12-4-2013 Mrs. Pulliam Paradise Professional Development School 900 Cotta e !

rove "venue #as $e as% &$ '9119-(''9 Dear Mrs. Pulliam% Durin the )all 2013 semester% * had the opportunit+ to ,or- ,ith .esle+ "lonso throu h ,ee-l+ tutorin sessions associated ,ith Dr. Mc/inne+0s section of 1D2# 443 3#iterac+ **4. .e met for appro5imatel+ 60 minutes for 10 sessions. *n this time * had the privile e of ettin to -no, .esle+ and discovered him to 7e a 7ri ht and determined student. .esle+ reall+ committed himself to our time and% as a result of his tenacit+% ,e 7oth learned a reat deal. * administered several assessments to help set instructional oals for .esle+. * 7e an ,ith the *nterest and "ttitude Surve+% from ,hich the results are used to ive the instructor 3me4 a more definitive vie, of ho, the+ mi ht en a e their student and ,here the aversions% or inclinations% in readin ma+ stem from. 8his ,as m+ first introduction to .esle+ and * learned a lot a7out ,hat his interests and attitudes to,ards readin and ,ritin ,ere. 9e made it ver+ clear ri ht a,a+ that he did not li-e to ,rite and that he preferred non-fiction readin if readin ,as a necessit+. 9e also demonstrated ver+ particular interests ,hen it came to non-fiction% such as preferrin 7oo-s a7out animals versus topics li-e space or sports. 8hrou hout m+ lesson plannin for our tutorin sessions * ,ould refer to .esle+0s *nterest *nventor+ to assist in his en a ement in tutorin % this proved to 7e ver+ effective. 8he ne5t assessment iven ,as the *nformal 2eadin *nventor+% provided 7+ )l+nt and Cooter. "s *0m sure +ou are a,are% the 2eadin *nventor+ provides a practical ,a+ for teachers to assess a student0s readin development and ,hat to teach them ne5t. *n re ards to the silent readin comprehension portion of the assessment% .esle+ stru led ,ith comprehension in terms of inferrin % theme evaluation% and pro7lem resolutions. *n his oral assessment .esle+ made ( errors% the ma:orit+ of ,hich ,ere insertions. 9e onl+ selfcorrected once. 8his ,as a level 2 assessment 32nd rade4 and .esle+0s results dictate that he is not read+ to move to the ne5t level. .esle+0s fluenc+ rate in seconds ,as '2% ,hich is 7elo, the e5pected .CPM of at least 94 for the 7e innin of 4th rade. 8his evaluation of .esle+0s readin allo,ed me to choose appropriate readin levels for the te5ts incorporated in our tutorin sessions% as ,ell as determined particular areas of focus for fluenc+ stud+. 8o determine ,here .esle+ ,as in terms of developmental ,ord -no,led e% * ave him the 1lementar+ Spellin *nventor+. "fter completin .esle+0s 1S*% * ,as a7le to determine that he fell in the ;Middle .ithin .ord Pattern Sta e<. 8his is characteri=ed 7+ the fact that he has mastered initial and final consonant sounds as ,ell as short vo,els. 9e ,as also >uite successful ,ith his di raphs and 7lends 7ut stru led ,ith common lon vo,els and other vo,els. "fter evaluatin the results of this assessment% m+ oal ,as to enhance upon .esle+0s understandin of foundational ,ord patterns in the 1n lish lan ua e throu h an emphasis on ,ord sortin % ,ord stud+% and ,ord pattern reco nition. 8his oal ,as a focus in each of our tutorin sessions. )inall+% .esle+ ,as iven an informal ,ritin assessment usin a creative ,ritin prompt ,ith no time restrictions. .esle+ ,rote a total of (6 ,ords% spellin 44 correctl+% ,hich translates to (?@ of his ,ritin 7ein spelled correctl+. *n readin .esle+0s ,ritin * noticed a fe, patterns. )irst of all% he fre>uentl+ stru led ,ith correctl+ usin the plural form of ,ords% specificall+ that he ,ould al,a+s use the plural form of =om7ie 3;=om7ies<4 even thou h he e5plicitl+ stated that there ,as onl+ one. Aust as the 1S* determined% .esle+0s ,ritin is also evidential support that he stru les ,ith vo,el com7inations ,ithin ,ords. Some e5amples ,ere ;s-i< instead of Bs-+0% ;undid< instead of Bundead0% and ;di+< instead of Bdie0. * also noticed he stru led ,ith dou7le consonant com7inations such as ,ritin ;7ulets< instead of B7ullets0 and ;lu-e+< instead of Bluc-+0. 8hou h .esle+ is phoneticall+ soundin out his ,ords% he is still lac-in foundational

rammar rules. Cased on the results of these assessments .esle+ and * set the follo,in oalsD 1) To place a large emphasis on word study instruction for Wesleys within word pattern stage. Ideally resulting in Wesleys mastery the complexities of vowel and consonant patterns within this stage. This will assist him in meeting the foundational skills addressed in Common Core tandards !".#.$ and !".#.#. %) To assist Wesley in inspiring an interest to read and write through the use of engaging materials as well as promoting text&to&self connections. $) To expand upon Wesleys voca'ulary through a variety of word decoding and comprehension strategies as well as exposure to fundamental language patterns through the use of word sorts and similar literacy techni(ues. 8o achieve these oals * desi ned ver+ structured lesson plans ,hich included time dedicated to fluenc+ throu h familiar readin % uided readin % ,ritin % ,ord stud+% and 7oosharin . 8he purpose of each of these techni>ues ,as to not onl+ accomplish our previousl+ mentioned oals% 7ut to assist .esle+ in his understandin of fluenc+ and literac+ strate ies ,hich he can utili=e 7e+ond our tutorin sessions in his future academic pursuits. 8,o of the strate ies * found to 7e particularl+ effective ,ere fluenc+ throu h familiar readin and our ;9and+ 2eadin Strate ies<. )luenc+ throu h familiar readin focused on 7e innin each session ,ith a simple poem ,ithin his voca7ular+ comfort =one to 7uild upon not onl+ his fluenc+ 7ut his confidence. 8hrou hout the ten sessions ,e used three different poems ,hich ,e ,ould rotate throu h 7ased on his choice for the da+. 8here ,as one poem in particular ,ith ,hich he stru led and ,ould fre>uentl+ avoid due to its difficult+ level% 7ut% in our last session * ,as 7e+ond thrilled ,hen he chose it for his final familiar readin . .hat0s even 7etter is that he read it ,ithout a sin le mista-e. 8his ,as a real 7rea-throu h moment for .esle+ for he consistentl+ avoided readin ,hich challen ed him throu hout our tutorin sessions% 7ut in this last session he ,as proud at ho, far he had come and the ro,th he had sho,n. 8he ;9and+ 2eadin Strate ies< consisted of a cut out in the shape of a handprint ,here he each fin er provided a step .esle+ could use in ,ord decodin . Some e5amples include ;Does is ma-e senseE< and ;#oo- for chun-s that +ou -no,<. " ha7it of .esle+0s ,hen ,e first 7e an our sessions ,as that he ,ould consistentl+ ma-e ,ord insertions that made no sense ,ith no attempt to decode. .e 7e an referrin to the 9and+ 2eadin Strate ies each time he came across a ,ord he ,as unfamiliar ,ith 7ut 7+ the end of our ten sessions .esle+ had adopted these strate ies on his o,n and had no need to refer to the handF he ,as decodin completel+ on his o,n. *n m+ short time ,ith .esle+ * am sure * learned :ust as much from him as he did from me% and * am e5tremel+ rateful that * ,as assi ned a student ,ho sho,ed me the 7enefits ,hich can result from hard ,or- and determination in teachin . 8han- +ou so much for +our cooperation ,ith our pro ramF it has trul+ 7een an enli htenin e5perience from ,hich * too- one step closer to 7ecomin a successful future educator. Sincerel+%

Aessica Gucha H&#$ 8utor Maril+n Mc/inne+ H&#$ #iterac+ Professor