Instructional Clinic Report North Carolina State University College of Education Raleigh, NC 27695 Students Name: William Dates

of Tutoring: January 30th February 6th February 13th February 20th February 27th March 12th March 19th March 26th April 9th April 16th Age: 14.1 Grade: 8th School: Exploris Middle School Report Written By: Laura Piraino

1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr. 1 hr.

William attended the North Carolina State University Reading Clinic on selected Mondays from 4:15-5:15 during the following months: January, February, March and April of 2012. He participated in the reading clinic for a total of 10 hours this spring. These clinic sessions were intended to work on the areas of need as determined by Williams QRI-V assessment in November 2011. The results of this assessment indicated that Williams independent reading level was 3rd grade and that his instructional level was 4th through upper middle school. The indicated areas of need were as follows: Word Knowledge: William would benefit from instruction in: vocabulary, multiplemeaning words, and unfamiliar multiple-syllable words. Fluency: William would benefit from fluency work with attention to punctuation with respect to prosody which is the rhythm in which William reads. William would benefit from increasing his reading rate when reading instructional level text. As of January 2012, Williams reading rate ranged from 111 wcpm to 132 wcpm. Comprehension: William would benefit from additional practice and support with monitoring his comprehension, especially in texts that range from 4th grade to upper middle school. Writing William would benefit from writing interventions with attention to organization (internal structure), word choice (advanced vocabulary), sentence variation, and grammatical conventions. This report will discuss the reading and writing interventions implemented during

Williams tutoring sessions over the past two months. The sections of this report are as follows: a description of the instruction, Williams progress during instruction, a summary of his performance, and additional recommendations for continued progress. Description of Instruction The main focus of Williams instruction was increasing comprehension with the implementation of different comprehension strategies. The instruction also focused on vocabulary development, meaning and usage. Tutoring sessions were broken up into four key areas: (1) Fluency development: 3 to 5 minutes of instruction every other session; (2) Word Work: 10 minutes of vocabulary development activities; (3) Comprehension: 30-35 minutes of research-based comprehension strategies; and (4) Writing: 10-15 minutes of research-based writing interventions. Fluency: In order to increase fluency, William participated in re-readings, recorded readings and timed reading selections. His voice was recorded and played back to him; during this process he underlined any errors and noted anything that he needed to improve. William then re-read the passage and focused on accuracy, punctuation and proper phrasing. Initially, the passages he read were at the third-grade reading level. This level was chosen because it was determined, in January, to be his independent reading level. As the sessions progressed and Williams reading rate increased, he began to read passages fluently at the fifth-grade level. Comprehension: In order to address comprehension, instruction focused on the following key areas: predictions, connections, reactions, opinions, questions, and visualizations, and how each of these areas relates to text. Throughout the sessions, various research-based interventions were implemented to increase the monitoring of Williams comprehension. The book, Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes, was used as the primary source of literature. Invitation to the Game is a teen science fiction book that features a plot filled with action-adventure and mystery. The specific intervention strategies used included: summarization cards, monitored CROP-QV activities, visualization exercises such as Stretch-to-Sketch, vocabulary bookmarks, teacher-directed discussion of the book, discussion maps, and making predictions via the probable passage. - Summarization cards were used to help William sequence the events in the story. - CROP-QV is a strategy in which students are guided through interacting with the text. It aids students in making connections, recognizing reactions, forming opinions, making predictions, forming questions and visualizing the text. Because it is a rather involved, CROP-QV was broken down in to smaller units, and William focused on two concepts per week. - Stretch-to-Sketch is an exercise to aid in the visualization of text. The tutor reads and the student draws a picture as the story unfolds. - Vocabulary bookmarks, in the form of sticky notes, were used in order for William to write down any unfamiliar vocabulary. This vocabulary was then discussed with the tutor. - Tutor-direction discussion of the novel is when the tutor asked William specific leading questions about the novel. Tutor-directed discussion helped William

draw meaning from the abstract parts of the novel. - Discussion map is an activity in which William was provided with a graphic organizer that focused on an opinion question related to the novel. He was required to form an opinion and support his feelings with concrete information from the text. - Probable passage is a before reading strategy that helps students formulate a purpose for reading. William was provided with a list of words relevant to the novel, Invitation to the Game, he then made predictions of what he thought the book would be about. Each of these strategies was implemented at key points in the novel. Vocabulary: In order to address Williams vocabulary development, research-based vocabulary practices were implemented during the word study portion of the tutoring sessions. The word study section of the program included the study of words through morphology (breaking large words down into meaningful parts). Cunninghams Nifty, Thrifty Fifty word list is a list of words in the English language that contains the most common prefixes and suffixes. This list was used as a guide for Williams word study in order to discuss the derivational and inflectional changes of words, and how they affect word usage and meaning. We used the Frayer Model to discuss vocabulary relevant to the book, Invitation to the Game. The Frayer Model is a researched vocabulary activity that helps students create connections with and draw meanings from words. Writing: The sessions covered the following writing topics: voice (how the writer expresses his/her individuality and personality on paper), purpose (the reason why the author is writing the text), and revision (revisiting the text in order to make any adjustments or corrections). Writing took place during the final 10 to 15 minutes of instruction. We also incorporated writing into our study of vocabulary. The writing portion of the sessions was adapted from Kirby, Kirby and Liners book, Inside Out. Inside Out is a book which contains research-based practices for writing instruction.

Progress During Instruction: This section will provide and explanation of the progress William made in the four focus areas we covered during instruction. Fluency: Williams progress throughout instruction was evident through his increased reading rate and increased understanding of implementing punctuation correctly during oral reading. In January, Williams independent level reading rate was 132 wcpm when reading a third grade text. Over the past few weeks, William has made great strides and now reads comfortably at 172 wcpm in a fourth grade text and 136 wcpm in a 5th grade text. Word Work: Each of the tutoring sessions included 10 to 15 minutes of word study. William was extremely engaged during this portion of our sessions. He enjoyed doing the Nifty

Thrifty 50 activity which focused on the most common affixes (prefixes and suffixes) of the English language. He has developed an understanding of how many multi-syllable words in English can be broken down into parts that hold meaning. As our instruction progressed, Williams ability to identify and use common prefixes and suffixes increased to a great extent. William also studied new vocabulary by identifying words he did not understand in the text, Invitation to the Game. In order to comprehend these words, he was asked to research the word and use it in context. Proper application of these words via a Frayer Model or a derived sentence indicated that William developed a solid understanding of the word meaning. Comprehension: William read the book, Invitation to the Game, during the comprehension portion of our clinic. In order to promote comprehension, the sessions included various research-based comprehension interventions including the following: Probable Passage: Probable passage is a prediction paragraph based on reading the first page of the novel and looking at the title and key words. Williams paragraph indicated that he understands prediction and can create a purpose for reading. CROP QV As we progressed through our sessions, William was asked to write down connections, reactions, opinions, prediction and questions related to the text. At first, his answers were vague, and he did not provide textual support for his claims. William was redirected numerous times to find support in the form of quotes and events from the text. While he has improved, William still struggles with providing an explanation for his claims grounded in the text. We discussed the importance of providing textual support when stating an opinion. Summarization Cards: One of Williams biggest struggles is sequencing information. He often presents his understanding of the text in a jumbled fashion. He made progress during clinic and was able to summarize chapter 7 of invitation to the game in 8 key points. All of the key points he chose to write down were in order. Discussion Map: This is one of the last strategies we did in clinic. William was asked to support his opinion by choosing concrete evidence from the text. He was able to provide quotes and events that supported his opinion on a graphic organizer, but he struggled when asked to put his opinion in paragraph form. William was asked to read the independent book, Soccer Duel by Matt Christianson. He scored an 80% on his Accelerated Reader test on this book. Writing: We focused on writing the least during our sessions. William developed a clear understanding of the concept of voice throughout our sessions. He did an activity called Mad Talk, Fast Talk, Soft Talk by Kirby, Kirby and Liner. Williams main struggle was implementing grade level vocabulary into his writing. We did two loops in which he revisited his piece so that he could revise his word choice and grammar. Re-

reading with a focus on word choice will increase the sophistication of Williams writing. Summary and Recommendations: William did a great job in clinic. He came ready and willing to participate with a positive attitude. Williams progress is a result of his conscientious work habit. William did everything that was asked of him during clinic sessions. A few recommendations for Williams continued progress are as follows: Comprehension: William should sequentially retell stories he has read. After explicit modeling, he should practice using the language of the story while describing the characters and setting as well as the problem that the characters have and how that problem is resolved. William would benefit from structured questioning about what is being read before, during, and after reading. A mentor reader can model and think-aloud questions that good readers ask about the text. For example, when reading a story, the teacher or tutor might pose the following question, Given what the author has told us so far about this character, what do you think he is about to do? How does this relate to our problem? This type of questioning should encourage Williams active efforts to build meaning from what he is reading while helping him organize a storys information and focus on the structure of the story (e.g., narrative vs. narrative-mystery). William would benefit from keeping a vocabulary bookmark or sticky note. He should write down words with which he is unfamiliar while he is reading the text. Discussing these words with an adult or classmate after reading will benefit the breadth and depth of his vocabulary, thereby giving him the necessary tools to increase his comprehension. William should read high interest books so that he can develop a positive view of reading. Writing: To increase length of his written pieces, William would benefit from prewriting activities. Activities that occur prior to writing, such as webbing and story mapping, provide assistance in idea development as well as in organizing and sequencing these ideas. These strategies would give William the support he needs to expand his writing topics and further develop his writing skills. Websites such as www.readwritethink.org and www.paragraphpunch.com , or software found at www.kidspiration.org might help. Closure It has been a pleasure to work with William over the past few months. He always works hard and tries his best. I hope that this report will be useful to his teachers and parents. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions at lpiraino@exploris.org.