Name of student: Elli

Initiator: Bridget Golden

Context for instruction: This instructional program will take place in Ellis first grade classroom. The instruction for this assessment will occur daily during the designated time for the Daily 5. This way she will be working on improving literacy skills at the same time as her classmates. However, instead of completing the Daily 5 completely independently like her classmates, Elli will receive additional support in order to improve her letter recognition. The students in the class complete these activities on a daily basis: writing skills, independent reading skills, partner reading skills, and spelling word skills. Elli will still complete these activities but with extra help. The materials needed for instruction will vary throughout the program, but some examples include: flashcards, picture books, letter pieces, puzzles, and dry erase boards. Program Objective: In the context of 1:1 small group activities in the classroom and when presented with each upper/lower case manuscript letter in isolation, Elli will say the name of the letter within 1 second of presentation on 2/2 probe trials for 3 consecutive days. Generalization: To enhance Ellis generalization across materials, I will use the teach sufficient exemplars strategy by varying materials and font on a daily basis. For example, some days I will use handwritten flashcards, magnetic letters, letter pieces, puzzles, dry erase boards, a worksheet with letters, etc. Each of these will have every alphabetic letter, but it will look differently to Elli in hopes that she will be able to generalize across this variety of fonts and materials. Additionally, in order to monitor her performance, I will assess her skill using the district letter name assessment once each week. This will be to see whether her learning generalizes to that context. In addition to this, I will reassess her performance across different materials to look for patterns/trends. The ultimate goal for Elli is that by recognizing her alphabetic letters, she will begin to read more fluently in authentic texts. Also, it is important that she can recognize letters in the natural setting in order to complete a wide variety of skills. By the end of the instructional period, the goal is that Elli will have generalized her recognition of alphabetic letters in authentic texts and situations. Rationale: Recognizing alphabet letters is essential for the improvement of Ellis literacy development. Without a solid foundation made up of these letters, Elli will struggle to meet grade level standards and prosper in school. If she does not understand the most basic criteria needed for reading, she will be unable to succeed not only in all academic areas, but also in social and environmental situations where knowing how to read these letters is necessary. Therefore, with immediate intervention, the goal is that Elli will master automaticity with letter recognition. This skill will lead to letter-sound relationship, recognition of sight words, fluency and eventually comprehension ability. Knowing how to read these letters will give Tina the structure she needs to continuously become a better reader both in school and in situations outside of the classroom. Assessment Procedures: In order to complete the assessment for Elli, I will create an assessable flash card stack

consisting of two of each of the three target letters. After Elli has mastered some of these letters, one flash card will be added to the stack that represents one of the five additional letters from the maintenance list. Procedures: Step 1: Present letter list to Student E. Step 2: Point to the first letter on the list. Step 3: Give the sD: What letter? Step 4: Latency wait 1 second for Student Es response. Step 5: Record a + for correct responses and a for incorrect or no response. Step 6: Move through the whole deck using these procedures. Assessment Schedule: Baseline Informal Assessment: October 15-17th. Two trials per letter until stable. Instruction Begins: November 12th. The first two presentations of the target letter each day are probe trials. Probe: Every day prior to instruction for the day. The first two presentations of the target letter each day are probe trials. Instructional Procedures: Daily routine for this program will consist of: 1. Probe trials as described in assessment section. 2. Warm up to practice matching and receptive learning. 3. Practice trials on target letter using time delay. Warm Up Routine Warm up activities designed to help memory of what is already known or what has already been reviewed in instruction the day before. Spend up to five minutes total on warm up activities or until at least three trials per letter have been completed. These trials include: 1.Matching the letter for at least three trials per letter. 2.Three trials of pointing to the letter from an array of up to five letters, when asked Show me the ____. 3. Use the delay procedures described below for warm up games and for instructional games. Zero Second Delay Trials 1. Give the Sd to begin task presentation of flashcard. 2. Immediately after presentation of the Sd, provide prompt. The letter. 3. As Elli repeats correct answer, provide reinforcement. Verbal praise: Nice job, Elli! or Correct! Mark a check mark on the correct spot on data sheet, and move to next card. 4. Move through entire set of cards at least 3 times or until instructional period ends. Shuffle cards at completion of each stack so cards are presented in a random order each time.

5. Use 0 second delay for every presentation each day for the first 2 days of instruction, then move to 1 second delay. One Second Delay 1. Give the Sd to begin task presentation of flashcard. 2. Wait up to 4 seconds after presentation of card for Elli to respond. a) If within the 4 seconds, Elli responds correctly, provide reinforcement (enthusiastic verbal praise such as awesome job, Elli, youre correct!), record a + on the data sheet and move to the next card. b) If within the 4 seconds Elli responds incorrectly, provide error correction (no Elli, thats not quite right, its ___. Whats the answer to this one? Then say together the answer __). Record a 0 on the data sheet and move on to the next card. c) If after 4 seconds Elli has made no response, provide prompt (whatever the sight word answer is). As Elli repeats correct answer, provide reinforcement (direct verbal praise such as Excellent, thats correct!). Mark a check mark on the correct spot on data sheet, and move to next card. Use 4-second delay for every presentation each day for the remainder of instruction (until Elli meets mastery criterion in the objective). Move through entire set of cards at least 3 times or until instructional period ends. Shuffle cards at completion of each stack so cards are presented in a random order each time. * Appendix of Instructional Strategies attached. These strategies are an assortment of teaching styles to teach the recognition of capital and lower case letters. Reinforcement (type and schedule): Elli will be positively reinforced immediately after each time she mimics the instructors response in the Zero Second Delay trial and also immediately after each of her own correct responses in the One Second Delay trial. Responses will be verbal praise such as Great work, Elli! Nice job, Elli! Youre right, etc.. In the case of an incorrect answer, the instructor will say something like That is not quite right Elli, try again with me. The hope is that the reinforcement increases the likelihood that Elli will correctly recognize the sight word on another occasion. Given the nature of the task, no special sort of fading procedure is called for. Simply move to the next letter in the instructional set. Maintenance: Since throughout the school day Elli has exposure to the alphabetic letters via materials and setting decorations, no special maintenance technique is required. However, it is necessary to monitor her memory of the acquired words. Probe Elli two times per week for two weeks on the words she has learned, and then eventually one time per week.

Letter A

Date 1

Date 2

Date 3

F K P W Z B H O J U C Y L Q M D N S X I E G R V T a f k p w z b h o j u a c y l q m d n s x i e g r v t g % capital % lowercase % total

Empty Graph:

Although this graph is a blank representation, after data collection the number of letters that Elli recognizes would be represented on the graph (along with the actual dates she was assessed). The Y-Axis represents the number of letters Elli recognizes. This graph represents the number of capital and lower case letters recognized as a combined total. If necessary, separate graphs could be created to represent exactly how many capital and lower case letters Elli recognized as well.
Dates
Letter

A chart like the one seen above will be essential for data collection. Each square represents the date that the student is probed. It is split in half because the student will be probed twice in a day. If the student misses a letter either the first probe or the second probe, then the half of the box will be shaded in. This will be a great representation of what words the student has mastered and which ones he or she needs instruction for. Research Rationale Fiset, D. (2008). Features for identification of uppercase and lowercase

letters. Pyschological science, 19(11), 1161-1168. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2e1dc26c-4d944964-b621-36b99fb7862e@sessionmgr111&vid=27&hid=118 This study discussed the importance of letter recognition for an individuals literacy development. Therefore, the researchers wanted to know which part of the letter was most influential in an individuals ability to determine the letter. During the procedure, a Bubbles strategy was implemented that distorted the presentation of the letters of the alphabet. (Fiset, 2008). The participants then had to try to determine which letter each symbol represented. The findings concluded that one of the most important parts of the letter to identify it include a small termination in the letter. (Fiset, 2008). This includes the horizontal line in the letter G, the line in the letter Q, etc. The study also recognized the fact that letter recognition is also highly interdependent on the font style in which it was presented and the importance of varying this presentation for mastery until a standard font for letter recognition is created. Therefore, this relates to my program again because I will be teaching letter identification. It is important for me to remember to vary my teaching across all different styles of font and materials until the letters are mastered. Also, it is important to reinforce the determining factors in letters that make them different than other letters, such as the terminations. Mueller, S. T. (2012). Alphabetic letter identification: Effects of perceivability, similarity, and bias. Acta psychologica, 139(1), 19-37. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/science/article/pii/S0001691811 001843 This study researched the factors that influences ones ability to recognize alphabetical letters in text. The goal of this study was to determine if prior studies have been successful or if other factors influenced this skill. By displaying letters to the

participants in various font, style, and on different materials, they collected data which could help determine what factors are needed to identify letters in the alphabet. Ultimately, the study determined that letter perceivability, response bias, and letter similarity all were factors in determining the correct letter. This study relates to my instructional program because I am teaching letter identification. Factors that I will have to consider while teaching include the students ability to perceive the letter, their possible bias when responding, and the similarity between the target letter and other letters of the alphabet. During my instruction, I will be presenting letters across a wide variety of font, color, style, and on various materials in order to teach across sufficient exemplars and introduce the various ways a letter can appear to the eye. Hopefully this approach will improve the students ability to perceive the letter and identify it correctly.

Appendix

Game Dry erase board activities Magnetic letters Puzzle pieces The Disappearing alphabet

Description Letter matching, letter identification Stick magnetic letters onto a surface, student identifies letters Matching puzzle pieces with alphabetical letters 30-sided dice with the letters on each face (+ 4 bonus letters). Each time the dice is rolled, letter is recorded and repeated. Alphabet stamp templates may be substituted for the dice. Student identifies a letter from the pot of soup and drags it to the spoon. Student presses the letter on the key board when it is seen on the screen. Student can sing the ABCs and follow along on a visual Sorting through the letters by grouping each of the same letters Place wooden letters into a paper bag. With eyes closed, student removes one letter from bag and must identify the letter using their insight on letter shapes and feeling the shape of the letter. Student must match 2 cards of the same letter (or upper & lower) based off of what they remember about their location Write a letter in each square of the tictac-toe board. Student must say the letter before placing an X or O in box Make an alphabet collage of letters of all shapes, sizes, colors, and fonts. Students must identify the letter when prompted with I spy a letter that looks like

Smart boart Alphabet soup game EZ Games Alphabet Recognition http://www.ezschool.com/Games/Alphabets.html Singing the ABCs Assortment of letters on various colors and fonts Touchy-feely

Memory game Letter Bingo ISpy

Skill Sequence Baseline Determined

Focus Recognition Recognition instruction of of all onletters alphabetic lettersin that letters were authentic both previously capital text. Recognizing and lower unknown. case them on fluently the Focus district on in3-5 natural letters/week. assessment. situations.