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Running head: CASE STUDY

Coras Case Study Report
Name: Cora At Site: Aug.27-Nov.21
8 years old/2/25/05 Tenth Street Elementary/8-10 year olds
Introduction
I completed this case study report at Tenth Street Elementary School. Shortly after
arriving to my practicum classroom, I already had an area in the room to work at every week.
After introducing myself to the classroom, I returned quietly to my desk. As I was getting my
school supplies out to use, a little girl named Cora made her way to my area. This sweet little
girl asked me many questions and was very open when I asked her the same questions about
herself.
After speaking with Cora, I asked my mentor if this child would be a good choice to do a
case study report on. My mentor explained to me some of the problems she has been
experiencing with Cora, and that she felt as if Cora needed a little more attention in the
classroom. Needless to say, my mentor thought it would be a great idea to complete a case study
report on this student.
Cora is a small and petite little girl. Compared to most students in her class, Cora is very
small but very tall. She has long legs and arms, brown hair and eyes, longer hair, lighter
complexion, and a cute smile. Cora is very outgoing and loves to hang out with her friends in
her classroom. It does not matter if the student is a boy or girl, Cora will become friends with
anyone. When the classroom gets into small groups, or the students participates in activities,
Cora always wants to be the leader. Needless to say, she loves to be in charge. She is very
confident in her abilities and loves to share about things she can do.


Cora expresses herself the best through writing. She always seems to carry around her
journal she received from her counselor to document things that happens during her day. Even
though Cora is very social, she has been through much more in her short eight years of life than
many other eight year olds. She is very faithful to also documenting her personal thoughts that
go through her head, due to depression she is experiencing, in her journal.
History and Background
Cora is Caucasian and lives with her grandmother, uncle, one older brother, one younger
brother, and a baby sister. I found little out about her parents, but was informed that they have
both been placed in prison within the past couple of years. Cora informed me that she was
present in the vehicle with her mother when her mother was taken. With all of that said, she
misses and talks about mommy and daddy very often.
After contacting Coras grandmother, I found and understood much more about Coras
history. Coras mother had her naturally during birth. There were no complications with mom
or baby. Who accompanied Coras mom during birth was Coras father. About twelve months
passed before Cora started walking. Little after the walking started, the talking had begun. Cora
learned how to talk during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth month of her life. Cora was a
very smart child, so her mother did not believe that preschool was necessary. She enjoys
attending girl scouts and Parkview Wesleyan Church after school hours (Kathy Blevins, 2013).
Not only is Cora very active at school, but she is also very active at home. A few short
years ago, Coras teachers, mom, and grandmother started to notice that she was too hyper most
of every day. Because of this, Cora went to the doctor to be tested for Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); she tested positive. Cora has been given many different
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CASE STUDY
medicines during my time in the practicum course. Each medicine does not seem to work
judging by her everyday actions in the classroom. My mentor, Mrs. Barnett, has tried many
times to talk to Coras counselors, Mrs. Nikki and Tom, about how Coras focus seems to
become worse and worse. To this day, the doctors and her grandmother are still testing out her
current medicine she is prescribed. Cora talks very highly of her counselors. I was told by Cora
that Mrs. Nikki works with Cora on her behavior and Tom focuses on helping Cora learn how to
focus better (Kathy Blevins, 2013).
Along with her parents being away in prison, her grandfather passed away in September.
Cora shows sadness quite often because she claims that everything in her life is going bad. I
was informed that the biggest challenge Coras grandmother has at home is getting her to focus
and calm down (Kathy Blevins, 2013). These actions match Coras teachers, Mrs. Barnett,
biggest challenge in the classroom.
Physical and Motor Growth and Development
Cora is very active each day and has the ability to withstand physical activity. In
Physical Education, PE, class, Cora enjoys doing obstacle courses while dribbling a basketball.
Speaking of basketball, Cora is a part of Tenth Streets basketball team. Each time her gym
teacher allowed the students to complete different activities, the basketball area was always
Coras first choice. The first month I was there, it was hard for Cora to dribble a basketball
without looking down; now she can run while dribbling without looking down once.
Along with gym class, Cora enjoys to play outside. Each day at recess, Cora spends
some of her time playing basketball and the remainder of her time playing on the playground
equipment with all of her friends. Her favorite thing to do on the playground is going down the


slide. Going across the monkey bars is Coras biggest challenge during recess. Even though she
is getting much better, she still has difficulties getting all the way to the other side. Cora has
great fine motor skills and is interested in activities that involve social interaction and
coordination. In the classroom, she enjoys drawing, coloring, and cutting with scissors.
Cognitive Growth and Development
Coras cognitive growth is typical for her age. She is interested in exploring new
materials and real life situations. She struggles with problem solving, but is very good with
comparing and contrasting. She is very fond of problem solving, asking many questions, and
forming hypotheses. When I began studying at my practicum site, Cora was struggling with her
math skills. Some of her weaknesses was counting coins, greater than and less than, and missing
numbers.
After working with Cora, she understands more and more. She is now one out of the
many students in the class that does understand greater than and less than so well. Throughout
the semester, I focused my attention to Coras cognitive weaknesses and tried to improve her
skills. I came up with many activities and examples for her to work on to help her understand
these specific areas of math.
Creative Growth and Development
Cora is a very creative student and expresses her love for creativity daily. Throughout
almost all of her work, Cora incorporates art into it. Along with being very creative with art,
Cora shows her creativeness in music as well. She is always being told to stop humming or
singing throughout class. Every Thursday, Coras class attends music class as their special.
Cora is always dancing and singing throughout this special. During each class session, the music
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CASE STUDY
teacher turns on a warm up song for the class to let out some energy. Cora loves when Mrs.
Kimmer, the music teacher, does the warm up song because Cora is able to get up and move all
around. This action is demonstrated on slide 25 of my Case Study PowerPoint.
During the first month I was at my practicum site, it seemed that Cora had a very hard
time sitting still throughout the whole special. Because of this, the music teacher would often
move Cora to the back of the room to sit by herself. The last few times I attended the music
special, Cora had more self-control and could sit still throughout the whole class without getting
in trouble.
Social/Emotional Growth and Development
Cora defines self in comparison with others. She believes that she is better at mostly
everything that the rest of the children. Cora recognizes and adjusts to personal space and
personal space of others very well. It does not matter if the student she is playing with is a boy
or girl, she will treat them both the same and be friendly. She definitely has more knowledge of
and flexibility in gender-role stereotypes. When Cora is in a group with her friends, she enjoys
telling secrets. She cuffs her little hands around her friends ears and whispers, and then giggles.
At the beginning of my time at Tenth Street, Cora did not seem to be very open and ready for
conversations with her peers. Now, she makes it known that her peers have become increasingly
important to Cora and her life. Cora also has more complex self-concept and is more focused on
feelings and ideas more now than at the beginning of August.
Cora is working hard on how to express her emotions appropriately in the classroom.
She claims that she still is not able to focus very long in the classroom because her medicine has
not kicked in yet even though it has been a month since she has been prescribed this particular


kind. If Cora intakes medicine that actually triggers her ADHD, it would definitely solve many
problems that the teacher has with her at school and her grandmother at home as well.
Language/Literacy Growth and Development
During the past couple of months, I have worked very hard with Cora on her literacy
development. In August, Coras handwriting was difficult to read at times. Throughout the last
couple of months, her handwriting has become more efficient and is easier for myself and Mrs.
Barnett to read. Cora enjoys writing very much so. She creates books and handmade journals to
write in often.
When I first arrived at Tenth Street, I assessed Cora on her reading. The first time I
assessed her, she was having trouble stopping when there was a punctuation point and also had
trouble reading some of the shorter words. Here recently I assessed Cora on the same book; she
did much better stopping where punctuation points were. Not only did she understand
punctuation much more, she also learned how to correct most of her mistakes on her own. When
she would read a sentence or word wrong, she would start the sentence over again and fix what
she messed up on. The evidence of her improvement is located on slide 29 in my Power Point.
Summary and Interpretation
I have observed changes in all areas of development over the semester. Throughout this
case study, I have given specifics in each domain that tells what she was weak at in August
which she is now stronger in. I believe that Cora has grown the most in reading and writing.
Cora has a passion for writing that most children in her classroom does not have. The area I
would focus the most on is her social and emotional growth and development. She is confident
and outgoing, but it is difficult at times for her to calm down and realize when it is appropriate to
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CASE STUDY
be outgoing. If I were to continue assessing Cora, I would pair her up with a child that is
excessively obedient and knows when talking is and is not necessary. I would hope that this
child would stay on task and be an example for Cora to follow after.
I believe the counselors Cora goes to are positively affecting Coras behavior in the
classroom. Based on observations, I believe that Coras focus will continue to become stronger
the more she talks and spends time with her counselors. Cora shared with me that her parents
will be coming home soon as well, so I believe this will positively affect Coras focus and
behaviors alone.