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Allan HendershotRED 431211/06/2014

Assessment Tools: Component 1 - Attitude Toward Reading

I used the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) to help assess the

attitude my focus student has toward reading and literature in general. The test

consists of twenty questions divided into two sections. The first ten questions focus on

the student’s attitude toward recreational reading. The remaining ten questions focus

on the student’s attitude toward academic reading. The test is easy to administer to

large groups or to individual students. Although many criteria were considered when

creating this tool, the most important elements as described by McKenna & Kear (1990)

are that, “It possess a meaningful, attention-getting student friendly response format; be

suitable for brief group administration; and comprise separate subscales for recreational

and academic reading.” (p. 2)

The format of the tool comprises a series of questions, each followed by four

pictures of Garfield: one very happy, the next a little happy, the next a little upset, and

the last very upset. The mood or appearance of each figure is easy to identify and

distinguish. I administered the ERAS to my focus student individually. After describing

the instrument, explaining the reason for giving it, and reassuring her that it was not a

test, I read each question aloud twice. I was very careful to give ample time for her to

select her answers.

Data Analysis

My focus student, I’ll call her Cathy, received a raw score of 32 both in

recreational and academic reading. Her total raw score is 64. This puts her combined

score in the 66th percentile. She is in the 62nd percentile for recreational reading and the


67th percentile for academic reading. After analyzing the results on the ERAS in detail,

it appears that Cathy prefers recreational reading at school more than at home. She

also has a more positive overall attitude toward academic reading over recreational

reading.

It is interesting to note that she does still have a positive attitude towards

academic reading despite her difficulties with reading and writing as noted below. Her

score would be even higher in this regard if not for her insecurity while reading out loud

in the classroom. She often falters on more complex words which require her to decode

them phonetically. There may be issues outside the classroom as well. She scored a 4

when asked how she felt about receiving a book as a present but scored a 2 when

asked how she feels about going to the book store.

Instructional Strategies

Although Cathy’s attitude toward reading, especially recreational reading, trends

towards the positive, her overall attitude towards learning is quite negative. After

several interviews with her and her mother I have discovered that her attitude toward

academic activities and school in general is quite negative. For example, she made one

comment while we were working on a writing assignment in class where she stated she

wished she was in kindergarten again and that the work was too hard. In an interview

with her mother, who is also a teacher, she stated that at her previous school her

instructor called her, “A stupid little girl.” This is quite distressing to say the least and

suggests that Cathy has developed an external locus of control which needs to be

addressed immediately.


The first step is to encourage Cathy in a manner that shifts her beliefs and

attitudes towards reading and learning towards an internal locus of control. Whenever

we are working on reading I stress the importance of practice and perseverance.

Whenever possible I offer specific directed praise that focuses on her accomplishments.

Instead of simply saying something like, “Good job” or “Well done,” I say, “I like the way

you self-corrected when reading that passage.” Or I might say, “You summarized the

story well. Careful readers always pay attention to the sequence of events.”

Motivation is key when working with struggling readers. Therefor it is important

to select reading material for Cathy that fits her interests and reading level. For

example, she enjoys science, and ecology in particular. She participates in class

discussions far more frequently when the subject matter falls within this area. For

recreational reading she prefers poetry and rhyme. One of her favorite books is One

Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. Recreational reading should be

challenging but not too difficult. Students who have a high success rate when reading

for pleasure have a more positive attitude toward reading. According to Cunningham &

Allington (2011), “The best readers in your classroom—the ones whose instructional

reading levels are above the grade level they are placed in—also spend most of their

time reading text that is very easy for them.” (p. 50) According to her DRA, Cathy

struggles when reading at level 14 yet her comprehension is quite high. Selecting and

suggesting texts for Cathy to read that fit her interests and match her cognitive level will

build her confidence by ensuring a higher success rate when reading independently.

Vygotsky believed that social interactions were a key component of the learning

process. This applies to reading as well. Students are often motivated to read certain


texts by their peers. Students often recommend and discuss their favorite books. I

observed two students in Cathy’s class who formed their own book club. Each week

they select a book and read to each other and discuss what they have read. I

recommend the same for Cathy. She should be paired with a student who shares her

interests and is at or slightly above her current reading level. This will create

opportunities for buddy reading. Cathy exhibits much insecurity when reading out loud

in a classroom setting. Allowing her to read with another student in a more secure

setting will help build confidence and thus improve her attitude towards academic

reading.

Modifications for ELL and IEP Students

These strategies can be easily modified for English language learners. Again

motivation is key. Recommended texts should not only fit the student’s interests, but

should also connect to their cultural background in a meaningful way. In order to

promote a high success rate, reading material in the student’s native tongue should also

be made available in the classroom and if possible, at home. Paring ELL students with

native English speakers for group or buddy reading is an effective way to model reading

strategies as well. Students learn and discover new texts from each other. A

recommendation of a favorite text from another student is often all that is needed to

motivate a struggling reader to try something new.


Assessment Tools: Component 2

Print Concepts, Letters and Sounds, and Phonological Awareness

I used two assessment tools to measure my focus student’s current proficiency in

print concepts, letters and sounds, and phonological awareness. I used the nonsense

word test, and several writing samples the student had completed during class.

The nonsense word test is divided into the following five sections: short vowels,

digraph blends, long vowels, other vowels, and multisyllabic words. The purpose of the

test is to measures the student's proficiency when decoding phonemes and blending

them together when reading. The test is administered on an individual basis. Before

the test the student is instructed to read one word at a time and it is pointed out that the

words are made up or nonsense words. While the student reads, the instructor places a

check mark next to each word that is read correctly. As stated in Blevins, 2001, p. 291,

to score the test, total the number of words the student read correctly. Analyze the

mispronounced words, looking for patterns that might give you information about the

student’s decoding strengths and weaknesses.

I have also obtained several samples of my focus student’s writing over the past

seven weeks in an attempt to chart her progress and measure some of the strategies

which have already been employed by myself, her teacher, and through RTI.

Data Analysis

When I administered the nonsense word test, Cathy struggled on almost every

section. For example, on the short vowels section she pronounced the short vowel

correctly but often substituted a different consonant at the end of the word. She would


say pet instead of ped, or sit instead of sib. The section containing digraph blends was

interesting as well. Instead of saying sheg she said sheck. She also said bruch instead

of bruck. There is definitely a pattern here. Even on Section D: Other Vowels, I found

mostly the same types of errors. She said park instead of parth, or spout instead of

spoud. I did not have her complete the long vowels or multisyllabic sections. She was

having a lot of trouble and clearly getting frustrated.

Aside from results obtained from the nonsense word test, I know that Cathy is

struggling with basic phonemic awareness. According to her CT, she is now in RTI and

is also being assessed for learning difficulties. I have examined several of her writing

samples and have observed some common patterns. For example, she spells many

common sight words correctly such as: it, is, and, but, and or. However, she misspells

many others, especially pronouns. Her handwriting is often nearly illegible. She often

writes letters in reverse and also frequently transposes letters. For example, she might

spell boy as byo. There are seldom spaces between words and only minimal

punctuation.

I have also observed Cathy reading aloud and found that she has trouble

decoding words with two or more syllables, in fact she spends most of her time

decoding. She also seems to have some difficulty tracking the text from left to right

when reading. As a result she often falls behind during writing assignments that require

her to locate specific passages in the text. This inevitably leads to frustration and a

lower success rate when reading and writing academically.



Cathy’s comprehension is much better than her reading ability. When she hears

a passage she is generally able to identify the main idea and pick out important details.

As stated in Dougherty Stahl (2011), “Songs, chants, and word games-sound games

are ideally suited toward developing young children’s sensitivity to the sound structure

of language.” I recommend numerous word play books and rhymes. Dr. Seuss is an

excellent example. I would also recommend that Cathy be exposed to guided discovery

activities such as Guess the Covered Word, Using Words You Know, and Making

Words. I also recommend a tiered co-teaching environment. When she is not in RTI

she should be placed in a small group with other struggling students with a co-teacher

or reading coach. These students could then follow the same text as the rest of the

class but focus more on areas where they need help. For example they could read to

each other or engage in choral reading. This would reduce the cognitive load required

to decode most of the text and allow them to focus on content and meaning. These

activities, along with RTI, should help dramatically improve her reading, writing, and

comprehension skills throughout the school year.


ELL students need special consideration when teaching Print Concepts, Letters

and Sounds, and Phonological Awareness. For example, English and Spanish share

many cognates such as family and familia, or center and centro. This can be used as a

scaffold to bridge the gap between one language and another. This basic word

recognition can also reduce the cognitive load. I recommend word sort games. This


strategy involves paired flashcards of cognates. Students can then pair up. One

student has the English version and the other student has the Spanish or other

language version. They then match the cards and discuss the meaning. ELL students

also run into similar issues with what are sometimes called false cognates, or two words

that sound similar but have completely different meanings. For example, chore in

English refers to a job or duty you do at home whereas chor in Hindi refers to a burglar.

Read aloud and think aloud activities can be very useful for ELL students. Have them

raise their hand when they think the hear cognates. One can also pre-teach difficult

vocabulary before the activity.


Component 3 – Word Knowledge: Reading and Writing

The primary tool I chose for this component was the DRA or Developmental

Reading Assessment. The DRA is administered on an individual basis by a teacher or

reading coach, generally twice a year. The first assessment is given in September. It is

then given again in May in order to track progress. All students between 1st and 3rd

grade are assessed using a DRA. Some instructors, including my collaborating teacher,

give the DRA again midyear to determine if their selected strategies are working.

Because the purpose of the assessment is to determine what the student is able to read

on their own, no assistance or verbal cues should be given.

The purpose of the DRA is to determine a student’s instructional reading level, to

monitor their progress over time, and to help develop strategies for instruction. The

DRA is administered in much the same way as a running record. The student reads a

selected text and the teacher. While the student reads the text out loud the teacher

records errors and miscues. The instructor also observes the student’s behavior while

reading to assess their frustration level and fluency. When the student is finished the

teacher asks questions to determine their comprehension level.

Data Analysis

In this case I did not administer the DRA as I am not qualified, but I was given the

results. I have, however, observed Cathy reading out loud a number of times in class.

The DRA was administered at the beginning of the school year. The text selected by

the teacher was at level 12. Cathy received a 7 out of 16 for oral reading fluency, and


19 out of 28 for comprehension. The text was 137 words. She made more than 11

miscues with less than 92% accuracy.

The same patters observed in Cathy’s running record bear out here as well. The

most common errors were substitutions. For example, one sentence reads, “Papa was

too busy to read to Robert.” Cathy read, Pip was told buzz to read to Robert. In

another example the original sentence reads, “Robert felt left out.” Cathy read Robert

feet left out. These appear to be visual miscues. The words she substituted appear

somewhat similar to the original text but do not make sense in context. She is not

deriving meaning from the text.

Cathy’s fluency level may be below grade level but her comprehension is much

higher. Part of the assessment requires the student to retell the story in their own

words. The teacher highlights each part they were able to retell and notes whether or

not they were in sequence. Initially her retelling was minimal but after 2 coaching cues

where she was asked to, “Tell me more.” She was able to recall 5 of the 8 story

elements. She is also making text-to-self connections as well. For example when

asked, “What does the story make you think of?” She replied that it reminded her of

when her brother was born. They did not play at first and only played on the bed.

For fluency on the DRA 2 continuum she scored a 7. For comprehension she

received a score of 18. The scanned results are included on the next page of this

document. I find it noteworthy that she scored a 3 under comprehension for previewing,

retelling sequencing of events, retelling teacher support, reflection, and making

connections. She is obviously comprehending and thinking about what she is reading


and is in many ways an independent reader at this level despite her difficulties with

fluency.


Cathy’s teacher recommended the following general strategies for Cathy after

assessing the results of the DRA: Support one-to-one matching as a means to self-

monitor, model and teach how to use known words as a means to self-monitor, model

and support confirming and discounting word choice using meaning, language, and


visual information, and demonstrate and teach how to read for meaning, self-correcting

when a word doesn’t look right.

To specifically address these issues I suggest that Cathy use a personal word

bank. She can keep a box filled with flashcards. When she comes across an unfamiliar

word have her write it down on one of the cards. Later Cathy can dictate a sentence

using the new word while the teacher writes it down on one of the flash cards. The new

word can also be underlined or highlighted as well. To add context she can draw a

picture on the back of the card.

Read alouds and think alouds are an effective means for helping students that

have difficulty using context clues to identify unfamiliar words. This technique allows

the teacher to model effective strategies when reading. It is possible to show the

student how to use semantic or context clues to recognize new words.

Another strategy is for the teacher to create a series of fill in the blank sentences

in such a way that the blank space can be correctly populated with several different

words. For example, The dog chases the _________. You could use stick, Frisbee,

ball, car, mailman, etc…

I also recommend teaching Cathy to read all the way to the end of a sentence.

Often finishing the sentence after reading an unfamiliar word will provide context clues

that help define and identify the term. It is also important to teach her go back and

reread the sentence before continuing.

To further address Cathy’s issues with word knowledge and writing I recommend

guess the covered word game. In Cover the word games the teacher writes a series of


sentences on the board. Each sentence begins with the students names and follows a

similar word pattern. For example the teacher might write the following;

Cathy likes to play basketball.

Justin likes to play football.

Michael likes to play hockey.

The words at the end of the sentence are covered with sticky notes. The teacher

then asks the students to guess the word at the end of the first sentence. After writing

down some of their guesses the teacher then uncovers the last word in the next

sentence. In this case football. The teacher uncovers the word up to the first vowel.

Here the students would only see the f. For the students that guess incorrectly, for

example, one student might say fan, ask questions like does fan make sense in this

sentence? Does Justin like to play fan? As the students progress the game can be

expanded to include digraphs and blends.

This game lends itself well to whole class scenarios and small groups. For Cathy

this strategy could be implemented with a small group of two or three other students.

There are two ELL students in her class who would benefit from such exercises. Guess

the covered word will benefit Cathy because, according to Cunningham & Allington

(2011), “Once children know the common sounds for most letters, they need to start

paying attention to the patterns in words so that they can use these patterns to decode

and spell words.” (p. 68)



One of the most essential strategies to implement for ELL students is to

introduce new vocabulary terms before beginning a new book or text. Be sure to model

how to use and define each new word to provide context. Find a way to present the

word in a meaningful context as it relates to the student so they can make a personal

connection. Also explain how the new word fits within the context of the text being read.

Building background knowledge is also essential. For example, when reading a

new text highlight familiar words that are used in a different way or have a different

meaning based on the context of the text.

Visual aids and manipulatives can also be used to build context and help

students make connections to new words. Teach students to use pictures from

magazines, graphic organizers, text features etc… as clues to help identify unfamiliar

vocabulary. Also it is helpful for the instructor to provide pictures and other visual cues

when introducing a new book or text. Have pictures that represent the unfamiliar

vocabulary ready before the new material is introduced.


Assessment Tools: Component 4

To assess Cathy’s fluency I used a running record and observations gathered

while taking informal field notes during class. The running record is administered on an

individual basis. The student reads a selected passage while the instructor marks

correct and incorrect responses. The teacher also monitors the student’s behavior

while searching for patterns. The purpose of the running record is, according to

AlphaKids, 2002, p. 1, “To capture what children know and understand about the

reading process. They capture children’s thinking.” Running records assess more than

just accuracy, they enable us to see patterns of behavior, and through miscue analysis

determine what the student is thinking while reading.

Data Analysis

The running record assessment revealed some interesting patterns. The

passage contained 151 words at approximately 62 words per minute. The text was at

level 14. There were 13 errors during the reading giving her an accuracy score of 91%.

She repeated a total of two sentences without any errors. There was one self-

correction in which she corrected the word waving. The vast majority of the errors were

substitutions for whole words. For example, in one passage she said, Sally got into the

lion’s back and ran there grass, instead of, Sally got onto the lion’s back and ran

through the grass. When reading a different passage she said, the lion was dirty but

there were short tears everywhere, instead of, the lion was dry but there were short

trees everywhere. There are also examples that correlate with nonsense word test. In


one example she said strongust instead of strongest, demonstrating again her issues

with short vowel sounds and multisyllabic words.

When reading aloud in class Cathy spends most of her time decoding. She has

difficulty with long vowel pairs and multisyllabic words. I have also noticed that she

pauses frequently on difficult words and waits for someone to help. Often other

students will jump in and say the correct word out loud. I believe Cathy has learned to

anticipate this external cueing system and adjusts her reading accordingly.


I recommend word web activities for Cathy. A word web helps students make

connections between words that sound the same but have different meanings. For

example, the word web might start with the word bat which can refer to a baseball bat or

to someone who did something without batting an eye. Students add these new words

and phrases to the web and make connections. This not only helps the students learn

new words and vocabulary but builds on their background knowledge. They are able to

make meaningful links between what they are learning and what they already know.

Modeling is also vital to help improve Cathy’s fluency. Demonstrate fluency by

reading expressively during read alouds. Show students that fluency is more than

simply reading fast and smoothly. It is about decoding and comprehending

simultaneously.

Echo reading is also an effective means to teach fluency. I suggest reading for

Cathy. Read each line of a story or poem to Cathy and a few other students and have

them read them back together. This activity helps promote fluency because it helps


ensure all students are engaged. It can also provide some security for shy students

such as Cathy who dislike reading out loud to the entire class. According to

Cunningham & Allington (2011), “Echo reading is the perfect venue for modeling

expressive oral reading because in echo reading, your voice is the first voice and your

students are trying to make their voice sound just like your voice.” (p. 54)

Cathy has mentioned that some of her favorite text include poetry and rhyme.

After reading a poem, have the students write the lines down on sentence strips.

Explain how effective readers look at and read clusters of words instead of focusing on

individual terms. Have the students take each strip and read it out loud in the round.


Building background knowledge is one way to help ELL students gain fluency.

For example, before having the student read a new chapter, do a walkthrough. Point

out key concepts and ideas and ask questions that help the student connect the

information to what they already know.

Repeated reading also helps build fluency. Have the student read the same

passage out loud with a teacher or partner who can provide guidance. This technique

can also be applied to choral reading and reader’s theater activities. For example, in

reader’s theater the students act out a grade level text. Two or Three students could

act out a passage then the teacher could tag students in and out each time the passage

is repeated. This enables each student to add their own expression and interpretation

of the text.


Shared reading can also promote fluency. In shared reading the teacher

provides a book or passage with text large enough for all the students to be able to see.

The teacher then guides and assists the students as they take turns reading. This

technique can also be combined with echo reading or choral reading.


References

Blevins, Wiley, (2001). Teaching phonics & word study in the intermediate grades, A

complete sourcebook. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.

Cunningham, Patricia M. and Allington, Richard L., (2011). Classrooms that work: They

can all read and write. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Dougherty Stahl, A. Katherine, (2011). Applying new visions of reading development in

today’s classrooms. The Reading Teacher, DOI:10.1598/RT.65.1

McKenna, M.C. & Kear, D.J. (1990, May). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new

tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(8), 626-693.

http://dx.doi.org/10:1598/RT.43.8.3

AlphaKids Reading Assessment Kit, Grades K-2. (2002). How to Take Running

Records. Scholastic Canada Ltd.

http://dx.doi.org/10:1598/RT.43.8.3

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