Running head: TUTORING PROJECT 1

Tutoring Project

Rolanda S. Hardy

May 5, 2017

Trinity Washington University

EDTE 401- Professor Winther

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Tutoring Project

Phase I. Introduction of student

I chose to complete this project with a student in my class named Caitlyn. Caitlyn is a four-

year-old girl with a lot of spunk. When music plays, she dominates the dance floor (also known as

the circle time carpet). She can often be seen teaching her classmates all the dances her older

brother has taught her. Her favorite dances include Whip and Nae-Nae and Dabbing.

Her strengths are counting and patterns. When I first met Caitlyn at three-and-a-half, she

was able to count to forty. She has begun to generate AB, ABC, and ABB patterns. She has even

introduced the class to a song about patterns that she learned from her brother called Banana,

Banana, Meatball. This song is by Blazer Fresh and can be found on the website GoNoodle. I have

even incorporate the song Caitlyn introduced in lessons on patterning, and encourage the students

to create their own patterns for the song.

While Caitlyn has demonstrated skill development in mathematics, she has displayed

difficulty in comprehending literacy concepts. Coding and phonological awareness skills need

development. In addition to improving letter-identification skills, we also need to work on

understanding concepts such as syllables, rhyming, and alliteration.

A key observation is that she is an excellent mimicker. I have watched her pretend to be

me and conduct circle time during free play. She gathers all friends who are willing to sit in a circle,

or line, and play school. An essential piece to this observation, however, is that though she does

not understand the concepts presented during morning meeting, she can repeat almost every word

that I say verbatim. Another vital observation is that she tends to shut down when tasks get difficult

or if she is unsure of herself. She lacks confidence in herself and the persistence to complete

difficult tasks.
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Caitlyn is the one student who does not seem to progress in literacy despite multiple

methods of instruction this school year. I chose to use her for this project because my hope is that

the completion of this tutoring project will allow me to help her progress, while developing myself

into a more effective educator. To get a better understanding of Caitlyn, I drafted interview

questions for her and myself. Below is a chart of the interview questions and answers for Caitlyn.

Cs in the chart represent words spoken by Caitlyn. Ms in the chart represent words spoken by

me.

Question Answer
What do you like to do? I like to draw and build towers.
What do you think you are really good at? C: Im really good at playing.
M: What do you play well.
C: Family. I can be a mommy or a sister.

What is your favorite toy?
C: Well, I really like the magna tiles (magnetic
building shapes)
M: Do you have another favorite toy
something you love to play with?
C: My teddy. Hes sleeping now in my
backpack.

How do you feel when you have to go to school? C: Good.

M: Just good?
C: Happy!
M: Why are you happy when you come to
school?
C: Because I get to play with my friends.
M: Who do you like to play with?
C: I really like Charlie. Hes my best friend.

After interviewing Caitlyn, I began to ask some questions of myself. I wanted to reflect on

the following:
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Question Answer
In what areas or domains does she exhibit Caitlyn exhibits strength in her math abilities.
strength? What areas need development? Specifically, her counting, patterning, and one-
to-one correspondence skills are strong.
She needs development in her confidence and
her literacy skills.

What are instruction strategies in strong and/or In mathematics, instruction strategies frequently
week areas? include activity cards with manipulatives (i.e.
counting bears, pattern cards, etc). We also
incorporate patterning into calendar time and
number identification in morning meeting
activities and songs. Students conduct count-
checks and count how many students are with
us; thus developing one-to-one correspondence.
Literacy skills are generally taught with alphabet
books, building materials, morning messages,
songs, chants, and the use of a literacy-rich
environment.
How long does she persist or engage in a task? With math and manipulative activities I have
observed Caitlyn persist with a single activity
for ten to fifteen minutes independently.
Literacy activities are maintained for no longer
than two minutes without adult prompting to
persevere.

Phase II. Review of literature associated with students issues

When I began tutoring Caitlyn, I perceived her problem to be a weakness in literacy skills.

Class readings prompted self-reflection on whether classroom teaching strategies correlated with

Caitlyns working approach to literacy. Therefore, I perceived a problem may exist in classroom

instruction techniques. I did not associate literacy delays with a greater developmental delay that

would warrant referral to an outside agency.

For students who develop literacy skills both alongside and behind their peers, it remains

true that alphabet knowledge is not the place to start literacy instruction. There is a common

misconception that we teach children the alphabet, followed by either their sounds, rhyming words,

or other phonological skills. Contrarily, each literary component should be taught simultaneously,
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as opposed to teaching each in isolation. Schickedanz and Collins (2013) claim that children

benefit more when teachers and families emphasize language development, background

knowledge, and comprehension strategies rather than overly focus on code-related skills such as

alphabet learning (p. 15).

Phase III. Assessments (Method)

Date Assessment Results

2/2/17 Pre Assessment: Caitlyn could identify two uppercase

I sat one-on-one with Caitlyn with a goals letters and one lowercase letter.
workbook. She could not yet identify any letter
I asked her to identify each letter and its sounds.
sound.
2/16/17 Ongoing Assessment: At the end of journaling, she was able
Caitlyn practiced writing the letters C and to identify lowercase a.
A in her academic journal. I asked her later on in the day and she
could not identify lowercase a.
2/21/17 Ongoing Assessment: Caitlyn played well, identifying three
This assessment was part of large group letters in her name consistently, after
instruction. the first few attempts.
Caitlyn and I played Kaboom with three
other students. This game is only played
with popsicle sticks and a cup. Each
popsicle stick in the cup has either a letter
on it or the word KABOOM. If the student
draws and identifies a letter from the cup,
they keep the stick. If they draw a
KABOOM stick, they put all of their sticks
back in the cup. The goal is to have the
most sticks. The only letters used were the
letters they had in their names.
I like this assessment because winning is
not determined by how much you know,
but the luck of the draw. I thought this
assessment would boost Caitlyns
confidence.
2/23/17 Ongoing Assessment: Caitlyn was able to name the same
We played Alphabet BINGO. For the three letters she named in KABOOM.
assessment portion of this activity, Caitlyn
called out the letters to her classmates.
3/1/17 Ongoing Assessment: Caitlyn was able to recognize the
sounds of two letters.
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Picture wall. I added a picture wall in the

classroom. Students take pictures from
magazines and tape them under the letter
they start with.
3/9/17 Ongoing assessment: Caitlyn identified four letters and two
Musical drawing activity. When the music sounds.
plays students dance around the tables.
When the music stops, they write
whichever letters, or sounds of letters, I call
out.
4/19/17 Post Assessment: Caitlyn could identify nine uppercase
I sat one-on-one with Caitlyn with a goals letters and ten lowercase letters.
workbook. She could not yet identify any letter
I asked her to identify each letter and its sounds.
sound.

Phase IV. Description of work with the student (treatment plan)

Caitlyns treatment plan consisted of the following: increase parent participation, integrate

handwriting, utilize nap time.

Parent-teacher conferences were scheduled right around the time this semester began. From

the conferences I gathered that Caitlyns parents were not very concerned with her academic

performance. This was surprising to me since her mother is an educator. Caitlyn has an older

brother who receives services for social-emotional development. As a result, their parents are more

concerned about how Caitlyn is progressing socially. They question her ability to make friends,

and continue positive interactions with her peers quite frequently. I informed the parents that my

concerns were not with her social-emotional skills, but rather her literacy skills. I gathered,

however, that the conversation was not as beneficial as I had hoped it would be. Moving forward,

the plan was to increase parent participation in the school so Caitlyn understands that her teachers

and parents work together and want the same things for her. I also wanted to increase parent

participation in the home by providing extension activities. Because the parents lack enthusiasm

to engage in their childs development, the treatment plan consisted of sending home activities that
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can be done with her brother. Games and videos were planned around the brother because Caitlyn

already interacts with and learns from him.

The Bridging assessment tool draws on the Eric Gardners theory of multiple intelligences.

We cannot label or judge a child on their performance in one domain. They may demonstrate

weakness in one area, and intelligence in another. Chen and McNamee (2007) maintain, the more

teachers value the diverse strengths of young children and provide environments to support them,

the earlier children enjoy school life and the more likely they are to experience school success (p.

17). If I want Caitlyn to be successful, I need to value and incorporate her strength. Caitlyn is good

at copying and she loves to do art. It occurred to me that writing would feel like a natural and

interesting activity for her. Therefore, her treatment plan encompassed writing as a teaching tool.

Finally, naptime at my school from is from 1-3pm. I am on break for one hour of that time.

Caitlyn very seldom takes a nap. In my fight to find additional time to work with Caitlyn on a more

intimate level, I considered using one hour of naptime. Since naptime is the time that I use to get

work done in the classroom, I could not give her individual tutoring personally. I recruited the

assistance of apps such as ELMO ABCs. She could watch videos and play computer games with

literacy concepts. There is an audio book that she used as well that she can listen and follow along

with a physical copy of the book. This book covers the alphabet, sounds, alliteration, and left-to-

right reading. While I cannot give her my undivided attention during this time, I can simply provide

resources so valuable time is not wasted.

Phase V. Results and discussion

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Caitlyn's Progress
12

10

0
Before After

uppercase lowercase sounds numbers

As the graph above indicates, the tutoring project has been successful in increasing

Caitlyns alphabet knowledge. During the first session, Caitlyn could identify two uppercase and

one lowercase letter, those numbers were increased to nine uppercase and ten lowercase letters.

She had yet to exhibit any letter-sound knowledge, and was able to provide sounds for four letters

during the last assessment.

Because literature states that literacy skills should be taught simultaneously, the results of

this assignment extend past the original goals. My main goal was to increase alphabet knowledge

to catch Caitlyn up with her peers. I also worked on rhyming and alliteration. During the final

assessment, Caitlyn was able to recognize and generate rhyming words, a skill she did not have in

February. In February Caitlyn was unable to write the first letter of her name. Her writing was

comprised of letter-like forms. In April, she could spell and write her own name.
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It is important to note that these alphabet knowledge results are somewhat deceiving. I

noticed that Caitlyn moves her finger when asked to identify letters. Further observation revealed

that the finger movements were actually sky-writing. She was writing out the letters to find what

comes next. In essence, she did not completely memorize each letter. She remembers their order

in her name and writes each letter with her finger to retrieve its name. Thus, Caitlyn still struggles

with identification, but her confidence has increased. She would not have attempted to identify

these letters three months ago.

Phase VI. Recommendations and the final report

According to Barone and Mallette (2013), the brain develops rapidly in early childhood

creating a specific window of opportunity that is sensitive to experiences to establish certain

capabilities. Preschool interventions have been shown to make an impact that can produce

moderate to large effects on early literacy skills and later achievement (p.59). My

recommendation to Caitlyns parents is to provide as many experiences as possible. Use the

resources teachers provide and additional material to support classroom learning. I advise Caitlyns

parents to take this recommendation seriously because the flip side to this sensitive period, where

interventions provide the most substantial impact, is that it is also the time where the brain is most

highly susceptible to the absence of these critical experiences (Barone & Mallette, 2013, p. 59).

I recommend that Caitlyns current and future teachers offer parent education events and

resources. Parents, in many ways, resemble our students. They need to know why. Barone and

Mallete (2013) claim that parents should be informed why they are doing a particular activity and

how it will help in enhancing their childs literacy skills, as some findings suggest that parents are

more likely to engage in activities that have clear goals and structure (p. 18). Just as teachers

explain why our young learners must use walking feet, parents need information on why you are
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asking them to engage in activities with their children. This is especially the case when there are

multiple barriers which make involvement difficult. If we make parents our partners, rather than

only relaying information to them about their child periodically, I think they will be more likely to

be involved in their childs learning. Parents are their childs first teachers and they have valuable

input about their child to add to their development.

My final recommendation is that Caitlyn be evaluated by a specialist. She has made

improvements over the last couple of months; but, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Am

uncertain if storing or recalling information is delayed and will improve over time or if something

more serious is going on. We are nearing the end of the school year so it is too late now (unless the

parents have it done privately). In the meantime, we will continue to work on the skills we have

developed thus far.

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References

Schickedanz, J. A., Schickedanz, J. A., & Collins, M. F. (2013). So much more than the ABCs:

the early phases of reading and writing. Washington, DC: National Association for the

Education of Young Children.

Barone, D.M., & Mallette, M.H. (2013). Best practices in early literacy instruction. New York:

The Guilford Press.

Chen, J., & McNamee, G. D. (2007). Bridging: assessment for teaching and learning in early

childhood classrooms, pre K-3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.