Dr. Seuss once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” (Geisel, 1978, pg 27) This

beloved author entered the minds and hearts of many young readers as well as their

parents. Through his creative, quirky writing he motivated his readers using an

endless variety of figurative language. He successfully encouraged children to acquire

proficient reading skills while being entertained at the same time. Since developing

the ability to be a capable reader is not an easy task, there are many strategies that can

be employed in order to achieve the result of quality pronunciation as well as

comprehension. Writers, such as Dr. Seuss, had a method to their madness.

Incorporated in their fictional writing, creative dialogue that would enable young

people, on the road to becoming good readers, to learn by sight, letter sound

decoding, analogy, and contextual guessing. “To read words by sight readers retrieve

information about the words stored in memory from previous experiences reading the

words” (Gaskins, I. W., Ehri, L. C., Cress, C., O'Hara, C., & Donnelly, K, 1996/1997,

pg 314). In the study to be detailed, I worked with one specific student, Macy

Hanson. I will describe, analyze, and reflect on her abilities to recognize a sight word

and to understand word families.

1. What are the age, grade level, and reading level of the student you taught?

Macy Hanson, age six, is entering first grade at a suburban elementary school in

Oakland County, Michigan, which is part of the Greater Detroit Metropolitan Area.

According to recent evaluations, upon exiting kindergarten, Macy’s reading level is early

and her independent reading level is at grade level.

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2. What are relevant characteristics of the student, including race/ethnicity, primary language and English proficiency, gender, disability status, supplementary or special education services and supports?Macy is a female Caucasian whose primary language is English. She does not have

any disabilities and therefore does not require special education services. She does

however, require speech services to work on specific sounds.

3. What assessment instruments did you select and why? What did they reveal about the student’s reading strengths and needs? How did you use the information obtained to plan your instruction? For each lesson I completed with Macy, there were a sequence of steps put in place in

order to pre assess and post assess Macy’s comprehension. I Can Help, a Benchmark C

book with a seventy-two word count was a primary focus for the first lesson taught. The

objective of this lesson was to determine a sight word that Macy could improve. Prior to

reading the book, Macy took a “picture walk,” where she looked through the pages of the

book and made predictions. She found this activity to be reminiscent of one with which

she was already familiar. She then used her pointer finger to read the book aloud to me.

As she read, I made annotations in my copy of the same book indicating words she knew

as well as those requiring improvement. I noted words she asked for an appeal, words I

told, words she read correctly, words she read incorrectly, words that Macy sounded out,

as well as phrases that she re-read. I used the Running Record assessment technique in

order to determine the percentage of words Macy needed to improve as well as to learn

what words Macy could use assistance in decoding better. “As whole words morphemes

and print patterns become increasingly familiar, knowledge of these larger units of print

allows students to read efficiently and spend less and less attention on sounding words

out letter by letter” (Moats, L. C. (1998). Pgs 2-3). From this pre-assessment tool, using

the running record, it was determined that Macy had five errors, which in turn meant that

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she read ninety-three percent of the words correct. From this pre-assessment it was

gathered that one of the words that Macy could improve upon was the word “help.” This

word was printed throughout the book and one in which Macy had trouble. This pre-

assessment revealed that focusing on the sight word “help” would assist in allowing

Macy to improve upon this word. Improvement in reading the word “help” would

increase her self-esteem as she would not get frustrated the next time her pointer finger

came to that specific word. The pre assessment revealed that Macy is a superior reader,

however when she comes across words that she has trouble, she has no problem asking

for assistance, however improvement could be made. This book was not very difficult

for her to read, however there were times where she had to sound out words as well as

times that she came across words where she required additional help. I used this the

information attained in the pre-assessment to determine a sight word for Macy to focus. I

created lessons that were kinesthetic and creative so that Macy was motivated and eager

to learn how to recognize and decode the word “help” without getting frustrated. In order

for Macy to become more familiar with the word “help,” she practiced the word three

different ways. First, Macy practiced the word help using her body to form the shapes of

the letters. She then practiced by forming letters out of play-dough. Finally, she practiced

the word ‘help” by spelling the word out using pieces of candy. During the post

assessment, Macy re-read the book I Can Read. Again, I made annotations in my copy

of the book, using Running Record symbols. It was determined that Macy only made one

error on a word. However she did read the word “help” correctly each time. Macy’s one

error was on the word cannot. She recited, “couldn’t” instead of the word that was

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written. It was proven that after the lessons taught Macy was able to recognize the word

“help” and read it aloud in a correct fashion one-hundred percent of the time.

The second lesson I taught Macy dealt with word families. Word families are

groups of words that have the same rhyming endings. To pre-assess Macy’s rhyming

abilities I initially recited eight pair of words since word families have rhyming endings.

Four pair of words rhymed and four did not. Since Macy understood rhyme, “Words that

begin differently but then share a stressed vowel and all phonemes that come after it,”

(Scarborough, H. S., & Brady, S. A. (2002), pg. 305) and responded perfectly to the pre-

assessment when verbally quizzed on her knowledge of words with similar rhyming

endings, it was obvious that she understood the concept. This indicated that I could

proceed with the lesson on word families. This pre-assessment revealed that Macy

had a knowledge base of rhyme and could therefore begin to apply this knowledge to

more than one word family. As part of the second lesson, I read Macy an –op word

family book entitled, Bop, Bop, at the Bunny Hop. While reading the word family

book to her, Macy often read along with me, for she was confident and comfortable

practicing a skill she understood. Ultimately, Macy and I both realized that she could

apply rhyming to other word families as well. As I taught Macy this lesson, she

commented that word families “have the same letters at the end.” Following reading the

–op word family book, together we did an –op cheer that was found at the end of the

book. We also practiced some –op word family riddles such as “A horse can gallop, a

bird can fly, a bunny can hop.” Concluding the word family lesson a coloring post-

assessment was given. Macy completed a word family color by code worksheet that had

three different word families displayed. Examples were given of each of these three

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word families and the directions included using three different colors to indicate three

different word family endings. The endings given were –op, -ip, and –ell. Macy

demonstrated a clear understanding of word families as she colored each word family the

correct color. This post assessment proved to be successful for not only did she

understand the –op word family, however she could identify other word families as well.

This lesson helped her gain a more clear understanding of word families and rhyme.

After Macy completed the coloring word family post assessment, she made a list on her

own, of six –op words that belonged in the same word family. She initiated this post

assessment, for she was excited that she understood the concept. The pre-assessment and

post assessment on word families were appropriate for Macy’s and determined that

comprehension of this topic was superb.

4. How does the current classroom climate promote independence, cooperation, risk-taking, interest, and caring?In order to create a comfortable classroom climate promoting independence,

cooperation, risk-taking, interest, and caring, I chose to involve Macy in learning

activities involving the aforementioned necessities for successful learning. Macy loves

playing “school” and has a desk in her bedroom. The desk provided a perfect learning

center for our two lessons together. Macy already possessed inherent learning

characteristics. She is motivated, creative, and loves to read. Playing the game of school

was natural for her, as she was already engaged.

In order to promote an independent environment, I suggested that Macy show me that

she could read on her own. After successfully completing this task, Macy completed her

assignments independently, without any assistance on my part. She asserted her

independence and ability to work on her own while completing pre assessments, lesson

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activities, as well as post assessments. During the pre-assessment of reading the

Benchmark C book, I Can Read, Macy demonstrated that she could read independently

without a great deal of help. During the lesson, she had difficulty with the sight word

“help.” After completion of the pre-assessment, it was decided by Macy and me that this

would be the word of focus for the lesson. She practiced the word help on her own and

used her body to form the shapes of the letters. She also practiced by forming letters out

of play-dough as well as by spelling the word “help” out with pieces of candy. During the

post assessment Macy improved her independence by reading I Can Read for the second

time on her own. This time, she read the book without making any mistakes on the sight

word. During the pre-assessment and post assessment of learning word families Macy

also proved that she could perform certain tasks without any assistance whatsoever.

During the post assessment of learning word families, Macy colored by code categorizing

the word ending families by color. She sat at her desk, focused and independently

assessed her knowledge after learning about word families. Independence was a primary

focus of this activity as Macy is a studious girl who takes pride in completing tasks on

her own. However, she is also comfortable asking me for help when needed.

While Macy is an independent learner, she appreciates the opportunity to work

together while learning. During the lesson of learning word families, Macy enjoyed

responding aloud while I was reading Bop, Bop at the Bunny Hop. Macy was eager to

give the correct response when she knew the word as it pertained to word families. Also,

during the sight word lesson, while Macy read the book I Can Read to me, she would

ask for my help if she felt unsure. She felt comfortable asking for assistance if she did

not recognize a particular word. This proved our cooperation was a success.

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Keeping Macy’s interest was never a problem, for I selected concepts, activities, and

materials that were grade level appropriate and involved a game of “school” that Macy

clearly loves. In creating these lessons, I was careful to make sure that Macy understood

each lesson clearly, and that she was never feeling overwhelmed. If I noticed that she

was feeling frustrated I made a point to let her know that learning a new concept is not

always easy and that it is ok to take risks. It is even ok to feel frustrated while learning a

new skill. The fact that she knew I would be there to help if needed made her feel more

comfortable at all times. Above all Macy knew that I cared a great deal about her

progress, therefore I created lessons and activities that would keep her attentiveness and

motivated to learn. This created a situation where, because Macy was interested in the

curriculum being taught, she was actively engaged in both of the lessons. “… Not all

students are motivated in multiple ways, but their motivation can vary depending on the

situation or context in the classroom or school....” (Linnenbrink, E. A., & Pintrich, P. R.

(2002), pg 314). Macy was motivated to learn for the environment was one that was set

to be creative, welcoming, full of energy, and fun.”

5. What particular instructional challenges do the student, his/her instructional context, and his/her schooling history present?Macy, the student whom I have taught the sight word and word family lessons, is

entering first grade in the fall. Given that Macy is six years old and has completed

kindergarten, there are certain instructional challenges that were present. A key factor in

holding Macy’s attention was that she lacked ability to focus and concentrate for long

periods of time. She therefore required kinesthetic learning along with very precise

explanation of material being covered. Macy has not yet developed proficient speech and

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language and therefore her pronunciation was slightly affected. Since Macy did not learn

word families prior to our working together on this lesson, at first she experienced

minimal difficulty in grasping the concept. Within a short time, Macy made a connection

with the rhyming words and hence comprehended fully word families. An instructional

challenge that slightly impeded Macy’s interest level was the fact that school is not in

session for her. Although this posed an instructional challenge, playing the game of

“school” allowed Macy to actively place herself in a school setting. Since Macy does

not have any learning disabilities, reads at grade level, and enjoys school, she welcomed

the new experience and opportunity to learn two new reading concepts.

6. What were your instructional goals for your lesson? Why were these goals selected? How do they relate to the curriculum and the needs of this student?The main instructional goals of each lesson taught were to improve Macy’s reading

comprehension and knowledge of sight words and word families. These goals were

selected because they were age appropriate and applied directly to the curriculum taught

at the first grade level. Two specific areas of Grade Level Content Expectations of focus

during the lessons taught were based on phonics and word recognition. The first lesson

taught to Macy focused on acquisition of a sight word in the context of a book. “We

realized that beginners can learn to read words by sight long before they are capable of

performing the mature form of sight word reading.” (Gaskins, I. W., Ehri, L. C., Cress,

C., O'Hara, C., & Donnelly, K. (1996/1997), pg 316). R.WS.01.05 states that students

will automatically recognize frequently encountered words in and out of context with the

number of words that can be read fluently increasing steadily across the school year.

This GLCE stated an objective to be met by Macy during the lesson in which she focused

on learning the word “help.” As a first grader, students come across a variety of words,

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as Macy did, that require a little more attention to guarantee that these words are fully

understood. The second lesson taught to Macy focused on comprehension of word

families and application of onset and rimes. The article entitled, Toward A Common

Terminology for Talking About Speech and Reading: A Glossary of the "Phon" Words

and Related Terms, defines onset and rime as “Within a syllable, the portion preceding

the vowel is called the onset, and the remainder of the syllable is called the rime”

(Scarborough, H. S., & Brady, S. A. (2002), pg 305). Once Macy understood that word

families have the same letter at the end, she could apply this knowledge and

understanding when exposed to different examples of word families. R.WS.01.04 states

that students will use structural cues to recognize one-syllable words, blends, and

consonant digraphs including: letter-sound, onset and rimes, whole word chunks, word

families, digraphs th, ch,sh. This instructional goal was selected because she understood

the concept of rhyming. Developmentally, word families would be the next concept that

Macy could readily understand. While this was a new area of study for her, it would

enable her to have even more success as she enters first grade. Application of rhyming

words to that of word families helped Macy comprehend that word families have the

same ending. Aside from meeting the Grade Level Content Expectations, introducing

these lessons to her, will make a world of difference. They will serve as a means of

making her more successful academically.

7. Did your reading instruction make a meaningful contribution to the student’s overall reading progress? How do you know?My reading instruction definitely made a meaningful contribution to the student’s

overall reading progress. After spending much time on teaching Macy the sight word

“help” and also educating her extensively on various word families, especially those with

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–op endings, I have given Macy new knowledge to take with her on her journey through

first grade. Through the pre-assessments, and actual lesson instructions, Macy fully

understood and was able to apply the information to successfully complete post-

assessments with expertise. On Macy’s post assessment during sight word recognition,

she did not make any mistakes when she read the word “help.” She demonstrated her

knowledge of recognizing the word when writing the word “help” in creative ways

during the lesson, and applied her understanding. She took her comprehension of

recognizing the sight word outside of the text to application of recognizing the word in

the book. When completing the color-coded word family post assessment, Macy colored

each word family the correct corresponding color. She did not hesitate as she sat

diligently coloring in the lines of each word family object. Macy scored one-hundred

percent on her coloring post assessment. Concluding the lesson on word families, when

asked what a word family was, Macy responded with a correct statement. She stated,

“Word families have the same letters at the end of the word and rhyme.” Through verbal

and written assessment it was concluded that Macy understood the concept of word

families.

8. What did you do to support the student’s success during the lesson and why? Were your efforts beneficial; why? Some particular elements you might want to address include: In order to support Macy’s success during the sight word and word family lessons my

efforts were beneficial for I used a variety of teaching methods in order to motivate and

create a quality learning environment. Methods such as using explicit instruction,

continuously giving feedback throughout my teaching, and creation of developmental

lessons aided in Macy’s retention of knowledge and comprehension.

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(a) your teaching method (e.g., direct instruction, strategy instruction, reciprocal teaching, peer-mediated learning) and justification for it;

The teaching method in which I employed primary consisted of explicit

instruction. Since I did not teach these lessons to a group of students, explicit instruction

was necessary. Throughout each lesson I precisely, using simple language, told Macy

exactly what we were going to do as we performed each task. Macy was told the purpose

for each lesson, therefore giving her a better understanding of what was about to occur.

During the sight word pre-assessment, Macy was instructed to read the book, I Can

Help. Upon completion, it was determined that “help” would be the word of study. I

then instructed Macy, through various lessons, to complete each activity. Following the

lessons on learning the sight word, Macy re-read the book for her post-assessment. She

improved her reading skills and recited the word “help” correctly each time she saw the

printed word.

I also guided Macy through the word family lesson. For her pre-assessment I read

rhyming and non-rhyming word pairs to her. The goal of this pre-assessment was to

determine whether Macy understood rhyme, therefore would be able to comprehend the

concept of word families. Macy would respond, saying “yes” or “no” indicating that she

understood which word pairs rhymed and which did not. Following the pre-assessment I

read Macy the –op word family book, for she scored one-hundred percent correct on

comprehension of rhyming words. Prior to completing the post assessment, I gave her

directions so that she could independently and accurately complete the coloring

worksheet. Throughout the word family lesson, explicit instruction was given.

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies is defined by Vanderbilt University professors

Douglas Fuchs and Lynn Fuchs as, “Whereby children work together to support each

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other’s learning,” (Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2005) pg 34) require more than one student

in a classroom, and therefore could not be implemented. During this type of instruction,

“…subgroups of children in the same classroom can operate on different levels of

curricula and use different instructional procedures. Teachers, in effect, can oversee many

lessons simultaneously and address a broader range of students’ educational

needs….”(Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2005) pg 34). This method of instruction was not

possible to implement during the teaching of one specific student. If I were given the

opportunity to teach these lessons to a group of students in a classroom situation, Peer

Assisted Learning Strategies would be another teaching method to consider.

(b) use of modeling, cues, prompts, teaching aids, and feedback; and Through my explicit instruction, I modeled, used teaching aids, and also gave

Macy feedback throughout each of the lessons. During the sight word lessons, I modeled

ways in which Macy could form the letter sequence of “help.” She then used her own

creativity to form the letters spelling the word. I modeled the letters using my body as

well as by molding play-dough. I also showed her ways that she could compose the

letters h-e-l-p using candy. Throughout the lessons, I would give Macy feedback in order

to correct and imperfections. For example, when Macy was making the letter “p” with

candy, she initially started to place the candy so that the “p” faced backwards. I then

asked her if the word “help” looked like it was printed in the book. At that point, she

realized that her “p” was facing the wrong way, and corrected her error. Providing this

feedback allowed Macy to become more familiar with how to form letters correctly and

accurately spell words. During the sight word reading I modeled how to take a “picture

walk” and read words one at a time, as I demonstrated how to do this correctly. During

the word family lesson, I used a word family tale book, as a teaching aid, in order to

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model the formations of letters and words. This book proved to be a useful tool in

conveying the true meaning of word families. During Macy’s post-assessment I gave her

feedback concluding the completion of the worksheet. I reviewed each word family

ending as it corresponded with the correct color. Using modeling, teaching aids, and

providing feedback allow Macy to thrive as a learner.

(c) techniques for promoting generalization and maintenance, such as performance summary and branching to future lessons.

Teaching Macy a sight word as well as word families provided a solid foundation

for future word processing, spelling, and whole language acquisition. This will enhance

her phonological awareness and assist her in future development. “Systematic language

related differences and the fact that early forms of phonological awareness develop prior

to literacy instruction suggest that experiences with oral language play an important role

in developing phonological awareness” (Francis, D. J., & Anthony, J. L. (2005), pg 256).

Teaching word families will only increase a child’s ability to recognize and become more

familiar with written and oral language

9. What were the critical moments or choices made during instruction that impacted the direction of the lesson?As I reflect on the critical moments and choices made during instruction that

impacted the direction of the lesson, everything went exactly as planned. From the choice

of topics for each lesson to the implementation of the lessons it was easy to see that this

experience had been educational as well as enjoyable for Macy. Creating lessons that

Macy could compare to her school routine was helpful in maintaining her excellent

motivation and attention. Taking a “picture walk” through the book to brainstorm what

the book will be about, reminded her of what she often does in her natural school setting.

She was eager to learn, as the information was grade level appropriate. The lessons were

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paced properly and well coordinated. I slowed down when I sensed Macy getting

frustrated and paced the lesson so that she would be successful. Each lesson was

developmentally appropriate and carefully planned. There was creativity in both the

teaching and the assessments. Creating lessons and assessment with Macy’s interest in

mind was critical to her learning. Macy spelled out the word “help” in three different

ways. First she used candy, second she formed the letters with play-dough, then finally

shaped her body into the letters of the word (starting with h, and ending with p). These

activities motivated Macy to learn. Since Macy enjoyed reading, choosing a book that

was not too difficult, allowed Macy to learn a new sight word as well as read a book to

me. Macy enjoys books read to her. Choosing to read Bop, Bop at the Bunny Hop,

increased her interest in the lesson. Since she enjoys art, creating a post-assessment

involving coloring excited her.

10. What evidence do you have that the student achieved your instructional goals?Macy’s post assessments prove that she has achieved my instructional goals. I

noticed, upon completion of the running record assessment that Macy improved not only

on the sight word “help,” but also on her reading percentage as a whole. She was able to

focus on the sight word and practice spelling the word using a variety of methods. She

became very familiar with the –op word family and ultimately understood the definition

of a word family. In addition to the word family lesson, Macy proved that she could also

understand other word families than the initial word family she was taught. This was

proven when she was able to identify other word family endings on her post-assessment.

Macy proved to be successful in both areas of study and demonstrated complete

knowledge of these areas.

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11. If you were given another opportunity to teach this lesson with this student, what changes would you make and why? Some particular elements you might want to address include: If given another opportunity to teach these lessons, It would be difficult to alter them

with this particular student given the fact that I am extremely familiar with this student’s

personality, cognitive ability, temperament, as well as her prior knowledge. I am also

aware of her interests and what motivates her. I tailored lessons to Macy, taking a great

deal of time and preparation in order to make them informative and suitable for a six year

old to study. My thorough reflection of the implementation of these lessons clearly

indicates that Macy was comfortable and motivated the entire time.

(a) your behavior management;My behavior management was appropriate for Macy’s learning, for I created an

environment where she was on task and motivated to learn the material being taught. She

acted in a studious manner and was well behaved. Had I worked with a student that was

not as focused and on task as Macy, I would have had to manage the student’s behavior

in a better fashion. I would have had to use different cues in order to engage my student

in learning. Some students are not capable of focusing during lessons, and need

reinforcement. Others, such as Macy do not have behavior problems that affect her

learning.

(b) Tactics to promote active participation and interest; Given that I know Macy’s interests, I created tactics to promote participation and

interest. Had I not worked with a student who I had extensive knowledge about, I would

have had a harder time promoting participation. Knowing what motivates Macy allowed

me to prepare lessons that were of her liking. Since Macy enjoys physical activity, art,

reading, and candy, I was able to incorporate each of these elements into a lesson where

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she thrived. Creating the lessons that I did promoted her participation and

comprehension of the concepts taught. In the future I could use the knowledge of some

of Macy’s other interests such as music, to create another engaging lesson. If I were to

teach these same lessons to her again, I would use similar creative techniques in order to

hold her attention

(c) lesson pacing and transitions; The lesson was paced very well, as Macy did not feel overwhelmed. Had I had an

opportunity to teach these lessons again, I would have spent more time on word families.

I read her the –op word family book, Bop, Bop at the Bunny Hop, worked on word

family concepts, then gave her a post-assessment with regard to various word family

endings. In the future I would read her another word family book with a different ending,

such as –ell. If I had done so, the transition to an assessment, which provided more than

one word family, would have made more sense to her. The post-assessment helped me

realize that Macy understood the word family concept even though she was only read one

book on the –op word family. With respect to the sight word “help” I would spend more

time having Macy identify the word in context of book as well as out of context. The

lesson was paced well, however in order to improve comprehension I would have taken

more time to teach each concept.

(d) Effectiveness of teaching procedures and materials; and I found my teaching procedures and materials to be effective for Macy was

excited to learn the new concepts. Given the opportunity to teach Macy these lessons

again, I would use similar procedures and materials. Knowing her interests, I might

create lessons that relate to other areas in which she enjoys. I would use more reading

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materials, for she desires reading books as well as having books read to her. I would also

incorporate other projects that involve Macy’s creativity. Along with having Macy do art

projects, color, use play-dough, and kinesthetic learning, I will have her create a song as

it relates to both the sight word and word families. I was an effective teacher for Macy

for I understood how she learns best. Macy enjoyed working with me and I was excited

that I could contribute to her knowledge base.

e) usefulness of the assessment data collected.The data collected proved that Macy learned the new concepts and that my

teaching was effective. Macy correctly read the sight word “help” each time when

reciting the book, I Can Help. The pre-assessment data collected allowed me to

determine a sight word that Macy needed assistance. The post assessment determined that

she learned the word and could read it in the same context as her pre-assessment. In

another lesson, I would have Macy read another book, at her grade level, that

incorporates the word “help” in context throughout the reading. This would give me a

better understanding of Macy’s retention. The rhyming pre-assessment for learning word

families allowed me to determine if teaching Macy word families would be beneficial.

Had she not understood the concept of rhyme, It would have been difficult for me to

continue with my lesson as planned. I would have had to alter it completely. The post-

assessment data collected proved that Macy could identify not only –op word families,

but other word families as well. If I were to post-assess Macy in another fashion, I might

have her create her own story using the –op word family or one of her choice.

12. In what ways could reading instruction for this student be more developmentally appropriate and responsive to his/her unique needs?

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If I had not consulted an elementary school reading professional, prior to selecting

materials for these lessons, I might have had difficulty determining developmentally

appropriate lessons and materials. Had this occurred, I would have had to make

appropriate adjustments to facilitate my instruction. I might have had to lessen or increase

the difficulty of each aspect of my pedagogy depending on Macy’s ability to comprehend

the material. The sight word book selected was at Macy’s reading level and did not need

to be altered. Had I chosen a more difficult book, Macy would have struggled. During

the lesson on word families, had I not determined in Macy’s pre-assessment that she

understood rhyming, I would not have been able to continue the lesson as planned. I

would have had to teach onset and rime prior to moving on to a concept such as word

family recognition. Since the lessons provided were developmentally appropriate Macy

was eager to learn and was very responsive to the instruction of each new concept.

13. What aspects of your reading lessons demonstrate your use of newly learned techniques to provide effective reading instruction?

As I planned the lessons on sight word reading and word families, I consulted

various publications and read numerous journal articles to educate myself more fully

on these topics. I sought materials that would be age appropriate, purposeful, and

creative. I employed various teaching techniques in order to successfully reach a six-

year-old learner who was already reading at grade level. I utilized assorted activities

that promoted risk-taking, active engagement, and above all, outcome based

comprehension. Throughout each lesson, Macy was motivated to become a better

reader. “One reason that motivation and engagement may influence the development

of reading comprehension is that motivated students usually want to understand text

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content fully and, therefore, process information deeply. As they read frequently with

these cognitive purposes, motivated students gain in reading comprehension

proficiency.” (Guthrie, J. T., et al. (2004), pg 403). Motivating and engaging a young

reader created a positive learning environment where learning occurred. The student

was receptive to new ideas and enjoyed adding to her knowledge base. As an

educator I found this experience personally rewarding as well. Through reading

Procedures For Word Learning: Making Discoveries About Words, I gained a better

understanding of how to apply theory and research while implementing lessons on

sight words. “In sight word reading, the words are read from memory, not from

decoding and blending operations, because the words are familiar” (Gaskins, I. W.,

Ehri, L. C., Cress, C., O'Hara, C., & Donnelly, K. (1996/1997), pg 315). In using this

knowledge, I was able to create a lesson that assisted in Macy’s comprehension of

identifying a sight word. Implementations of module readings were used in order to

create reading lessons that were purposeful.

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REFERENCES:

Francis, D. J., & Anthony, J. L. (2005). Development of phonological awareness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(5), 255-259. 

Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2005). Peer assisted learning strategies: Promoting word recognition, fluency, and reading comprehension in young children. Journal of Special Education, 39(1), 34-44. 

Gaskins, I. W., Ehri, L. C., Cress, C., O'Hara, C., & Donnelly, K. (1996/1997). Procedures for word learning: Making discoveries about words. The Reading Teacher, 50(4), 312-327. 

Geisel, T.G. I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! New York: Random House

Guthrie, J. T., et al. (2004). Increasing reading comprehension and engagement through concept-oriented reading instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(3), 403-423. 

Linnenbrink, E. A., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Motivation as an enabler for academic success. School Psychology Review, 31(3), 313-327. 

Moats, L. C. (1998). Teaching decoding. American Educator, 22(1), 1-9. 

Scarborough, H. S., & Brady, S. A. (2002). Toward a common terminology for talking about speech and reading: A glossary of the "phon" words and related terms. Journal of Literacy Research, 34(3), 299-336. 

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APPENDIX 1: The following pictures were taken during the first lesson: sight word reading

Macy was excited to begin her lesson on learning the sight word “help,” however decided to eat a piece of candy first.

In the process of creating the word H-E-L-P, Macy was figuring out what pieces of candy would work best for the letter “p”

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Macy’s completed lesson, using candy, on the sight word “help.” She was proud of her work.

While creating the word h-e-l-p, Macy carefully selected pieces of candy to form the letters

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Macy used her body to form the letters in sequential order. H-E-L-P

I Can Help : Benchmark C book with a 72 word count.Used a pre-assessment and post-assessment for comprehension of the sight word “help”

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Macy read the book to me for her pre and post assessments.

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APPENDIX 2The following pictures were taken during the second lesson: word families

-op word family book read to Macy

Macy worked diligently on completing her post-assessment

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Macy, in question, of how many words she should think of in the –op word family.

Assessments for word family lesson

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Lesson 2

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