Susan Barry

Case Study
Section I
10-08-14

Case Study

I Background:
Lima is an eight year old girl from Yemen who has been here in the United States
since she was five. Her original language is Arabic and her parents speak Arabic and
English (father) at home. She has said that her mother only speaks Arabic. Lima speaks
mostly English. She refuses to say any words in Arabic. When we were playing a game
and using different languages to count she said she didnt want to speak Arabic. When I
have asked her to say a word in Arabic, she refuses and sobs. I dont know if this is
family related. Lima was been tested by CELDT in September. Her scores were,
Listening: intermediate; Speaking-early intermediate, Reading-beginning; Writingbeginning. This is her first year at our school. She attended school in Marin City prior to
this year. Her father is a taxi cab driver and she has an older teenage brother, a
younger sister and her mother is currently pregnant. At the beginning of the year, she
was put into a regular third grade classroom, but the teacher questioned her placement
and requested a SST meeting because Lima was at first grade level in reading and
math, and cries a lot. After a meeting with her third grade teacher, the special education
teacher, her father, the director of special education for the district and the EL specialist,
she was reassigned to the SDC classroom. We will give her a formal assessment at our
school. Lima is a socially aware young girl, who is doing well in the SDC classroom, but
is aware that she is no longer in the class with more students.
Lima cries (sobs) easily. She seems to have a pattern of crying and may have
been successful in getting what she wants or getting attention by crying. Im not sure
why she cries. The other day, she started crying because she didnt want to listen to

herself read a story on Raz Kids which is usually a fun part of the program for students.
I dont know if she is sensitive to sound or afraid since she is unfamiliar. She used to
cry during Garage Band, but now is happy to listen with her earphones. She works hard
and wants to do well.
Lima was bringing a white roll filled with barbeque chips for her lunch, with no snack.
When I asked her what was on her sandwich she said, Barbeque. Happily, she is
receiving hot lunch now. She has health concerns which include weak muscles causing
her to fall down, move slowly down stairs, making it hard for her to do physical activity
that requires her to move up and down. These are being diagnosed presently at SFU.
Lima may be referred to OT, per IEP team recommendations, because her motor
development and daily living skills appear to be below her age level. Lima wears
glasses. She participates in physical ed. classes and enjoys the activities. Sometimes
she is fearful that she wont be able to do a group activity, and cries, saying Im
scared. But with help and encouragement she gets involved and has fun. We have
brain breaks in our classroom that involve playing music and dancing. Lima doesnt
want to do those brain breaks. She prefers calming brain breaks. She told me she likes
jump rope and playing with play dough. In the SDC classroom, Lima is decoding simple
K-1 words, and knows her first 100 sight words, but she struggles with comprehension.
This may be a result of not having enough English vocabulary. When I read with her
and explain words she does not know, she loves understanding that word. When
quizzed on simple text, she tested 40% accurate. Lima is a great addition to the SDC
class. We are happy to have her added presence. She is thoughtful, considerate, and
tries her best.
Prior to her coming to our school, Limas parents had expressed concerns regarding
her academic progress. She was retained in 2nd grade because she was not ready for
3rd grade. The 2nd grade teacher reported that Lima is well behaved in class, but had
trouble with socialization with her peers and is behind her peers academically.
She was first referred for Special Education in December 2013. The initial meeting to
determine eligibility was the following February 25, 2014. The results of DIBELS were:
read 46 words correctly with 5 error, able to retell 5 words about the passage (2 nd grade

middle target is 72WPM). In AR reading she received a 1.5 grade equivalent and in AR
math a .8 grade equivalent. The results of this assessment showed that Lima was in the
below average range for reading, writing and math and stated that she would benefit
from additional support in these areas.
Limas strength in communication development are in basic concepts and
sequencing as well as semantic understanding of early vocabulary words. She has
difficulty with listening comprehension and formulation of spontaneous language. Lima
does not qualify for Speech and Language Services at this time, even though her
receptive and expressive language skills are in the below average range when
compared to her same-aged peers. The evaluator recommended that she be reassessed once her English has improved to at least basic proficiency.
In observing Lima, I notice that she may have cognitive processing complications. The
signs of this are that she will continue to perform a repeated behavior that creates
problems for her. Such, as we have another child in our classroom that pushes a lot.
Lima will get right next to her until she is pushed and then cries and complains that she
was pushed. One time, Lima had pushed another student from the general ed. class
quite hard and had to sit out for recess. She cried saying that she was hungry. I sat
down next to her and explained why she had to sit there, for how long and when the bell
rang her discipline would be over. Once she understood, her eyes were clear, her face
was bright, she smiled and was willing to sit quietly without getting her lunch yet. When
the bell rang, she said she will not push another student again. This incident suggests
that she needs explicit help in comprehending language which may be a processing
issue because the words spoken to her were words that were familiar to her, yet without
the explanation given to her in smaller steps, she was reacting emotionally.
As a result of her academic and psychological testing, the school psychologist
discussed that Lima qualifies for special education services under specific learning
disability because Lima exhibits developmental delays and is immature for her age.
(This was a one sentence statement in the IEP she had last year before coming to our
school-the school psychologist at our school writes very detailed reports).Even though
Lima has trouble with some self-help skills, she does not qualify for Intellectual

Disabilities because she has some strong skills, (not noted-once again no information
on this observation) Lima struggles with long and short-term memory. I think that Lima
may have some cognitive processing difficulties that are separate from bilingual issues.
Her hands shake and she moves slowly indicating there may be neurological processes
in her body that are complicating some of her communication skills.
Section II see Formal Assessment
Section III
10-10-14
Informal Assessment: DRA
Date: 09-22-14
Lima could not identify a favorite book or type of book that she thought would be fun to
read. She had said that she prefers to read with a buddy initially, but when asked later,
she said she preferred to read by herself. At home, she read by herself.* Lima has
strong decoding skills, and was able to remember parts of the story specifically
including details and describing the characters in the story. Im not sure if she is using
phrases or just reading the words together consistently, but without expression. She did
not appear to be engaged by the story. I think she may have been a little nervous and
not relaxed. She was a bit serious and rote. She didnt make any personal connections,
even though the story was similar to her home life. She had one self-correct, but her
miscues were unnoticed by her as she kept going.
*The students in our class are asked to read 20 minutes a night for homework and write
what they read on a reading log. Most of the time, Lima comes to school with her other
homework done, but the reading log is empty. Her mother only speaks Arabic and her
father may work odd hours since he drives a taxi, so he cannot read with her. One night
I gave her a book to take home and told her to read it for homework and write it on her
log. The next day she had that book filled into her log, but did not bring the book back,
so is unable to take another one home.

This was my first assessment of Lima, and I am not that familiar with her yet. I think I
was a little stiff and pre-occupied, looking at the instructions and making sure I was
doing it correctly. I look forward to another one and to working more closely with Lima.

Qualitative Reading Assessment

10-13-14
Lima appeared happy and relaxed and we were able to be in a room that was quiet with
no distractions. She answered the questions to the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
and indicated that she usually felt positive about reading, having the teacher ask her
questions, and reading on a Saturday. She had never been to a bookstore and didnt
know what a dictionary was and said she would rather play in her free time than read,
but was generally very positive about reading.
Lima liked the topic of the story call The Surprise. She knew that a puppy was a baby
dog, but had never heard of an animal care center. We discussed it, but I think this was
the part of the story that was hard for her to understand afterward in the comprehension
questions. She did understand the concept of the father not having enough money to
buy a gift. She was able to identify 1 out 4 details in the story and her accuracy was
95%, so this was a good choice for an instructional level for her. Limas decoding and
word recognition is a strength, and she flows her words together, but not expressively.
She remembers facts about the story, but without any personal connection. Her area of
need is in comprehension. Even though she remembers parts of the story, she didnt
quite put it all together.
*Lima has started reading at home and writing in her reading log.
Section IV
10-19-14
IV Instruction: Interchangeably with the teacher, I work with Lima in a small group with
the High Noon program. This a remedial reading program specifically created as an
intervention for students in grades 3 and above based on reading instruction for

students reading substantially below grade level. The program focuses on the
development of decoding, fluency and comprehensions skill and includes spelling,
writing, and vocabulary. At this level, there is a focus on one-syllable words using short
and long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs, variant vowels, diphthongs, spelling
patterns, and sight words. At this point in the year, we are on lesson 7 out the 65
lessons, and are focusing on long and short vowels. The short stories in the program
are read aloud as a group, then read aloud line by line by student sharing. New
vocabulary is discussed, the teacher asks questions and the story is talked about. Then
the story is read again. Lima likes and volunteers to read the story aloud and works
diligently in her workbook. She is the first one to complete her written work. She shows
understanding of phonemic awareness and phonics, and correctly spells sounded out
words. She has messy handwriting because she works so fast. Since she finishes first, I
ask her to use her best handwriting, saying that this is a good time to practice, but even
though she erases and rewrites the words, there is not much improvement. I have seen
her write better if she tries, but she may have physical difficulty in this area.
Limas word work, given to her by the teacher involves (hold on Jaci, I feel the same
way) Explode the Code. I have always hated these silly work sheets. Lima plows
through them, thinking they are funny and I am impressed that she understands most of
the vocabulary in them with the nonsense pictures. Im sure there is a better use of her
time, but there is no one in class to work with her at this time since the other students
need help with their sight words and Lima knows hers. This is an area that could be
developed for her which Im sure the teacher would appreciate if the logistics work.
Maybe she could use the talking flash card program on the iPad as a word bank of new
vocabulary words that she comes across and she could be introduced to the childrens
dictionary. Maybe these words could come from the Explode the Code words that she
doesnt recognize, or as she reads books. This would be a fun way to build her
vocabulary. Lima is an eager learner and loves reading group. Her difficulties involve
interactions with another student who tries to distract the group. Lima gets involved by
complaining about the other student. Lima also works too fast and doesnt notice
details.

When I have time to review the material, I am more prepared for the lesson. I do not
always know if I am going to be leading the lesson. This helps me to be more relaxed
and prepared for guiding the students while trouble-shooting the student who is trying to
distract the others at the same time. I am able to give explicit and detailed instructions
when Ive reviewed the book first and I have a better chance of keeping everyone on
task.