Erika Garcia
EDLI 635
Fall 2016
Dr. Hsu
ELL Case Study
My student, who I will refer to as Ny, is in the 6th grade at the
Academy Charter School in Hempstead. They have grade K-6 with 482 students, a
teacher ratio of 16:1 that is higher than the average NY classroom of 14:1. The
school has a 100% minority enrollment that is more than the state average of
54%. The k-4th graders are in one building and 5th-9th graders are
in another building. Each grade shares floor during bell periods, where they
attended classes on a daily bases. Student’s classes are ELA writing and
reading, ELL guided, two periods of Math, science, technology, gym and social
studies. I observed Ny during Math and both his ELA reading and guided reading
class. The school does not have any struggling bilingual 6th
graders. The first student that they suggest for me to observe that was
bilingual was in high-level classes. There resource room did not have any
bilingual students. Ny was then suggested to me because he is a student who has
difficult time in many areas. No services have been given to Ny but I think he
needs speech and he struggles with reading. So Ny being placed in the resource
room is a great idea.
Ny is 12 years old and has a younger brother in 5th grade. He is
currently homeless and jumps from house to house with his brother and mom. He
doesn’t show this in his character at all. He carries a touch attitude and can
be caring at times. You can tell when he isn’t having a good day based on his
attitude in class, his body language and smart remarks he makes. He struggles
reading out loud, comprehension and when writing his grammar is not good at
all. His mom tries the best she can with her sons and tries to help them
academically. Although it is a challenge I believe he tries. When I did the
running record, the ELA teacher Ms.Sturges asked him to come over to work with
me and he kindly said of course. He was very polite while speaking to me and
every day since developed a great rapport while he sees me.
Overall his grades are below average, he is absent a lot because of his living
situations and does poorly on his exams. After school is available but he
barley attends, which is why the extra help during the day would be great for
him. Based off his Interm (an exam they do at the school to record data) he
scores way below average in ELA and Math overall. He is at a 3rd
grade reading level. Along with this Ny does not have a clear vocabulary,
fluency or comprehension of while speaking or listening? When speaking Ny can
sound intelligible at times and his words sound cluttered, because of his
speech problem. Instead of using proper English he speaks a lot of slang and
doesn’t take things very seriously. When Ny writes it’s hard to understand
because he does not have good penmanship and does not know how to express
himself. Students were given an assignment to create a book report out of a manila
folder. The students had to draw a cover illustrate the inside and write about
the book. Ny did not complete this assignment because he did not want to write.
He only drew a cover and that’s it. When it came to his grade he questioned it
and the teacher said you could finish to get a higher grade. He took it back
but not sure if it was finished. Children now a day can be mean and made fun of
his low grade with it being an easy assignment. I find this is the reason why
he went back to the teacher to address the reason.
During guided
reading the teacher has students read out loud and I find that he enjoys doing
this for whatever reason. Each day I observed him during guided reading he
raised his hand to read. He would read two pages out the book “Bud not Buddy”.
After the first page is read the teacher stops and goes over what has happened.
He usually isn’t able to comprehend what he just read until she asks a question
or gives him a hint. I find that he concentrates more on reading and
pronouncing his words correctly that he isn’t paying much attention to what is
being said in the story. However when someone else reads and he is paying attention
at times he is able to answer questions on the story and if it is one he is
interested in.
Ms. Sturges the
ELA teacher gives her students reading logs to complete for each week. They
must have their parents sign it and write 5-7 sentences about what they read
with proper grammar, pronunciation, spelling, capitalization etc. I saw several
of Ny reading logs and they are not done for his grade level. He writes at
least two sentences, grammar, sentence structure, meaning and so forth is not
good at all. As well with his situation his mom doesn’t sign many of them or
they do not get returned so I highly doubt he reads on a daily basis. Ms.
Sturges knows this so she always finds time to have them read alone and
complete the reading log in school where she can help him.
Observing and
working with Ny was difficult and sad to see, even prior to me knowing his
background information. I feel that more attention is needed and services
should be put into place. I like the fact that he tries but it takes the right
educator to push students like this in a low socioeconomic neighborhood to do
better. Unlike the math class where he is not getting pushed he doesn’t try. I
see where help is needed and how to help; he isn’t ashamed on getting correct
and being taught the correct way to do things.
Reflection
Once I was done observing
Ny’s comprehension, writing, grammar and fluency he falls under the 6th
grade level. This did not surprise me because of the setting he is in and the
extra help he is not receiving. I believe that with a small setting or even a
one to one at times Ny would benefit more, focus and begin to push himself to
do better.
On Ny’s SOLOM he scored a 3
when it came to comprehension, fluency and vocabulary meaning that he scored at
a intermediate high level for reading and listening according to the ELL. When
it came to his grammar he scored a 2 being said that Ny doesn’t have a large
vocabulary and sticks to the basics while comprehending, writing or speaking. According
to the ELL he falls on a beginning high-level writing.
Ny’s SOLOM was based off
his guided reading assignments, reading log assignment and guided reading book
assignment in class. When it came to the reading and listening for each
assignment he was able to comprehend most details after the teacher when over
what was read. He was also able to answer some questions that stood out. For
deeper meanings he would say he wouldn’t know. He always tried his hardest and
never gives up as I mentioned. I also think the teacher has a lot to do with
this because she has a awesome reward system in her classroom. For every
question they answer right they either get a candy, tickets they can hand it or
five checks that equal a good call home to mom. This pushes each and every
student in her class to do better and push for the rewards. Being that the
teacher is in class alone she cannot divide all her attention to certain
students, so frequent guided reading groups a week can help for Ny’s attention
and help with comprehension. She has see how he takes notes and recalls
information in a smaller setting.
Although when it comes to
Ny’s handwriting this can take several time and patience during the week. His
writing looks like he belongs in 3rd grade, it is below his grade
level. He does not have the best spelling, grammar, vocabulary, structure and
penmanship. I think having him write on a daily basis about topics he enjoys
can help. As well writing on paper with lines and rewriting his stories as much
as he can. Practicing larger vocabulary from the guided reading book, as to
finding the definition using the word during that week in class and while
writing using those vocabulary words. This will give Ny a better implementation
of communicating and using larger words while communicating.
Most importantly throughout
my observation I learned that you have to have patience with each students and
find a common ground to attend to the entire class. Having a reward system that
pushes the students to do better and motivate them is great. As well taking
time to reach out to each student and learning how to work with individual
needs in a group setting, like calling on them to read aloud. Yes being an
educator is a lot of work but even pushing for services and saving students
work can come a long way to get assistance for the child and to not wait late.
