been able to identify some of her misunderstandings

and repeated mistakes, such as her reliance on phonics as a decoding device at the expense of

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understanding. I have also been able to increase her positive associations with reading and with

being read to, which seems to be her biggest stumbling block. Together, we have identified

methods she might use when she is unfamiliar with a word (such as looking at the first letter

and thinking of a word that might fit with the story or the picture and make sense).

Summary of Personal Understanding of Literacy:

Over the past four months, I have learned a great deal about what young children

attend to while they are engaged in reading or listening to a book or story. A teacher’s

understanding of literacy should be informed by her close observation of her students. If a

teacher can tune into differences between students, then she may be able to identify individual

needs, interests, and misunderstandings. Through careful analysis of student work, a teacher

can identify what the students are attending to, as individuals. If one can begin to see what the

students are attending to, the one can begin to see what elements might be helpful to expose

them to or direct them towards.

To use Jhodoessa as an example: as I worked with JoJo, I found that she consistently

used one main “tool” to figure out unfamiliar words. She sounded them out! Often, as we

English readers are well aware, words do not sound the same as they phonetically should.

When I realized that JoJo needed some other tools, I was able to direct her towards using

illustrations and thinking about whether or not a word made sense within a story or sentence. If

I hadn’t been able to work closely with JoJo and to look at her work with an eye for what she

might be focused on, I may not have noticed that she was in need of some other strategies.

When teachers can give students that kind of one-on-one attention, they are able to tune into

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the differences that make learners unique. It is tuning into those differences that allows us to

differentiate our instruction and better serve our students.

On teaching literacy:

In teaching literacy, it is important that we do not “begin at the beginning” with letters

and sounds, but rather begin that the end with literature! If we hope to interest our students in

reading, we should engage them in stories: both in actively listening and discussing books, and

in writing their own stories (however limited their writing abilities may be): an interest for

learning the mechanics of literature will naturally follow.

On conversation:

If we give our students a chance to engage in conversation about stories we read

together, we can teach them the skill of thinking together about a book – one of the best ways

to understand the most complex concepts in our world. If we treat our students as valuable

contributors, authors, and literary critics, we can imbue them with the confidence and interest

to delve deep into what they are learning and to search for meaning. If we do not allow and

encourage conversation in our classrooms, we cannot hope to break the pattern of our

students always looking to us, the teachers, for explanations and answers. We must teach them

that they are the authors of their own answers, and that those answers are legitimate,

interesting, and worth sharing.

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