10-10-2016
RDLG537-01
Rachel Pinkstone – Tutoring & Reflection Journal
(Word count: 1202, 6 pages double-spaced)
“Charlie T. – Participant Learner”
Overview
Within two weeks,
I have completed two tutoring sessions with my “participant learner,” Charlie,
each averaging 45 minutes to an hour of activity and assessment. Charlie’s
family has a very busy schedule, so our time together must be fast, efficient,
and effective. As I cannot observe Charlie within the classroom, our sessions
consist of discussion about his classroom experience, an assessment activity,
and then a game. I make a point of creating a relaxed and fun atmosphere during
the assessment so as not to make Charlie feel as though he is being tested or
that he is under pressure.
Even this early in
the process, I have realized that assessing children can be unreliable, as the
performance of a child Charlie’s age is not necessarily consistent even during
a short tutoring session, and that emotional influences can greatly affect his
attention span and retention skills. During the first session, Charlie was shy
and hesitant with participation, but after some success through the assessment
activities, he became more comfortable. Subsequently, our second session
started with more ease, as Charlie conveyed more self-assurance and familiarity
with the flow and purpose of our meetings.
Lessons/Assessments
Session One
Our first session began with a more
conversationally dense introduction. I reminded Charlie that I was also in
school learning to be a teacher. After my re-introduction, I began an informal
interview of my student. Charlie shared his enthusiasm and excitement for
schooling. Concerning his literacy education within class time, Charlie
participates in several book “read aloud” activities daily, plus alphabet
recognition and print concept activities using a small, individual sandbox to
draw out letters. They also visit the library to take out books for individual
“reading time,” and they use the computer for education activities.
At home, Charlie
works with his parents to hone these skills. For homework, Charlie practices
writing letters and numbers on a white board using a thick marker, which also
helps his motor skills. In the evenings with his mother, Charlie “reads” two of
his favorite books, Chicka Chicka Boom
Boom (Martin Jr., 1989) and Hop on
Pop (Seuss, 1963). Laura, Charlie’s mother, indicates that he has a good
portion of these books memorized, but she encourages him to follow the line of
print with his finger as he recites from memory what he knows is on the page
from repetition.
Assessments
After the
interview, Charlie and I participate in a read aloud of One Fish, Two Fish by Dr.
Letter Names Assessment
Using Charlie’s
white board and dry erase marker, I created two lines of print (including upper
case and lower case letters) and asked Charlie to identify letter names. The
following lines of print were provided:
F c R E L m A B
H O z T y w I G
Charlie successfully identified all
of the letters on the list and did not seem to have any trouble with both cases
being used.
Letter Sounds Assessment
Next, with the
same two lines of print (including upper case and lower case letters), I asked
Charlie to identify the letter sounds.
F c R E L m A B
H O z T y w I G
Again, Charlie showed a strong
skill for identifying the sounds for the provided letters, including the long
and short vowel sounds. However, he struggled slightly to remember the soft “c”
pronunciation. I came to the realization that he does not practice many words
that start with that sound using that letter, as apposed to words beginning
with the letter “s.” We addressed this through the practice of stating that he
“lives in the city,” with an
emphasis on the “C.”
For a rewarding
brain break after our lessons, Charlie and I sang and danced through the song
“Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
Session Two
For our second
session, I met with Charlie after he and his family returned from his soccer
game on a Saturday. As opposed to our first meeting the week before, his
attention span was slightly harder to maintain; however, he showed a greater
deal of comfort with my presence and our work together. Charlie’s mother also
told me that homework has become a regular assignment to practice the “Letter
of the Week” and the “Sight word of the Week,” and that they are using a
computer program called “Lexia” to play word games in class. For this session I
chose a book for a guided reading lesson. Guided reading is “research-based,
professionally energized, highly targeted, scaffolded reading instruction that
propels all students toward confident, independent reading of high quality
grade level books across a diverse array of literature and informational genres”
(Fountas and Pinnell, 1996). In order to introduce this more focused activity
of reading, I chose Charlie’s book, Clifford
Goes to Dog School (Bridwell, 2002).
High Frequency Sight Word Assessment
Using Charlie’s white board and dry
erase marker, I wrote down the following high frequency sight words from the
text:
I he she dog can was can sit stay school
Clifford
After having Charlie recite each
word several times, we then reread the story together having Charlie alone read
the high frequency words when they came up in the text. Charlie was excited to
be a part of the reading process and anticipated his sight words as we read
together. This session was slightly more challenging due to Charlie’s excitable
mood after his soccer game, so we concluded the tutoring portion of our session
after this final assessment.
To end our
Saturday session, we played two rounds of the game “I Spy,” where, using the
white board, I wrote down the color of the item he was looking for and had him
repeat the word back to me before making his guesses.
Conclusion
Charlie shows an
aptitude and excitement for reading and writing. At the age of 5, Charlie is
just entering into the basics of a Level 1 reader, according to the NAEP Oral
Reading Fluency Scale, but he shows strong phonemic and graphemic awareness. I
am confident that his kindergarten instruction has him on a timely learning
schedule for word recognition and sight word automaticity. He is also an
expressive young man, so through recitation, guided reading, and the addition
of choral reading strategies, I believe he will find himself “ahead of the
game” when it comes to fluency through interpretive and meaningful reading. In
our next session, I will provide a lesson plan that includes choral reading and
decoding for blending compound words and syllables.
Through
these two sessions, I have also learned a great deal about myself as an
educator. In my current professional career, strict time management guides my
day-to-day activities and this is a skill I need to translate into my tutoring
sessions, particularly on days when Charlie is especially willful and
distracted. Strategic “brain breaks,” games, and time for feedback from my
student will continue to be important tools for my instruction.
Works Sited
Fountas and Pinnell, Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All
Children, 1996.
