Angela Speer-November Blog Post 4-Conferecing with my Focus Group

Angela Speer-November Blog Post 4-Conferecing with my Focus Group

            When I began conferring with my students, they were assessed through the Informal Reading Inventory and Star to gather enough information to group students reading levels. I felt very unorganized and lost at times. I wrote the information in a journal that was divided in half for Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop. I wanted to gather information about the students without a guide, but did not always find that it was useful or easy. I found that my students were being asked the same things and that I did not really focus on the topic that I had demonstrated for the class at the beginning of Reading Workshop. However, I was able to take notice that the students in my focus group were struggling readers. AC displayed a lack of interest and that reading was difficult for her through the IRI assessment and Star. I also found that JM and AKM had difficulty staying on task. I found that AG could stay focused, but mostly used pictures to read.
           I watched a few days as I was making my rounds around the classroom and waited to see what they would do. AKM just sat in his seat making sounds and staring at the wall. Once redirected, he would still get distracted by the blank wall. He has a diagnosis of ADHD, but does understand what he is reading. I also found that AC sat and stared at the book. I realize she wasn’t reading during the first week of conferencing. She could not even read the lower level books that she choose from the book shelf. In her paperwork, it stated that she is not proficient enough in English to be successful. I asked Melissa Wells to come in and work with her to see if it was just a language barrier and it turns out that it is not. I did borrow some Spanish books from her to read. She does not seem to be able to read those either. Another student, JM was pretending to read by making words up from the pictures. He did not have a desire to read because it was too difficult and therefore, did not. When I would go to him to conference, he would not have any idea what the book was about even though he had been reading it for some time. I found that he was reading “Ten Apples Up on Top” by Dr. Seuss every day for the first ten to fifteen days because he could read it. I allowed him to read this book because it made him feel successful! I found that AG was able to answer questions even though he missed a great deal of words. He does not seem to be distracted, but does not want to use his reading strategies to figure out how to read the words. He skips the words he does not know, but is able to make meaning out of the sentence, for the most part.

            Now, I feel that I am able to gather more information about my student’s reading. AKM is still struggling with staying focused through Reading Workshop and still gets distracted by the white wall that is by him. However, as the year as passed, I notice that he is able to read fairly well. He is also able to answer comprehension questions to a story. He works better if you allow him to read a little and take a short break.  He is able to call words and gather information, but will shrug his shoulders and say that he does not know if you ask a question that he does not remember. He does not want to go back to the text to gather information after he is finished reading. He is able to work well in his balanced literacy group. He makes sounds when someone misses a word and gives them the correct words when finished. It makes me laugh inside because I know what he is thinking all of the time. He is blunt, but the others do not take him as being rude, they just think that it is his personality. If he is ever able to concentrate well, I believe that his reading level would grow.

            AC is a student that I feel I have grown to gather new information about. I still see her struggle, but I have been able to find library books that mostly have pictures and a small amount of words. I have found that she is able to gather more information about the story this way. However, as her language grows, she is able to read more words. She is a student who is getting the intervention offered this year. I can tell that she is able to read more words and understand more. However, she still have difficulty in reading and comprehension. I believe that she is still “stuck” between two languages and it is difficult for her to transition. I try and conference with her more because I find that she is just doing a “picture walk” throughout the whole reading time if not. I feel that if I could work with her one on one, she would grow drastically. I also find that she has difficulty getting her thoughts down on paper. She will write a word and then stop and erase because she is so worried about the spelling.

            JM is another student that is working with RTI person to help him in reading. I feel that he struggles in reading the words and understanding what they mean. He comes from a Spanish family that speaks it heavily at home and I feel that sometimes he will insert Spanish while reading and writing. He is easily distracted, but always wants to try hard. I find him reading, but reading words that he has made up. He will insert words that make sense to him and he does not want to take the time to sound them out. Some he is willing some, but will not if they look too difficult. He will create his own words using visual cues. I feel that JM is able to sound words out, but has the desire to read quicker and does not want to take the time. He does the same thing in writing. He will create words, but will not sound them out. He does not know all of his letter pairs or sounds. I believe that JM has shown incredible growth in reading and writing.

            AG is another student in my focus group that demonstrates a struggling reader. AG loves to create words or use visual cues for words that he does not know. I have learned as I conference with him, that he is not aware of the words that he is missing. He is able to focus on the text well, look at the pictures and use visual cues to gather information. AG goes to resource for reading, but he does not use the strategies learned to read the words often. He is a student who will use the pictures to gather the most information. I notice that he is looking at his book and trying the words. He can make inferences about the story before reading the story based on the front page pictures and words, if he is able to read the title. AG needs to work on sounding words out by using the reading strategies that he is learning in My Sidewalks. I also try and reinforce the letter pairs that are taught in the first grade My Sidewalks.

            My goals for these students and all of my students are to help them grow as much as possible. I will continue to conference and monitor the students throughout the year. Most of these students use visual cues and pictures to gather information. I try to use strategies learned through Read Well and My Sidewalks to help students with letter sounds and pairs. I notice that all of my students have more stamina more than last year because of the Reading and Writing Workshop schedule that has been put into place. I also am seeing students enjoying reading! I love this!!!