Jill
Kerper Mora
San Diego State University
The
Reader Case Study provides information concerning a student’s
language/literacy acquisition that contributes to planning an effective
instructional program. TE 930 A/B
students will become familiar with a standardized oral language assessment
measure as well as with the language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and
oral comprehension) required in academic subject matter instruction.
Background
information on the student can include the following: prior educational experiences, sociocultural background,
language(s) spoken in home; status (immigrant, refugee, or native born);
country of origin; age upon arrival to the U.S. Additionally, English proficiency (LAS or IPT scores) and
grade levels should be noted. Also examine any informal reading inventories,
running records provide evidence of literacy development levels.
This
case study report is a form of ethnographic research. It is an account of your
experiences in sharing reading activities with one English Language
Learner to learn as much as you can about this one student. Try to find
occasions to work one on one in a tutoring setting with the student and also
observe the student during your student teaching classroom interaction.
Your
final report is due on the date indicated in the syllabus. It should be a
typed narrative of about 3-5 pages. It should include a description of
student’s background, a summary of your activities or interactions with the
child and a recommendation for future instruction.
Samples of student work and assessments should be included.
Your written project may comprise a major component of your subsequent
professional portfolio.
Below
is a suggested schedule of observations of your case study subject's literacy
behaviors and skills. Also included are some instructional strategies or
interaction activities that you can conduct with the child to observe and
assess his/her literacy behaviors. Take notes each week for writing up your
final report. You do not need to include these in your report, but they will
be helpful in reflecting on the child's progress and on specific behaviors
that are indicators of developmental levels and/or competencies. These will
serve as examples to illustrate your main points in your case study report.
Week
1
Select
a student in your classroom who is learning English as a second language.
Interview the teacher if possible to find out background information. Try
to observe the student during class time and record observations (how does the child perform during instruction:
what is the class doing/ what is the LEP student doing/ what is the
teacher doing).
Week
2
Can
he/she read and/or write English with some level of proficiency?
Can
he/she read grade level material with comprehension?
What
pronunciation problems can you detect?
What
spelling or grammar problems do you notice?
Note
the student’s level of oral proficiency on the SOLOM or checking the child's
cumulative file (with teacher's permission and under his/her supervision).
Complete
the SOLOM Proficiency Assessment
Week
3
Listen
to your student read a storybook
(if he/she is pre-literate, read to him/her).
Find a book at his/her instructional level. Do a Running Record. If
the child is not reading yet, “picture talk” the story and note the
vocabulary (numbers, colors, nouns, adjectives, actions, phrases) the student
uses to tell the story back to you.
Week
4
Read
some pages from a grade-level social
studies textbook with the student. Note
the vocabulary, concepts, illustrations used and the students ability to
comprehend these displays of information. If the student does not have a
social studies textbook, try to find out what themes the teacher is teaching
in social studies (history of …., geography of …, biography of …).
Week
5
Read
some pages from a grade-level math
textbook with the student. Note
the vocabulary, concepts, illustrations used and the student’s ability to
comprehend these displays of information.
Help the student with basic/grade level math vocabulary and concepts.
Or assess your student’s ability to count in English, use ordinal numbers
(first, second, third), read and write numbers, tell time, add, subtract,
multiply, divide, measure, graph.
Read
some pages from a grade-level language
arts/literature textbook with the student.
Note the vocabulary, concepts, illustrations used and the student’s
ability to comprehend and retell the story.
If using a literature textbook, a story grammar process grid to record
student’s retelling of the story: Setting, Characters, 3 Events, Problem,
Resolution.
If
the language arts program includes a spelling
program, note the spelling patterns being practiced. Help the student learn to spell the week’s words or words
included on the Word Wall by noting onsets and rimes and phonics patterns.
Read
some pages from a grade-level science
textbook with the student. Note
the vocabulary, concepts, illustrations used and the student’s ability to
comprehend these displays of information.
Help the student with Reciprocal Reading techniques (preview, predict,
question, clarify).
If
the student does not have a science textbook, try to find out what themes the
teacher is teaching in science (senses, weather, body, health, plants,
animals, matter, energy, food, machines, solar system, scientific method).
Week
8
Collect
a writing sample from the child. Score it using the rubric presented in class.
If it is a form of writing using a First Steps format, score the sample using
the related rubric (i.e., report writing indicators on page 107 of First Steps
Writing Resource Book).
Reflect
on the progress you have seen in the student's literacy skills over the past
eight weeks.
Guidelines
for Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM)
The
purpose of this assignment is to provide an experience to student teachers in
administering a rating scale for second language proficiency. The
administration of the SOLOM to a student who is learning English as a second
language will allow teacher candidates to observe the interaction between oral
language proficiency termed Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)
and the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) required for
proficiency in reading and writing. Analyses of this type inform teachers
about how bilingual students' strengths and weaknesses in oral English
interact in the four skills of language arts: listening, speaking, reading and
writing. The SOLOM is designed to assess authentic oral language used for
real, day-to-day classroom purposes and activities.
In
addition, language assessment allows a teacher to closely observe students'
development of different features of language proficiency in a holistic
fashion. This information is useful in planning appropriate instruction for
bilingual readers and writers. The skills you will acquire in completing this
assignment address RICA content area 13: Structure of the English language.
For a complete discussion of the purpose and structure of the Student Oral
Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM) and how it is scored, see Peregoy &
Boyle (2000), p. 131-142.
Administrating
the SOLOM
Choose
a student from your classroom who is classified as an English language
learner. Observe the student in several different authentic classroom
activities in which he/she is interacting with the teacher and/or classmates,
such as cooperative group task. Observe for a minimum of five minutes on each
occasion. On each occasion, mark the rankings on the matrix according to your
impressions of the child's use of English. You may wish to audio record one or
more of your sessions to go back and confirm your impressions or to look for
certain patterns of errors or usage. You will rate the child's language use on
a scale from 1 to 5 on each of these traits:
comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
Cross-check your ratings from the different contexts in which you observed the
child for consistencies or variations that may indicate different levels of
proficiency according to language function or purpose.
Scoring
the SOLOM
The
SOLOM yields ratings for four phases of English language proficiency.
Phase
1 = 5-11
Phase
2 = 12-18
Phase
3 = 19-24
Phase
4 = 25 Full English proficiency
Reporting
the SOLOM Results
You
will submit a brief report of the results of the SOLOM to include the
following information:
The
child's total score and phase of English language acquisition.
A
discussion of the child's strengths and weaknesses in the five traits.
A
brief description of the classroom context and activity or activities in which
you observed the child.
Overall
impressions of the child's ability to function in English in an academic
context as well as a social interaction context.
A
discussion of what insights you gained from the experience of administering
the rating scale. These could include addressing issues such as:
Did
the child's level of overall fluency allow him/her to participate fully in
academic activities or was his/her participation impaired?