Reading child study - Employment

Your Name: Jenny Meis
Child’s pseudonym: Nadjib
Child’s age and grade: 2 nd grade, 7 years old
Reading Profile
View of self as reader and attitude towards reading (reported identity in interview and observed)
Observations/examples
Nadjib told me in our interview that he
thinks reading in important because it helps
people learn things. Although he thinks
reading is important, when asked if he
reads a lot at home he said no, he watches
TV too much and reading is boring. If he
isn’t interested in the book he fumbles over
words a lot, skips whole lines of text, and
has trouble concentrating. When the book
isn’t a good fit for him he gets bored.
Recommendations
Interpretations
Owocki & Goodman state, “I purposefully use this choice
time to connect with kids and understand who they are as
learners” (…, p. 1). While kidwatching, I notice he gets very
interested in books when they are about “creatures” as he
calls them. This can range anywhere from sharks to star wars
characters. . As Hindly notes, “At read aloud time, choice is
everything” (1996, p. 88). He has trouble picking out a book
that he can get in to but once he does he seems to be very
enthused when he reads it. I can tell when we are reading a
book that he doesn’t like because he looks around a lot,
fumbles over words, and reads at a slower pace. It is at this
time that he does not view himself as a reader because he
gets bored. I can see a big disconnect here when he says he
doesn’t view himself as a reader because I think when he is
reading a book he likes he enjoys it and would consider
himself as a reader. Hindly expresses, “Often the books I
choose contain fabulous stories that the majority of my
students appreciate and love to discuss, but probably
couldn’t read independently” (1996, p. 88). This is relevant
because a lot of the books Nadjib brings me are much too
high for his reading level. He is bored with the texts he
knows and is able to read. Unconsciously he is ready to
move to the next level of reading where in his opinion they
would be much more interesting to him. He needs a new
resource to find books and the best, most easily accessible
resource starts with the teacher.
To acknowledge that fact the he gets bored when reading the texts he knows that results in not thinking as
himself as a reader , I would use the scholastic website to use their book wizard. It’s a great resource to find
books of similar interest but an easier reading level. I could find books similar to the ones he brings me but
look for something more in his reading level. This way I could work with him and other students in the
class through mini lessons to improve their reading and reading strategies and at the same time through
independent reading engage them with new books that cater toward their interests and in the correct reading
level.
Knowledge about genres and functions of reading (reported in interview and observed): What
purposes does the child set for her/himself as a reader? What do observed behaviors show you what he/she
knows about genres and functions/purposes of reading?)
Observations/examples
Interpretations
When asked about different genres of
reading, Nadjib had absolutely no idea what
I was talking about. I explained to him that
I believe the reason he didn’t know what genres were was
because the word genre is a little difficult to grasp for second
graders. This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have any
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Spiderman is fiction because it’s made up
and the book we just read about animals
was a nonfiction book because it’s true. He
then decided he liked fiction. He expressed
his functions/purpose of reading was to
learn things.
Recommendations
experience with different genres because he understood what
I meant by fiction and nonfiction after I explained it to him. I
students understand the concept but might not know the
correct vocabulary for it. Nadjib expressed his reasoning for
reading, to learn things. He is totally right but I think this
needs to be elaborated to him a little more. Bell & Jarvis
articulate, “And literacy wasn’t just about reading words. It
was about reading all kinds of symbols that help us get along
in our world-“(2002, p. 10). Nadjib doesn’t comprehend the
fact that reading has so much to do with the rest of the
world. If you can’t read, you can’t maneuver along in
society independently.
An easy way to introduce different genres of reading to younger children would be to explain to in a mini
lesson what some types of genres are. After the mini lesson you could do centers with them and in each
center have a different type of genre. Since they already have an idea of what different genres are an
important piece of the center would be to stress the correct terminology for each center. Before you know
it, you will have a class full of genre experts! One thing I would do if I had my own classroom to stress the
different functions of reading would be to incorporate Donna Bell’s idea of a backpack dig. This activity
would really make students understand that the importance of reading isn’t only to learn in school. It’s all
around them in signs, directions, and even on TV.
General Observed Reading Behaviors: Fluency, Book Handling, Attention to Illustrations, Etc.
Observations/examples
Interpretations
While observing Nadjib’s reading
behaviors in our weekly meetings I have
noticed he reads word by word instead of
reading by phrases and sentences.
Something I noticed about his book
handling skills are that he often picks out
books that are much higher than his reading
level. He also pays a lot of attention to the
illustrations throughout the books he reads.
Allington states, “Rereading occurs when we recognize that
our reading seems to have gone off track and text it not
making sense to us” (2006, p. 89). When he rereads phrases
it means he doesn’t comprehend what the text he just read
says and needs to reread it to find comprehension. It’s a
good thing that he recognizes this and goes back to read it
again. My interpretation of Nadjib’s reading fluency
indicates that he is more of a low progress reader as
compared to a high progress reader. Allington states “early
readers making the greatest progress not only read faster and
more accurately but also with better phrasing and intonation.
Whereas the lowest-progress readers read aloud in one and
two word segments” (2006, p. 91). Nadjib is in second grade
he hasn’t had very much reading practice and is relatively
new to reading. He often picks out books that are much too
hard for him to read. Once he opens books about topics he’s
interested in such as an informational book about Sharks he
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Recommendations
see’s all the text and immediately closes the book giving up
on the literature. According to Allington, this goes hand in
hand with his hypothesis of why children don’t develop
adequate fluency or rate of reading: “They have limited
reading practice in appropriately leveled materials” (2006, p.
95). When we were reading the page about Elephants in Life
Size Zoo by Teruyki Komiya Nadjib stopped in the middle
of the passage to look at the illustration after he read about
elephant’s ear holes and where they were located. This
allowed me to know that he comprehended the text and
based on what he had just read he made a text to text
connection to the picture and showed me where the ear hole
was, as it was a little difficult to see. Miller suggests,
“Asking children to recall the words or point out the picture
keeps their connection text based and gives the rest of us a
point or reference as we listen and learn from their
thinking”(2002, p. 55-56).
Based on his attention to illustrations and his ability to make text to text connections without my help
shows that Nadjib is doing well with schema in his reading. To help correct his desire to reads book that are
too difficult for him, I picked out another book about sharks that was more catered to his reading ability. It
had much less text and he was able to read it with minimal miscues. I think this it in very important for him
to have appropriate leveled reading literature in his hands for silent reading because books that are too hard
for him aren’t going to aid him to move forward into a high-progress reader by improving his fluency. To
address his fluency problem I would incorporate Allington’s (2006) idea of holding a small group choral
reading. This approach has all the students in the group read aloud together. The important point in this
activity teaches fluent reading that is practiced. If this approach doesn’t seem to be working, another thing I
could try is echo reading. I would read a section of the text to him and then he would echo it back. This
introduces new words and gives him a model of fluency. (p. 99-100)
Evidence of reading strategy use (observed through weekly readings) How does your child construct
meaning while reading? (Predicting, questioning, inferring, connections etc.)
Observations/examples
Interpretations
A Strategy Nadjib uses while reading to
construct meaning through readings is
looking at pictures like he did in Life Size
Zoo to make connections. He has the basic
skills to make connections already but
needs pushed a little to make bigger
connections and practice questioning while
reading. When asked what he does when he
comes across a word he doesn’t know he
simply answered “I just skip it.”
On his own Nadjib does a great job making connections
from text to illustrations to reinforce what he has read. I
have noticed that he does this often throughout different
books we have read. Miller states, “Readers know to infer
when the answers to their questions are not explicitly stated
in the text” (2002, p. 114). This is something I noticed
Nadjib struggles with because when he comes across words
he doesn’t know he often skips them or must mumbles
something close to the word and continues on reading. Of
course this ok to do when reading but he’s doing it
unconsciously. In order to comprehend text you need to
incorporate the use on context clues to try to figure the word
When we read sometimes I will stop and ask him what he
thinks will come next. He will think about it for awhile and
then say he doesn’t know. out. Miller also suggests “Readers
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Recommendations
make predictions about text and confirm or contradict their
predictions as they read on” (2002, p. 109). Nadjib definitely
struggles with this because he fails infer on his own and
needs assistance to realize what to do in situations where he
doesn’t know the word. Another important component of
strategy use while reading is questioning. Miller states,
“Readers purposefully and spontaneously ask questions
before, during, and after reading” (2002, p. 125). This is
something I have never witnessed Nadjib to do before,
while, or after he reads. Questioning is an important thing to
do while reading because it does a number of important
things. It helps the reader stress upon themselves what they
already know about the text and what they are learning. It
also helps engage the reader because they move forward and
read to answer questions they might have.
Recommendations I would make for Nadjib to realize when he is skipping over a word he doesn’t know
would be to practice inferring more on a regular basis. When we read a book about sharks it was the perfect
opportunity to help him with this skill because it had a glossary in the back. I told him to mark words he
doesn’t know with a post it and then we would come back to it later and find the meaning. Another thing I
might do to help him understand the concept of inferring and predicting would be to have him read a
wordless picture book. After each page in the book you could talk to him and help him pull out existing
knowledge he has about the pictures and then help him transition what he already knows into a prediction.
A great way to help him learn to question when he reads would be to use a KWL chart. Have him fill out
what he already knows about the book before he reads it and what he wants to know. After finishing the
book you could have him fill in the last part of the chart with things he learned from the reading.
Miscue Analysis: What patterns are you noticing with the child’s miscues? Explain the child’s use of
the syntactic, semantic and graphophonic cuing system.
Observations/examples Interpretations: (describe the miscue in re: cuing
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Examples of high and low quality miscues
Syntactic
Nadjib had 24 syntactically acceptable sentences. An
example of a high quality miscue includes:
701 Together Sally and Scoot loved chasing
around and around in the yard with the wind and
happily consing in the long grass.
701 Together Sally and Scoot loved chasing around
and around the yard with the wind and then happily
collapsing in the long grass.
He had 5 not syntactically acceptable sentences. An
example of a low quality miscue includes:
1202 Scoot never been out of a big way world
before.
1202 Scoot had never been out in the big wide
world before.
Semantic
He had 21 semantically acceptable sentences. An
example of a high quality miscue includes:
1001 Sally called him back, but Scoot ran down the
yard and over the fence…and landed on the field of
the other side.
1001 Sally called him back, but Scoot ran down the
yard and over the fence…and landed in the field on
the other side.
He had 8 not semantically acceptable sentences. An
example of a low quality miscue includes:
101 In a little house not far from here, the edge of
the big grassy yard suprode by fields and he hills,
lived Sally and Scoot
101 In a little house not far from here, at the edge of
a big grassy yard surrounded by fields and hills, lived
Sally and Scoot.
Graphic Similarity
For Graphic Similarity Nadjib had 7 words with no
graphic similarity, 3 with some, and 7 with high
graphic similarity. An example of a high quality
miscue would be when he said “he” instead of “it.”
An example of a low quality miscue would be when
he said “a” instead of “in.” I also noticed all his
nonsense words have graphic similarity. Another
thing I noticed is that all of his low graphic similarity
miscues deal with parts of speech, mostly articles. A
high percentage of these words were substituted with
another word in the same part of speech. All of his
nonwords had high graphic similarity except for one
and my last observation is of him saying “big wide
systems)
Syntactic
In the example of a high quality miscue Nadjib
added the word in, omitted the word then, and said
consing instead of collapsing. I said this was a high
quality miscue because chasing around the yard and
chasing around in the yard mean the same thing and
are both used interchangeably. By adding the
nonword “consing” I argue that it makes sense
because he exchanged a verb for a verb. The reason I
used sentence 11 for a low quality miscue is because
saying “Scoot never been out of the big way world
before” does not sound like language the way we
would say it and it does not make sense with the
story. Saying big way world instead of big wide
world changes the meaning entirely because big way
world makes absolutely no sense therefore it means
nothing in our language.
Semantic
I used this example for a high quality semantic
miscue because when Nadjib says “landed on the
field of the other side” makes sense because in
normal language we could say landed on the field
instead of in the field and think nothing of it.
Normally you wouldn’t say “field of the other side”
but in my opinion adding the word of doesn’t change
the meaning of the sentence and it still makes sense
with the story. I consider the sentence that I chose
for the low quality miscue low quality because
simply reading “In a little house not far from here,
the edge of the big grassy yard suprode by fields and
he hills, lived Sally and Scoot” makes absolutely no
sense. Nadjib didn’t say anything in the retell about
where Sally and Scoot lived and he couldn’t
remember when I asked in the aided retelling either.
This tells me the semantics aren’t correct in this
sentence because he didn’t comprehend where Sally
and Scoot lived so it couldn’t have made sense to
him within the story.
Graphic Similarity
According to GWB, “nonproficient readers often
overuse graphophonic information and consequently
have higher scores on graphic and sound similarity
than more proficient readers” (2005, p. 90). This
quote would indicate that Nadjib is borderline
between a proficient reader and a nonproficient
reader because he had 7 words with high similarity
and 7 with low similarity. Since all of his non words
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world.” It’s said 3 times throughout the book. The
first time he said big “way” world, he second time he
said big “wind” world, and the final time he said
wind but then self corrected it to wide.
Retelling (Unaided followed by aided as needed)
had high graphic similarity except one, this tells me
he needs to work on reading strategies that integrate
the use of sampling, inferring, predicting, and
confirming graphophonic cues. In my opinion this
would be the most important cue system to work
with him on.
Since Nadjib had 18 sentences with no meaning
change, 4 sentences with minor changes, and 7 with
major changes. This tells me while he is reading;
he’s concerned with making meaning of what he
reads and this indicates he is a proficient reader.
GWB expresses, “In general, proficient readers
correct a higher percentage of low-quality miscues
(those that result in unacceptable sentences) than
less proficient readers do” (2005, p. 87). Throughout
the miscue analysis he self corrected 8 low quality
miscues and 6 high quality miscues which is why I
perceive him as a proficient reader. I would also like
to point out that he self corrected he and Scoot
twice. These are definitely high quality but I’m not
sure if I would really count that toward a self
correction or not because it honestly could be
written either way. He also had a lot of uncorrected
miscues in the beginning and middle but toward the
end he self corrected all of his miscues semantically
and syntactically which in my opinion is also a sign
of a proficient reader. GWB also says, “Analyzing
how readers handle the same word or phrase across
text is so important…” (2005, p. 88). This statement
turned my attention to when Nadjib read “big wide
world” and also reinforced my view of him as a
proficient reader. The first and second time he read
it he said “way” and “wind” whereas the last time he
read it he said “wind” and then corrected it to
“wide.” I say this reinforces him as a proficient
reader because after seeing it twice before he
recognized it when it was being used through
context clues and realized what the word was.
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Observations/examples
Provide a holistic score of 1-10
My observation of Nadjib’s retelling of the story is
that he read with most comprehension. He was able
to tell me the plot of the story with minimum details
and within the aided retelling he was easily able to
tell me what he had missed in the unaided. The only
part he had trouble with was in the beginning where
it said where Sally and Scoot lived.
Interpretations
Recommendations based on analysis of all three cue systems and retelling
Wilde states, “An important principle of unaided
retelling id not to assume that just because a reader
doesn’t mention an element of the story, it doesn’t
mention an element of the story, it doesn’t mean he
isn’t aware of it” (Wilde, p. 49). Since he was able
to tell me most of the story in the unaided I pushed a
little further in the aided to prompt him remember
the other elements. He was able to tell me that Scoot
liked to chase seagulls, he jumped over a fence, he
was in a farm, he thought it was fun, he didn’t feel
good when he got lost and missed Sally, and he
followed Sally’s voice to find her. He didn’t mention
why he got chased so I asked him why Scoot ran
away. He was able to tell me the correct answer that
Scoot spotted a red balloon. He was also able to tell
me in the aided retelling that Scoot liked to chase
things and they hunted monsters. He wasn’t able to
tell me where Sally and Scoot lived and this is a
result of his miscues in sentence one which resulted
in no semantics or syntax and no retention of what
the sentence meant. Since he self corrected more low
quality miscues than high quality he is correcting
miscues that would have disrupted meaning within
the sentence which would have disrupted meaning of
the story as a whole.
One recommendation I have for Nadjib would be to work on lessons that work with the graphophonic cue system
because that’s the one he needs the most work on. An idea would be to do a cloze exercise. You would give him a
passage with words deleted. When he suggests words for the blanks he will realize many different words will work
even with no graphophonic cues. This will help him understand that he doesn’t need to be so concerned with
graphophonics when he reads (F & F, p. 93). The next important recommendation I have for him would be to give
him a story with key words deleted to create lessons that focus on semantics. Students can then get in groups to
figure out what words could be correctly inserted in the blanks. This exercise would help him be more conscious of
the important connecting words that show relationship between ideas (F & F, 94). Something to help him with his
syntactic cues could be to have him rewrite a play as a story. This activity would help him be more aware of the
differences in syntax between two kinds of speech (F & F, p. 93). Another thing I would do with him in a future
aided retelling would be to ask things a in a more discrete way. For instance, Wilde has a good example of this in the
article, “rather than asking Darcy early in the discussion “What about the people who went through the toll booth?” I
asked, “Were their other people in the story?” (Wilde, p. 49). I think I could have asked Nadjib things in a better
way to get a better understanding of what he retained from the story. The last recommendation I have for Nadjib
would be to conduct a retrospective miscue analysis with him similar to Wilde’s in her article. I would tape him
reading a story and then have him listen to his miscues. This is important because it allows the student to focus on
what miscues to think about and helps him develop his own strategies. A drawback to this is it has potential to
embarrass the student when they hear them self make mistakes. A good way to avoid this is to really focus and point
out what they are doing right. It also builds self-respect about their knowledge and strategies (p. 60-61).
Summary Summarize results; describe significant features of text/reading conditions; clearly identify
strengths; state final conclusions. Write this section as if you are addressing the child’s parents in a report
card.
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Dear Parents of Nadjib,
I think it would be to great benefit for you to stress reading at home with Nadjib. He tells me that he
doesn’t like to read at home because he gets bored. I am going to try my best to get books in different kinds
of genres he’s interested in into his hands to bring home and read. I consider Nadjib a proficient reader but
he needs some work on his fluency and phrasing. Choral reading is a great way to work on this skill.
Reading a book out loud together or even having one of you read it first then him repeating it would help
his fluency and stop his want to repeat. When he comes across a word he doesn’t know, he often mumbles
something close to what the word actually is and skips it. Encouraging him to place a post it note where
words he doesn’t know appear within the story is a good way to draw his attention to these difficult words.
Then at the end of the story go back through and help him find the meanings to these words. He also needs
work on inferring and predicting when he reads. A fun way to work on this with him at home would be to
read a wordless picture book with him and before you turn the page have him tell you what he knows is
going on based on the pictures and then from that knowledge predict what might happen next. During the
miscue analysis I did with him, he had 18 sentences with no meaning change, 4 sentences with minor
changes, and 7 with major changes. He self corrected 8 miscues that were of low quality and 6 miscues
with high quality. This means that he is a proficient reader because he is self correcting miscues that would
have disrupted the meaning of the sentence. This tells me while he is reading; he’s concerned with making
meaning of what he reads. At the end, he did a great job retelling most of the major points within the story
and with a little bit of help he was able to tell me the whole story. Overall, Nadjib is doing very well and I
think a little bit of extra reading at home would help him progress faster into a great reader.
Sincerely,
Jenny Meis
Class Recommendations: What structures will you put in place for your reading program? How will you
organize time, choose materials, and work with students? Describe your reading workshop program.
I would model my reading program after Miller because I really like the way she sets up her reading program in
her classroom. The first and most crucial part of my classroom and reading program would be to have a
classroom library with a lot of different book selection that are diverse in reading level and genre. I would have
each student pick out new books each morning and have around 3-4 books in their desks at all times for silent
reading. For each book they pick out I would have them keep a reading log on a bookmark. This would help
them remember what they read and ensure that they are concentrating on comprehension. Each time they finish
a book they would keep the bookmark in a folder turned in to me and receive a point. Once they build up
enough points they would be able to “buy” something from the prize center. These bookmarks could also act as
a way to remember all the books they read so they could suggest books to fellow students. Miller states,
“Reading comes in to play throughout the day” (2002, p. 28). I think it is very important to read aloud to the
students multiple times a day. I would read around 4 books each day. Thus would take place in the morning,
after morning recess, after lunch (at this time I would read from a chapter book) and after afternoon recess. I
think sitting the children down and engaging them in a great read aloud after times when they are transitioning
from being active to needing to concentrate would be beneficial. After each read aloud I would have them vote
on how well they liked the book to determine interest level, especially in my first years of teaching. I would do
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this by simply having a thumbs up, thumbs sideways, or thumbs down to indicate interest. This seemed to work
well in the kindergarten classroom I observed in practicum. Throughout the year I would conduct mini lessons
“focusing on modeling and identifying reading behaviors, and teaching and learning the expectations and
procedures of the workshop” (Miller, 2002, p. 29). I would hold those mini lessons toward the beginning of the
year and transition to important elements of reading structures and strategies in the middle to end of the year.
For schema I would do a mini lesson over how to make text connections and do lessons over all the different
types of text connections you can make. Then I would focus on making mental images. Miller expresses,
“Readers’ images are influenced by the shared images of others” (2002, p. 82). This would be a good point to
stress group interactions and group discussions of books. A great way to do this is to assign a couple students to
different chapters of a chapter book I read in class and have them draw their opinion of important image or
concept in that chapter. I would assign these before I start reading the book and keep reminding them each
chapter that of the assignment. At the end of the book we would post these on an audit trail in the classroom and
see how each student’s pictures differ from one another. Other things I would hold mini lessons over include
inferring, predicting, asking questions, and synthesizing information. Another thing Miller talks about is book
clubs and I think this would be a great thing to incorporate into my own classroom. I would hold a book talk
about the books they were to read and let the students choose what book they want to read. Then I would “I
meet briefly with each group the day before their book club meets and read the text aloud again; children follow
along in individual copies” (Miller, 2002, p. 97). The last thing I would incorporate into my reading program
would be reading centers based on Colleen Gallagher’s ideas from her website. I would place a certain colored
dot on each student’s desk and this would correspond to what center they would be in each day. The dots on the
desks would stay the same but the center dots change each day so the students would get a different reading
center each day. One center would be a listening center where they listen to a book and follow along. Ideally I
would have a couple iPod’s for the students to listen to a book and then they would do a worksheet which
would include the name of the book, a picture of something that happened in the book and their rating of the
book (1, 2, or 3 stars). Another center would be a word wall center where they would have different activities
dealing with the words. Activities would include concentrations on consonants in the words, vowels, ABC
ordering the words, syllables, and word wall pictures. Other centers would be an independent reading center, a
making words center, making sentences center, and a guided reading center with me. The guided reading center
would be leveled (as would the dots on their desks) and we would do things such as choral reading, taking
turns, or anything that that specific group of students need further instruction with
(http://www.teachingheart.net/LC.htm).
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Works Cited
Allington, R.L. (2006). What Really Matters. Kids Need to Learn to Read Fluently.
Bell, D., & Jarvis, D (2002, October). Letting Go of “Letter of the Week.” Primary Voices K-6 p. 10.
Freeman & Freeman
Gallagher, Colleen. (2007, July 13). Teaching Heart's Learning Centers Page. Teaching Heart. Retrieved October
24, 2010 from http://www.teachingheart.net/LC.htm.
Goodman, Y.M., Watson, D.J., and Burke, Carolyn L. (2005). Reading Miscue Inventory. Katouoh, NY: Richard
Owen.
Hindley, J. (1996). In the Company of Children. York, ME: Stenhouse.
Miller, D. (2002). Reading With Meaning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Owoki, G. (1999). Literacy Through Play. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Wilde
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