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Running head: STAGE TWO ASSIGNMENT

Stage Two Assignment

Sarah J. Parker

Longwood University
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Stage Two:

Student

I completed my Stage 2 assignment with a student on my caseload, Bradey. Bradey is a

rising 10th grader at Powhatan High School, and he has a Specific Learning Disability in the area

of Written Expression. I teach Bradey in collaborative 9th grade English, and he is spelling at

the Early Syllable and Affixes stage of spelling development. I meet with Bradey during Indian

Time for remediation.

Assessment and Needs for Instruction

Based on the Words Their Way Upper Level Inventory, doubling versus non-doubling

consonants at syllable juncture were determined as a starting point for instruction. Although

Bradey misspelled two features with complex consonants on this assessment, based previous

writing samples and proof on this assessment he knows -tch, I determined this was not a need for

instruction. Bradey is constantly neglecting to double consonants at syllable juncture for short

vowels when adding endings such as -ed and -ing, so needs for instruction were determined for

this spelling feature. Please refer to Appendix A to view the assessment and feature guide.

Correctly spelled words were highlighted in yellow.

Specialized Instruction

Although spelling is an area of concern, his reading level is not. Since Bradey is a

dedicated and passionate football player, I assigned a grade level reading passage on professional

football, a high interest topic for Bradey. Please refer to Appendix B to view the reading

assignment. Bradey was instructed to identify words by highlighting them in the passage with an

ending and then record these words in a T Chart, which is also located in Appendix B.
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Bradey had a lot of difficulty with this at first as he struggled to distinguish these features

using the chart. He was prompted to verbally note patterns, and he was provided instruction as

related to short vs long vowel sounds. He was instructed the rule for short vowels is to use

double consonants to maintain the short vowel sound. Examples were modeled and manipulated

by removing one of the consonants at the double consonant to create a new word. Bradey

completed a second trial, which noted some improvement; however, identified words included

oddballs with features (such as r influenced words), which he demonstrated some challenges

with.

Bradey was also provided a word sort from Words Their Way featuring words in which

include doubling and e-drop with ing and doubled or nothing in addition to -ed. Please refer to

Appendix C to view the word sorts provided. Bradey is familiar with dropping the -e and adding

ing; however, he consistently struggles to double the consonant for short vowel words. Bradey

also confused this rule with complex consonants at syllable juncture with an ending.

Words were cut out and mixed together, and Bradey had more success in identifying

differences between the words; however, he overlooked the double consonant with a few. Once

completed, I prompted him to read the words out loud and we identified the short or long vowel

feature. As a follow up, we practiced the differences between the words by removing one of the

consonants with the double syllable words, and we identified the word without the ending -ed or

-ing. I asked him why he thought those words sounded that way, and prompted him to consider

the context of the word.

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Reflection:

Bradey was able to identify the rules and apply them, but he is demonstrating he

forgets them quickly, so explicit, repeated lessons these skills are needed for exposure,

practice, and skill development. Bradey reported feeling confused about concepts in the

beginning of the lesson, but he is reporting the concepts are making more sense at the end

of the guided practice session. After a week, he reported some confusion with the

specifically distinguishing the concept with the correlated vowel sounds, but I have

observed he is paying more attention to the taught features now. He still struggles with

this rule in his spelling patterns, so overall, I think this lesson (refer to Appendix D) was a

successful start for Bradey; however, he needs guided practice and repetition to master

this concept.

In the future, I probably would have used different colored highlighters to indicate

features we are looking for, and I don’t think best fit for him as he struggles with writing

and spelling, so having him copy words from the reading onto a piece of paper was not

the most efficient practice for instruction as he is using more cognitive energy

decoding/encoding the words and using legible handwriting, which is also an area of

concern. Highlighting may be a good solution, but if there is a way to copy and paste the

words from the internet and be able to click, drag, and categorize words in an interactive

tool, I think that would be beneficial so he can focus more on the direct concept versus

being required to use skills he struggles with. Additionally, Bradey needs reminders to

read words out loud versus silently reading words to himself and trying to look for

patterns he is struggling to hear in his mind as he reads them to himself.

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Appendix A
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Appendix B
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Appendix C
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Appendix D

Objectives: The student will identify, distinguish, and utilize patterns of word structure at the
syllable juncture, including: double consonants, complex syllables, and long vowels.

Resources/Materials Needed:
Reading: Newsela Football
Highlighters
T Chart
Word Sort Cards

Anticipatory Set:
The student will be presented a list of words and be asked to identify patterns he notices with the
sample of words.

Direct Instruction:
The student has completed the list, and the teacher will highlight or underline the consonants and
vowel patterns at syllable juncture noting the double or non double requirement added to words
with endings (ed and ing). To maintain the short vowel sound, two consonants must be added,
and examples will be provided when they are not creating a long vowel sound.

Guided Practice:
The student will read the Newsela reading selection on Football, highlight words with endings
and record them on a T Chart. The teacher will review patterns and provide remediation as
needed. The student will use words from WTW to sort these patterns and distinguish features.

Closure:
Exit ticket: Ask student to iterate the rule and review while this rule is in place and what would
the word look like/how would it be pronounced if this rule is not followed. How does this
change the context of the word and sentence structure?

Independent Practice (to be completed during core class):

The student will be instructed to compose and edit his own writing using these words.