Observations

This is a typed version of my observation notes on Ryan from February 4th. Ryan is a focal student for my research project and is a second grader. He has been in one reading group or another since first grade. Ryan struggles with fluency and comprehension skills. Please look over the choppy sentences and disconnected comments. The observation occurred during a Direct Instruction lesson from SRA Reading Mastery and lasted for approximately 15 minutes.

Ryan--

It is 8:30 and my group of 5 is ready to begin. Ryan entered the group and had a seat with others. He immediately stood up and gathered the materials everyone. The rest of the group waited for directions from me. Orion sits down and chats with the student next to him. He says to the group, "Crazy Hair... After this I am going to that lady."

I asked the group to open their storybooks to page 77. Ryan spends some time randomly looking for the page. He doesn't use the numbers to guide him in the right direction. "I can't find it", he says as he looks up at me. Another student leans over and finds the page for him.

For the first part of the lesson the students review words that will be in the story. Before the first word, Ryan says, "Look at my hair... yep, Crazy Hair Day". The students sound out words together. Ryan looks at the floor through most of the word review. He is prompted twice to participate. The last word is "up". Ryan reads the word before others and then immediately says, "Mrs. Carty you know that up word- Up is a movie".

For the first reading, the group reads the story together. Difficult words are reviewed. Ryan starts playing with his shoes after the group reading. Students take turns reading individual sentences. Ryan reads the sentence when it is his turn. He stops at the word 'with' and begins to sound it out-- /w/i/t/h. He looks up at me and waits for help. I point out the /th/ and ask if he remembers what sound the two letters make together. Another student interjects with the correct digraph. Ryan reads the word correctly and then rereads the sentence.

After the story the students begin their workbook page. Section has 4 sentences and a picture. Ryan appears to be reading all of the sentences. He does not choose any answers. I stop him and explain that he needs to choose the sentence that best describes the picture. He finishes the page correctly.

Interpretations, Questions, and Thoughts:

Ryan may have been a little more rambunctious and distracted than usual because of I Love to Read Week. The theme of the day was Crazy Hair, which explains his comments. The lady he was referring to was the speech pathologist. Ryan goes to a group with her two days a week immediately after our reading group. Does he know her name?

He had a very hard time finding the page. This has happened before. Does Ryan understand numbers? Follow up with teacher about math performance in the classroom.

Ryan has an ADHD diagnosis. Did he have his medication today? He had a very hard time focusing. He must have been paying attention a little bit, since he was so quick to read 'up'. He made a connection to the word.

Ryan's brother both drop the Mc from my name (Mrs. McCarty). I hadn't noticed that he did it too. Funny.

Ryan needs additional practice with digraphs. His fluency is not improving, he stops to sound out words often. He is getting better at blending sounds. Ryan is rereading sentences when he stops to decode words- like we have discussed in group.

The workbook section is repetitive. Students have been completing the same task after each story for a while now. The objective is to develop comprehension and identify main idea. He has completed the activity before. After checking the other workbook pages, Ryan has completed this section incorrectly for the past 2 lessons. He completed it correctly before that. Ryan may need directions for independent task repeatedly daily. I can't believe I hadn't noticed the mistakes on the other pages!