What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction? What connections have you seen between what you observed and our readings  and/or class discussions.

Since we are only there one day this past week, I did not get to observe much language arts instruction. In the small amount of time I was able to observe, the students were working on persuasuve writing. The prompt was to argue if students should be allowed to chew gum in school. They discussed the pros and cons of students chewing gum in school, and ways to convince/argue their position. They seemed to carry on a good discussion about the topic, but began to struggle when it came time to write about their thoughts.

Have you done any teaching in your internship? What have you taught ? Have you worked with a child or a group of children? What did you do with them (e.g., picture/word sort, DRTA, Text Talk) ?\

Overall, I have not done any teaching other helping individual students or small groups of students with classwork. The only other one-on-one experiences I had with students was during the WRI assessments and math interviews. I did spend some time with a few students this past week working on math, but did not  have the opportunity to work witih students in language arts.

Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.

During this overall experience, I realized how difficult the 5th grade curriculum is. My mother taught 5th grade many years ago and always commented on the difficulty of the curriculum. I was able to see first hand what she had been talking about. It had been a long time since I had done some of the things they were doing in class, so I was unfamiliar with some of the content and struggled with explaining and teaching certain methods. It also made it difficult coming into someone else’s classroom and teaching/helping without knowing how they do things. Not being there from the beginning made it difficult to know what methods had been used, and how students were taught. I was always afraid that I would confuse them if I did things differently than they were taught. I was impressed with how much the teachers welcomed and encouraged students to use their own methods, and do things however best worked for them, as long as it was correct. They really worked hard to embrace the diversity in their classroom, and were open to modifying and adapting instruction to meet all students’ needs. Working at Moravian Falls was an excellent opportunity for me. Not only did it give me experience in working with older students, but it gave me the opportunity to observe and learn from a diverse group of students. I enjoyed my time at Moravian Falls, and enjoyed seeing so many of the things discussed in my classes in real life situations.

This week in language arts/reading, students read nonfiction books containing information about science/physics principles. I thought this was excellent because the books correlated with the science instruction they were receiving from the science teacher. This shows the importance of teachers working together to help keep consistency and correlation within the curriculum. This was beneficial for students because they were able to use the knowledge gained in their science class to make sense of the text in their reading class.  On Tuesday the students worked on note taking strategies. This was something I never felt I was properly taught as a student. I found this to be a very beneficial exercise for fifth graders. Students were encouraged to read the material and write key terms and definitions, as well as important facts. This helped them learn what qualified as important, and how to organize the information in their notes. The teacher encouraged the students to write definitions and facts in their own words. This exercise utilized students reading skills, vocabulary use, and comprehension of text.  On Thursday the students took a quiz on the material learned from the nonfiction books they had been reading. We were told that the students had worked together as a class to come up with the questions themselves. I was amazed to see how many students struggled with the questions even after helping make the questions.

Have you done any teaching in your internship? What have you taught ? Have you worked with a child or a group of children? What did you do with them (e.g., picture/word sort, DRTA, Text Talk) ?

On Tuesday I helped a group that was reading a book about motion and taking notes on the material. The students I worked with were in a lower reading level. It became challenging for the students to distinguish what information needed to go into their notes. They also struggled with putting definitions into their own words based on what they read. Instead they wanted to copy it down from the glossary. I explained that a glossary is an excellent resource but encouraged them to try creating a definition on their own based on the text. I think the main problem with this was that they did not comprehend the material. I have helped do various things to assist the teacher, like answer students’ questions, but have not been doing much teaching.

Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.

As I mentioned earlier I think it is excellent how the teachers work as a team to teach these students. These students benefit greatly from having consistency among the teachers not only with the curriculum but also with discipline.  

Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning.

I would like to know more about using a Smartboard.

This week in Language Arts, the students worked on vocabulary and took a practice EOG to help prepare them for them for end for grade testing. On Tuesday they were given a quiz on a group of vocabulary words they had been working on. I observed the students as they took the quiz. For many of them it took nearly the entire class period to complete the 20 fill in the blank questions. The teacher, Ms.S, had them raise their hand when they finished and had us help her check their quizes before taking them up. We would not give them any answers, but we told them which ones to look back over. I thought this was a great thing to do, because it gave students the chance to make changes and correct their mistakes. On thursday, the class went over the practice EOG they took on Wednesday when we were not there. The test showed Ms.S some of things that they students were struggling with, which gave her an idea of what to go over. She went over one passage that seemed to create a lot problems for the students. She had students take turns reading a few lines or paragraph. I was glad to see that many of the students were eager to read aloud. They would raise their hands with enthusiasm in hopes to be the next one to read. I was surprised to see some of the students who usually do not participate in class discussion so eager to read. After reading, Ms.S went over the questions that went with the passage. Observing this allowed me to see how frustrating teaching can be! I will admit that many of the questions were difficult and worded oddly, but the students seemed completely lost. Ms.S would spend plenty of time explaining and describing things to students to help guide them to the correct answer, but they seemed to not comprehend the reading. A lot of the problem seemed to be that by this point in the afternoon, students have had lunch, and are tired. Plus, this was right before Spring Break, and they were getting restless. I think this is a good reminder that EOG preparation should be done in the mornings when students are fresh and focused.

Have you done any teaching in your internship? What have you taught ? Have you worked with a child or a group of children? What did you do with them (e.g., picture/word sort, DRTA, Text Talk) ?

I still have not done any teaching. I doubt that I will do much of anything like that. 5th grade is very different from other grades, and there is not as much opportunity for interns to teach. The schedule is very busy, and each teacher only has their studetns for a brief time. They are focused on getting the students through the end of grade testing, and it would take away from their instruction if we did any teaching. We do help answer questions and keep students on task. I did get to read with some students again this week.

Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.

The students seem to really love and enjoy their teachers. I think the teachers do a great job at caring for the students, but also giving them proper discipline and sturcture.

Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning

What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction? What connections have you seen between what you observed and our readings  and/or class discussions.

Working with 5th graders at Moravian Falls is very different than other teachinhg experience I have had. Unlike the other grades in the school, the students travel to different teachers througout the day. The teachers have them in groups based on academic levels. The student go to Language Arts with Ms. S in the afternoon. The students are divided into groups. Each group has an assigned color. Ms. S assigns each group to a different task. They then switch tasks to ensure that each group does each task. One group works with a reading specialist who comes into the classroom to assist Ms. S. This week the group worked on prefixes and suffixes. They played a memory matching game. Prefixes and suffixes were written on cards, and their meanings were written on another card. Students took turns matching the prefixes and suffixes with their correct meaning. This was much like the word sort memory games we have learned about in class. The students really enjoyed the game, and seemed to be motivated to learn prefixes and suffixes. Another group was working with Mrs. S by doing a DRTA type lesson. I was not able to observe this lesson as well as I had hoped because I was busy assisting the other group of students who were doing seat work. The seat work consisted of looking up a vocabulary word, writting the definition, finding a synonym of the word and using it in a sentence. They were also asked to use already learned vocabulary to finish a sentence she had put up on the board, and complete analogies such as “apple: fruit, carrot:_______” . This week I also got to read with a student who struggles with reading. It was interesting to see some of the things we have read about in out articles come to life as I watched her read. I noticed that she was more worried about fluency in her reading and sounding like a fast reader than actually reading the words correctly and understanding the material. She would mummble over many words, and say words incorrectly. She would also add in words that were not there because she thought they made sense to go there. I was afraid of overcorrecting her, but later learned that she needs the reinforcement in order to improve. I had a great first week!

Have you done any teaching in your internship? What have you taught ? Have you worked with a child or a group of children? What did you do with them (e.g., picture/word sort, DRTA, Text Talk) ?

I have not done any teaching so far. I have helped students with assignments, and as I mentioned before read with a student, but I have not done any formal instruction. This week has been mainly observing and assisting in the classroom.

Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.

I find it interesting that 4th and 5th grade teachers work together to provide instruction to the students. In the mornings the 5th grade teachers teach 5th graders math. They are split into two groups: red group and blue group. One group is low to middle level and the other is middle to high level. They teach the same concepts, but the instruction is modified to fit the students’ levels. In the afternoon the 5th graders go to the 4th grade teachers for social studies and language arts instruction. Once again they are grouped in levels. At this time the 4th graders are learning math with the 5th grade teachers. The schedule changes throughout the year, and teachers teach other subjects than the ones they are teaching now, but I am not sure of all the details. It is very confusing and hard to keep up with for someone who is walking into it when we are, but for the students and teachers it works very well.

Post any questions that you have about teaching/learning.

Curt is in third-grade

2. What was the flash score for words at: first-grade level? second-grade level? third-grade level?

First-grade level: Preprimer- 100%, Primer- 95%, 1-2- 75%

Second-grade level: 50%

Third-grade level: 20%

3. What was the accuracy score at: 1-2 level? 2-1 level? 2-2 level?

1-2 level: 97%

2-1 level: 90%

2-2 level: 84%

4. What was the rate score at: 1-2 level? 2-1 level? 2-2 level?

1-2 level: 65 wpm

2-1 level: 44 wpm

2-2 level: 36 wpm

5. What was the percentage correct score for: first-grade words? second-grade words?

First-Grade words: 60% (6 out of 10)

Second-grade words: 0% (no words spelled correctly)

Consider the following expected scores, then compare those expectations to the scores Curt produced. With the Word Recognition Test, flash scores are generally interpreted as follows: 90-100% indicates Independent Level; 60-85% indicates Instruction Level; Below 50% indicates Frustration Level.

With oral reading accuracy, scores are generally interpreted as follows: 98-100% indicates Independent Level; 95-97% indicates Instruction Level; Below 92% indicates Frustration Level.

With oral reading rate, expected grade-level ranges are as follows:

Grade–Words per minute

1^st–45-85

2^nd–80-120

3^rd–95-135

With spelling scores, around 50% correct indicates Instruction Level.

6. Which grade-level flash score is the best choice for Instruction Level? (*Note: 92-94% accuracy is marginal; take a close look at Rate.)

First-grade level. Curt’s first-grade level scores were within the instructional level.

7. Which grade-level accuracy score is the best choice for Instruction Level?

Second-Grade level. Curt’s scores show that he is proficient in the first-grade level.

8. What do Curt’s rate scores indicate about his grade-level reading? Where is he instructional according to rate?

Curt’s rate scores indicate that he is on first-grade level, and that his instructional level is on second-grade level.

9. What do Curt’s spelling scores indicate about his Instruction Level?

For spelling, 50% correct indicates Instructional Level. Curt scored 60% on the first-grade level spelling list, which shows that he still needs some instruction on that level. He scored 0% on the second-grade level spelling list. This indicates that he will need some instruction in first-grade level spelling before receiving instruction in second-grade level spelling.

10. Put all of these scores together, and what do they indicate Curt’s reading level to be?

-Accuracy in word decoding: Assessed by calculating the percentage of words a reader can accurately decode on grade-level material. A level of 90-95 percent is considered adequate. Looking at the student’s reading rate can also assess decoding. To determine reading rate, the teacher has the student read a grade-level passage for 60 seconds, and then calculates the number of words read correctly. This score is then compared with target rates for each grade level.

-Automatic Processing: Assessed by determining students reading rate. To determine reading rate, the teacher has the student read a grade-level passage for 60 seconds, and then calculates the number of words read correctly. This score is then compared with target rates for each grade level.

-Prosodic Reading- To assess, the teacher listens to a student read a grade-level passage and then judges the quality of reading using a rubric. The rubric scores the student on expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace.

The “bridge” metaphor is being used to show the connection between decoding and comprehension and how the ways students read can effect their comprehension level. If a student is able to decode words, can read at an appropriate rate and fluency, their ability to comprehend the text will be greater. A student who struggles to decode, and has little expression or fluency when reading, may not comprehend the material as well. Decoding and comprehension are connected when discussing students’ reading abilities.
 

3. What instructional methods does Rasinski suggest for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading?

Ransinski suggests using assisted reading and repeated readings for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading. The teacher will read a passage aloud, and then asks the students to follow along. The students may also read orally with a partner who is at the same reading level, or with a partner who is more fluent. The teacher may also have students read silently while listening to a passage on tape read by a fluent reader.
 

4. Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MFS) is used to measure prosodic quality of oral reading. List components of the MFS and describe briefly what each refers to (p. 49).

Expression and Volume: Refers to quality of expression and enthusiasm of the student when reading, as well as how the student varies volume and expression to match his or her interpretation of the passage.

Phrasing: Refers to how well the student uses proper pausing, and does not read word-by-word or two-to-three word phrases. The student should pause based on commas and periods, and not in between words giving the impression of a choppy reading. The student must also not read a passage as one long run-on sentence. 

Smoothness: This refers to how well a student reads without long pauses or hesitations. It also refers to the students ability to read without sound-outs, false starts or repetitions, and his or her ability to self-correct.

Pace: Refers to how fast or how slow a student reads. A student who reads at an appropriate rate can read consistently at a conversational pace.

• Scribbles letters and numbers which have now phonetic relationship to the words they think they are writing.
• Lacks concept of words. They may recognize logos, but they have no understanding of the alphabetic principle.
• Lacks letter-sound correspondence or represents most salient sound with single letters
• Pretends to read and write

 2. How does a Letter Name-Alphabetic speller read and write?

• Represents beginning and ending sounds. Usually the child only represents the consonant sounds and does not use vowels when spelling words.
• Uses letter names to invent spellings. Later on in this stage, they may use letter names to spell vowel sounds
• Has rudimentary or functional concept of word
• Spells phonetically. They represent all salient sounds in a one-to-one fashion.
• Omits silent letters and preconsonantal nasals
• Fingerpoints correctly and can self-correct when off track
• Reads word by word in beginning reading materials

 3.  How does a Within Word Pattern speller read and write?

• Spells most single-syllable, short vowel words correctly
• Spells most beginning consonant digraphs and two-letter consonant blends
• Attempts to use silent long vowel markers
• Reads silently and with more fluency and expression, and are no longer reading by halting word-by-word .
• Writes more quickly and with greater detail
• Can revise and edit their witings

 4. How does a Syllable and Affixes speller read and write?

• Spells most single-syllable words correctly
• Makes errors at syllable juncture and in unaccented syllables
• Reads with good fluency, speed, and expression. Success in reading and understanding is related to familiarity and experience with the topic being discussed.
• Reads faster silently than orally
• Writes responses that are sophisticated and critical

 5. How does a Derivational Relations speller read and write?

• Has mastered high frequency words
• Makes errors on low frequency, multisyllabic words derived from Latin and Greek
• Reads with good fluency and expression
• Reads faster silently than orally
• Writes responses that are sophisticated and critical

 6. What is the existing research evidence on the relationship between spelling and reading? Briefly describe research findings discussed on page 20.

It has been reported that there are strong correlations between spelling and word recognition and decoding. One experiment to prove this was conducted by Ehri who reviewed six correlational studies of students ages first grade through college. These students were asked to read and spell words. Ehri reported correlations ranging from .68 to .86. Studies have also proven repeatedly that students who receive additional spelling instruction perform better when reading orally, silently, and other reading-related measures.  Perfetti found that practice at spelling helps reading more than practice at reading helps spelling. How students’ spell can be a powerful way to predict students’ reading achievement.

• Accessing accurate, relevant knowledge
• Managing mental processes
• Constructing coherent mental representation through organizational processes

2. Specify the effect that background knowledge may have on constructing mental representations from informational text. Why should teachers be concerned about activating prior knowledge?

There is evidence that young children rely on background knowledge when constructing mental representations from informational text. This can provide support for the reader, but it also can create problems for the reader. It is possible that children may be relying on inaccurate or irrelevant prior knowledge. The teacher should be sensitive to this fact, and make sure to have proper discussions to ensure students are given the proper information.

3. What are the three instructional approaches that can be used to help primary-grade students comprehend informational text? Describe their common (p. 365) and distinctive features (p. 363-5).

There are three instructional approaches that can be used to help primary-grade students comprehend informational text. These methods are Picture Walk (PW), Know-Want to Learn-Learn (KWL), and Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA).

Distinctive Features:

Picture Walk (PW): This is a pre-reading conversation that introduces students to the book by previewing the pictures on each page or on a few pages of a book. Students make predictions based on the pictures. Although the focus is not on the text, the teacher does introduce two or three vocabulary words. The PW helps with students’ fluency and comprehension. How the PW is used is based on how challenging the teacher thinks the book will be for the student.

Know-Want to Learn-Learn (KWL): Enables teachers to access the prior knowledge of their students. It also allows students to develop their own purposes for reading. In KWL, the teacher leads a discussion about a text topic and uses a chart to record what students say they know (K), want to lean (W), and what they learned (L) after reading. It can be used at any grade level and in any content area.

Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA): Views reading as a problem-solving process. The teacher selects an instructional level book and divides the text into meaningful sections. The teacher determines what is important in each section and formulates questions for the student to answer. These questions assess the students’ comprehension and ask students to  make predictions of what will happen next in the story.  Students establish their own purposes for reading, make predictions, justify their predictions, and verify or revise predictions based on the text and information gathered during the teacher-led discussions. This allows students to interact with the text.

Common Features:

• Emphasis on reader engagement and social mediation
• Activation of relevant prior knowledge
• Anticipation of what information might be likely to be included in a text

4. What is the purpose of the experimental study reported?

“To explore how the PW, KWL, and the DRTA might influence developmental reading abilities and content acquisition when used with informational text in the primary reading group content.”

5. Who were the subjects?

The subjects were 31 second-grade students. They were from two demographically similar schools in the same school district. They had an instructional reading level three to six months below grade level.

6. Describe the reading materials used during the intervention.

The reading material was informational texts on topics that were likely to be familiar to second-grade students. The texts discussed science topics from the second-grade curriculum (i.e. spiders, the moon, who water changes form, and insects). They were on the students’ instructional reading levels.

7. How long did the experiment last?

It lasted two 4-week cycles (total of 8 weeks).

8. What were the experimental conditions?

• Individual pre-experimental screening
• A 45-minute orientation was held with each group before interventions
• 12 days of intervention in each cycle (3 consecutive days for each of the 4 weeks)
• Groups received each treatment for three days
• Data only collected on third day.
• Students were interviewed about comprehension strategies and instructional preferences the day following the conclusion.

9. Describe the procedures specific to the Picture Walk, KWL, DRTA, and the Control Group conditions.

PW- Students were presented with a brief overview of the text. They worked through the book page-by-page and engaged in an interactive discussion about the pictures, text structure, students’ prior knowledge, and their predictions based on the information. It was the only method that specifically introduced new vocabulary before reading the text. After the PW, the students mumble read the text independently. They then discussed their predictions and summarized the information from the text.

KWL-  They made a group KWL chart on Day 1 and Day 3. After the topic was introduced the children discussed the topic. Their comments were written on the chart in the Know column. On day 2 and 3 each child wrote what he/she knew on a personal KWL chart before it was written on the large group chart. They then categorized the information, but struggled to do this. The students then generated questions about the topic which were placed in the “What I Want to Learn” column. After the pre-reading discussion, the children mumble read the text. They then did a post-reading discussion where they discussed whether the text provided answers to the students’ questions. If so, that was recorded in the “What I Learned’ column.

DRTA: Students formulated and justified predictions about the text based on the title, cover, prior knowledge, and table of contents (if available). They predicted for a two or three-page section of the text, and then mumble read that section. A brief discussion was held after each section to verify predictions and summarize the information. At the conclusion of the entire text, the discussion was minimal.

Control Group: Compared the effects of providing reading opportunities versus providing a social context for the activation of prior knowledge, setting personal purposes for reading, and generating predictions for a text. The children had the opportunity to read the same texts. Before reading they were provided with the same brief overview of the text. They then mumble read the text. Independent reading was followed by drawing a picture or writing something they would like to share with the group based on the text.  

10. What measures were used to determine the relative effectiveness of the treatments? Describe the measures briefly.

• Vocabulary Recognition Task (VRT)- the yes/no task is a reliable and valid measure of vocabulary assessment.
• Maze-  provided insight into micro-level processing, general reading, and monitoring for meaning.
• Free Recall-  Students recall everything they can remember about the book
• Clued Recall-  Students answer three explicit and three inexplicit questions based on the text.
• Post-intervention Interview- Individual student interviews to determine if they gained knowledge of the two common strategies: activation of prior knowledge and prediction. Students were also asked to reflect on the approach they preferred the most for enjoyment and for helpfulness.

11. Which treatment(s) were found to be more effective in increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge and maze performance (p. 381)?

All intervention groups made similar vocabulary gains, which show that use of informational texts with novice readers does extend their vocabularies. The PW and the DRTA yielded statistically significant effects on maze. Both procedures were more effective than KWL or the control group in fluent reading and micro-level comprehension. The walk through and the questions/discussions in PW and DRTA involved the students which enabled them to focus and remember vocabulary more than the KWL procedure.

12. Students’ comprehension of the texts was greater under the DRTA condition than KWL and the control conditions. What do you think explains DRTA’s advantage over the KWL condition (p. 382)?

DRTA has an advantage over KWL because teacher guidance during the DRTA directed children’s attention to the important ideas, and the teacher assisted with difficult text concepts. It also allowed students to provide detailed responses and justifications to questions and predictions. It demands a higher level of thinking. The immediate interaction around the text in DRTA also helped with comprehension.

13. It was found that the treatments did not differ in the quality and quantity of students’ retellings (p. 384). In other words, students were not differentially affected by the treatments in the way they integrated textual information with prior knowledge. What does this finding mean in terms of the different emphases employed by experience-based (KWL) vs. text-based (DRTA) treatments?

This shows that although KWL and DRTA have many differences, they are successful methods to use with students to improve vocabulary and comprehension.

14. In light of the findings from this study, what conclusions can you draw about the role of teacher support in children’s construction of mental representations from informational text?

Teacher support is crucial and necessary in children’s construction of mental representations from informational text. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, students use prior knowledge to help build comprehension of texts. This can provide great support for the student as long as the information is accurate. It is the role of the teacher to ensure that this information is in fact correct and relevant. Teachers also promote critical thinking by asking questions and by having students create and justify predictions about the texts. They also provide the student with support when a text is difficult, while providing students with increased vocabularies.

“The hypothesis tested was that students will learn the pronunciations and meanings of new words better when they see spellings of the words during study periods than when they do not.” The researchers also hypthesized that “(1) Spellings will help fifth graders learn the pronunciations and meanings of new vocabulary words better than no spellings; (2) Students with stronger orthographic knowledge (higher level readers) will benefit more from spellings than students with weaker orthographic knowledge (lower level readers).”

2. Who were the subjects?

The subjects were 2nd and 5th graders

3. What were the experimental conditions?

To begin the experiment, the students of both grades were taught low-frequency nouns.  The students then rehearsed the pronunciations and meanings of the words. The words were introduced to the students in the initial trial, but the rest of the trials tested their ability to recall the words. Corrections were made/provided to the student after each recall attempt was made. The researchers used pictures, defintions, and sentences containing the word to teach students words meanings. This helped students clarify not only the meaning of the words, but also how words are used. The trials were continued until the student reached the maximun number of trials.

4. What did the treatment involve?

Students learned words differently in the treatement condition than they did in the control condition. In the treatment condition, the words were accompanied by spellings when the words wer introduced and after each recall attempt. In the control condition, the students learned spoken words without spelling.

5. Which group (spelling-present vs. spelling-absent) gained more in vocabulary learning?  How were the groups’ recall of pronunciations affected by the treatment?

The spelling-present group gained more in vocabulary learning than the group where spelling was absent. Students were able to recall meanings and pronunciations more affectively when spelling was provided. In second graders, the recalling of pronunciations increased through the trials because of  the benefit of seeing the spelling of the word. The fifth graders also benefited when recalling because of spelling being present.

6. Why do you think that fifth graders who were high on a word reading task benefited more from the spelling aids than their peers with less orthographic experience and knowledge, even though the two groups did not differ on receptive vocabulary knowledge?

The fifth graders who were high on a word reading task had a better knowledge of grapho-phonemic and larger syllabic spelling units. This gave them an advantage over the lower level readers because they were able to form connections and store multisyllabic words in their memory.

7. What general conclusions were derived from the study findings by the authors? What implications were offered for vocabulary learning and instruction?

The main conclusions that were drawn from the study were that 5th graders learned pronunciations and meanings of vocabulary better when they were given the spelling of the word than when the words were only spoken to them. Another conclusion was that students with stronger orthographic knowledge benefited more from seeing spellings than those with weaker orthographic knowledge. Spelling of words activates grapho-phonemic connections which better secures memory of pronunciations. It was also concluded that secured word  pronunciations provide a stronger base for students to learnthe words meaning. Spellings helped both 2nd and 5th graders. This shows that the benefit of spelling the words extends over all levels of reading. When teachers introduce vocabulary to their students, they should display spellings.

Curt is considered a “reader at risk”. He is in third grade and his reading level is at a late-first grade, early-second grade level. The characteristics of his word knowledge put him in the letter-name and within-word stages. He does well overall with one syllable, short-vowel words, and seems to understand certain consonant blends and digraphs. However, when tested on third-grade level word knowledge content, he shows that he struggles with multisyllable words, and has not yet learned long-vowel patterns and r-controlled patterns.

• Describe partner reading.

Partner reading is a type of guided reading where the tutor and the student alternate reading pages aloud, pausing periodically for the tutor to ask comprehension questions. It usually begins with a review where the tutor and the student ”walk through” the pictures  on the first 4-6 pages to form an idea of what the book may be about and predict what may happen later in the story. It is a comfortable way for students to begin reading because the student can percieve the tutor as an equal who shares the reading load. As time goes by, the tutor can reduce the amount of reading he/she does and increase the student’s reading load. It also allows the tutor to model reading with inflection so they can get away from reading in a monitone way.

• Which is harder for a student, partner reading or DRTA?

DRTA is harder for students because of the amount of comprehension required from the reading. It focuses on the student comprehending the reading material, making predictions, and drawing conclusions. In partner reading the student is able to focus more on reading and word recognition. Although it is important in both situations that the child have comprehension of the reading, it seems to be more of a focus when doing a DRTA lesson. The student is required to stop frequently and answer several questions throughout the reading.  

• In planning a DRTA, what is important about selecting places to stop?

When planning a DRTA lesson, the tutor should select 3 places to stop during the reading, as well as one after reading the title and viewing the cover. When planning on when/where to stop the tutor must read the story and determine at what points he/she anticipated an important event or turn in the plot. The tutor must also determine why this anticipation occured and what information in the story allowed them to create predictions. These factors must be considered when planning places for students to stop and make predictions. The tutor must make sure that enough information in the story has been provided, without too much being provided, in order  for the student  to make  reasonable predictions.

• In planning a DRTA, what is important about deciding questions to ask? What kind of questions? How many?

The first place tutors should ask questions is after reading the title and viewing the opening illustration. Many times these two things can provide the student with a strong basic knowledge of what the story may be about. However, some titles and illustrations are not so straight forward, so asking a student to create a prediction may be frustrating which may create a negative start to the lesson. During the first stop of the reading 3 questions should be asked. The first two should be about the setting and the characters that have been introduced so far in the reading. The third question should ask if the student would like to change their initial predictions of the story. Three more questions should be asked during the second stop of the reading. The first two should check the child’s comprehension of plot-relevant information, while the third should ask the student to make another prediction about the next part of the story. At the last stop of the reading, two main questions should be asked. The first is to ask the student to retell what has happened in the story. This may lead to other questions, or require the student to re-read a section if necessary. The second main question should ask the student to make their last prediction of what will happen during the last part of the story. The last series of questions will take place at the end of the story. These questions may ask the student to recap the story, evaluate the accuracy of their predictions, and discuss any morals or themes within the story.