Mini Case Report

Instructional Needs       

The student I worked with this semester is a 3^rd grade boy reading at a 2^nd grade level.  I truly believe that the root of this student’s reading struggles is his behavior problems.  He is a very bright student, but his unwillingness to do what is asked of him in the classroom really interferes with his learning.  I was very impressed with his overall ability to comprehend what he was reading each time I worked with him.  However, his fluency suffers which makes reading difficult for him.  One specific area in which the student seemed to struggle was reading words that contained vowel digraphs.  After conducting multiple running records, I noticed that he was consistently misreading these words. 

Future Needs

After spending time with working with this student, I think there are steps that can be taken to help him improve his reading skills.  I realize that time is always an issue when trying to work with students one on one, but I think one on one instruction would be very beneficial to this particular student.  If I were to have this student in my own classroom, I would be sure to continue to practice words with vowel digraphs.  One way I might do this is to have the student do word sorts of multiple words with different vowel digraphs.  I would ask the student to read each of the words aloud as he sorts them.  This would even be something the student could do on his own during a free moment.  Another thing I would do as this student’s teacher would be to have him practice reading high frequency words.  This would really help improve his fluency.

The student and his parents could also take steps at home to improve his reading.  One thing I would recommend is for the student to read aloud to his parents.  Even if it’s only three nights each week, the extra practice would definitely benefit him.  I would also recommend that the parents read aloud to the student on a regular basis.  Hearing fluent reading will help the student to become more fluent as well.

What I learned

Overall, I have learned a lot through this experience.  One very important lesson that I have learned is that not all students are motivated to learn on their own.  Some students need a lot of praise and rewards in order to complete a task.  Knowing that doing the task will help them learn isn't enough motivation for some students.  In these cases it's extremely important not to give up on the student.  It is so rewarding to see students grow and progress in their learning!

I am very thankful for having had the opportunity to work with this student over the course of the semester.  I have learned multiple different strategies that I can apply when I become a teacher and have a struggling reader in my class.  Not only that, but I have also learned the importance of building a relationship with each and every one of the students that we work with.