Case Study Presentation: Rachel

1
Case Study Presentation Rachel

• Karen Andrews
• Bruna Genovese
• Ruth Sysak

2
Personal Information

• Rachel is
• 16 years old
• In 10th grade
• From Silver Spring, MD
• A native Washingtonian (born and raised in the
  metro region)

3
Education

• Woodlin Elementary from K-3rd grade (public)
• Lowell from 4th-6th grade (private K-6)
• Field School from 7th-10th grade currently
  (private 7-12)

4
Language Learning Self-Assessment

• Rachel rated her Spanish literacy skills
  (speaking, listening, reading and writing) at the
  novice level
• Reported difficulty learning Spanish.
  Specifically, she struggles to remember concepts
  she learns in class
• Dislikes rating her abilities

5
Parents Educational Background

• Father has Ph.D. in Economics
• Mother has M.B.A in International Relations and
  (DPH) Physical Therapy
• Both studied foreign languages in school
• English is the primary language spoken in their
  home

6
Learning Profile

• Reading problems evident since 1st grade
  (received tutoring)
• Educational Assessment conducted per request by
  director of Lowell elementary in spring 2001
  reported
• 1. Rachel struggles with phonetic analysis and
  visual
• processing
• 2. Sometimes she transposes left-right order
  of
• letters and at times inserts
  letters
• inappropriately. For example,
  she read
• inspiration for interpretation
• 3. Has a tendency to burn out
  quickly
• Accommodation granted extended time on exams

7
Spanish Language Background

• Began studying Spanish in 4th grade at Lowell -
  after school program 1-2 hrs./week
• Started with Spanish I at Field in 7th grade and
  just completed Spanish IV

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Reasons for Studying Spanish

1. Her parents wanted her to take a language class
2. To meet the requirements for applying to college
3. To learn about a different culture
4. To interact with and be of service to the growing
   Latino population in the U.S.

9
Goals

• To communicate with other Spanish speakers
  proficiently
• To practice Spanish skills in Panama during
  3-week service learning trip this summer

10
Learning Strategies

• Rachel identifies herself as an auditory learner
• She prefers material in the textbook explained
  orally. When reading a passage, she understands
  best when asked to summarize and discuss it aloud

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Case Study Procedures

• June 8, 2006 Field School, Washington, DC
• Karen and Bruna interviewed Rachel,R, completed
  profile
• R received reading sample (from Spanish textbook)
  and briefly looked it over
• R read it aloud
• R read it silently
• Karen asked R to recall article details, R
  responded in English
• Reading sample was taken away Bruna asked
  comprehension questions in English R responded
  in English

12
Miscue Analysis

• Decoding and visual processing errors
• Missing a firm base in phonetic analysis, uses
  made up words (Nacimanito, festigo)
• Guessed at words by general configuration (gatos,
  tradujieron, donda)
• Transposed the left-right order of letters
• Inserts/omits letters (trajen, famlia, gatos,
  español)
• Failure to stop or pause after commas and periods
  (more frequent towards the end of the article)

13
Article Recall

• Rachel recalled much of the article
• Identified most main points
• Omitted minor details

14
Recommendations

• Help develop a sight vocabulary of root words,
  prefixes and suffixes (flash cards, repetitious
  activities)
• Teach word attack skills common prefixes and
  suffixes (ción, miento, mente)
• Incorporate the find/apply patterns learning
  strategy when working with word attack skills
• Teach the monitoring learning strategy
• Teach rhythm and spacing (books on tape, voice
  recordings, movies) www.readplease.com

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Additional Recommendations

• Student should continue to point to syllables and
  words as she reads to help her recognize
  omissions, additions, substitutions and reversals
• Student should continue summarizing after
  paragraphs when she reads
• Continue to have her work on evaluation (task and
  self evaluation)
• Student should practice self-talk strategy to
  build self efficacy
• Teacher should vary activities provide small
  group/individual instruction