Literacy Profile

Literacy Profile: Angela
Sara Morris
May 23, 2010
EDUC-567: English and Language Arts for Elementary Social Studies
Dr. Howland
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California

Literacy Profile: Angela

Angela is a seven-year old female in the 1st grade at Chandler Elementary School in Sherman Oaks, CA. Angela’s teacher describes her current literacy development as “lower than average” (personal communication, April 28, 2010). Angela is easily distracted in the classroom and has difficulty paying attention to classroom discussions. She struggles to stay focused during independent work and whole class lessons, preferring to work in cooperative groups.

Outside the Classroom
Angela is very active and likes to play outside. She really enjoys swimming and is looking forward to taking swimming classes this summer. When she is not enjoying the outdoors, Angela spends most of her time at home with her pet cat. Angela loves pets and says that she wants to be veterinarian when she grows up.
Reading and Writing Interview
Angela enjoys reading, and with her cat, she often reads stories about animals. According to Angela, both she and her cat get treats from her mother after reading a “good” book. A key factor of Angela’s enjoyment in reading is that her active imagination brings the images on the page to life. “When my mom is reading, I look at the pictures and it looks like it is moving in my head” (personal communication, April 28, 2010). She picks books with lots of pictures and likes looking at the illustrations while her mom reads.
When asked about writing, Angela shared a high level of interest in writing and was able to identify many writing purposes. She spoke about watching her mother write papers for school and preparing grocery lists and other reminders. When Angela was asked about the reasons why people write, she first responded by saying that “people write when they’re bored.” However, upon further questioning, Angela admitted to writing about her mom and dad all the time and putting her stories into a secret box. In terms of the concepts of print, Angela is aware that writing as a form of self-expression.

Inside the Classroom
Spelling Inventory:
The Qualitative Spelling Inventory was performed as an assessment of Angela’s spelling development (Analysis Appendix A). The assessment is used to provide insight into a student’s orthographic knowledge. The test is used to determine a student’s current spelling level according to the five stages of spelling. The levels range from emergent, letter-name alphabetic, within word pattern, syllables & affixes to derivational relations (Bear, et. al, pg. 36, 2000).
Based on this assessment, Angela is classified as a late emergent/early letter-name alphabetic speller. Angela would be considered a late emergent speller, because she does not follow traditional writing conventions. In the assessment she wrote vertically down the page, and in the blank section of the paper. In addition, she was inconsistent with her capitalization, another trait of an emergent speller.
According to Bear, she is also considered an early letter-name alphabetic speller. He states that, “In this stage students should be able to represent the beginning and ending sounds of words and be able to spell consonant blends and digraphs” (Bear, et. al, pg. 36, 2000). Angela was able to represent many of the most salient sounds correctly, but she struggled with identifying long and short vowel sounds, and applying the r-influenced short vowel and the consonant doubling rules. These factors indicate that she is in the early stage of being considered a letter-name alphabetic speller.
This assessment identified Angela’s need for further instruction in Phonics. According to Chen and Mora-Flores, “when a child writes words that contain only the beginning and ending sounds, it is an indicator that they may need additional help with hearing medial sounds” (Chen & Mora-Flores, pg. 162 – 163, 2006). Focused instruction on matching sounds with their corresponding letters and letter combinations would be beneficial for Angela and provide the scaffolding needed to transition her to the third level of spelling development.
Running Records
Educators often use running records as an assessment tool to analyze a student’s reading skills. A running record is “a coded analysis…used to assess a student’s reading strategies as he/she reads a short passage. The analysis is evaluated by the determination of accuracy, error rate, and self-correct rate” (Clay, pg. 6, 2007). Angela’s running record results were compared to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) 1st grade oral reading fluency norm that by week 36 of the school year students should be able to read 60 words per minute (LAUSD, 2008).
On Wednesday, May 5, 2010, the reading records test, created by Pearsons Education, was administered to Angela. The assessment took place in the school library in order to avoid any distractions. Angela was tested on three levels: primer, level 1 and level 2 (Analysis Appendix B). There were no visual aids provided for cueing, therefore Angela’s comprehension results were based on her reading the text once and then listening to the administrator reading the text one more time.
Angela read 81 words during the one-minute long reading records session from the level one text was titled “Mouse in a House.” She made three errors, and two self-corrections, for a total 78 correct words per minutes. This resulted in an accuracy rating of 96%. Her fluency score placed her in approximately the 75th percentile of 1st grade students in LAUSD. Angela’s fluency scores classify her as an independent reader; however, her comprehension scores reflect the instructional reader stage. It is interesting to note, that Angela reads at the 75% but does not comprehend what she is reading.
Writing Samples
An informal journal (Analysis Appendix C), formal writing assessment (Analysis Appendix D) and three-step writing process sample (Analysis Appendix E) were each used to analyze Angela’s writing proficiency. Each sample was analyzed based on the following criteria: three or more logically sequenced and focused sentences, standard and inventive spelling, capitalization, punctuation, spacing, descriptive language, use of illustration and combined and extended sentences. It is important to note that prompts were provided for the three writing samples, which may have impacted Angela’s writing proficiency. When prompts are provided, students may have less prior knowledge to draw from and to use to elaborate on topics in their writing (Chen & Mora-Flores, 2006). Therefore, Angela’s writing proficiency classification may have been greater if she were able to write about topics of her choice.
After analysis of Angela’s three writing samples, she was identified as a partially proficient writer. Overall, Angela consistently struggled with basic word knowledge. This was evidenced in her struggle to identify the digraph wh and many long and short vowel sounds. Angela also consistently used a very limited Tier One vocabulary. According to Beck, a “Tier One (vocabulary) consists of the most basic words- clock, baby, happy – rarely requiring instruction in school” (Beck, et al, pg. 16, 2002). Angela used the following Tier One words in her journal entry: cold, sunny, sweater, puddles and the following Tier One words in her published paper: smelled, scary, noise. Angela did not include any Tier Two or Tier Three words in any of her writing samples. Another pattern identified in Angela’s writing samples was a lack of basic capitalization and punctuation knowledge, as evidenced in the following sentence from her formal assessment: “Then if He gets ther Befar you Finllay you count.”

Implications for Instruction
Based on the results previously described, Angela has been classified as an independent reader with instructional needs in comprehension, recognizing digraphs and long and short vowel sounds, and writing convention and mechanics. Angela has a strong concept of print, and finds purpose for reading and writing in her daily life. Unfortunately that understanding has not translated to her schoolwork. Angela is disconnected from the topics she is required to write about and loses interest and focus quickly.
The contrasting results from the fluency assessment and spelling assessment prove that Angela is visual learner. In the reading records session she was able form correct sounds from letters and letter combinations on the page, but during the spelling assessment she struggled with translating sounds to the correct letters and letter patterns on a page. In some cases she was able to read a word correctly that she had misspelled in the previous assessment. In addition, Angela is easily distracted during whole class lessons and would benefit from visual cues and extended talk time with a peer. A differentiated instructional plan is needed for Angela and will take into consideration her strengths, weaknesses and instructional needs by providing her with purposeful assignments of her choosing, more peer talk time, and the introduction to graphic organizers as a visual means to organizer her thoughts prior to writing.
Based on the findings above, Angela would benefit from a constructivist approach to learning. According to constructivism, students learn when they are actively involved in their own projects and discovery. Constructivism, espoused by Piaget, proposes that interaction with the physical and social environment are equally important to a child’s development. In order to provide an optimum learning environment, a teacher must provide students with tools needed to accomplish a task, provide tasks that require students to identify their own goals, encourage the student to work hands-on to discover new knowledge, and partner with other students to widen their collective body of knowledge (Ormrod, 2008).
In order for Angela to be actively involved in her own literacy development, the room should be staged with relevant reading and writing materials. This includes access to paper, pencils, crayons, books, writing samples, and desks organized to support collaborative learning. Angela needs to be encouraged to use the classroom library and selects books that interest her to expand her current knowledge base. In addition, Angela needs to be exposed to a variety of purposes for writing and have the opportunity to select topics that she finds interesting. Angela should focus on assignments that deal with the practical purposes of writing. According to Alvermann, “Effective instruction develops students’ abilities to comprehend, discuss, study, and write about multiple forms of text (print, visual, and oral) by taking into account what they are capable of doing as everyday users of language and literacy” (Alvermann, pg. 9, 2002). With the classroom environment staged to support a wide variety of writing examples and multiple opportunities to write for a variety of self-selected purposes, Angela will begin taking ownership of her literacy development.
Angela may also benefit from extended peer talk time. By purposefully partnering her with a more knowledgeable student, Angela can practice her oral language development in an unstructured setting (Chen & Mora-Flores, 2002). Talk time will provide Angela with an opportunity to brainstorm ideas, expand her current knowledge base and develop a larger vocabulary through observing a peer model.
In order to develop her literary skills, Angela needs focused instruction on learning strategies. During the reading records session, it became clear that she struggled with making sense of the text, classifying her as an early reader. In order to develop, she needs to learn how to determine meaning from the text. “We want to help early readers move beyond the skill of decoding to focus on making meaning while they read” (Chen & Mora-Flores, pg. 19, 2006). Due to Angela’s success with visual cues, one strategy might be for her to create a graphic story map for every book she reads. By drawing pictures illustrating the sequencing of the story, Angela might increase her comprehension skills. A graphic story map may benefit Angela in the writing process as well. By organizing her thoughts visually, she can keep her writing focused.
Finally, Angela needs instruction on how to engage in self-regulated learning. Her fluency assessment proved that she is able match letters and letter combinations with their corresponding sounds. Therefore, if she were encouraged to self-monitor by reviewing her own writing, she would be able to identify the spelling mistakes and make the necessary revisions. Through implementing an instructional plan based on taking an active role in her literacy develop, increased peer talk time, direct instruction in learning strategies and self-regulated learning, Angela’s reading, writing and comprehension levels would increase.

Personal Reflection
Reflecting on the process of assessing and diagnosing a student I realized the importance of capturing a complete profile before making any formal conclusions. In the case of Angela, based on her spelling and writing samples only, I would have had a very different assessing her literacy skills. While she struggled translating words on the page, in the reading records assessment, I was clear that she understand the sounds for specific letters and letter combinations. In analyzing all the data, I determined that Angela was a visual learner, who benefit from instruction in self-regulated learning.
Throughout this process, it also became clear that literacy development and instruction must focus on connecting reading, writing and spelling. Each is related to the other and all need to develop simultaneously. If a student is progressing in one aspect of literacy development, the teacher must find ways to use the student’s current knowledge to promote growth in the other disciplines. Instruction in literacy must be differentiated to meet the needs of the specific student and should be relevant to their everyday life.

References:
Alvermann, D. (2002). Effective Instruction for Adolescents. Journal of Literacy Research. Summer. Pgs. 1 – 34.
Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnson, F. (2000). Qualitative Spelling Inventory. Words Their Way. Pg. 36 – 37.
Beck, I., & McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Chapter 2: Choosing Words to Teach. Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. Pgs. 15 – 30.
Chen, L. & Mora-Flores, E. (2006). Balanced Literacy for English Learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clay, M. (n.d.) Running Records/Miscue Analysis. An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement. Pg. 6.
Los Angeles Unified School District. Fluency Norms [Data File]. Retrieved from http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,217941&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP.
Ormrod, J. E., (2008). Educational Psychology Developing Learners. (6th, Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ and Columbus, OH: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.


Appendix
Appendix A
Set One: Angela spelled bed, ship and lump correctly. In spelling the word when, she missed the digraph wh, spelling the word wen. Angela was not able to identify the long o digraph in the word float, spelling it flot . Angela was able to write letters and identify the letter-sound match.
Set Two: Angela was successful in identifying the most salient sounds in the second set of words, however she had trouble applying basic spelling rules and misspelled every word. Angela spelled train with the digraph ea standing for a long e instead of with the digraph ai for a long a. She spelled the beginning of place correctly, but did not use a spelling rule to make a long a sound and used an s instead of c, spelling it plas. She also captured all the sounds in shopping, but did not double the p, spelling the word shoping. Set Three, Set Four and Set Five: Angela made many of the same spelling errors. For example, she forgot the consonant doubling rule in carries. She was not able to identify the digraph oi in spoil, spelling it spoul. She consistently mis-used the r-influenced short vowel. She used er instead of or in favor in set four. Towards the end of the assessment, Angela appeared to lose focus making many simple mistakes including leaving out key vowel sounds.

Appendix B
The text in the primer level was titled “A Trip” and had a total of 119 words. Angela was able to read 89 words per minute with no errors, classifying her as an independent reader. She was also able to accurately answer both explicit and implicit questions from the text correctly confirming her classification as an independent reader.
The level one text was titled “Mouse in a House” and had a total of 254 words. Angela read 81 words during this reading records session. She made three errors, and two self-corrections, totaling 78 correct words per minutes, resulting in an accuracy rating of 96%. Throughout the text Angela omitted the past tense ending ed. For example, in the seventh line she read decide instead of decided. Her fluency score places her in approximately the 75th percentile of 1st grade students in LAUSD.
While Angela’s fluency scores classify her as an independent reader, her comprehension scores resulted in an instructional status. She was able to answer three out of four explicit questions and one out of two implicit questions correctly. When asked why the last family bought the house, Angela said, “they liked the mouse and they wanted to buy a mouse, so they bought the house,” when the text stated, “We love the house so much we’ll buy it, mouse and all” (Pearsons, pg. 168, 2006).
In the level 2 passage, Angela read 45 words in one minute with two errors in a text titled “Seasons” for a score of 43 correct words per minute. This score places her under the 1st grade target of 60 words per minute. While she was able to read the text accurately, Angela was not able to answer any of the comprehension questions.

Appendix C
The journal entry analyzed was written on Monday, April 12, 2010 about the weather. This entry followed a month-long unit on the weather, and was assigned on a rainy day. The prompt read, “The weather is…” and the students were given 30 minutes to write and draw a corresponding picture. Angela’s illustration complimented her writing, and she completed three sentences with correct period usage, however, she struggled with many of the basic writing rules. For example, she was unable to use simple and compound sentences correctly, “The weather is cold and wendey and suny and cloudy.” She consistently neglected the double consonant rule, for example spelling sunny, suny, and had difficulty identifying the wh- digraphs, evidenced in her writing wen for when. Angela struggled with identifying and writing correct sounds. “Instruction in phonics further helps children with encoding, or spelling. They use their knowledge of phonic awareness and phonics to write words” (Chen & Mora-Flores, pg. 162, 2006). Based on the journal entry, Angela would benefit from additional instruction in phonics and use of punctuation.

Appendix D
The formal assessment analyzed was given to all LAUSD first grade students in week 24 of the school year. The prompt was to write about a game you like to play to a friend. Angela scored a 12 out of 20, which is below the standards set for grade one. She successfully wrote more than 3 logically sequenced and focused sentences and drew a corresponding picture, but did not met any of the other criteria. Angela did not follow the capitalization or punctuation rules as evidenced in the following sentence, “Next if the prsson that was counting if He finds you you have to run to the wale Before them.” In addition, she had trouble identifying the ou digraph in two out of three spellings of the word counting, spelling frequently used irregular words such as there, and identifying r controlled vowel sounds such as er in person. Angela also struggled with consistency, often spelling a word correctly one time and incorrectly the additional times.

Appendix E
The final sample collected for analysis is about a trip to the zoo and contains three parts: a graphic organizer, a rough draft, and a published paper. In reviewing the word choice of items found in a zoo including a pole and skunk in the sample, it is not clear if Angela has ever been to the zoo. “The children…will try to write what they think, but they will not have enough firsthand knowledge to elaborate on this topic” (Chen & Mora-Flores, pg. 199, 2006). The repeated and illogically placed adjectives that Angela uses to describe a trip to the zoo may be a result of lack of firsthand knowledge.
In addition to potential lack of knowledge, the graphic organizer portion of the sample contained many spelling, capitalization and correct use of adjectives mistakes. The adjectives used to describe the senses do not correspond, such as using the words, “big, lorg, nic” to describe hearing a monkey. Angela was not able to identify the long I spelling pattern in the word nice, and left out the vowel completely in three words. In the second phase, Angela’s writing improved. She wrote six logically sequenced and focused sentences. However, the punctuation and capitalization were inconsistent. In addition she was unable to detect the oi sound in noise spelling it noes, and the short a sound in black, spelling it blake.
Angela continued to show noticeable progress in the final portion of the sample, the published paper. She had six complete, correctly punctuated sentences and every word was spelled correctly. There were still some spacing misuses, but overall the paper was focused and there were few errors.