Case Study

Susan Neate

2-19-05

Of my three school sites, I chose to focus on the one in a lower-class suburban setting. The school is comprised of 450 students, 7of which are English Language Learners. The school was built in 1961, and it has seen major renovations at four different times, 1965, 1970, 1983, and 2003-2005. Seventeen percent of our school population moved in as a new student during the school year, while twenty percent of students moved out. Our African American students comprise 5.5% of the populace, while Hispanics only make up a mere .15%. A whopping thirty-eight percent of students receive free and reduced price lunches, including all seven of my students. Fourteen percent are identified as special education, and eleven percent receives Title 1 assistance.

Kasey and Jocelyn are two first graders (names have been changed) whose families originated from Mexico. Kasey was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and started school in Kindergarten. Jocelyn was born and lived in Houston, Texas until this past summer. Each child’s exposure to English was minimal before they started at our school. Jocelyn’s mother crossed the border soon after she found out she was pregnant with Jocelyn. In Texas Jocelyn received all of her daily instruction in Kindergarten in a Spanish classroom. She began learning to read in Spanish, and she was the top reader in her class there. Each child’s exposure to English was minimal before they started at our school. Jocelyn learned a little English from an after-school teacher in Texas. She has a younger Kindergarten brother and an 18 month old brother. Jocelyn lives in a two-room house with her mother and step-father. When I asked Jocelyn if it was hard to understand her weekly stories because the meaning of an English word was unknown, she eagerly nodded yes.

Kasey only heard English on the television and in public settings before she started last year. Kasey is an especially shy child. Her “silent period” lasted for a good eight months in the regular classroom. It was several months before I learned this, because in our two on one pull-out class, she would frequently copy speech and ask questions. About halfway through last year an extra spot opened in my schedule, and I began working with Kasey both in and out of the classroom. I found this to be an optimal combination, because Kasey could practice her English in a comfortable setting; as well, I could encourage participation with her peers and clarify the content-based information she received in a flexible group. Kasey has one little brother that started Kindergarten this year. He was at an advantage, because we had him placed in the pre-school class last year. Kasey also has a three-year old little sister who knows no English. Karla’s parents are very limited in their knowledge of English, especially the mother who does not work out of the home. Her parents are extremely receptive, and both parents always attend conferences. When I visit the home, often times they are listening to Spanish music or watching Spanish videos. In Mexico, the family lived in a very poor neighborhood. Even though their house here may be considered cozy in American terms, it is more than adequate for their needs. We had an enjoyable celebration on Cinco de Mayo last year when Ksey’s parents brought in a piñata and Mexican treats for the class.

Jocelyn’s reading level measured as 1.3 on the Star Reading test (in November.) This is comparable to a first grader in the third month of school, so you can see just how much English Jocelyn acquired in her first three months. I think being able to read in Spanish was of great benefit, allowing her to connect reading and writing to her language. Jocelyn can apply basic concepts about print to unfamiliar text. She scored in the fifty-ninth percentile of students nationally in the same grade. Jocelyn recognizes many new words, separating words into smaller parts and identifying beginning and ending consonant sounds with long and short vowels. This student’s Zone of Proximal Development for independent fiction is 1.3-2.3. Accelerated Reader books at this level should be encouraged. The Star Reading report suggests that Jocelyn works on her word attack skills, listens to books on tape at home and in school, have opportunities to read to and with more fluent readers, and have an independent reading time set aside each day.

Kasey’s grade equivalent was .7, equal to the seventh month of Kindergarten. Kasey only ranked on the tenth percentile compared to other first graders nationally. Kasey is at the emergent reading stage. She can identify parts of a book, such as the cover, title page, front and back. She also recognizes flow of the print from left to right and top to bottom. Kasey is at the stage where she is more likely to break the words down by letter sounds rather than chunks. For optimal reading growth Kasey needs to continue to listen to stories on tape or read aloud in the class and at home, participate more often in class, and practice relating letters, word parts, and printed words to their sounds. Additionally, Kasey has been assigned PAL’s one-on-one reading assistance.

Jocelyn’s PALS scores show in the fall she correctly spelled 21 of 44 words correctly. She recognized 18 of the 20 pre-primer words and 9 out of 20 primer words. She had already picked up 18 of the 26 letter sounds in English. Additionally, she read at the pre-primer level with 85% accuracy and at the primer level with 65% accuracy. Kasey was only tested on the PALs in Kindergarten, but displayed progress across the board. She knew 6 beginning sounds when initially tested, 9 at mid-year, and 10 in the spring. She knew no lowercase letters in the fall, 9 at mid-year, and 16 at the conclusion of the year. She spelled 3 words correctly at first, 2 in December, and an astounding 11 in the spring. Kasey answered 40 out of 50 questions right on her Harcourt mid-year reading and language assessment. This test evaluates decoding/phonics (28/34), comprehension (6/8), and language (4/8) the student masters from the Harcourt reading series. By now Jocelyn had acquired a tremendous repertoire for the English language. She scored 30/34 in decoding/phonics, 8/8 in comprehension, and 8/8 in language.

The girls’ teacher is Sandy. She has never had an English Language Learner in her classroom in her fourteen years of instruction. She said she took three years of Spanish in high school, but she remembers very little. Sandy has a very embracing attitude for all of her students, especially her ELL’s. She translates her parent notes online weekly. She utilizes flexible grouping for at least two to three hours per day. I had the opportunity to observe a social studies class this week about Ben Franklin. She placed a four-square on the overhead with the pictures of four inventions and a sentence underneath each one. Jocelyn learned the words for post office and stove during this lesson. Mrs. Hunt uses lots of expression and enunciation while teaching. She also uses a slowed rate of speech to present the material more clearly. Mrs. Hunt provides her students plenty of wait time when asking questions. She also gives all assessment in a small group or individual setting. Sandy keeps on-going portfolio assessment for each child, as well. At the beginning of the week, story vocabulary is frontloaded and sorted for practice with phonic skills. The students also listen to their weekly story on tape at the beginning of the week. The teacher also utilizes many graphic organizers including T-charts, concept webs, Venn diagrams, and matrices. As her flex group goes over the story, she points out the genre, pictures, headings, and highlighted texts.

Every class period I begin by reading a book to the whole class, usually on a multicultural topic. Some of the titles I have read are How Many Days to America?, The Colors of Us, and The World Turns Round and Round. In addition I have taken the children through the Rise and Shine series A and B. Each book is built around a theme that includes multicultural topics and characters. The program really concentrates on allowing the students to acquire necessary sight word vocabulary. The children break into cooperative groups about halfway through the period. I have to bounce between the low and middle groups. Often times I utilize the ELL component of the Harcourt series. We also work in Sing, Spell, Read, and Write, and we work in Harcourt reading and spelling. Until very recently, we had a Vietnamese girl in class as well. I feel I have worked very hard to promote diversity in the classroom setting as a whole.

I have chosen this situation, because the children at this school don’t have the same benefits and advantages that many other children do. Also, Jocelyn has shown a great amount of frustration when she does not understand. Some days when I come, she has a sad look on her face and an empty look in her eyes. She said to me, “I have lot of friends in Texas. I miss.” Anything special I can do during my three weekly hours with these two can only make a world of difference to them. Isn’t that the motivation for good teachers anyway – making a difference? I teach to see the smiles on the faces of my little ones everyday, because it gives me purpose, hope, and a reason to feel life is worth living to the fullest.

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