Learner

Profile Report

Student Name: John King

Gender: Male

Attendance: June 22 July 24, 2015

Incoming Grade: 5th

Teacher: Caroline Houser


Date of Report: July 19, 2015


Summary of Strengths and Needs from Diagnostic Data

Read Naturally:

I assessed John on June 24th, 2015 using the Read Naturally level 3.5 passage,
Ice Cream Sodas. This passage was fairly easy for him, and he read it at a speed of
83 WPM and 82 WCPM. He had a total accuracy of 4 miscues (not counting
insertions).

San Diego Quick Assessment:

I assessed John on June 23rd, 2015 using the San Diego Quick Assessment
word lists. John missed only one word in both Grade 3 and 4 (several serve
and decided decide, respectively). In Grade 5, John tested at his instructional
level by missing two words: acquainted aquarainted and grim grinned.
In Grade 6, John missed four words: abolish ablish, apparatus apartus,
necessity nessity, and relativity related. These miscues showed that
Grade 6 is Johns frustration level, and I stopped the assessment there.

Words Their Way Spelling Assessment:

I assessed John on July 2nd, 2015 using the Words Their Way Elementary
Spelling Inventory. John tested squarely into the Middle Derivational Relations
stage. Out of 25 words, he spelled 21 correctly. He also got 57/62 feature points,
adding to a total of 78/87 for the complete inventory. Johns feature points were
very informative, showing his full mastery of concepts including initial and final
consonants, short vowels, digraphs, blends, long vowels, other vowels, syllable
junctures, and harder suffixes. John missed two points in inflected endings, one
point in unaccented syllables, and two points in bases and roots.

Fluency Assessments:

We performed fluency checks three times a week throughout the program.
John always scored between 2 and 4 (the highest score) in all categories. John reads
well, but slowly the passages almost always took him longer than the average time
of the rest of our students.

Week One
Expression &
Volume
Phrasing

Monday (6/29)

Tuesday (6/30)

Wednesday (7/1)

Thursday (7/2)

NA

NA

Smoothness
Pace

2
2

3
3

NA
NA

2
3

Week Two
Expression &
Volume
Phrasing
Smoothness
Pace

Monday (7/6)
2

Tuesday (7/7)
3

Wednesday (7/8)
NA

Thursday (7/9)
3

3
3
2

3
4
4

NA
NA
NA

3
3
4

Week Three

Monday (7/13)

Tuesday (7/14)

Wednesday
(7/15)

Thursday (7/16)

4
3
4

3
4
4

3
3
3

3
2
3

Expression &
Volume
Phrasing
Smoothness
Pace

Writing Samples:
We collected writing samples multiple times a week from all students,
including John. For the purpose of this report, I have selected three samples from
throughout the program and assessed them using a 6+ Traits of Writing Rubric.
John scored particularly well on all of his samples:
First Sample (Dear Future Family): Ideas 5, Organization 5,
Voice 5, Word Choice 4, Sentence Fluency 4, and Conventions 4
Second Sample (The Basketball Court): Ideas 5, Organization 4,
Voice 5, Word Choice 5, Sentence Fluency 4, and Conventions 4
Third Sample (Assorted haikus): Ideas 5, Organization 5, Voice 4,
Word Choice 4, Sentence Fluency 5, and Conventions 4

QRI 5:
I assessed John on July 2nd, 2015 using three word lists and two passages
from the Qualitative Reading Inventory 5. From these assessments, I have
determined that Johns independent reading level is 4th grade and his highest
instructional reading level is 5th grade.
We started off with word lists, moving from 4th 6th grade. On the 4th grade
list, John got 17 out of 20 words correct automatically, and 3 correct identified (one
of which was a self-correction). Combined, he correctly identified 20/20 words. On
the 5th grade list, John got 11 out of 20 words correct automatically, and correct
identified (one of which was a self-correction). Combined, he correctly identified
17/20 words. On the 5th grade list, John got 11 out of 20 words correct
automatically, and 8 correct identified (two of which were self-corrections).
Combined, he correctly identified 19/20 words. It is worth noting that John clearly
struggled with the 5th grade list and had to sound out many of the words, which is
why I chose to stop there rather than progressing to the 6th grade list.
The first passage, Johnny Appleseed, is a 4th grade level text. John read it at
a speed of 72 WPM, and 70 WCPM. He had a total of 12 accuracy miscues, but that

dropped to 3 with acceptability (all changes due to self-corrections). During recall,

John remembered 16/47 ideas, mostly in chronological order. He answered 6/8
comprehension questions correctly, missing only two implicit questions.
The second passage, The Octopus, is a 5th grade level text. John read it at a
speed of 70 WPM and 68 WCPM. He had a total of 6 accuracy miscues, which
dropped to 0 with acceptability (all changes due to self-corrections). During recall,
John remembered 23/54 ideas, mostly in chronological order. He answered 7/8
comprehension questions correctly, missing only one implicit question.

Conclusion:
Johns greatest reading strengths are his accuracy and his comprehension.
He self-monitors constantly as he reads, catching almost every mistake he makes,
and performing extremely well in both retellings and comprehension questions. In
addition, John is truly a remarkable writer. Things like imagery and similes come
naturally to him, and he applies our daily writing lessons to his work even days or
weeks later. Even his spelling is impressive even when he doesnt know the word,
his guesses based on familiar patterns are usually correct.

Johns greatest area of need is fluency, and most specifically,
pacing/phrasing. He reads at such a slow pace, and often pauses between words or
stops to double check himself.

Summary of Instructional Strategies Used

Each day, class began with a short circle time, followed by 20 30 minutes of
direct instruction (reading groups). Then, the remainder of the day was split into
group reading, rotating activity stations or a specifically planned lesson, writing
time, sustained silent reading (SSR), and finally, a vocabulary goodbye list is
reviewed at the end each day. Every day was different, and some didnt include
every single activity listed above, but they all followed the same basic format.

Direct Instruction Reading Groups: John was placed in the Yellow reading group led
by me (the highest level available in our class). We moved through three
Ravenscourt books and focused intensely on accuracy, fluency, prosody, and
comprehension. Each student took turns reading aloud and tracking (using markers
instead of fingers). We practiced strategies such as pre-reading, predicting, echo
reading, model-lead-test reading, phrase-arounds, smoothing it out, and answering
both implicit and explicit comprehension questions regularly throughout the
reading. I corrected for accuracy whenever needed.

Group Reading: As a class, we read the book Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. A
teacher would read aloud as the class tracked each word. As this book revolves
around different styles of poetry, we were often able to integrate the story with our
writing activities and planned lessons.

Activity Stations: During stations time, each teacher led a different station revolving
around an activity we knew our students could benefit from. These activities

ranged from fluency assessments to games. A few examples of games used in class
are concentration played with rhyming words that students found in connected text,
a blending onset-rime game, fluency checks using iPads (students record themselves
reading, listen to the audio and look for mistakes, record themselves again, and
leave the best of the two for the teacher to listen to), a fluency game using funny
voices, and a same/different sight word recognition game.

Planned Lessons/Writing Time: Planned lessons often revolved around the group
reading for the day. For example, when the protagonist in Love That Dog learned
about concrete poems, we did as well. These lessons usually followed a model-lead-
test approach where a teacher would show or create examples, the students and the
teacher would create one together, and then the students would work
independently. Our students ended up learning and applying concepts about
identifying/storyboarding main ideas and details, similes, synonyms and antonyms,
alliteration, and many varieties and formats of poems.

Sustained Silent Reading: Most days, students took 10 20 minutes to practice
reading silently from books theyd checked out from the library. Each student was
allowed one easy book and one chapter book of their choice.

Vocabulary Goodbye List: At the end of each day, we went through the goodbye list
as a class. There is a tree cut out of paper and stuck to the wall, and each reading
group (Yellow, Red, and Orange) had laminated apples that they could write
vocabulary words on. Once a word apple was placed on the tree, that reading group
had to read it (and, depending on the group, define it) correctly for three
consecutive days. After that time, the students got to pick the apple, erase the
word, and add a new one from their reading or experiences.


Students Response to Instructional Strategies

Ive been lucky enough to get to witness certain components of Johns fluency
improve during direct instruction (reading groups). When we began, we discussed
the idea that the main goal of our group was to improve fluency and prosody. To
that end, we focused on different types of punctuation and what our voices do when
we encounter them, as well as smoothness and accuracy. John has always done well
with accuracy, almost always catching his mistakes and self-correcting immediately.
As weve progressed through camp, John has begun to apply this same self-
monitoring to his prosody. It isnt uncommon for him now to read a sentence in a
monotone voice and then re-read it with emotional inflections. Though he still
reads very slowly, he is one of the leaders of the Yellow group, and always
participates enthusiastically during our goodbye tree. He regularly brings in new
words to add.
John had a great response to the iPad fluency checks. He enjoyed the activity,
and always showed drastic differences between his first and second recordings,
which he took pleasure in noting. Though overall cold-to-cold progress was slow, I

do believe he improved from this activity. During the first and last week of camp,
John was given the same passage (he didnt see it at all in-between). When he read
it during the final week, he shaved almost a minute off of his initial time.
During group reading and planned lessons, John pays close attention and
seems to like what he is learning. He always tries everything with a great attitude,
and learns new concepts very quickly. Other students look to him as an example.
During sustained silent reading, John tries to challenge himself with his book
choices and always stays focused on his work.
John grew very interested in poetry writing throughout camp. He seems to
enjoy the time he spends crafting haikus, in particular. His dedication to finding the
perfect words for each line is impressive, and it usually pays off with great results.

Further Recommendations

Johns greatest area of need is clearly fluency, and most specifically,
pacing/phrasing. This is absolutely the area that I would prioritize for instruction.
John is doing very well with most components of literacy, but his struggle with
fluency is serious, and needs attention. In an ideal world, he would be able to
receive direct one-on-one instruction focused almost entirely on fluency. I
recommend that John continue to read aloud whenever possible, including at home.
Weve seen that the more he does it, the more comfortable he gets, and I believe this
is a trend that will continue. Fluency activities like the iPad checks seem to be
effective for John, and I would recommend continuing this activity on a regular
basis. I also think he could benefit from activities like giving speeches or dramatic
readers theatre, where he can work on improving his prosody skills. Finally, I hope
Johns future teachers will continue to work with him on his writing skills, especially
in poetry.