Arsenault Portraitoflearner Smaller

Running head: PORTRAIT OF A LEARNER
Term II: Portrait of a Learner

Anna Mia Arsenault
University of Pennsylvania
PORTRAIT OF A LEARNER
Table of Contents
DESCRIPTIVE REVIEW (FIELD SEMINAR)
STRONG INTERESTS AND STRENGTHS

FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING
CONNECTIONS WITH OTHERS
EXPRESSION OF EMOTION
PHYSICAL PRESENCE AND GESTURE
FOCUSING QUESTION
3
5
6
8
9
10
THE CHILD AS A READER AND WRITER (LITERACY METHODS)
10
CHILD AS A READER
CHILD AS A WRITER
10
14
THE CHILDS MATHEMATICAL UNDERSTANDING (MATH METHODS)
17
IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE TEACHING PRACTICE
20
THE CHILD AS A SCIENTIST (SCIENCE METHODS)
21
PRIOR SCIENCE EXPERIENCE

UNDERSTANDING OF PROPERTIES OF MATTER
PROPOSED UNITS OF FURTHER STUDY
21
23
26
THE CHILD AS A CITIZEN AND SOCIAL STUDIES LEARNER (SOCIAL STUDIES)
27
BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION OF THE CHILD

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TASK
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF HISTORICAL THINKING
IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE TEACHING PRACTICE
27
29
30
33
RESPONDING TO A FOCUSING QUESTION (FIELD SEMINAR)
33
REFLECTIONS ON LEARNING (FIELD SEMINAR)
35
REFERENCES
37
APPENDICES
38
APPENDIX A: STUDENT WORK

APPENDIX B: CLASSROOM MAP
APPENDIX C: STUDENT BODY POSITION
APPENDIX D: SOCIOGRAM OF INTERACTION
APPENDIX E: TRANSCRIPTS OF INTERVIEWS
APPENDIX F: OBSERVATION NOTES
APPENDIX G: SCIENCE INTERVIEW SOLIDS MATERIALS
APPENDIX H: RUNNING RECORDS
38
44
45
46
48
77
83
84
Descriptive Review
Strong Interests and Strengths
Stephen is a male, first grade student at an elementary school in University City. He
loves Ninja Turtles and learning about animals. My initial impression of Stephen was that he was
a quiet child who often got in trouble for not paying attention on the carpet. His lack of attention
made me think that he did not care too much about school. I now know this is not the case. I am
so grateful that I had an opportunity to have regular one-on-one conversations with Stephen. Our
conversations provided insight that would have been difficult to obtain otherwise.
Contrary to my initial impression, Stephen seems to care very much about school and
getting things right. When arranging the historical documents in chronological order, Stephen
asked Is it right? During the math interview, Stephen estimated that the number of cubes in the
pile was twenty. I counted nineteen and said, Wow youre very close arent you? Stephen put a
red square into the pile of cubes and said, So, this makes twenty because I just found it! During
the literacy interview, Stephen was worried about being able to read all of the words in his book.
After getting stuck on a word, he said, I dont want to get a bad score. During Writers
Workshop I saw that he was erasing his drawings after making a mistake. When I walked over to
him, he explained, I messed up, so Im making the other shark that I saw.
Stephen is surprisingly easy to please and frequently talks about being happy. His exterior
does not always indicate that he is happy, but he seems to think a lot about being happy based on
various comments that he made. When I asked him about how he felt that day, he replied,
happy. I was also surprised to hear that the thing that he wished his parents knew about him
was, that Im always happy. I asked him, You dont think they know that? and he replied,
They think sometimes Im happy and sometimes Im sad. I thought that this was endearing and
unexpected.
Although Stephen displays certain aspects of each of Gardner (1983)s multiple
intelligences, he seems to be very high in visual-spatial intelligence based on examining his
work, tracking his path in the classroom, and conducting interviews with him. Stephen is creative
and often makes the illustrations that accompany his writing into a detailed scene. [See Appendix
A] Even when the picture is a means to solve a math problem, Stephen puts a lot of creativity
and detail into his illustrations. For instance, one of the problems in Stephens Investigations
math book asked about the total number of monkeys in a problem. Stephen drew a scene with six
monkeys on the ground and three other monkeys swinging from vines on a tree. [See Appendix
A: Student Work]
Based on my observations about the amount of time Stephen spends on his illustrations
and the level of detail he includes in his drawings, it seems like Stephen enjoys drawing with
pencil and crayons. Another math problem involved using a plate with peas and carrots as a way
to visualize different combinations of numbers that add up to seven. Instead of drawing a plate,
Stephen created a whole grocery store scene with shopping carts carrying peas and carrots.
[See Appendix A: Student Work] Additionally, when I asked him to do a math problem involving
cookies, Stephen said the cookies were different kinds like sugar cookies, ice cream sandwich
cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and vanilla cookies. I think his imagination and creativity are
two of his most prominent strengths.
In terms of Stephens spatial conception, he seems to be aware of how to move efficiently
given his surroundings, but he is not always aware of the space that his body takes up. According
to the classroom map that tracked his movement, Stephen appears to be able to maneuver
through the room by taking the most direct path. Stephen does not go out of his way or go
anywhere that he is not supposed to be. [See Appendix C: Classroom Map] However, he does not
seem to notice when his body enters his classmates carpet squares. In an interview on October
8th, Stephen told me, I just sit down (0:43) and I dont know I was in Tessas space. So she just
picked up my finger and bent it. I didnt know I was on her space (0:53). On October 10th, I
observed the same student shouting out Stephen, youre in my spot! when they were sitting on
the carpet. I do not get the sense that Stephen is intentionally leaving his carpet square and
disturbing others. It seems like he does not know it is happening unless someone complains
about it and it turns into an issue.
Formal and Informal Instruction

Stephen told me that his favorite thing to study is math, but he also seems to enjoy
school and learning in general. The other day I told Stephen at the end of our one-on-one
interview that we would be doing a math interview together the next day. When he saw me the
following day outside in line, he smiled at me and said loudly, Were going to do math today!
Stephen is enthusiastic about math, but seems to enjoy other subjects as well. After the social
studies interview, I asked him, What do you think I could do to make it more fun? to which he
replied, Um. Its already fun. He appears to enjoy reading as well, because he seemed very
excited to go to the library. When I asked him how he would describe school, he said, fun
because you get to do homework. It was surprising to me that he did not mention disliking the
fact that he often gets in trouble in school. Instead he focused on the positives surrounding the
learning aspects of school.
Math seems to be the subject that comes easily to Stephen, while reading and music seem
to be more difficult. During our reading conferences, Stephen often asked if he could skip words
that he didnt know or switch books if there were too many difficult words. Even though he
struggles with words, Stephen still seems enthusiastic about reading. The only subject that
Stephen does not seem to be enthusiastic is music. Mr. Smith, the music teacher, said, Now, he
would participate, but I dont know if I could tell you what his singing voice is like. (1:42) [Hed
be] like, Dont expect me to start singing, Mr. Smith. When I asked Stephen about things he
cant understand, he immediately said music. He continued, I dont really like music, so thats
why I cant understand it. Stephens comments about music seem to confirm what Mr. Smith
thought and suggest that his musical intelligence level is lower than some of his other
intelligences.
Connections with Others

Stephen exhibits a high level of visual-spatial intelligence, but he also has inter and
intrapersonal intelligence. He interacts with a fair number of peers. On October 14th, he
communicated with sixteen different peers in the morning alone. [See Appendix C: Sociograms]
A majority of the communication branches were two ways, meaning he communicated with
someone who communicated back to him. In fact, Stephen often gets in trouble with Ms. Anita
for talking to the people around him during class time. Stephen said, I have ten friends, my little
brother only has one- my big brother has twenty. (8:49) However, when a few students talked to
Stephen he did not seem interested in talking to them. My observations suggest that for some
reason, Stephen rarely turns and talks to Dhruv on the carpet. On October 14th, I noticed that
when a student from another class was sitting next to him on the carpet, Stephen did talk with
him. This suggests that Stephen may not be opposed to turning and talking, but perhaps he does
not feel inclined to communicate with Dhruv on the carpet.
One of the overarching themes of Stephens conversations was his love of his family and
how close he feels to them. Stephen talked about his big brothers in almost every conversation.
He talked about how his big brother told him about the monsters in my closet and how my
brother goes and gets it [clothes] for me cause hes one of my brothers and hes eleven. When
we were talking about reading, Stephen said, my big brother can read a lot of books, but thats
because hes older than me. It sounds like Stephen and his brothers get along most of the time.
Stephen says, My brother favorite thing is play with me. It is clear that Stephen cares
immensely for his brothers. He also feels very strongly about his mother and respects her.
Stephen was telling me about a movie called, Sharknado. He said that his mother asked him to
turn it off and he did. I inquired farther to see if he shut the movie off because he didnt like all
the blood or because if he wanted to do what his mother said and he answered, I turned it off
because my mom told me to and I didnt want to watch the blood (5:36).
Although Stephen was not one of the students that I was thinking about interviewing, Ms.
Anita suggested that I interview Stephen because she felt that he would benefit from one on one
attention from an adult and that this attention might in turn help with his behavioral issues.
Stephen is one of the children Ms. Anita speaks to multiple times a day about behavioral
issues, but there is little evidence to suggest that he has serious or any behavioral problems.
Despite being placed on red fairly regularly, Stephen seems to be very considerate, polite and
respectful when we work together. During morning announcements, Stephen was talking to Juan.
I looked at him and pointed to my ear to show him that he should be listening. Stephen did not
argue or show any signs of anger. Instead, he smiled at me and looked at Mr. Smith who was
reading the announcements. Before the literacy interview, Stephen pointed to a desk and said,
You can sit here. This ones taller. After the science interview, the table got wet from the sink
and float activity. I told Stephen, You can go back to class now. Im just going to clean up. He
said, Ill help you clean up! and he got a handful of paper towels and started to wipe off the
table before I could do anything. He seems like he wants to help and likes responsibility, which
could be why Ms. Anita appointed him table leader.
Expression of Emotions
Stephens expression of emotion, physical presence and gesture appear to be interrelated.
The rhythm and pace of Stephens voice are fairly normal. He does not speak very quickly or
very slowly. The volume of his voice is generally fairly low, unless he is talking about something
that excites him or elicits some type of emotion. It seems like his voice gets louder and his eyes
open wider when he gets excited about something such as talking about math or books about
sharks. During an observation, I noted that when Stephen got to the word Halloween during
morning message, he read it very enthusiastically.I also noticed that when Juan accused him of
snatching the brown crayon, Stephens voice got slightly louder when he was denying it. It
seems like he speaks slightly faster when he is speaking outside of class (i.e. recess, lining up
outside, etc).
Stephens face is expressive and it makes it easy to read his emotions. One day when I
saw him standing in line, he looked upset. His face was not lit up like it usually is and his eyes
made it look like he was sad. When we were walking inside, I asked him if he was okay. He told
me that he was upset. I asked him if hed like to talk about it inside. When we got inside he
explained that he was upset because his mom wouldnt be able to pick him up after school
because she had to go to work.
Stephen generally uses eye contact when talking to others. I would say that he usually
looks engaged and interested in what is going on unless he has recently gotten in trouble with the
teacher. After Ms. Anita calls attention to his behavior on the carpet, Stephen almost always puts
his hands on each side of his face and puts his head down. [See Appendix C: Body Position] He
does not make any faces at the teacher or in general after getting in trouble. However, he often
stops looking at the teacher and does not raise his hand after that.
Physical Presence
It seems like Stephen has difficulty paying attention because he plays with things in his
hands a lot. When he was standing in line outside before class, Stephen was playing with his toy
cars. Since Stephen sits in the middle of the front row on the carpet, Ms. Anita sees everything
that he does. She often singles him out for not paying attention almost every time the class is on
the carpet. When Stephen was sitting on the carpet, he got in trouble for playing with his blue tag
necklace. Ms. Anita took away his blue tag and said, Sorry you had to be the example. Stephen
looked down and put his head in his hands. [See Appendix C: Body Positions] He later played
with the crumpled up dollar bill that he had in his hands. Even when Ms. Anita told the class to,
Put your hands on your heads, put your hands on your ears, eyes one me, Stephen spent the
time flicking his earlobes instead of putting his hands on his ears. These instances suggest that
Stephen feels that he needs to constantly be doing something with his hands when he is not given
a task.
10
Focusing Question
After observing and interacting with Stephen in different settings, I have two questions. I
am curious about the impact that individualized and public correction has on Stephens behavior
and participation. I wonder if individualized and private conferences about his behavior would
lead to a different outcome than becoming disengaged and ceasing to participate in whole class
discussions on the carpet. I suspect talking to him privately will be more effective since Stephen
appears to understand and values respect and often sees things in terms of their relationships to
others. I think private conferences might show more respect to him, because it is less publicly
shaming. I am also curious about why Stephen seems to always be playing with things in his
hands. I wonder if there is any way to allow him to continue doing this while being focused on
the lesson and in a way that is less distracting to his classmates. I also wonder if it is actually
distracting to his classmates. I also wonder if he is still able to comprehend and retain what Ms.
Anita is saying when he is playing with things in his hand.
The Child as a Reader and Writer

To assess Stephen as a reader and a writer, I conducted two formal interviews (student
selected read aloud, student selected independent book, teacher selected read aloud, and multiple
teacher selected independent books), an informal reading practices interview, two recorded
writing and reading conferences, and multiple anecdotal observations. The first interview lasted
twenty minutes. Stephen picked Arthurs Baby by Marc Brown for the first read aloud. Next, I
allowed him to choose any book to read to me that was on his level (Fountas and Pinnell, C). I
11
hoped by letting him choose both books, he would not think of this as a test and instead consider
it an enjoyable opportunity to read and discuss books that were interesting to him. He picked
Trip to the Zoo. The other interview took approximately eighteen minutes. I asked Stephen to
select a book to read to me from a pile of five books from level A to level C.
After that, I read This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. I chose this book because I thought
it would test his ability to pick up on details and provide opportunities for making inferences. To
develop a deeper understanding of his interests and attitudes toward reading and literacy, I asked
him questions about reading and writing in conjunction with informal non-academic questions. I
felt like incorporating the two would make him feel more comfortable talking about his reading
and writing habits outside of school. Stephen did not seem to mind any of the interviews. He
even said, I like all the stories we read during the last interview (10:49).
In addition to the structured interviews, I transcribed two conferences with him. I
recorded one conference during Writers Workshop, which lasted eleven minutes, and then
another during Readers Workshop, which lasted nine minutes. I jotted down anecdotal
observations as well at various points in the day. I also took note of the words that Stephen wrote
down on his board during word study time in the morning.
Stephen as a Reader
Although I cannot describe the language used in Stephens home, I believe his home
context is similar to the one that Willis (1995) describes. Stephens parents sound like they value
reading and writing. When I asked Stephen if he reads at home, he said yes, sometimes with my
dad, but sometimes by myself. He said he read it to my dad cause he like me learning how to
read by myself (3:55). I believe Stephen is introduced to a wide range of vocabulary at home
12
because he talked about kayaking with his dad. He also talked about going to his brothers beach
house and seeing people going bungee jumping. Since both of those activities occurred with
family members, I assumed that it was his family that developed his vocabulary.
As a reader, Stephen is very aware of his understanding and he seems to be constantly
assessing whether or not he knows words. At one point during the interview, Stephen said, Uh. I
dont know this one. I know the car. (2:02) Most of the time, when Stephen did not
recognize a word, his first instinct was to try to sound it out using the strategy that Ms. Anita
modeled. Stephen looked at the letters and tapped his shoulder, his elbow, and then his wrist
while he said the letter sounds. When he said all of the letter sounds in the word, he slid his hand
down his from his shoulder to his wrist, blending each individual letter sound together to form
the word. He used this strategy to read pack, start, and trip. Two of these words began with
blends. He tried to use the strategy to read see, but he could not understand what the word said,
because he kept saying, ss eh eh. That was an instance where knowing the sounding it out
strategy did not work for him, because he lacked an understanding of long vowels.
When the sounding it out strategy does not help Stephen reach an understanding of the
word or even a guess for a potential word, he often skips the word or even switches books
altogether. He does not appear to try other strategies. Having conferenced with many students in
the class, I am unsure if they were taught any strategy besides sounding it out. I have not seen
any other student or Ms. Anita use any other strategy yet. It seems like he may not be trying out
other reading strategies because he has not been introduced to any.
Stephen appears to use the context and the picture clues to read words. Sometimes he
initially disregards the letters when he is trying to figure out a word. For instance, on the page
with a photograph of a colorful Macaw, he read I see parrots at the zoo. but then he almost
13
immediately corrected the sentence to birds at the zoo. Another page said I see lions at the
zoo. Lions have yellow and brown fur. Stephens first guess for the word brown was big.
His second guess was hair (19:56), even though brown does not begin with the letter h. He
guessed hard and soft. I believe that Stephen uses the context to read before the letters,
because the following week he read a book called Fly High. The sentences were all
constructed the same way- Fly high, red. or Fly high, green. Stephen did not stop to think
about the word brown. He read Fly high, brown without any hesitation. Sometimes Stephen
uses picture clues and initial letters to read words. For example, he read birds have wings. He
knew the word wings because he said he saw the wings and wings begins with w (24:29).
After listening to Arthurs Baby, Stephen provided a basic summary and some problems
and solutions illustrated in the story. Stephen summarized the book by saying, They had a new
baby, because thats what its about. When I asked about what happened at the end, he said,
The baby stopped crying. When I asked for an example of a problem, he said The problem
was when she cries and the solution was made her stop crying. He was able to identify main
points, but he did not talk about the main ideas of jealousy or how a new baby changes your life.
Although Stephen was unable to identify the main ideas or problems in the story when
asked at the end, he was able to get to the essence of them by making text to self-connections
during the reading. Stephen said, I have a baby cousin. My older cousin, but hes not older than
me, he was mad because my baby cousin kept getting more and more presents. She just turned
one. This statement suggests that Stephen has an understanding of the feelings of jealousy that
Arthur and D.W. may have because their baby sister, Kate, keeps getting presents. His
identification of main ideas was not complex, but he has accomplished reading as an active
14
process because he is able to construct meaning by connecting what he already knows with what
he is hearing during the read aloud (Purcell-Gates, 2004, p. 57).
In addition to making text to self-connections, Stephen also demonstrated a remarkable
ability to empathize with and interact with the characters in the book. When Kate gets all of the
presents, Stephen says that Arthur feels sad cause they wasnt for him. All these presents were
just for her (12:10). He also interacts with the text during read alouds. While I was reading This
is Not My Hat, Stephen offered his commentary on the situation. I read This hat is not mine. I
just stole it. Stephen immediately said, Oohh, he stole a hat (0:54). When I read, He was
asleep when I did it, Stephen said, I wouldnt steal from a big fish (1:25). When I read, And
even if he does wake up, he probably wont notice that its gone, Stephen said, How he wont
notice if he dont feel nothing on his head?! (2:20). All of Stephens comments about the text
made me think that he had a good sense of comprehension.
Stephen as a Writer
Willis (1995) talks about the importance of literacy and writing as an outlet for selfexpression and reflection (p. 33). I thought that it was interesting that Stephen has a journal at
home that he uses to reflect upon his dreams. During the informal interview questions, I asked
him to finish the sentence People think Stephen answered, Sometimes I think about what
my dreams gonna be about. Cause I have a dream book- in my dreams. And when I wake up, I
just write about it and draw the pictures. I was not expecting that answer, but it provided insight
into how Stephen and his family have incorporated writing for pleasure and reflection into their
lives. Although recording dreams in a journal may not have been considered literacy in the past,
15
the New Literacy Studies suggests that writing in journals for pleasure at home is a literacy type
based on social practice (Pahl & Rowsell, 2005, p. 11).
In terms of Stephens writing stage, he seems to be near the end of the beginning stage of
writing as described by Bear (2004) in the Purcell-Gates (2004, p.46) reading. Bear (2004) talks
about how in the beginning stage, children spend a lot of time writing out each syllable and
consequently only write one or two words at a time. As Stephens writing shows, he is able to
write more than a few words for each sentence, but he has not quite reached the point where he is
able to consistently write a full half page of writing. The subjects of Stephens writing tends to
come from personal experience- swimming and playing with his friends, riding his bike, going to
the aquarium and the zoo, and talking about what he is going to do for Halloween.
When looking at the progression of Stephens writing over the past month, it is clear that
he is moving toward the transitional stage. In the beginning of the year, his stories were I like to
swim with my friends. and I like to play football with my friends. They were simple single
sentences that followed the same pattern. A few weeks ago, Stephen wrote, I like to go to the
aquarium. I like the shark. He is beginning to elaborate on his stories. Stephens most recent
writing breaks the pattern of I like. He writes, On Halloween I am going to see my brother.
The last piece of writing that I copied shows how far he has come because he tells more of a
story. Last year I sird (scared?) my big brother on Halloween. My sister was sird (scared?)
too. It also looks like Stephen tried to incorporate the sequencing words into his writing because
he wrote first, next, and last. However, he did not use the words to tell a sequence of
events. Much like what I saw on his sequencing writing assessment, Stephen still does not have a
complete understanding of how to use the sequencing words in the beginning of his sentences.
16
Looking at the way Stephen spells his words suggests that he has made significant
progress as well. Stephen began first grade past the early letter name stage. He never spelled
words using just the predominant sounds or beginning and ending sounds. I would say that he
started in the middle letter name stage, because he uses vowels in conjunction with the beginning
and ending vowel sounds. In the beginning of the year, he spells like lic. This makes sense
given the phonemes in the word. Stephen only wrote three and four letters words in the
beginning of the year. Stephens attempts at big words suggest that he has phonemic awareness
and understands the sounds that are associated with each letter. For instance, he spells aquarium
acwarima. I would guess that the ma at the end of the word was a kinetic reversal because
the letters associated with the appropriate sounds are present, but in the wrong order (Bear, 2004,
p. 34). Even though Stephen does not understand that Last year is two words, his attempt is
logical. He wrote it lasyir.
Implications
Knowing that Stephen uses the sounding it out strategy regularly, I would introduce
Stephen to other reading strategies such as chunking or stretching the word. Stephen uses the
strategy in the same exact way as Ms. Anita, so it is also important that the teacher models the
new strategies multiple times so that he is sure he is using it correctly and effectively. Having
seen Stephen trying to sound out the word see unsuccessfully, I also think that Stephen could
use some practice with long vowel sounds or even an introduction to long vowels. From reading
with him, it seems like he tries to fit words with long vowels into short vowel patterns. I might
introduce different long vowel patterns and then have him do a picture sort of long and short
vowels to assess his understanding. Also, seeing that Stephen had trouble identifying the main
17
idea in conversation, but that he was able to reach a high level of comprehension when he
interacted with the text, I might encourage Stephen to keep a reading journal where he can write
about what he reads and the text to self connections he makes.
The Childs Mathematical Understandings
The data used to assess Stephens mathematical understanding came primarily from the
mathematical interview, but I also used observation notes during math time and other
conversations with Stephen to inform my understanding. The mathematical interview portion for
the child study took approximately nineteen minutes to complete. The first interview I did with
Stephen was social studies. After I completed that interview, I told Stephen that wed be doing
math next. Stephen seemed very excited to do math. He also told me that it is his favorite
subject. When I asked him about why it is his favorite subject, Stephen said it is because, my
brother helps me do it. Thats why I like it. It is not particularly surprising that the reason
Stephen loves math is because his brother helps him with it, since Stephen talks about his
brothers often and seems to look up to them. The following day, when Stephen saw me outside
for morning announcements, he smiled at me and said, Were going to do math today!
Although Stephen appears to enjoy the time we spend working together, he seemed particularly
enthusiastic about doing math. Based on my conversations with Stephen, he also seems to enjoy
counting things, such as the pages in his books.
Chapin and Johnson (2006) talk about how there are six different ways that people use
numbers: for rote counting (saying numbers in sequence), for rational counting (to count
objects), as cardinal numbers (to name how many objects are in a set), as ordinal numbers (to
name the relative positions of objects in sets), for measurements (to name how much when we
measure), and as nominal or nonnumeric numbers (for identification) (p. 2). Based on the math
18
interview and my observations of Stephen during class, I believe that Stephen has mostly
encountered rote counting and rational counting. He has mastered rote counting. He participates
in the fluency activities with the class and can count by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s without using any
materials.
Stephen has a good grasp of number meaning. It seems like he understands that numbers
can be represented by symbols and quantities of items. He has mastered rational counting.
Stephen answered the first two questions very quickly. As soon as I put the four red cubes on the
table, he said that there were four blocks. I was surprised to hear his explanation for how he
knew there were four blocks, (two plus two equals four), because he seemed to answer so
quickly that I thought he was subitizing. He was able to explain that there were more red blocks
because there was one extra cube, which suggests that he understands the ordinal property of
numbers. He was also able to count out five cubes and nine cubes quickly.
Stephen can also compute math problems when some of the manipulatives are covered
and some are uncovered. On October 14th, Stephen was instructed to complete a math game
where he picked a number between six and ten and then tried to guess how many his partner took
away based on how many cubes remained in his hand. Stephen had finished a whole chart of
number combinations that equaled eight before anyone else in the class. This suggests that
Stephen has a solid understanding of parts that make up a whole. He appears to understand how
the two numbers relate to each other, which suggests that he understands the commutative
property. Stephens answer to the word problem about the three girls and four boys supports that
as well. He used a counting on strategy to get seven. When I asked him what if it was four girls
and three boys, he said, itd still be seven.
19
Stephen uses different strategies to answer the problems and check his solutions. When
asked to show me nine blocks, Stephen began by taking out cubes from the bag and stacking
them. When he got to five, he stopped and counted all. He took out four more blocks and stacked
them with the others. Then, he used his finger and counted each cube again demonstrating his
understanding of one-to-one correspondence. It seems like Stephen is able to figure out how
many cubes he needs to answer the question, but then goes back and checks his answer by
counting all. Since Stephen understands that when he stops at 9 during his counting all, he has
counted out nine cubes, he demonstrates an understanding of cardinality. When I asked Stephen
how he knew there were nine cubes, he said, because I counted this many [six] and added three
more. Chapin and Johnson (2006) talk about how students understanding of quantity is
extended when they can conceptualize that numbers are composed of two or more smaller groups
(p. 15). What Stephen did to count the nine cubes suggests that he has reached this level of
understanding. However, Stephen did not make nine into one group of five with four other cubes.
This suggests that he has not yet come to understand that fives and tens can be used as anchor
quantities.
Stephen also has a solid understanding of conservation. When I spaced my cubes out in
the line and asked Stephen if we still had the same number of cubes, he said Um yes. When
I questioned his answer, he proved we had the same number by counting all of his blocks one by
one and then counting all of my blocks one by one. I tried to get a better understanding of what
Stephen was thinking about the difference in appearance, so I asked, but look, my line is longer
isnt it? Stephen said, yes. When I asked if that meant that I had more, he stood by his answer
and said, no, yours is longer because youre puttin spaces (9:26).
20
Stephen used a counting on strategy to answer hypothetical questions. He got out seven
blocks and I said, So lets say Im going to give you two more blocks. How many would you
have then? (10:42) He answered, nine right away, cause I said seven in my head and
counted nine. I wanted him to elaborate on how he went straight from seven to nine, even
though I thought that he most likely knew that seven plus two equals nine because of his fluency
and number sense. I know this because of the ease with which he did the combinations of eight
game in class. He explained, I counted two more to make nine (10:55). I asked, what if I was
going to give you three more? He immediately knew that it was ten. I thought it was interesting
that after he gave the correct answer, he retracted it and said twelve because he did teneleven- twelve in his fingers. It seemed like he thought that I made the problem more difficult
than it was because he went back and added on three more to his previous answer instead of
adding three more to the original amount. This showed me that he needed to use his fingers to
add past the decade in his head, but that he knew that ten came after nine and that eleven came
after ten. I think those numbers can be tricky sometimes for children.
When asked to do a subtraction problem, result unknown, Stephen uses the cubes to
directly model the problem. He begins with nine cubes and takes away two. Then he counts up
by one starting at four, which suggests that he may have be subitizing, so that he doesnt have to
count each one individually. Even though word problems tend to be more complex because they
are abstract, Stephen did not need to directly model the problem like he did for the subtraction
problem. Stephen used a counting on strategy to solve a join result unknown word problem in his
head. Cause it was three and you add two more to get five. Stephen did not use the cubes to
model the second subtraction problem, but he did use his fingers to answer six minus four.
21
Implications
It seems as if Stephen has developed a strong number sense. He appears to use different
strategies to solve join and separate result unknown problems fairly easily. I think the next step
would be to introduce Stephen to different types of join and separate problems such as start or
change unknown. I would also be curious to see how Stephens number sense is with numbers
that are higher than twenty. Does he understand that the tens column for 14 means ten of
something or the tens column in 27 means twenty of something? Even though grouping falls
under the 2nd-3rd grade interview protocol, I wonder how Stephen would approach the situation.
He seemed to excel at the tasks that I gave him and I think that he could be challenged more. I
think Stephen might be up for a challenge because he seems to enjoy math.
The Child as a Scientist

My understanding of Stephen as a scientist comes from the formal sink and float activity
that we did together and from a number of other informal conversations in which he mentioned
his experience with science. The sink and float activity took approximately twenty-eight minutes.
Unfortunately, due to a technological malfunction, I was unable to record and transcribe the
science activity. I had to use the table and the notes that I jotted down as my data sources. We
used materials from the Solids kit. [See Appendix G] Some of the informal conversations about
science were led by questions that I posed to get at his prior science experience and some
comments came up naturally in conversation.
Prior Science Experience
22
Despite thinking that science is reading (5:10), Stephen has had an assortment of
experiences with science both in school and with his family whether or not he realizes it is
science. He has expressed an interest in animals that has been supported by trips to the zoo and
the aquarium. It seems like Stephen is more interested in biological science because most of his
science related talk is about animals and their skeletons. However, he expressed interest in
physical science as well when he talked about bungee jumping. Although it was in relation to the
movie, Sharknado, Stephen demonstrated that he was familiar with some types of natural
disasters as well, such as tornadoes.
Stephen seems to be mainly interested in all kinds of animals. He told me that he went to
the zoo with him mom when I turned three (1:29). When I asked him how he remembered that,
he said, cause I saw the polar bears and I like polar bears (1:46). Stephen may have
remembered the field trip even at such a young age because he saw animals that were interesting
to him. He also mentioned that my mom took me to the aquarium and we went somewhere but I
dont know what it was called (4:03). This suggests that he enjoyed the zoo and the aquarium
more because he remembered the name and the experience more vividly. When I asked about the
difference between zoos and aquariums, Stephen said, the aquarium got water and sharks and
the zoo only got alligators, polar bears, snakes and anything else (4:34). He understood that
there was water at the aquarium, but not at the zoo. However, he did not talk about the fact that
the animals at each place have different habitats.
Stephen talked about knowing about a number of different animals. He told me about
seeing a red, poisonous frog. He says that he learned about animals and what they eat and what
they do (2:57) at the zoo. Stephen was not just interested in wild animals; he also talked about
his pet cats, dogs, a snake, and a fish in multiple conversations. He talked about how he had to
23
give away his snake because we had no more food for it (26:18). He knew that it ate mice and
snake food (26:25) and that it was scary because his mouth was open so wide (4:50). Not only
does Stephen care about pets and learning about animals on field trips, but he also seems like he
enjoys reading books about animals. Stephen was able to connect his experience feeding his pet
snake to a book that he read about skeletons. He saw a snake eat a mouse on my skeleton book
(26:58). When I asked him more about it, he said, cause they said their jaws are bones and his
mouth opens really wide and he eats things bigger than his head (27:25).
I noticed that Stephen enjoys reading books about animals and science. During the end of
one of our interviews Stephen said, Its almost time to go to the library. cause I really want
that shark book (0:05). One of the books that he selected to read with me was called A Trip to
the Zoo. He also has demonstrated that he retains some of the information from the books that he
reads. Stephen talked about how there were also pictures of real human skulls in the skeleton
book. He added, the babys skull has a soft spot right there as he pointed to his head. I asked
him what a soft spot was and he said a soft spot is like right- when you push down on it. I
asked if grown-ups have them too and he said, just babies.
Based on a few of the comments that Stephen made during our conversations, it seems
like he is starting to get an idea about different species and classifying animals. When I was
reading This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen to Stephen as a read aloud, he blurted out Is that a
shark? (1:06) while I was reading. I asked him why he thought it was a shark and he said,
cause its big. Wait, a whale, because its big just like a shark (1:12). When I came over to talk
to Stephen during Writers Workshop one day, he pointed to his paper and said hammerhead
shark (0:56). Then, he erased his drawing because his hammerhead is messed up. I asked him
24
about how hammerhead sharks differ from normal sharks and he said, because normal sharks
dont have hammerheads. He explained that normal shark heads are pointy (1:15).
Understanding of Properties of Matter

Not only did Stephen surprise me with his knowledge of animals and skeletons, but he
also showed me that he understood certain properties of solids during the sink and float
interview. Although I explained to Stephen the idea of making predictions during science
investigations, he had difficulty making his prediction before dropping the material into the tub
of water. I could have controlled the bag of objects and only allowed him to take it out of the bag
after making a prediction, but I wanted him to feel like he was able to freely explore the
materials. As a result of this choice, I sacrificed the possibility of hearing his prediction and
reasoning for every object.
The first item he picked was the Ping-Pong ball. He did not wait to make a prediction
before he put it into the water. After he saw that it floated, he said that it was because it was
light. Next, he picked the silver ball. When I asked him to make a prediction, he initially said
heavy, which I thought was interesting. After he said heavy he told me that he thought it
would sink because its heavy. He dropped the silver ball into the water and noted that it sank
and rolled. When I asked him why he thought it sank, he said, because its metal. He changed
his prediction from being weight based to being material based. Next, Stephen put the blue
rubber ball into the water. He said that it was floating and sinking at the same time. He thought
this was because one side is heavier than the other. He guessed that the side with the writing
was heavier.
25
When Stephen placed the cork in the water he thought that it floated because it was light
and it feels and looks like its wood. However, when he dropped the wood cube in after that, he
predicted that it would sink because it was heavy. When he saw that it actually floated, he said,
I dont know [why]. Because its wood? He tried the clear cube next and thought that it would
float. When he saw that it sank, he said it was because it was heavy. He put the clear cylinder
in after the clear cube and guessed that it would sink. When I asked him if he could explain
why, he said, because theyre both the same. They look like ice and ice is heavy, so they sank.
Next, he put the plastic lid in the water and saw that it floated. He said it was because it was
plastic. When Stephen saw that the wooden tee floated in the water, he thought that it was
because it was little and not heavy. Similarly, Stephen thought that the button would float
because it is small. The last two objects that Stephen talked about were the pipe cleaner and
the washer. Stephen thought that the pipe cleaner would float, but when he saw that he sank he
thought it was because theres metal inside. When he saw that the washer floated, he thought
it might not sink if there isnt a hole. This showed that in this case, he did not attribute
whether it would sink or float to the material.
Overall, Stephen shows that he is beginning to understand very important properties of
solids. However, his explanation for whether an object would sink or float was inconsistent.
Sometimes he explained that the object sank or floated based on whether it was heavy or
light. He thought that weight explained why the ping-pong ball floated, the silver ball sank, the
blue ball floated and sank at the same time, the clear cube and cylinder sank, and why the little
wooden tee floated. Other times Stephen based his predictions and explanations on the material.
He thought that the silver ball sank because it was metal, the cork and the wood cube floated
because they were wood, and the pipe cleaner sank because it had metal inside. I thought it was
26
interesting that with the exception of the button and the wooden tee, he did not think that size
determined whether or not an object floats or sinks. Even though the blue spoon and the white
spoon were drastically different in size, Stephen still said that they were the same.
One thing that I thought was neat was that Stephen brought in his prior knowledge and
experience to support his hypothesis. He talked about how he predicted that the big spoon would
float because he did it before with a plastic spoon in his milk and cereal and it floated. He
thought that it would also float in the water. Stephen did the little white spoon next and said that
it would float because its the same as the big spoon.
The coolest and most interesting thing that I observed was when I let Stephen play with
the materials at the end of the formal activity any way he wished. I did not say anything, I just
watched him. The first thing he tried to do was get the cork to sink by putting the clear shapes
and washers on top of it. It seems like he knew that they would sink and weigh down the
previously buoyant cork. It took Stephen a few attempts to successfully get the cork to sink
because the cork kept bobbing to the surface and knocking the clear objects off of it. He also
tried to make the blue ball sink by stacking it with items, but he did not try that for too long
because the objects would not stay on top of it. After he successfully got the cork to stay at the
bottom, he tried to make the clear heavy objects float by putting things that floated, like the
wooden tee, underneath it. He did not succeed in doing this.
I think this was incredible because it showed that he did not think whether an object sank
or floated was permanent. He thought there were alterations that could be made to change the
system of objects in a way that changed its density altogether. I also was surprised when Stephen
made a prediction about whether the whole bag of objects would sink or float in the water. He
guessed that it would sink. When he saw that it floated he was surprised and said, if you take
27
out the light stuff, it might sink. Again this shows that he is thinking about how objects with
different densities may display different properties when combined with other objects.
Proposed Units of Further Study

Stephen appears to be a fairly curious child. It seems like he enjoys playing with
materials in different ways. If I were to plan a follow-up activity to the sink and float, I think that
I would have him bring in his own items that he would want to test. Stephen mentioned that the
clear cylinder and cube looked like ice cubes, which is why he thought they sank. I could also
bring in ice cubes to show him that ice actually does float. After that, I might do something with
different liquids and showing him that they can sink and float too.
Stephen also finds animals and skeletons interesting. He has demonstrated that he
recognizes the difference between certain animals, but did not fully understand that the
difference between animals at the zoo and animals at the aquarium was primarily a difference in
habitat. I think that I would propose a unit on different habitats and the types of animals that live
in each one. I would also talk about different types of plants that live in each type of habitat,
because it seems like Stephen has focused more on learning about animals rather than plants.
After talking about the plants, the teacher could talk about how different plants attract different
animals. Then, the students could talk about food chains.
The Child as a Citizen and Social Studies Learner

Background
Stephen is a male, first grade student at an elementary school in University City. My
initial impression of Stephen was that he was a quiet child who often got in trouble for not
28
paying attention on the carpet. His lack of attention made me think that he did not care too much
about school. I now know this is not the case. Stephen seems to care very much about school and
getting things right. He is surprisingly easy to please and frequently talks about being happy.
Although Stephen displays certain aspects of each of Gardner (1983)s multiple intelligences, he
seems to be particularly strong in terms of his visual-spatial intelligence based on examining his
work, tracking his path in the classroom, and conducting interviews with him. He seems to enjoy
school and learning. After the social studies interview, I asked him, What do you think I could
do to make it more fun? to which he replied, Um. Its already fun. Although Stephen was not
one of the students that I was thinking about interviewing, Ms. Anita suggested that I interview
Stephen because she felt that he would benefit from one on one attention from an adult and that
this attention might in turn help with his behavioral issues. Stephen is one of the children Ms.
Anita speaks to multiple times a day about behavioral issues, but there is little evidence to
suggest that he has serious or any behavioral problems.
Stephen raised his hand during math. Ms. Anita said, Put your hand down. Then, she
paused and added, Wait, did you have something to tell us about math? Stephen mumbled,
Yes. Ms. Anita said, I cant hear you. Youre usually loud. Stephen mumbled some more.
Ms. Anita continued, No, Stephen we want to hear what you have to say about math. Do you
want us to come back to you? Stephen didnt respond and sat on the carpet with his legs
stretched out. Knowing that he wants to share his thinking and ideas, but that he becomes
discouraged when he doesnt get to share them right away, I wanted to make sure that I let him
share anything that he wanted at any time during the interview. I wanted to be explicit about the
fact that I was interested in his thinking and that in this case, the more he talked the better. I
acknowledged that I knew that wasnt how it worked in his classroom. I told Stephen:
29
Its kind of to test me. Its not to test you at all. Theres no wrong answer.
Everything you say- just say what youre thinking. I know that youre not always
allowed to say what youre thinking in class right? Is that true? But with me I
want you to say everything. So the more you talk, the better. Okay? So were just
going to be talking to each other just like that. (personal communication, 1:241:40)
Implementation
The formal social studies interview took approximately eighteen minutes. As I previously
mentioned, Stephen seemed to enjoy the activity with the historical documents. It took a fair bit
of prodding on my part to encourage him to talk through his reasoning out loud, but when he did,
he was able to provide a lot of detail to describe the pictures. I think it also helped that I
specifically told him in the beginning that unlike during his normal class time, I actually did
want him to say everything that he was thinking out loud. When describing the photos initially, I
accidentally said the pictures were from two different periods in the world instead of two
different periods in time. I did not correct myself, which is why I believe Stephen said that he
would call the series of photographs Around the World cause its all the schools around the
world (15:50).
Stephen struggled with identifying the year that each photograph was taken because he
said,I dont know what years are (12:46). I should not have assumed that he had an
understanding of the concept of a year based on the fact that there is a calendar with the year on
it in the front of his classroom. Looking back on it, I now realize that calendar is never formally
30
completed in front of the class. Ms. Anita has two students change the calendar in the morning
without sharing the routine with the rest of the class. If no one explained to Stephen that the 2014
in the date meant that it was the year 2014, it is reasonable that he did not recognize or
understand the word year. Levstik and Barton (2000) talk about how teachers must build on
what students already know or else they cant learn it (p. 17).
Given that Stephen tends to express his creativity through his illustrations or creating
elaborate stories for math problems, I thought that he would enjoy having the opportunity to tell
a story using the photographs. However, I was surprised to find that his story went like this:
This first happen. Then this. Then this. Then this. Then this. Because there was- first all the way
to the next one (15:06). I think Stephen was using the words first, then, and next because
he learned about sequencing in the first few weeks of school. Ms. Anita encouraged the students
to retell stories using first, next, and then, after that and last. [See Appendix A:
Student Work] It seemed like Stephen thought that I was asking him to sequence the story rather
than giving him an opportunity to be creative and create his own story.
Analysis and Interpretation of Historical Thinking

Stephen uses evidence to support his descriptions of the photographs. After I explained
what we were going to do for the activity, I asked Stephen to describe what he saw in picture
one. He said he saw people helping, people raising their hand, and people working by
themselves (2:11-2:19). By the time Stephen and I got to picture two, he was providing more
information without any probing questions. Stephen provided a lot of action evidence that he
inferred from various aspects of the images. I asked him about where the picture might have
been taken. Stephen replied, Outside of school. It looks like the outside because of the ground.
31
(3:14) I did not require him to support his claim, but he provided some general evidence by
saying because of the ground. He did not describe what the ground looked like exactly.
The evidence that Stephen provides supports his rationale for putting the photographs in a
particular chronological order. He looks at similarities and differences which suggests that
Stephen is taking an analytic stance (Levstik and Barton, 2000, p. 2). The first thing that
Stephen said when I asked him which picture was older was picture two
because it looks like its black and white (3:50). He added, and its a
teacher and its wooden chairs and theres a barrel. (3:59) I wanted to learn
more about why Stephen thought picture two was older since picture one
was also black and white. Stephen said, it looks black and white too, but
this one [picture two] looks a little older than this one [picture one]. (4:16)
When I asked, why else do you think this one looks older? (4:20) he replied,
because of the clothes that theyre wearing. (4:26) When asked about
picture one, Stephen said, its not a long time ago cause the kids arent
wearing that kind of clothes. (4:50) He was able to use concrete visible
evidence, in this case the clothes, as a way of comparing the two pictures
and differentiating between time periods.
Stephens historical thinking is usually provided in the context of his own life and
experience. For instance, he seems to be unfamiliar with the concept of years unless he is talking
about how old he and his family members are. After Stephen looked at and compared picture one
and picture two, he posed an interesting question. Stephen asked, Is this both Powel? (5:00)
When I asked him why he thought the school in the picture might be Powel, he said, it looks
32
just like the lunchroom but it just has different desks and different lunch places where they give
out lunches. (5:23) He went on to add, maybe it looked like this when my brother was here- or
my brothers and sisters. (5:34) When I asked him about his family, he told me that his brother is
twenty, his other brother is seventeen and his sister is thirteen. Instead of looking at the
differences between his lunchroom and the lunchroom in picture one and thinking they must
be different rooms, Stephen thinks it is the same room, but from different times. I think these
statements suggest that Stephen has an understanding of the progression of time and how things
change over time. However, his idea of the progression of time comes from his ability to identify
a photograph as being from his brothers time. Since he knows that his brother is older than him,
he knows that the photograph is from before his time.
Although much of Stephens historical thinking relates to the self, it also seems as if he is
aware that history can include other parts of the world and the present. After Stephen finished
describing the picture and his reasoning behind the order, I asked him a few more questions.
First, I asked him if he could tell me a story about the series of images. His story was very
concise and based on the images telling their own story rather than creating a new story. Stephen
said, First this happened, then this, then this, then this, then this, because there was- first all the
way to the next one. (14:50) Then, I asked him if he thought there were any other pictures that
he would add to the set to tell a complete story of schools. He said, there could be one right here
right now. (15:16) This suggests that Stephen understands that the present is an important part
of the history of schooling. This was surprising to me because as Levstik and Barton (2000) note,
often history instruction is simply a march through time that never quite connects to the
present (p. 1). However, Stephen has made this connection on his own.
33
I also think it is interesting that he was able to make a connection to his own life and
experience. Not only was Stephen able to recognize that the present has a place in history, but he
also understands that history happens all over. When I asked him what he would call the story of
these pictures, Stephen said, Id call it around the world, because its all the schools around the
world. (15:35) I thought this was noteworthy because it demonstrates that he realizes that the
world isnt limited to what he sees and experiences. He is aware that there are other historical
events happening all over the world.
Implications
SinceStephentalkedaboutnotunderstandingtheconceptofyearsorwhatayearis,I
thinkoneprojectthatStephencoulddowithhismomordadistocreateatimelinefromhisbirth
upuntiltoday.FromwhatIvelearnedaboutStephenitseemslikehelearnsbetterwhenthe
conceptsrelatetohisownlifeorhisfamily.Intermsofhisunderstandingthatthepresentcan
alsobeapartofhistorywhenhewastalkingabouthisschooltoday,Ithinkitmightbe
interestingforhimtoexaminephotographsofhisschoolovertheyears.Hecoulddoasimilar
activitytothesocialstudiesinterviewandputthemimagesinchronologicalorder.Althoughit
wasreallycoolthatStephenthoughttheimageswerefromschoolsallovertheworld,theyreally
onlydepictedAmericanschools.OneunitthatStephensteachercoulddoisalessononschools
aroundtheworld.Isawabookthatwouldbeanappropriateintroductiontothisconceptintheir
schoollibrary.ThebookwascalledMyLibrarianisaCamel.Itisaninformationalpicturebook
thatshowshowchildrengotoschoolandgettheirbooksindifferentcountriesaroundtheworld.
34
Responding to a Focusing Question

I decided that I would combine aspects of both of my initial questions, would Stephen be
more likely to participate in class discussions on the carpet if he did not receive so much
individualized criticism and negative attention and what is the root cause of Stephens habit of
playing with things in his hands when he is sitting on the carpet. I wanted to focus on his
behavior and physical presence on the carpet. I was curious to see how much time he spends off
task and disengaged while on the carpet and if there is any general pattern. I also wanted to see if
playing with things in his hands seems to impact his learning.
After I started noticing that Stephen spends a fair amount of his carpet time holding his
head with his hands and/or looking down, I wanted to record the occurrences. I kept track of his
physical gestures while on the carpet in my notebook. [See Appendix D: Observation Notes] For
two days I tracked whether he was looking down and/or sitting with his head in his hands by
putting a symbol down in my notebook every minute. On the first day, Stephen spent
approximately 30% of the instructional time on the carpet looking at Ms. Anita or the teacher
who was providing a lesson. He spent approximately 64% of the instructional time on the carpet
holding his head or looking down. The following day he spent approximately 57% of the
instructional time on the carpet looking at Ms. Anita and approximately 38% of the time on the
carpet looking down or holding his head. I noticed that the amount of time that Stephen spent
holding his head or looking down significant increased both days when it got closer to lunchtime.
Perhaps part of the reason why Stephen does not make eye contact with the speaker has to do
with wanting to go to the lunch or being hungry.
35
In terms of whether or not I think Stephen can pay attention while playing with things in
his hands at the same time, I would say my preliminary observations lead me to believe that he
can in fact pay attention and comprehend information while playing with objects in his hands. I
say this because during almost the whole entire math interview, Stephen was playing with the
manipulatives even when he was computing answers in his head. I found that to be very
impressive. Since Stephen got almost all of the math tasks and questions correct, while
simultaneously playing with the cubes, I do not see any reason to believe that he cannot
concentrate and focus when he has things in his hands.
Reflection on Learning
I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to get to know Stephen better as a student
and as a person. I found a lot of what he was saying to be surprising and endearing, particularly
how much he emphasizes being happy all the time. I feel like I learned a lot of things about him
from having informal conversations that I would never have gotten to know otherwise. One of
the most significant things that I learned about Stephen is that even though he may get in trouble
frequently, he cares deeply about getting things right- whether it is an answer on a test, a
rendering of an animal he wanted to draw, or keeping his table organized and neat. I was also
surprised by how much he seemed to enjoy school and learning. When he reads, he is reading
because he has a genuine desire to learn about something new.
One other thing that I remember was listening to Stephen explain to a classmate that he
didnt get to go again because he had three turns already and a girl in his group didnt have any
turns yet. He was so caught up in the idea of fairness and not fairness for his own benefit, but
fairness and equality for one of his classmates. I wish and hope that I will have the opportunity to
36
catch my students being good like this next year as a teacher. I also hope that I will be able to
find a way to have one-on-one conversations with each of my students, much like I did with
Stephen, about their out of school learning and even just their interests. I think part of the reason
why Stephen felt like he could share why he was feeling upset one morning was because we had
established a close relationship. I hope to establish that kind of relationship with each of my
students, but I also worry about the feasibility of that since I could very well have thirty students
in my classroom. This exercise showed me how much there is beneath the surface for each and
every student in the classroom and it reminded me that investing the time in developing a
personal relationship with my students will benefit them and allow me to better understand how
to effectively teach them.
37
References:
Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S. & Johnston F. (2011). Words their way (5thedition).
Brown, M. (1999). Arthurs baby. Kge: Egmont Tempo.
Chapin, S., & Johnson, A. (2006). Math matters understanding the math you teach, grades K-8
(2nd ed.). Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic
Books.
Klassen, J. (2012). This is not my hat. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.
Levstik, L., & Barton, K. (2000). Doing history investigating with children in elementary and
middle schools (2nd ed.). Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Assocs.
Pahl, K., & Rowsell, J. (2005). Literacy and education: Understanding the new literacy studies in
the classroom. London: Paul Chapman. (Chapter 1 The New Literacy Studies and
Teaching Literacy: Where We Were and Where We Are Going)
Purcell-Gates, V., Jacobson, E., & Degener, S. (2004). Print literacy as cognitive skill
development. In Print literacy development: Uniting cognitive and social practice
theories (pp. 41-62). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Willis, A.I. (1995). Reading the world of school literacy: Contextualizing the experience of a
young African American male. Harvard Educational Review, 65 (1), 30-49.
APPENDIX A: Classroom Images and Student Work
38
39
40
41
42
43
APPENDIX B: Classroom Map
44
APPENDIX C: Student Body Position
45
APPENDIX D: Sociograms
46
47
APPENDIX E: Transcripts of Interviews with Student
48
49
Date: 9/30/2014
Time: 2:56 PM
Subject: Social Studies Interview
Me: So, Im going to work with you on different subjects. And today what were going to do is something with
social studies. So, have you done social studies yet?
Stephen: No.
Me: Not yet? Okay. Yeah, youre supposed to do it at the end of the day and weve had fire drills and things like
that. So youll get to social studies eventually. So what were going to do is a social studies activity with pictures.
And youre going to tell me about the pictures and how they go in order and what youre going to be doing with me
is talking through everything. So everything that comes into your brain, youre going to say it out loud, so that I
know exactly what youre thinking. And this is not any type of test or anything like that. This is for me because- do
you know why Im in your classroom?
Stephen: No.
Me: You dont know? We never explained it to you? So I- do you think Im a teacher?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: Yeah? SoStephen: Student teacher
Me: Exactly! So do you know what a student teacher does? (0:53) A student teacher is kind of like you. So Im
learning to be a teacher just like Teacher Amy. Shes teaching me how to be a teacher. So that next year I can teach
my own class. So Ill have my own students just like you! But right now Im still learning. Teacher Amy has a lot to
teach me. Right. Im just beginning. So just like youre beginning first grade- you dont know all that much but by
the end of the year youre going to know more. Youre going to be such a smart first grader. So thats what Im
doing. Its kind of to test me. Its not to test you at all. (1:24). Theres no wrong answer. Everything you say- just say
what youre thinking. I know that youre not always allowed to say what youre thinking in class right? Is that true?
But with me I want you to say everything. So the more you talk, the better. Okay? So were just going to be talking
to each other just like that. (1:40)
Me: (1:50) Im going to show you two pictures from two different times. Two different years. Two different periods
in the world. I just want you to look at them. So Ill give you this one first (gives Stephen Document #1). And just
tell me what you see in the picture. Anything you see in there.
Stephen: People helping.
Me: People helping. Mhm.
Stephen: (2:11) People raising their hand.
Me: Mhm. People raising their hand.
Stephen: (2:19) People working by themselves.
Me: People working by themselves. Yeah. How old- are they old people or are they young people?
Stephen: Young people.
Me: Young people. Yeah. Where do you think they are?
Stephen: (2:34) In the lunchroom?
Me: In the lunchroom? Okay. Why do you think theyre in the lunchroom?
Stephen: Um. So they could study homework.
Me: (2:41) Oh, so theyre working on their homework in the lunchroom? Okay. So now were going to look at this
picture too. This is picture number two. So what do you see in that picture? (gives Stephen Document #2)
Stephen: (2:51) Kids learning how to spell words.
Me: Mhm. Yeah.
Stephen: And theyre reading a story.
Me: (3:00) They are reading a story.
Stephen: The teacher is writing down on the chalkboard.
Me: Mhm. Yeah. Good. Where do you think they are in that one?
Stephen: (3:12) Outside of school. It looks like the outside because of the ground.
Me: Okay. So now what were going to do is Im going to ask you to put the picture that you think is from the
longest time ago- do you know what that means? What does longest time ago mean?
Stephen: (3:28) What happened a really long time ago and you might forget.
50
Me: Yeah. It was a really long time ago. And yeah you might forget. Okay, so you pointed to picture number two.
Can you put that one right here? And now so youre going to put this one right there. (3:47) So why do you think
this ones older? Why do you think thats from a long time ago?
Stephen: (3:50) Because it looks like its black and white.
Me: Okay.
Stephen: And its a teacher. And its wooden chairs.
Me: (4:01) The chairs are wooden.
Stephen: And theres a barrel.
Me: And theres a barrel. Yeah. So you said you think it looks like this one is black and white. What about this one?
Stephen: It looks black and white too. But this one looks a little older than this one.
Me: (4:16) But that one looks older than that one? So why else do you think this one looks older? So you said barrel
and because of the chairs are wood.
Stephen: Because the clothes that theyre wearing. (4:26)
Me: Because of the clothes that theyre wearing. Yeah. That is a really good point! Can you describe the clothes?
Can you tell me what the clothes- so (4:35) the clothes that look like there. Old. Maybe. Yeah. That is a really good
point. What about this one. When do you think that picture is from?
Stephen: Um. Its not a long time ago.
Me: Its not a long time ago. Yeah.
Stephen: Cause the kids arent wearing that kind of clothes. Theyre wearing that kind of clothes. Is this both Powel?
Me: You know, that is a good question. This is not from Powel but that is a good question. (5:05)
Stephen: Is that Powel?
Me: I dont think so. What makes you think it looks like Powel?
Stephen: Cause its- it looks just like the lunchroom but it just has different desks and different lunch places where
they give out lunches. (5:23)
Me: But it looks like your lunchroom? Yeah. Thats great.
Stephen: Maybe it looked like this when my brother was here- or my brothers and sisters.
Me: (5:34) Oh. You think it might look like number one or number two when your brother was here?
Stephen: Number one.
Me: How old is your brother?
Stephen: Hes 11. My other brothers 20 and my other brothers 17. And my sister is 13
Me: So are you the youngest in the family?
Stephen: Yeah. Actually my baby cousin is. Shes a girl
Me: Oh okay. How old is she? (5:56)
Stephen: She- she just turned one.
Me: Oh so she is a baby. Shes like a little baby. Okay. So now Im going to show you a couple more pictures and
were going to try to put them in order. (6:11) So you said- which one did you say was the oldest? Do you
remember? Yeah so this one is the oldest. And this one is the newest. I guess we could say. And you could put
these pictures- if you think theyre the same time as this one, youre going to put it right above it. (6:26) If you think
its older than it youre going to put it over here and if you think its younger youre going to put it over here. And
the same with this picture. Does that make sense?
Stephen: This is younger. This is older. (6:36)
Me: Exactly. Very good. Thank you for repeating the instructions. Okay. So were going to give you picture three.
So first, if you want to explain what you see. (6:44)
Stephen: It looks like this was first. This was second and this was third.
Me: Okay what do you see in this picture.
Stephen: It looks like they had different clothes on them.
Me: Okay. What else do you see in the picture?
Stephen: That theyre using this to watch t.v. (7:03)
Me: Yeah. And do you think that looks like something that youd have in your classroom to watch t.v.?
Stephen: Um no.
Me: No do you think its older or newer?
Stephen: Older. Well, its kind of newer. (7:14) But its old.
Me: Mhm. Okay, so you think it goes in between these two right? Okay. Now were going to do picture number four.
Where do you think picture number four would go? (7:25) Okay. Why did you put it there?
Stephen: (7:34) Because it looks older.
51
Me: Because it looks old too. But you think it looks- this one looks older. Why do you think this one, picture number
three, looks older than picture number four? (7:43)
Stephen: Cause the people are- are- using this.
Me: Mm. So theyre using the videoStephen: And they dont watch tv. Theyre using books to read and do other things. (7:57)
Me: Oh so people in picture number four are using books to read and people in picture number three are using the
videos.
Stephen: But that dont look like someone had- so thats why I think this is the oldest. (8:10).
Me: Yeah. Yeah so that is a good point. What else do you notice about picture number four? (8:17)
Stephen: That theres a lot of people. More than this one and this one. Theres more people on this one than this one.
Me: That is very true (8:23)
Stephen: Over there, theres some over there.
Me: There are more people in picture number four. Do you notice anything else? (8:31)
Stephen: No.
Me: Where are they?
Stephen: They were in the cabin. Theyre at a school. Theyre at a school. And theyre at a school. (8:41)
Me: Yeah. Okay. So lets look at this one. Picture number five. What do you see in picture number five?
Stephen: It looks (8:51) like these are both youngest.
Me: Mm. So do you think theyre at the same time?
Stephen: No.
Me: No? Okay, which one do you think is (9:03) younger? And which do you think is older?
Stephen: This looks older.
Me: Okay, so now you think that one? So lets see. Lets move our pictures. So you think that ones still the
youngest? Picture number one?
Stephen: They still- they look like theyre older than them. (9:25)
Me: Oh! So when you say they look like theyre older in picture number five. Do you mean the kids look like
theyre older?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: Oh the kids look like theyre older. (9:32) Okay.
Stephen: And this looks like him. And this looks like him when hes five and him when hes ten.
Me: Ohh. (9:40) Okay. So Stephen- youre noticing that in picture number one, the little boy in the middle looks like
hes- so hes younger in this picture and older in picture number five, (9:55) which would make this picture older.
Yeah. Okay. Cool. And now we have the last picture. Picture number 6.
Stephen: Right there.
Me: Oh. So you said that really quickly right? So you think this is the oldest? (10:11) Okay. Why do you think this is
the oldest?
Stephen: Because it- it was at school like this. But this is the oldest because it was a truck and theres horses. (10:23)
Me: Oh. So this one. Picture number six is the oldest because theyre in a truck and (10:29) there are horses.
Stephen: That carries the truck.
Me: Mhmm. Yeah so all of these pictures are about people going to school. So (10:38) what do you think that says
about this one.
Stephen: This is the school.
Me: Oh so you think this is the school? So thats where (10:44) they learn?
Stephen: This is school, this is school, this is school, this is school, this is school. And this is the school.
Me: (10:55) So why do you think this one is older than this one? So picture number six. Why is picture number six
from farther ago than picture number two? (11:02)
Stephen: Because they- that -they had barrels. And they have stuff darker than this.
Me: Oh, so the pictures darker? (11:13) Okay.
Stephen: And theyre near a cabin. Theres a wooden school.
Me: Oh. So you think the cabins older than the wooden school? (11:24) Okay. So the cabin in picture six is (11:27)
is older than the wooden school in picture number two. So lets see. (11:32) So now that weve done all the pictures.
Do you think you agree with this older? Or do you want to move (11:42) any of them around? Its okay ifStephen: I want to move some around.
Me: you want to move some around. Thats okay.
Stephen: (11:55) Cause this look like the oldest. This look like this was after that. This looks like it was after that.
Me: So six-
52
Stephen: Then this- then this

Me: two, three
Stephen: This, then this. (12:13) and this.
Me: Okay. So youre going to keep your order? Picture six, then two, three, picture four, picture five, picture one?
(12:21) Yep. You like your order. Okay.
Stephen: Is it? Is it right?
Me: Well we- (12:29) you know well get to that at the end. So now. Im going to ask you for each picture what year
you think it is. So any year you think. Its okay if youre wrong. (12:38). And its okay if you dont know. Youre
just going to guess. So picture number six. What year do you think picture number six is from?
Stephen: (12:44) I dont know what years are.
Me: Okay. So do you know what year it is now?
Stephen: (12:49) Uh-uh.
Me: Its 2014. Right. Do you remember when you write the date and you write 9/30/2014? So it looks like this
9/30/2014.
Stephen: 2001.
Me: Okay, so you think this is 2001? (13:05)
Stephen: 2002. 2003. 2004. 2005. 2000- aw I skipped 2004.
Me: Okay, so you said 2001. 2002. 2003. and then what? What do you think this one is?
Stephen: I dont know. (13:25)
Me: Okay! You dont know. What do you think this one is?
Stephen: I dont know. This is 2004. (13:32) I think this is cause its- were in 2004. I think this isMe: So you think picture number 1 is from 2004 because were in 2004. Okay. (13:46) So now that youve looked at
all of these pictures, how do you think things have changed over time? So what are you noticing? What things
changed? (13:56)
Stephen: What changed?
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: That- all the people is- this is their school bus. Thats their school.
Me: Okay, so in picture number six the school bus is their school. Mhm. (14:12). And then what about picture
number two?
Stephen: The wooden house is their school.
Me: The wooden house is their school. (14:20) Mhm.
Stephen: The brick house is their school.
Me: The brick house. Okay. (14:28)
Stephen: The wooden cabin is their school.
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: This brick is their school.
Me: The brick. Yeah.
Stephen: And this (14:37) is their lunchbox and this is their lunchroom in their school.
Me: Yeah. Okay! (14:42) Cool. So if you had to put all of these pictures in a story could you make up a quick story?
Or pick any picture that you want and make a story about it. (14:50)
Stephen: This first happen. Then this. Then this. Then this. Then this. Because there was- first all the way to the next
one.
Me: Okay. Alright. Were there any other pictures that you think would add (15:10) to tell a complete story of
schools.
Stephen: Then there could be one right here. (15:16) right now.
Me: One right there for right now. Oh thats a good idea. Of Powel? At the end? So if you had to give a title to this
story, what would you call it? (15:27)
Stephen: Um
Me: Anything you want. Its your story. (15:35)
Stephen: Id call it... Around the world?
Me: Oh, youd call it around the world? (15:43)
Stephen: Yeah cause its all the schools around the world.
Me: Because its all the schools around the world. Thats a very cool title. I like it. So have you ever learned about
history or the past outside of school? (15:55) Did you learn anything anywhere else about history?
Stephen: My brother tried to teach me it but I felled asleep. (16:01)
53
Me: Your brother tried to teach it to you but you fell asleep? Why- were you tired? Or did you think it was boring?
(16:09)
Stephen: I was tired. We was eating our dinner in the bed. And he tried telling me about it. And I just fell asleep after
I was done eating food.
Me: Yeah especially (16:22) if youre already in your bed right? Does it make you really sleepy? I do my
homework in my bed and it makes me really sleepy. (16:29)
Stephen: You have homework?
Me: I do have- this is a part of my homework!
Stephen: Ohhh.
Me: Because Im a student (16:35) just like you.
Stephen: So youre actually a student?
Me: I am a student.
Stephen: And youre learning to be a teacher from another teacher?
Me: Yep. Exactly! Learning how to be a teacher from another teacher. (16:47) You are right. So is there anything
else you have any questions about or anything else you want to say? Do you know anything about history? Do you
like history? How do you feel about history? (16:58)
Stephen: A little good?
Me: A little good? Good. You like it? Whats your favorite thing in history?
Stephen: I dont really know.
Me: You dont really know yet? Whats your favorite thing to study in school? (17:12)
Stephen: My favorite thing to study is math.
Me: You love math? You know thats great, because were going to do some math tomorrow. You and me. Just the
two of us. Well, thank you so much for your help Stephen. I hope this was kind of a little bit of fun. Was it a little
fun? What do you think I could do to make it more fun?
Stephen: Um. Its- its already fun.
Me: Its already fun? (17:34) Oh, thats very good to hear. So thank you for all of your help. Im going to be back
tomorrow and Im going to pull you out and were going to do some math. So hopefully thatll be fun too. (17:48) Is
there anything you think I should know or learn about being a teacher? What advice would you give me? What do
you like in your teachers?
Stephen: Um. That theyre nice.
Me: That theyre nice? Thats important.
Stephen: AndMe: What could I do to make me a nice teacher?
Stephen: Um Um. When your students ask you a nice thing, you can probably do it for them. If its nice to you.
Me: Oh. So if students ask for something nicely, then the teacher does it. Then theyre good. Yeah. Thats a good
idea. Thank you so much for your help.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/1/2014
Time: 1:42PM
Subject: Math Interview
Me: First, do you want to tell me how you got your shining star from Mr. Smith?
Stephen: Um we was working quietly (0:12) and he said we was good. So we could get a star.
Me: Thats awesome! Who were you working with? (0:20)
Stephen: Um. I was working with Jaiel, Daniel and Kamal.
Me: Okay. So at your table? Okay. Cool. (0:27) So, lets see. So this- today were doing math like I told you. So this
is to learn how you do math. So Im going to ask you some questions (0:39) and I would like you to answer. So for
some of the questions you can use the cubes, for some of the questions you dont have to use the cubes. However
you want to answer it is fine. So do you have any questions for me before we get started? (0:51)
Stephen: Um. No.
Me: No? Okay. (0:56)
Me: (1:00) So. How many blocks are there?
Stephen: Four.
54
Me: How do you know there are four blocks? (1:10)

Stephen: Because theres two and two and that makes four.
Me: Two and two and that makes four? Okay. So now (1:16) what if I put (3 yellow blocks) so now are there
more yellow blocks or red blocks?
Stephen: (1:27) More red.
Me: How do you know there are more red blocks?
Stephen: cause theres three yellows and four reds.
Me: (1:39) And how do you know that three is more than four?
Stephen: Because. Four is more than three because it has one extra.
Me: (1:52) Oh. It has one extra? Okay. Now can you get five blue blocks from the bag? (Stephen takes them out one
by one and then the last two together. starts putting them together immediately)
Me: (2:12) So can you put them in a line? (Stephen puts them all together) (starts playing with red blocks)
Me: So can you tell me how many blue blocks there are now, Stephen? (2:25)
Stephen: Um. Five.
Me: Five. And can you write that number in this box? (2:31) (Stephen writes 5 sideways)
Me: Oh, you can write it normally. I know you were writing it funny because it was sideways (2:41) Oh, you dont
have to erase it. Or you can. It doesnt matter. (2:44) Whatever you want to do. (Stephen writes 5 and immediately
starts to play with yellow cubes)
Me: So now what Im going to do is cover up some of the blocks (2:56) with the paper. Okay so. Cover it so how
many are there now?
Stephen: Three
Me: How do you know there are three there?
Stephen: Because its two right here and one more. Two right here and one more. (3:14)
Me: So, let me show you this right here. What number is that? (3:26)
Stephen: Nine.
Me: Nine. Can you show me nine blocks? (Stephen grabs orange and puts them together)
Me: Are they stuck? You can just get whatever you need. Theres a whole big bag. (3:48) (Puts five together and
then puts finger on each cube and counts out loud 1- 2- 3- 4- 5, reaches into bag for more. Puts them together and
counts them all. Gets 8. Puts one more. )
Me: Is that the same kind of block?
Stephen: No.
Me: No. Thats okay. (4:38)
Stephen: Here we go. Its nine of them.
Me: So how did you know that was nine of them?
Stephen: Because I counted (4:50) this many and then added three more.
Me: Okay, so you counted that many and added three more? (4:57) So you know what Im noticing? You made all
your nine blocks one color. (5:05) Is there any reason why you did it?
Stephen: Because orange and red and yellow and blue is my favorite color. (5:12)
Me: Ohh.
Stephen: Green is my favorite color too. And theres 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7 8- (touches each cube when he says the
number) (5:17) and all I needed was one more but I couldnt find it.
Me: Oh, so thats why you used orange? ( 5:24) Cool. Okay, so Im going to put a bunch of cubes in front of you. So
we can put those over there for now. (5:32) (moves them to the side. He put them in order from orange, blue, red,
and yellow)
Me: Oh. I dont want you to count them. I want you to guess how many there are right there. So you can look at
them, I just dont want you to count. So can you guess how many there are? (5:54) What number do you think? Im
going to cover them up so you saw them right? Did you see them? Lets look. Ready. How many do you think are
there?
Stephen: 20. (6:08)
Me: How about you count them. Lets see how many are there. (Stephen doesnt move them, points to them in the
pile and counts by ones) (6:20)
Me: Wow youre very close arent you. Okay.
Stephen: So this makes twenty because I just found it! Twenty! (puts a red square into the pile of cubes) (6:27)
Me: So lets see. (I count by 2s and move them) Yep, youre right! Okay. So Im going to take these green ones that
you liked from before and put these- so I would like you to put the same number of green blocks in front of you
using a different color.
55
Stephen: Eight!
Me: Okay. So you put eight blocks in front of you.
Stephen: 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- (touches each green one)
Me: Oh wait. Using a different color.
Stephen: Ohh. (7:15) (takes out a handful of block cubes. lines them up. has 6. reaches for more (7:35) puts them in
a line)
Stephen: (7:57) All of them are the same color
Me: So do you have the same number of blocks that I have?
Stephen: Yess.
Me: How do you know that? (8:03)
Stephen: Because I have, um, 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- (moves each cube away as he counts) and you add two more and
thats eight. (8:12)
Me: Okay. So you had six and then you added two more and thats eight. How do you know thats the same number
as what I have over here (8:18) in my pile?
Stephen: Because when I was looking for my other last green, I couldnt find it. So I just used orange, so thats how
I knew it was eight.
Me: Oh okay. So now, you leave yours just like that. So this is going to be (8:38) your row. This is my row. (8:50) (I
put mine slightly apart from each other) So, now do we have the same number of blocks?
Stephen: Um yes.
Me: Why do you think we have the same number of blocks? (9:00)
Stephen: Because you got 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- (touches each one of mine) and Ive got 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- (touches
each one of his blocks)
Me: But look. My line is longer isnt it? (9:13)
Stephen: Yes.
Me: So does that mean I have more?
Stephen: No.
Me: No. (9:17) Okay. That was a trick question.
Stephen: Yours is longer because youre puttin spaces. (9:26)
Me: Yeah. Its longer because youre putting spaces. Youre right. (9:29) Very good. Okay. So now we can put these
back on our table. So now I would like you to get out seven cubes. So any seven cubes that you want. You can use
the same cubes or whatever you want. (9:46) (picks out purple cubes) three (pulls others apart)
Stephen: Its stuck.
Me: Remember, were counting out seven blocks. (10:30)
Stephen: Two. Four. (puts four) six. And seven.
Me: So lets say Im going to give you two more blocks. How many would you have then? (10:42)
Stephen: Nine.
Me: Nine? How did you figure that out?
Stephen: Cause I said seven in my head and counted nine.
Me: So seven in your head and you counted on nine?
Stephen: Yeah, I counted two more (10:55) to make nine.
Me: What if I was going to give you three more?
Stephen: Ten. (didnt move any cubes or fingers)
Me: Ten? Okay.
Stephen: I mean not ten. Three more. Ten- eleven- twelve.
Me: Oh from the nine? (11:16) That was very good. Okay now can you get out nine blocks? So I think were
running a little low. So we can reuse some of the ones if you want. Or you can get new ones. Whatever you want to
do. (11:32)
(takes out green ones and theyre in a group, starts counting 1- 2- 3- 4 and then stops. starts moving them and
putting them in a row. 2 at a time 2- 4- 6- 8- adds one more to one line)
Stephen: Nine? (12:02)
Me: Okay, so lets pretend youre going to give me two of your blocks. How many would you have left?
Stephen: Four five six seven (moves them from their two lines takes two away, groups them and says four and puts
finger on each when he says five six seven)
Me: Yeah. (12:14) So now Im going to ask you some questions that arent about the blocks, but you can use them if
you want to help you solve the problems (12:26) So lets say you have three crayons and I gave you two more. How
many would you have then? (playing with green cubes) (answers quickly)
56
Stephen: Five.
Me: Yeah. How did you do that? Because you did that in your head didnt you? How did you know that was five?
(12:28)
Stephen: Cause it was three. And you add two more to get five.
Me: So it was three- so you knew three in your head and then you did four five. Right? Okay. So pretend you saw
three kids on the playground (12:56). Three more kids came outside to play. How many kids were on the playground
then? (13:01)
Stephen: Three four five six. (just said it out loud while playing with other cubes and putting them in order)
(13:09)
Me: Yeah. Were you doing that in your head or were you using the block cubes?
Stephen: I was doing it in my head. (13:14) I said three in my head and did three more.
Me: Oh, so you did three in your head and said three more? (13:18) Okay. So after, two children went home. So do
you remember how many you had on the playground? What did you say?
Stephen: Three and three and two kids went home and (13:33) it was two and three- two- four and it was five.
Me: Five. Okay. (13:46) So, lets say Stephen, you, had six toy cars and you gave four toy cars to me. How many
did you have left? (13:55)
Stephen: Um. Since I had six, I gave you four. I had six. (puts up six fingers) Give you four (puts down fingers).
(puts fingers back up and counts 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6-) Id still have six! (14:19)
Me: So youd still have six and if you started with six and you gave me four.
Stephen: Oh (14:24) its Nias birthday.
Me: It is Nias birthday. Were almost finished.
Stephen: I had six (puts six fingers out) (14:31) 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6 Id still have six.
Me: And you gave me four
Stephen: (puts fingers down) Id have two.
Me: Yeah. Two. (14:42) You had two left. So some kids are sitting at a table. Three of them are girls. And four of
them are boys. (14:48) How many kids are at each table? So there are three girls andStephen: Three girls and (counting on fingers, four five six, seven) Seven.
Me: Yeah. So what (15:03) if you had four girls and three boys.
Stephen: Itd still be seven. (immediately while playing with cube columns)
Me: Itd still be seven, yeah. So two kids were collecting leaves. Each kid found three leaves. How many leaves did
they collect together? So there were two kids and each of them collected three leaves. (15:25)
Stephen: Um.
Me: How many leaves did they have together?
Stephen: Three. 4- 5- 6.
Me: Six. Yeah. So how did you do that?
(15:37)
Stephen: Cause I counted three in my head and counted three more.
Me: So why did you do three and not two more? cause there are two kids.
Stephen: Nooo.
ME: No? Thats just wrong? Youre right. That is wrong. So lets do Stephen had three plates. She had two cookies
on each plate. How many cookies did she have on the plate? Im sorry. He- you- put two cookies on each plate. How
many cookies did you put on the plates? So three plates, two cookies on each plate. 16:15
Stephen: Um. (uses fingers, one two three four five six) Six Then does two (takes out two cubes) This is one plate.
(takes out two cubes) four. Six. cause I put different kinds of cookies.
Me: (laughs) Oh so theyre different colors?
Stephen: Different kinds. Sugar cookies and this is the ice cream sandwich cookie. This is the chocolate chip cookie
and vanilla cookie. (16:49) Regular and blueberry cookie.
Me: (16:56) So I noticed that you did something with these ones over here. What did you do over there?
Stephen: I made like a chart to make how much is it cause its three four five and its eight more (counts by ones) 7
and 8 and 9 and 9.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
57
Date: 10/6/2014
Time: 9:46AM
Subject: Readers Workshop
Me: Okay so you said the n sound is n.
Stephen: n
Me: And then what about those two letters together?
Stephen: I dont know. Can I just try this one?
Me: Yeah! Sure! (0:15)
Stephen: I want to read the car book.
Me: (0:29) So, whats it called?
Stephen: I dont know. I just picked it out because it was cars on it.
Me: Oh, you picked it out because there are cars on the front? (0:40) Okay. So lets try and break it up. Do you know
what this word is?
Stephen: Go.
Me: Go. (0:50) So you knew the first sound.
Stephen: a
Me: (1:00) So this is a tricky one because if you- can you pretend? Can you pretend in your mind that this said ar-e? Do you know what word a-r-e is? (1:10) (1:14) Are. So now can you put the f sound in front of that?
Stephen: Far?
Me: Far. (1:23) So, what do we haveStephen: Go far
Me: Go far?
Stephen: (1:28) In the car.
Me: Yeah.
Stephen: Go far in the car.
Me: Yeah. Go far in the car. (1:32) So thats the name of our book.
Stephen: Where is page one?
Me: (1:42) Oh. You know- I think page one is this one even though theres no 1 there.
Stephen: (1:48) You can go far in a car.
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: (2:02) Uh. I dont know this one. I know the car.
Me: Uh huh (2:13) Okay. So lets try to sound this out. (2:20) L- l- le- do you remember our short e sound? (2:24)
Stephen: Eh
Me: Yeah! So do you know what this word is? Its a CVC word. Do you remember how we do that? (2:30) L- l- do
you remember our e sound?
Stephen: Eh
Me: Yeah! (2:39) t. Let. So what do we get when we add an s at the end? (2:46) So, we have let. Whats our s
sound? (2:52)
Stephen: Let. Lets.
Me: Lets! So whats our p sound?
Stephen: P (3:00)
Me: P. Right. Mhm. Yep. So you said p a ck.
Stephen: (3:14) cause its- its a c and a k.
Me: Yeah! Exactly. It makes a ck sound. Very good. So you said p aa ck. (3:23) (3:30) So, do you know what this
word would be if we had a b there?
Stephen: Book.
Me: Close. (3:36) B aa ck
Stephen: Back.
Me: Back. So now lets (3:42) put a p in front.
Stephen: Pack.
Me: Pack.
Stephen: P a ck.
Me: Uh-huh
Stephen: Car
58
Me: (4:07) I like how youre using your strategy. But you know what- so this is a tricky word. Look at how many
letters there are. (4:17) There are five letters there-right? So lets try and break it up. So were going to use a strategy
called chunking. Have you ever heard of that? (4:24) No? Okay, so what were going to do is break it up into two
parts. So, do you know what that sound is? (4:30) So whats the s sound?
Stephen: Sss
Me: And whats the t sound?
Stephen: T
Me: And what do we get when we put them together?
Stephen: Sss t (4:38)
Me: Exactly! Perfect. Do you know a-r-t? SoStephen: Art
Me: Exactly! Very good. (4:49) So what do you get when you put theStephen: Star- start.
Me: Yeah! So you just read that whole sentence! (4:55) So can we try again? Do you remember this word?
Stephen: Let
Me: Lets (5:02)
Stephen: Lets- pack- the- car. and start.
Me: Very good! (5:12)
Stephen: (sounding out word) (5:24)
Me: Mm so you know this is tricky. So you know the short e sound. This is actually a looong e sound.
Stephen: S eeee. (5:34)
Me: So. The long vowel sounds say their name. So what letter is that? (5:40) What letter is that?
Stephen: e
Me: e. SoStephen: See?
Me: Mhm. (5:47)
Stephen: See. See.
Me: Yeah.
Me: (6:05) Youre.
Stephen: You- you- are.
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: Youre? Yuh- take away these two (6:17) and that one?
Me: So remember the y sound?
Stephen: Wuh.
Me: Yuh.
Stephen: Yuh.
Me: Yuh.
Stephen: Yuh.
Me: Remember our a-r sound? (6:31) From art? Ar
Stephen: Yard
Me: Yah!
Stephen: Yard.
Me: Yeah! Very good.
Stephen: (6:45) From?
Me: Mhm. Good.
Stephen: From the car. (6:49)
Stephen: (6:55) You can- this is a loong word.
Me: Yeah. (7:01) That is a long word. So lets try to do our chunking strategy. Right? (7:08) So whats our d-r
sound?
Stephen: Dar
Me: D rr. So does this look like any other word youve seen? (7:18) What if we had an f there? Five.
Stephen: Five
Me: So what do you think the i-v-e is? (7:26) What is the i-v-e sound? So if we take the f away- five
becomesStephen: Um.
Me: Ive
59
Stephen: Ive.
Me: So what (7:38) do you thinkStephen: Dive
Me: D rr. And what do we do in a car?
Stephen: Drive.
Me: Drive. (7:47)
Stephen: (7:56) Has?
Me: Very good!
Stephen: a
Me: (8:11) What do you think this is?
Stephen: Its long.
Me: What do you think that is? We can look at picture clues. What do you think that is? M arr
Stephen: (8:21) Market!
Stephen: (8:26) You can
Me: Yeah. So its the same word right?
Stephen: I can (8:36) things go fast. (8:40) Drr. Drive.
Stephen: (9:00) Back ofMe: Very good!
Me: (9:23) Teacher Amy wants you. Thank you for reading with me!
Stephen: (9:26) Youre welcome.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/8/2014
Time:10:03 AM
Subject: Informal Science Questions and Literacy Interview
Me: So first, I want to talk about working on the carpet. Is it hard to focus on the carpet?
Stephen: Huh?
Me: Is it hard for you to focus on the carpet? (0:12) What do you think could help?
Stephen: Uh. If I listen to the teacher?
Me: But I mean what do you think- what can Teacher Amy and I do to help you focus on the carpet? (0:22)
Stephen: Um. Listening more? Ooh the zoo!
Me: How can we help you listen more? (0:30)
Stephen: Um.
Me: Like what can we do to help you? Because do you know why you got in trouble on the carpet? (0:38)
Stephen: Uh-uh.
Me: You dont know why?
Stephen: I just sit down (0:43) and I dont know I was in Trinitys space. So she just picked up my finger and bent it.
Me: Trinity picked up your finger and bent it?
Stephen: I didnt know I was on her space (0:53)
Me: Ohh. Did you tell her that that hurt?
Stephen: (nods)
Me: What did she say? (0:58)
Stephen: She just said she didnt care.
Me: She said she didnt care? Oh. Okay. Is that why you were all fidgety and moving around on the carpet? (1:06)
Stephen: Look the zoo! Just like were going to tomorrow!
Me: Yeah! So thats also what I wanted to talk to you about. (1:12) So, have you ever been to the zoo beforeStephen: I got a piece of (I cant tell what he said)
Me: Thats a good- good noticing. Have you ever been to the zoo before?
Stephen: Yes. In kindergarten and before with my mom. (1:25) It was my birthdayMe: You went for your birthday?
Stephen: When I turned three (1:29)
Me: Oh when you turned three. And you remembered going to the zoo? Wow. What was your favorite part about
going to the zoo? (1:34)
Stephen: Um. cause I saw the- the polar bears and I like polar bears.
Me: Ohh. (1:46) So are they your favorite animal?
60
Stephen: No. My favorite animals cats.

Me: Oh! Your favorite animals cats? (1:53) DidStephen: Cause I used to have two pet dogs and a lot of cats. But I dont have the rest of the cats- I only have one
now. My other two is downstairs. Um. They-their litter box is downstairs and in my living room.
Me: Oh! Whats your cats name? (2:15)
Stephen: Ones name is Hershey. Ones name isMe: Oh Hershey. Is she brown or black?
Stephen: (2:22) And one is reeses cup.
Me: Reeses cup? Aww and what about your dogs?
Stephen: I dont have them no more.
Me: Oh you dont have them anymore? Oh.
Stephen: Theyre all- but their names were just like the cats. Hershey and (2:40) cause they was brown and brown
and light brown.
Me: What did you learn at the zoo? (2:48)
Stephen: Um. I learned about animals.
Me: You learned about animals? What did you learn about animals? (2:51)
Jsutin: And I learned about a lot of things. I learned about what they eat and what they do.
Me: Oh! You learned about what they eat and what they do? So (3:00) can you pick an animal and tell me what it
eats and what it does. Any animal from the zoo that you remember.
Stephen: They eat- they dont have the animals that I remember in this book.
Me: Oh they dont have the- what animals do you remember?
Stephen: I remember a poisonous frog. (3:17)
Me: A poisonous frog?
Stephen: Not the snake but the frog.
Me: What color was the frog?
Stephen: It was red.
Me: Oh cool! (3:25) So you went with your mom to the zoo?
Stephen: In kindergarten.
Me: In kindergarten. So (3:34) last year? Are you excited about?
Stephen: I went twice to the zoo.
Me: Are you excited about going tomorrow?
Stephen: Mhm.
Me: Yeah. Did you go on any other field trips with your family or in kindergarten? (3:49)
Stephen: I just- I went not in kindergarten but I was in Pre-k my mom took me to the aquarium and we went one
time we went somewhere but I dont know what it was called (4:03) and I and I wish I could go to Hawaii.
Me: Ooh! What do you know about Hawaii?
Stephen: That they do a lot of stuff at nighttime. (4:12) And they- do like a little dance at nighttime too.
Me: (laughs) Oh yeah, youre right. Well, so what did you notice in the differences between the zoo and the
aquarium?
Stephen: They go (4:23) that the aquarium got water and sharks and the zoo only got alligators, polar bears, snakes
and anything else than the aquarium. I saw (4:34) a hammerhead shark too.
Me: What did you think about it?
Stephen: (4:40) That it looks weird.
Me: That it looks weird? Was it scary or did you think it looked cool? (4:45)
Stephen: It was scary because his mouth was open so wide.
Me: Okay. So do you know- have you had science yet?
Stephen: Uh-uh.
Me: Okay. So what do you think science is? (5:00)
Stephen: Science is um
Me: Anything you think about science.
Stephen: (5:10) Reading?
Me: Reading about what.
Stephen: Um. I dont know.
Me: You dont know? Okay. (5:20) Do you like animals?
Stephen: Yeah.
Me: Do you like plants too? Do you like looking at plants? (5:26)
61
Stephen: But my favorite thing to do is just stay home.

Me: Your favorite thing to do is to stay home? (5:33)
Stephen: Yes. And sleep all day.
Me: Oh and sleep a lot?
Stephen: My brother favorite thing is play with me.
Me: Oh your brothers favorite thing is to play with you? Which brother?
Stephen: My big brother, but hes not the oldest.
Me: Your oldest brother is twentyStephen: My oldest brother is twenty
Me: I remember you telling me that (5:52) Okay, so why dont we pick out a book and Im going to read it to you.
And then were going to read this book next. (5:58) Lets go pick a book. Lets pick from over here (6:02) Any
book that looks interesting (6:13) Are you looking for anything specifically?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: What are you looking for? (6:24)
Stephen: Author books.
Me: Oh?! By- whos the author?
Stephen: No just Arthur books. Like the show Arthur.
Me: Oh! Arthur. (6:32) Like what Teacher Amy just read us? Ohh.
Stephen: I like Arthur (6:37) I like Arthur and superman- thats it.
Me: Maybe next time we can read an Arthur book. I dont seeStephen: Theres an Arthur book! (6:53)
Me: Okay. So you want me to read you this one? Okay. (7:05)
Me: Okay, so Im going to read this to you and then were going to talk about it afterwards. Okay? So- ready? So
this book is called Arthurs Baby by Marc Brown. We have a surprise for you, said mother and father. Is it a
bicycle? asked Arthur. (7:28) Do you think its going to be a bicycle?
Stephen: No. Its going to be a toy baby.
Me: You think its going to be a toy baby? (7:33) Why do you think that?
Stephen: Because it says Arthurs Baby. But the baby- but Arthurs baby and its his baby. (7:45)
Me: So you got that from the title right? Were going to have a baby! said mother. (reads book). (8:04) So
what do you notice in this picture?
Stephen: Um. That theyre eating ice cream for dessert. The mom got pickles in there.
Me: Yeah. Thats kind of funny. Do you ever put pickles in your ice cream? (8:14)
Stephen: No.
Me: Me neither. I dont think that tastes very good. (8:18) (reads) (8:40) So what do you think now?
Stephen: Um that Arthur is- hes going to learn how to babysit the baby.
Me: Hes going to learn how to babysit the baby? (8:50) (reads) triple trouble (9:08) How many babies are there
there?
Stephen: Three.
Me: Three yeah.
Stephen: I thought it was going to be double. Like two. (9:14)
Me: Oh, so you know double is two and triple is three? (9:19) (reads) Come sit next to me, I want to show you
something (9:31) What do you think shes going to show him?
Stephen: Um, a book about babies.
Me: Oh a book about babies?
Stephen: Cause I saw the book right there. (9:36)
Me: Ohh. You used a picture clue! Yeah. (9:39) Lets see (reads)
Stephen: (9:46) Thats a book about Arthur- a book about Arthur- a book about his sister and a book about his sister
again.
Me: Youre right! (9:50) (reads) Arthur aged nine months, Arthur aged one year. Which one do you think is older?
(10:01)
Stephen: Nine months.
Me: You think nine months is older?
Stephen: No. This one.
Me: That one? (reads) (10:14)
Stephen: This one is older.
Me: Mhm. What is she doing in her picture?
62
Stephen: Shes crying and shes crying.

Me: (10:21) Do you think she looks adorable?
Stephen: Uh-uh. Well a little bit.
Me: A little bit? (laugh) (10:30) (reads)
Stephen: (10:55) I thought it was going to be a brother.
Me: Oh, you thought it was going to be a brother? Thats what Im afraid of, said Arthur Why do you think he
would say that?
Stephen: (11:04) Cause she- he dont like his little sister but hes afraid of the other sister because shes going to be
just like her.
Me: Yeah. (11:18) (reads) We named her Kate
Stephen: (11:24) Ooh I see Kate!
Me: Oh you see her? Where is Kate?
Stephen: Right there!
Me: Oh which one? (11:28) Yeah. How did you know that one is Kate?
Stephen: Because it says Kate.
Me: It does say Kate. (11:33) (reads) I think she has DWs mouth, said Arthur (Stephen and Anna laugh) What is
she doing? (11:40)
Stephen: Um shes crying?
Me: Yeah. It looks like the babys crying just like DW. (11:47) (reads) (12:04) more presents arrive How do you
think he feels?
Stephen: Um. Sad? Cause they wasnt for him. All these presents were just for her. (12:10)
Me: Yeah. The presents are for the baby. (reads) 12:17
Stephen: (interrupts) (12:24) I have a baby cousin. (12:24) Um my- my older- my older cousin, but hes not older
than me, he was mad because my baby cousin kept getting more and more presents.
Me: Ohh. So the same thing happened to your cousin? (12:39)
Stephen: She just turned one.
Me: She just turned one? (reads) (14:02) What do you think hes going to do?
Stephen: Um. I dont know.
Me: You dont know? Lets find out (14:11) (reads)
Stephen: (14:27) A lot of people have this book.
Me: A lot of people have this book? So do you think you could tell me what happened in the story? (14:30) So, what
happened?
Stephen: That they had a new baby. Because thats what its about. (14:37)
Me: Mhm. And then what happened?
Stephen: It was a real baby.
Me: So remember your prediction before we read the book? You thought it would beStephen: A fake baby, because it said Arthurs baby. (14:50)
Me: And then what happened? (14:57)
Stephen: It was real.
Me: Mhm. Do you remember what happened at the end? (15:01)
Stephen: The baby stopped crying.
Me: Yeah. So do you think- remember how were working on problems and solutions? (15:09) Do you think you can
think of a problem in this book?
Stephen: The problem was (15:15) when she- when she cries.
Me: Yeah, when she cries. And then what happens. Whats the solution? (15:21)
Stephen: Made her stop crying.
Me: Yeah. How did you feel about this book? (15:32)
Stephen: Um. Not how I felt about my baby cousin.
Me: Oh. (15:38)
Stephen: I- everyone- my brother and my cousin were madMe: Do you think (15:45) youd read this book again?
Stephen: No, thank you.
Me: No. You wouldnt want to read this book again? (15:50) Why? Did you? How did you feel about the book?
Stephen: Because I feel- a little- not good about it cause hes still getting presents and hes still (16:02) get presents
so that this makes him not happy (16:07)
63
Me: Oh. So that makes you not happy? So you wouldnt want to read it? (16:09) So did you like the book or did you
not like the book?
Stephen: I liked the book. (16:14)
Me: You liked the book? Okay.
Stephen: I remember where we found it. It was right there. (16:22)
Me: Oh good. Thank you for remembering. Do you want to go put it back?
Stephen: Yes. (16:25)
Me: (16:38) Okay. Now youre going to read this book to me. So, do you know what its called?
Stephen: No (16:45) Umm.
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: (16:55) I dont know.
Me: Okay. Whats the beginning sound?
Stephen: B- I mean T er i p. (17:06) Trip?
Me: Very good.
Stephen: To the (17:13) zoo.
Me: Yeah.
Stephen: Trip to the Zoo. (17:23) I go to the zoo. Is this see?
Me: Mhm (17:33)
Stephen: See Is this map? (17:55)
Me: Close. You have the beginning sound.
Stephen: (17:59)
Me: So the y sound in this case makes an eee sound. (18:06)
Stephen: Me?
Me: M- eh- n- ee.
Stephen: Many? (18:17)
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: Thats Manny? The little girl? (18:25)
Me: So, lets start the sentence again. (18:28)
Stephen: I see manyMe: Many
Stephen: (18:34) Animals at the zoo. I see polar bears at the zoo. (18:44) Polar bears (18:54) huh a have?
Me: Mhm. Very good. (18:58)
Stephen: Have. Yuh h h a t hat.
Me: So polar bears have (19:17) Okay lets should we skip this word for right now?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: fur
Stephen: fur
Me: So what kind of fur (19:23) well what kind of fur is it?
Stephen: White fur.
Me: Yeah. (19:29)
Stephen: I see the lions at the zoo. Lions have (19:36) yellow and big.
Me: and
Stephen:
Me: So they have yellow and? (19:54)
Stephen: Hair?
Me: Yellow and? What is the beginning sound?
Stephen: B (20:02) Bird?
Me: Br. What kind of fur?
Stephen: Hard?
Me: So we know its yellow (20:13) And brrrr
Stephen: Soft? I dont know (20:20)
Me :Okay!
Stephen: I see gorillas at the zoo. Gorillas have brMe: Ohh. What do you notice? (20:40)
Stephen: Its the same thing.
Me: Its the same thing. Yeah. Okay.
64
Stephen: Big?
Me: You canStephen: I dont want to get a bad scoreMe: Oh! This isnt (20:51) a score. Dont worry. This isnt a test. This is just so I understand what you read. Dont
worry about getting a bad score. So lets look. What colors do you see? (21:02) that are in these two pictures?
Stephen: That is brown and long fur.
Me: Do you think that would be brown? (21:08) Yeah?
Stephen: Brown? See cause.
Me: Yeah. You found the brown on his head. (21:17)
Stephen: Brown- black. Oh v over? (21:31) fur?
Me: Mhm. (21:36)
Stephen: I see tigers at the zoo. (21:42) Tigers um. Tigers have stripes.
Me: Yeah!
Stephen: On. Their.
Me: Very good. Their.
Stephen: Uh- uh- (22:11) I dont know that word.
Me: Okay! So do you want me to help you? So lets try to do this part. B aw d.
Stephen: Buh aw
Me: BodStephen: body (22:21)
Me: Yeah! So, what do you think the word is?
Stephen: Body.
Me: Yeah. (22:26)
Stephen: I see snakes at the zoo. Snakes have skin.
Me: Close. Very close. Thats the (22:43) youre right that is the s-k sound. Do you know what these things are on
the snake?
Stephen: No.
Me: Sk scales.
Stephen: Scales. And (22:56) that- th th aa t. t.
Me: Do you remember what this word is over here? You said it. (23:09)
Stephen: Iiii..
Me: Its okay. (23:18) So remember- th there.
Stephen: There.
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: Body.
Me: Very good. (23:30)
Stephen: I see giraffes at the zoo. Giraffes have long n- (23:42)
Me: Do you know what that begins with? Whats that sound?
Stephen: N.
Me: Nnn. So (23:51) we know thats the n soundStephen: Neck. (23:55)
Me: Very good!
Stephen: I see elephants at the zoo. Elephants have long trunks.
Me: L very good.
Stephen: (24:08) I see parrots at the zoo. Birds at the zoo. Birds have. Birds- haaave- wings?
Me: Yeah! Very good (24:24) How did you get the word wings?
Stephen: Because I saw the wings and wings begin with w.
Me: Yeah. (24:31) Very good. So you used picture clues and the letters.
Stephen: I (24:36) I see alligators at the zoo. Alligators have
Me: This is another tricky word (24:50)
Stephen:
Me: (24:57) So can I give you a hint?
Stephen: Mhm.
Me: So our s-h sound here- instead of making a ss huhh sound, its actually going to make a shhh sound. (25:06)
So shhh. ar.
Stephen: Shar? Shar?
65
Me: Whats the p sound? (25:12)

Stephen: Shp.
Me: Yeah! I think you just said it!
Stephen: Sharp. (25:20) Shap.
Me: Sharp. What do they have?
Stephen: Tails. (25:26) Sharp. Teeth.
Me: Yeah. (25:29)
Stephen: Were done. Scales. Skin. Trunk and wings (25:47)
Me: Yeah. You did a great job. (25:49) reading that book. And youve never read this before? Wow. You knew a lot
of the words in there didnt you. (25:55) What was your favorite page in this book?
Stephen: My favorite page was this page (26:02)
Me: The snake? Have you ever felt a snake?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: When did you feel a snake?! (26:06)
Stephen: Cause I used to have a pet snake but I- we- we- gave it away because it had no food. (26:18) We had no
more food for it.
Me: Oh. What did you feed it? (26:22)
Stephen: We used to feed it mice and snake food. Now. But we cant feed it anymore because the store- the storethey sell the store to somebody else. (26:38)
Me: Oh.
Stephen: They dont have it at the store.
Me: Did you ever watch the snake eat the mouse? No? (26:46)
Stephen: My brother did though.
Me: He did?! Did he like watching that?
Stephen: No.
Me: Yeah I dont think Id like watching that either (26:52)
Stephen: But I saw a snake eat a mouse on my skeleton book (26:58)
Me: Whats your skeleton book?
Stephen: That I got from over there (27:01)
Me: And it had a snake eating a mouse in it?
Stephen: Yes, cause it they- they said their jaws are bones. (27:13) so they- and his mouth opens really wide and he
eats things bigger than his head.
Me: Oh the snakes mouth (27:21) opens really wide? But it can eat things bigger than its head?! Wow. That is a
pretty cool fact that you know. (27:30) Cool. Well thank you. Are you ready to go back to class?
Stephen: Mhm.
Me: Okay. (27:34) (27:44) You have the book in your book bag? The skeleton book?
Stephen: Because I read it and I put it back so that I dont forget it next Tuesday. (27:48)
Me: Oh, is that your library day?
Stephen: Mhm.
Me: What other skeletons were in there? Thats pretty cool. (27:55) the snake.
Stephen: The real human skull.
Me: The what? (27:58)
Stephen: Real human skulls.
Me: Real human skulls?! They are pictures in there in the book?
Stephen: And the babys skull has a soft spot right there.
Me: Wait, the babys skull has soft spot? (28:09)
Stephen: Yeah. likeMe: What is a soft spot? You know so much stuff.
Stephen: A soft spot is like right- when you push down, it
Me: Do grown ups have that too? Or just babies?
Stephen: Just babies
Me: Oh just babies?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/10/2014
Time: 1:39PM
Subject: Writers Workshop Informal Conference
66
Stephen: (0:13) This is a hammerhead.

Me: (0:16) So did you go to the zoo yesterday Stephen?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: What did you think about the zoo?
Stephen: It was fun?
Me: (0:22) It was fun?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: What was your favorite part?
Stephen: Um. The lions?
Me: Oohh. Thats cool. (0:33)
Stephen: These are sharks from when I went to the aquarium with my grandmom. This is the hammerhead shark.
(0:45)
Me: Ohh. I think you talked to me about that one on Wednesday.
Stephen: Hammerhead shark.
Me: (0:56) That does look like one.
Stephen: Ah. His hammerhead is messed up. (1:04)
Me: How is that different from a normal shark? (1:09)
Stephen: Because normal sharks dont have hammerheads.
Me: What do normal shark heads look like?
Stephen: (1:15) Um. Pointy andMe: Ohh. Do you know if theyre the same size? I dont know much about hammerhead sharks. Do you know if
theyre the same size as other sharks? (1:26)
Stephen: Mm. No.
Me: No? Okay.
Stephen: Hammerhead sharks are bigger cause its longer and their eyes are all the way right here. (1:37) Right
there.
(2:40)
Me: What happened to your shark?
Stephen: I messed up so Im making the other shark that I saw. (2:47)
Me: Oh. Okay. What was the other shark that you saw?
Stephen: It had a different tail. A pointy one.
Me: (2:59) Oh, cool.
Stephen: and it had stripes.
Me: Oh it had stripes?!
Stephen: (3:07) Yes.
Me: Do you remember what its called? Cause I think I have a guess about what kind of shark it is, but I dont know
if Im right.
Stephen: (3:17) Can you tell me your guess?
Me: (laughs) I can tell you my guess.
Stephen: Because I might remember.
Me: Oh, okay. (3:21) Yeah. So do you know what other animal has stripes?
Stephen: Tigers? (3:24)
Me: Yeah. Was it called a tiger shark? It was a tiger shark? Thats one of the only things I know about sharks. (3:31)
Is that there are tiger sharks. There are great white sharks.
Stephen: (3:38) I dont know about great white sharks.
Me: And there are hammerhead sharks. You dont know about them? Have you ever heard of a movie called Jaws?
Stephen: (3:45) No. I saw a movie called Sharknado.
Me: Ohh. What is that about? Ive heard about it, but I dont know what thats about.
Daniel: I saw Sharknado too.
Me: You saw Sharknado too? So you made a connection (3:57) to Stephen. What was Sharknado about?
Stephen: It was on t.v.
Me: Oh, did you watch it on t.v. too Daniel? Yeah? Did you like it? Yeah?
Stephen: (4:14) I dont like the part where the shark gets cut by the chainsaw.
Daniel: Yeah me too. It was like dripping blood. (4:19)
Me: It was what?
67
Daniel: There was blood all over him when it comes- hes like zzz and all this blood came over him. (4:29)
Me: That does sound like a movie where Id think thered be chainsaws in it (4:36) but I guess so.
Stephen: Cause it was a tornado with sharks.
Me: It was a tornado of sharks?
Stephen: Yeah, thats why it was called Sharknado. (4:44)
Me: I guess that makes sense. Do you think that was based on a real story?
Stephen: No.
Me: Why not? (4:51)
Daniel: Its not real.
Stephen: Because it wont be a real tornado with sharks in the air and people hitting them with very big bats. (5:01)
Me: Oh.. were people hitting them with big bats? That happened in the movie? Would you recommend the movie to
me? Do you think I should watch it? (5:09)
Stephen: No. No. Its disgusting blood.
Me: Yeah I dont really like blood that much.
Stephen: My mom dont either. (5:18) My mom told me to turn it off but my brother said Noooo. So I just turned
it off. He was like, why would you do that? (5:27)
Me: Did you turn it off because your mom told you to or because you didnt want to watch the blood?
Stephen: I turned it off because my mom told me to and I didnt want to watch the blood. (5:36) My brothers the
one who made me watch it. He said, Stephen come in the room! And I brought it to him and I went on top of
(5:45) my bunk bed and he just showed me the movie. And it was disgusting.
Me: Okay. (5:53)
Stephen: Well you dont have t.v. Well, we do have t.v. we just dont have cable but we have an xbox one and it can
show live t.v. (6:01)
Me: Oh yeah what do you like to watch on t.v.?
Stephen: Umm I dont really know. I dont really watch t.v. my brother just make me. (6:13)
Me: Ohh. (laughs) What would you rather do? (6:16)
Stephen: Um. Play games.
Me: Like what kind of games? (6:21)
Stephen: Um. My ninja turtle game? I love ninja turtles. Thats mostlyMe: You know how I could guess that? (6:32)
Stephen: Why? I got that, my other folder, my shirt, my bookbag.
Me: Oh youre right.
Stephen: Annnd my lunchbox. (6:39) Even I got all the toys of them. One time when I was at the store, my mom
bought me a lot of ninja turtles.
Me: (6:51) Mm. Do you know anything about turtles?
Stephen: Yes.
Me: What do you know about them?
Stephen: Yes. Um. I dont know. I just know about ninja turtles. Theyre cool. This is the cool one. (7:06)
Me: Which one is that?
Stephen: Here. The orange one.
Me: Do you know their names? I dont know their names.
Stephen: Mike. Michaelangeo.
Me: Michaelangelo.
Stephen: Donatello. Leonardo. Raphael.
Me: Ohhh. (7:21)
Stephen: This is the person thats getting eat by sharknado.
Me: Do you think that you would find a turtle in an aquarium or in a zoo? (7:29)
Stephen: Um zoo. cause we saw big turtles at the zoo. This is the aquarium. It looks just like Sharknado.
Me: Stephen can Jaiel borrow your eraser?
Stephen: Sure! (7:50) People was taking pictures of the shark. Peoples taking pictures of the shark. (8:08)
Me: I like your picture Daniel.
Daniel: Its mote control cars. And mine isStephen: Thats what I did after the aquarium. (8:25) Me and my brother raced our toy cars cause we had a track.
Me: Ooh that sounds fun.
Stephen: Like a big track like this (8:34)
Me: Cool
68
Stephen: And we raced our cars and my friends came over and played with us. I have ten friends my little brother
only has one- my big brother has twenty. (8:49) Some friends from school.
Me: So do you think we could write another sentence about the aquarium? (8:56) because right now, how many
sentences do you have?
Stephen: One two.
Me: Why do you think thats two sentences? (9:06)
Stephen: Because theres two right here and two right here.
Me: But look- do you know what you put at the end of a sentence? What did you put right there? (9:15)
Stephen: A period.
Me: Yeah. And how many periods do you have right there?
Stephen: One.
Me: So how many sentences is it?
Stephen: One. (9:22)
Me: One. Yeah. So could we maybe write a second sentence?
Stephen: I like the- I like to go to the aquarium.
Me: And what else can you say about that? (9:41)
Stephen: IMe: Uh-huh
Stephen: I liiike.
Me: So did you just know how to spell like? (9:55) or did you get it from the word wall?
Stephen: I knew how to spell the. I messed up. I forgot to make a space. The- (10:09) shark. How do you spell
sharks?
Me: Shhh
Stephen: S
Me: Mhm. (10:18) What two letters make the shh sound?
Stephen: S-h-
Me: Mhm.
Stephen: Sh-sh-ark. (10:29) Ar-k. K or c?
Me: What do you think?
Stephen: K. (10:36) Shark! Thats it?
Me: Thats up to you! Youre the one making the sentence. (10:45)
Stephen: (11:08) This is the baby shark.
Teacher Amy: (calls table C)
Me: Table Cs you!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/14/2014
Time: 8:11 AM
Subject: Informal Interview with Mr. Smith, Music Teacher
Mr. Smith: Stephen is a strange cat. (laughs)
Me: Yeah. (laughs) Ive been trying to figure him out a little bit.
Mr. Smith: (0:07) Yeah, Ive been trying to do the same. (laughs)
Me: Because sometimes hes really attentive and respectful and sometimes hes like (0:18)Mr. Smith: Hes just goofy.
Me: And then completely do what you say and then stop.
Mr. Smith: (0:28) No, right. Thats the same thing Im getting from him. Sometimes I have to get him to focus on
me. (0:32)
Me: Because a couple two weeks ago, I talked to him and he got one of your shining star stickers or something
like that and so I was like, Oh Stephen! Why did you get one of those but (0:44) then the last time when I was
sitting in music, he didnt get a hole punch and was focused, but then not focused and going back and forth.
Mr. Smith: Right, right, yes.
Me: So I dont really know what the norm is for him or if there even is a norm for him. (0:58)
69
Mr. Smith: Exactly, exactly. (1:00) Its inconsistent- very inconsistent. You just dont know- one day what youre
going to get. (1:08) Hes inconsistent. Thats my experience at least. Like you said, sometimes its just hard to read
him. (1:17)
Me: Does he seem to like music? Or (1:20) because IMr. Smith: Again in the classroom setting- trying to focus on the literacy blocks. (1:34) Now, he would participate,
but I dont know if I could tell you what his singing voice is like. (1:42) Like, Dont expect me to start singing, Mr.
Smith (1:48) I think he loves playing instruments and stuff like that. I think most of the kids love to get a drum in
their hands or something (1:57)
Me: Because sometimes Ive noticed during the rest of the school day, hell be really attentive and sometimes hell
play with things in his hands or (2:12)- his tagMr. Smith: lala land(2:19) Hes withdrawn. But thats like what I said, you dont know if hes going to come out
today or (2:26) be withdrawn or be engaged or set off (laughs) (2:32) So hes hard to read. He was like that last year
too. (2:37)
Me: Well, I guess we both know the same amount (laughs)
Mr. Smith: Right, right, exactly. (3:06)
Date: 10/14/2014
Time: 12:38 PM
Subject: Informal Interview with Teacher Amy
(0:25)
Me: Also would you mind just telling me your thoughts on Stephen as a student.
MS. ANITA: (0:34) I think he is a hard worker I really do see him be a hard worker. I think hes very easily
distracted (0:41). I think he is easily distractedMe: By others or things or by himself? (0:49)
MS. ANITA: I think just by anything hes easily distracted. I mean I think hes getting better. Hes getting better
because in the beginning he would sit there and hum on the carpet. (0:56) Ive seen him getting better as hes- as the
years going on. Hes having more self control (1:04) I think he does way better with structure. I think he needs
structure (1:14) to keep him focused. I think he is below right now, but I can see him- I see potential in him to come
to grade level. (1:29) cause I feel like he wants it- do you know what I mean? (1:37)
Me: (1:48) Why do you think he misbehaves and has trouble focusing? No idea?
MS. ANITA: (1:54) I think its- maybe hes- I dont know if its just immaturity. (2:02) I think maybe its
immaturity- that he just cant control it. (2:05) Like I said, I think he really needs structure, structure, structure.
(2:11) I mean I think it has a lot to do- I mean I dont want to say ADHD because I dont know- I think it has a lot to
do with other factors (2:21) like home- I dont know. I think theres more going on. (2:24) Like for me to say
ADHD, I cant say that- I know Mr. Stone (2:30) might- that might be something that Mr. Stone knows more about.
(2:33) I know he was saying- I dont know- he was saying something about Stephen. (2:38)
Me: Oh, you know, maybe I should talk to him too. Does he work with him?
MS. ANITA: No, but I mean I think he knows a lot from last year. (2:44) I dont know if he was diagnosed- I dont
think hes taking medication. (2:55) Like theres a lot that I dont know (2:59)
Me: Okay. Thank you!
MS. ANITA: And I think he needs a lot of manipulatives- a lot of with his hands. (3:18) Just keeping his hands busy
soMe: Yeah thats what I noticed too. (3:23) cause Ive been watching him on the carpet and even when he has
hands on his head or hands on his ears, hes flicking his earlobes. (3:30) or rubbing his earlobes, or- he just hasMS. ANITA: This kid just- (3:34)
Me: He has something- his hands are always doing something. Okay, I wasnt sure if it was just me. (3:38)
MS. ANITA: I saw a difference-
Date: 10/14/2014
Time: 1:23 PM
Subject: Informal Questions with Stephen
STEPHEN Im going to bring my book back. Im going to get a shark book next. (0:07)
70
STEPHEN (0:45) You can sit here. This ones [the desk] taller.
Me: Oh! Well, thank you. (0:49) What were going to do is- first I have a couple of questions for you. (0:56) And
were going to have a conversation, okay? So whatever answers you want to give is perfectly fine. Its not like a test
or anything like that. (1:06) And you just say whatever you think. (1:15) And then were going to read some books
and then Im going to read a book to you. (1:27)
Me: (2:00) So Im going to start off with a part of a sentence and youre going to answer it however you want.
Okay? (2:06) So, today I feel what?
STEPHEN Happy.
Me: Why do you feel happy? (2:11)
STEPHEN Because its almost my birthday.
Me: Whens your birthday? (2:18)
STEPHEN November.
Me: November what? Im going to write it down so (2:20) I know.
STEPHEN 13th
Me: November 13th. Okay.
STEPHEN After October is November and I like when its my birthday because my momMe: What do you want for your birthday? (2:35)
STEPHEN I want a new skateboard.
Me: A new skateboard?
STEPHEN Because I ride on my own skateboard to school. (2:40)
Me: Who takes you to school?
STEPHEN Sometimes my big brother (2:47) but mostly my Dad.
Me: Okay. (2:49) So the next one is, When I have to read what? (2:55)
STEPHEN A book?
Me: Mhm. When you have to read a book, how do you feel about reading? (3:02)
STEPHEN Good.
Me: Good? You feel good? You like to read? What do you like to read? (3:06)
STEPHEN I like to read a lot of superhero books. (3:11)
STEPHEN My big brother can read a lot of books but thats because hes older than me, (3:22) He likes to read math
books. (3:24)
Me: He likes to read math books?!
STEPHEN So he can do his homework. Thats all that he like to read. (3:30)
Me: He just likes to read math book?! Thats it?! Interesting. Do you read at home?
STEPHEN Yes. (3:37)
Me: Do you read by yourself at home or...? (3:42)
STEPHEN Sometimes with my dad but (3:42) sometimes by myself. (3:44)
Me: Does he read it to you? Or do you read it to your dad?
STEPHEN I read it to my dad. (3:47)
Me: Oh you read it to him? Does he like that?
STEPHEN Cause he like me learning how to read. (3:55) By myself. Sometimes. But most of the time he reads it to
me. (4:02)
Me: Do you like to read by yourself in your head? Or do you like to read by yourself out loud? Or do you like
people to read to you? (4:10)
STEPHEN I like to read to myself loud. (4:16)
Me: Okay. Lets see. I get angry when (4:22)
STEPHEN My brother takes my toys. (4:26)
Me: Oh, that would make me angry too. (4:27) To be grown up means what? So what do you think it means to be a
grown up? (4:42)
STEPHEN You have to have responsibility.
Me: like what kinds of responsibilities? (4:47)
STEPHEN Cleaning up the house. Because my big brothers- and he cleans up the house sometimes for my mom.
(5:00)
Me: My idea of a good time. What do you think is a good time? (5:06)
STEPHEN When I play my video games at home. (5:13)
Me: I wish my parents knew (5:18)
STEPHEN That Im always happy.
71
Me: That youre always happy? You dont think they know that?
STEPHEN Uh-uh. (5:24) They think sometimes Im happy and sometimes Im sad. (5:29)
Me: Well, its good that youre always happy. School is what? (5:37)
STEPHEN Fun. (5:38)
Me: Why do you think its fun? (5:39)
STEPHEN Because you get to do homework. (5:43)
Me: You think homework is fun?
STEPHEN Mhm. (5:45)
Me: Well, thats good. Ive never heard of a kid who likes homework. I know you said your favorite subject is math.
I know you like math. Why do you like math? (5:51)
STEPHEN Because my brother helps me do it. Thats why I like it.
Me: I cant understand what? (6:02)
STEPHEN Music. (6:04)
Me: You dont know music?
STEPHEN I dont really like music, so thats why I cant (6:10) understand it.
Me: Oh, do you like listening to music? (6:13)
STEPHEN My mom do. And my brother and my sister sings but I (6:18) dont cause my brothers dad- hes on the
radio.
Me: Your brothers dads on the radio? (6:27)
STEPHEN Mhm.
Me: Is he a musician? Or is he a DJ? (6:35)
STEPHEN Hes a musician.
Me: Wow, thats pretty cool. I feel bad when (6:46)
STEPHEN when my sister takes my candy and when my brother takes my toys. (6:52)
Me: I wish teachers
STEPHEN were understandable, cause I cant really understand teachers cause I dont understand sometimes what
theyre saying. (7:07)
Me: That is a problem isnt it. Because you dont know what to do if you dont know what theyre saying. Is it
because they talk too fast?
STEPHEN No, because they talk about stuff that I really dont know. (7:26)
Me: How do you feel about going to college? Do you know what college is? (7:32)
STEPHEN I dont really know, but my brothers in it. (7:36) Both of my brothers. (7:39)
Me: So youre in elementary school right now and after that you go to high school (7:47) and then if you want, some
people go to college. It just means more school. (7:53) People think what?
STEPHEN (804) Sometimes I think about what my dreams gonna be about. Cause I have dream book- in my
dreams. And when I wake up, I just write about it and draw the pictures. (8:17)
Me: How about Im afraid of what? (8:21) What are you afraid of?
STEPHEN The monsters in my closet. (8:24)
Me: The monster in your closet? How do you know theres a monster in your closet? (8:28)
STEPHEN Cause my brother always told me theres a monster in my closet. (8:31) and Im scared and thats why I
never went in my closet to get my clothes. My brother goes and get it for me cause hes one of my brothers and hes
eleven. (8:42) So he helps me get my clothes out because we have bunk beds and Im on the top. (8:49)
Me: Last one, I am at my best when (8:53)
STEPHEN My best person is my mom and my dad and my family. (9:09)
Me: Well thank you for answering those questions. So now Im going to have you try and pick one of these books to
read and then Im going to read to you (9:20)Which one would you rather me do first? (9:22)
STEPHEN I dont really know what to pick. I want to read to you first. (9:29)
Me: Okay, so I have a bunch of different books here. Which one do you want to try first? (9:33) Were just going to
try them and if some of the words are too hard, were going to try another one. So you pick which one. (9:39)
STEPHEN This one.
Me: You want to try A Party? Okay. (9:42)
STEPHEN It looks like its easy because it says A Party (9:47) A Party. About a chair. A table. A cup. A plate a
cake. A cake.
Me: That was pretty easy wasnt it? You read that pretty quickly, didnt you? (10:14) Why dont we try another one?
STEPHEN This one? (10:17)
72
Me: Do you know what that ones called? Remember when we were talking about the i c k sound? Do you
remember what that sound was? (10:29) Ick So what do you think it is when we put a t in front of it?
J (10:34) Tick. Tock.
Me: Mhm. How did you get tock? (10:41)
STEPHEN Because its a long o c k.Tock. This only got a little bit of pages (10:51) It only goes up to page 8. Tick
tock. One. clock? Oclock? (11:08) Tick tock one oclock. Again? (11:12)
Me: Does that say one oclock?
STEPHEN Oh. Two oclock. Tick tock three o clock. (11:19) These both are long words, so I dont know how
(11:30)
Me: (11:35) What does it start with?
STEPHEN K and the other one starts with a k
Me: So what do you notice about those two words? (11:40)
STEPHEN That theyre the same words.
Me: (11:51) Do you want me to help you with that word? (11:52)
STEPHEN Mhm.
Me: So whats the K- n- sound? (11:56) Nnnnn.
STEPHEN Kun? (12:00)
Me: Youd think that it would be a k sound, but its actually a silent K. (12:04) So its just nnnn So do you
know what the O- c- k- sound is?
STEPHEN o- c- k. (12:10) Ock.
Me: Yeah! So what do you get when you put nnnn ock together? (12:17)
STEPHEN Knock. Knock, knock.
Me: And what- how do you think you would be able to get those words with the picture clues? (12:24)
STEPHEN That they were knocking on the door. (12:27)
Me: Yeah, that they were knocking on the door. (12:29)
STEPHEN One- I dont know how to read the rest. (12:40)
Me: Do you want to try? How could you try to figure out what those words are? (12:49)
STEPHEN By sounding them out.
Me: Okay (12:54)
STEPHEN (J uses arm tapping) Went. (13:00)
Me: Very good! See, you did know that word! (13:04)
STEPHEN Wall? walked? to. play.
Me: Yeah, that was one of our word wall words wasnt it. (13:22)
STEPHEN One elephant. Had. I dont know this word. (13:35)
Me: So, let me give you a hint. The o- u- sound means ow. (13:38)
STEPHEN Out. to play. Out of. No, wait, on. On (13:59-14:03) I dont know this word.
Me: Yeah, thats a big word. What do you think we could do? How could you figure out what that word is? (14:08)
Or do you want to skip it? It looks like you want to skip the page. Do you want to skip it? (14:15) Do you want me
to help you first?
STEPHEN Yes. (14:17)
Me: Okay. Why dont you look at the picture. What do you think that is? (14:21)
STEPHEN Rope?
Me: It kind of looks like a rope. Or a spiderSTEPHEN Spider web.
Me: Yeah. Do you think that word could be spiderweb? 14:28)
STEPHEN Spider. Web.
Me: Yeah, (14:31)
STEPHEN One day, he had sack?
Me: Close, very close (14:48) Uh uh. And whats our c- h- sound? (14:55)
Me: Do you want to go to another book?
STEPHEN Yes! (15:03)
Me: Lets go to another one.
STEPHEN Were on the go.
Me: Why did you pick this one (15:10) instead of Fly High?
STEPHEN Cause this one looks like its easier cause its On the Go (15:17) On the Go. (15:27) We can go anyMe: Ohh, we had this word last time we were together (15:37) Do you remember?
73
STEPHEN Ah ruh yuh.

Me: So, Ill give you a hint. The y sound, do you remember what we said? It doesnt make a yuh sound. (15:49)
Usually it does, but in this word it makes an eeeee sound. (15:54) ManSTEPHEN Many? (15:59) trains?
Me: Why do you think that says trains? 16:05
STEPHEN It dont- Idont think it says trains because it dont have a t. (16:10)
me: Yeah
STEPHEN yuh ah- . I dont know.
Me: (16:29) You dont know? Okay! Thats okay. (16:31) So lets try- we can tap this one out too. (16:34) Whats
our w sound? Wuh.
STEPHEN Wuh. (16:37)
Me: Ay. Ys. (16:42)
STEPHEN Yuhs.
Me: WuhSTEPHEN Ays. Ways. (16:46)
Me: So do you remember what the sentence says? (16:50)
J (17:00) Its just like the but its- Sss. Huh. Uh. (17:11) Ss huh e?
Me: Yeah, its tricky. Okay.
STEPHEN (17:23) Can we go to a different book?
Me: Yeah, we can go to a different one.
STEPHEN These two are hard. (17:28)
Me: Youve already read more books that I thought,
STEPHEN Ive read these two and that and that were too hard (17:33)
Me: They were harder.
STEPHEN Fly high, red. (17:39) Fly high,blue. Fly high, green. Fly high, yellow. Fly high orange (17:50) Fly high,
brown. Fly high, black (17:53)
Me: Do you remember last week when you didnt know that word? But now look at you! (17:59) You read that
word.
STEPHEN Fly high purple (18:01)
ME: So, which book ended up being harder after all? (18:04)
STEPHEN This one. These ones were easy.
Me: They were easy. So now Im going to read a book to you! (18:12)
Date: 10/14/2014
Time: 1:36 PM
Subject- Literacy Interview
Me: What Im going to read you is called This Is Not My Hat. Have you ever read this book before, Stephen? (0:07)
STEPHEN Uh-uh.
Me: Okay. So youve never heard it? Okay. (0:10) Its by Jon Klassen. Do you know who he is?
STEPHEN Uh-uh.
Me: Do you know what the person who writes books is called?
STEPHEN Illustrator.
Me: Yeah, hes the illustrator and hes also- who writes books? (0:24)
STEPHEN TheMe: AuSTEPHEN The Author.
Me: So, Im going to read this book, and youre going to just track the words with your finger for me. Okay. This is
not my hat. By
STEPHEN Not my hat.
Me: by Jon Klassen.
STEPHEN So where is his hat?
Me: Youre going to find out. Thats a good question. (0:45) This hat is not mine. I just stole it.
STEPHEN Oohh, he stole a hat. (0:54)
Me: Yeah. I stole it from a big fish. He was asleep when I did it.
74
STEPHEN Is that a shark? (1:06)

Me: You think thats a shark? Why do you think its a shark?
STEPHEN Cause its big. Wait (1:10) a whale. Because its big just like a shark.
Me: So how do you feel right now? So, I just read, I stole it from a big fish. (1:19) He was asleep when I did it.
STEPHEN I wouldnt steal from a big fish. (1:25) Cause the big fish might swim and chase you. (1:30)
Me: Yeah. Lets see. And he probably wont wake up for a long time. (1:39)
STEPHEN But he might wake up. (1:41)
Me: Why do you think he might wake up?
STEPHEN Cause to get food or somethin. (1:47)
Me: Oh to get food?
STEPHEN Or to wake up in the morning so he can go to work. (1:51)
Me: What do you notice about this picture?
STEPHEN That the big fish woke up. (2:00) and hes going to get his hat back.
Me: So you just made a prediction, right? You guessed. (2:09) And even if he does wake up, he probably wont
notice that its gone.
STEPHEN How he wont notice if he dont feel nothing on his head?! (2:20)
Me: I know. What do you notice about this picture?
STEPHEN That hes looking up on his head (2:24) and he cant find his hat. So now hes going to go look for it.
Me: Lets see (2:30) And even if he does notice that its gone, he probably wont know it was me who took it.
(2:40)
STEPHEN But what if he do know it was him but what if he sees him swimming around with his hat on? (2:47)
Me: Yeah, so if he sees him with his hat on, hes going to be like You took my hat right? (2:53) And even if he
does guess if was me, he wont know where Im going. (3:00)
STEPHEN But what if he- but what if he see you and sees you going the way that he was going to go (3:07) to look
for you.
Me: Yeah. (3:13) But I will tell you where I am going. I am going where the plants grow big and tall and close
together. (3:20)
STEPHEN But theyre outside.
Me: You think theyre outside?
STEPHEN Yeah, away from the water. 3:27
Me: Why do you think that?
STEPHEN Because theyre in the grass.
Me: It is very hard to see in there. (3:36) Nobody will ever find me.
STEPHEN Ohh, then I think he was talking about these flowers. The whole middle of them. (3:45) The whole
meadow in the water.
Me: So who do you think is telling this story? How many characters have we met so far? (3:52)
STEPHEN Just two.
Me: And who are they? (3:56)
STEPHEN The little fish and the big fish.
Me: And who do you thinks telling the story?
STEPHEN The little fish. (4:03)
Me: Why do you think that?
STEPHEN Cause hes the one who stole the hat and he was talking about it the whole time on his way. (4:10)
Me: Yeah. There is someone who saw me already.
STEPHEN The crab!
Me: But he said he wouldnt tell anybody which way I went. (4:19)
STEPHEN The crab. (4:22)
Me: What do you think?
STEPHEN If the big fish asks him, he ay hes going to eat him if he dont tell him, hes just going to tell him. (4:34)
Me: So you think the big fish might threaten the crab to tell him where the other fish went? (4:38) So, I am not
worried about that.
STEPHEN Hes going- he pointed that way. (4:50)
Me: He pointed which way?
STEPHEN That way cause I think he just said it cause thats why he pointed (5:00)
Me: I know its wrong to steal a hat. I know it does not belong to me. (5:06) but I am going to keep it.
STEPHEN Forever? (5:10)
75
Me: I dont know. It was too small for him anyway. It fits me just right.
Stephen: Well, he still (5:19) likes his hat. Maybe he got it from- somebody who was his best friend?
Me: Oh, so youre thinking maybe the little fish got it from someone whos his friend? (5:33)
STEPHEN No, he got it from him and the big fish got it from his friend so thats why its so little, because maybe
his friend was a fish like that. (5:46)
Me: Ohh, so the reason why the hat is so little is because the big fish got it from a friend who was a little fish? (5:53)
STEPHEN Yes.
Me: And look! I made it where the plants are big and tall and close together! (6:03) What do you think about this
picture?
STEPHEN Um, that it is a meadow in the water (6:10) of those big seaweed flowers (6:15)
Me: I KNEW I was going to make it! (6:18)
STEPHEN He sees his tail.
Me: Yeah, the big fish sees his tail. (6:24)
STEPHEN So hes going to chase him and get his hat back (6:26) and then hes going to chase him and try to take
the hat back (6:30) And hes going to swim all the way back (6:35)
Me: Nobody will ever find me.
STEPHEN Yes he will! (6:41) What if he be right there behind the blue leaf? (6:46)
Me: He might be right there behind the blue leaf. We dont really know, right? (6:49)
STEPHEN I dont see none of them. (6:56)
Me: Yeah, you dont see either of them? What do you think is happening?
STEPHEN He took his hat back and (7:02) ate him.
Me: And ate him?! What makes you think that?
STEPHEN Cause I dont see (7:07) none of them. So maybe theyre hiding and the big fish caught him.
Me: Why do you think theres no words on this page? (7:16)
STEPHEN Its nothing on this page. (7:20) I think theres no words cause he- he- didnt think about any more ideas
to write. (7:30)
Me: Oh, he didnt have any more ideas to write? (7:31) Okay, so letsSTEPHEN Is this a library book?
Me: It IS a library book. (7:35) And now what do you see on this page?
STEPHEN Thats hes going back home.
Me: Mhm. (7:41) Why do you think hes going back home?
STEPHEN Maybe because he got his hat back? (7:45) Wait. Theres no words on this page either! (7:49)
Me: Theres not.
STEPHEN He got his hat back! (7:54)
Me: Yeah. So how do you think the story ends?
STEPHEN That he (7:59) was happy and he got the fish hat- he got his hat back (8:05) Theres no page left either!
(8:08)
Me: So, if you were the author, what would you put at the end?
STEPHEN The End.
Me: You would put The End? (8:14)
STEPHEN Uh-huh and make the fish, the big fish, (8:19) and him- and they both have the same hat on. (8:25) And
they became friends. (8:27)
Me: Oh, so thats how you would end the book? (8:30) They both had a hat?
STEPHEN Uh-huh. And they became friends. (8:35)
Me: So Im going to ask you a couple of questions. What do you think happened to the little fish? (8:42)
STEPHEN The little fish got eaten by him (8:45)
Me: How does that make you feel? (8:49)
STEPHEN I dont really know. (8:51) I had a goldfish like this. (8:54) I still have it.
Me: You do?!
STEPHEN And I have a pet dog and a pet cat. (9:00)
Me: Whats your goldfishs name? I know yourSTEPHEN Goldie
Me: Cat and dogs names are Hershey and Reeses Cup. (9:04) Right?
STEPHEN Goldie. cause hes a goldfish. (9:10) and my brother got another fish that looks like one of those
rainbow fishes. He got a rainbow one. (9:20) That they- theyre kinda like these ones , but they got stringy tails.
(9:25)
76
Me: Is it called a beta fish? (9:27)

STEPHEN I dont know. but I dont- I really dont want a fish that they said on t.v. that they eat human skin. (9:39) I
dont want those.
Me: Ohh. I dont want one of those either. How did you feel about this book? (9:45)
STEPHEN I feel happy about it? Cause I like to read. (9:52)
Me: What did you like about this book in particular? (9:54)
STEPHEN That the big fish got his hat back. (9:58)
Me: You liked that? Hm. (10:01) How did you feel about the little fish?
STEPHEN Sad cause he didnt have no hat. (10:07) He had a frown on his face. (10:10)
Me: Oh, cause he didnt have a hat at the end? (10:12) How do you feel about him stealing the big fishs hat?
(10:17)
STEPHEN If I was the big fish, I would be mad that he took my hat (10:23) and I would just swim fast and got my
hat back and the story would be all over. (10:29) and Id get to go back home and go to sleep (10:35)
Me: Well, thank you for reading with me. (10:37) Did you like this story better or worse than the Arthur book we
read last week? (10:43)
STEPHEN I liked this story better. I like all the stories that we read. (10:49)
Me: Oh.
STEPHEN But- just this one is hard to read.
Me: On the Go? That one was a little bit hard to read. (10:57) Yeah.
STEPHEN I did this with my dad one time. .Then I (11:02) just jumped in the water
Me: You went kayaking? Oh where was that? (11:07) Where did you go kayaking? (11:09)
STEPHEN And my brother just got on it (11:10) We went kayaking in a river.
Me: Was it far away? (11:15)
STEPHEN Um not really. (11:17). Its like around the corner from my house. (11:20)
Me: Oh.
STEPHEN So, and my big brother he have a beach house (11:30)
Me: Your big brother has a beach house?!
STEPHEN Sometimes he tries to go kayaking there, but he cant. (11:35)
Me: Oh why cant he go kayaking there?
STEPHEN Cause he dont have a kayaking boat. (11:39) He dont have one of those. (11:41)
Me: I see. Yeah, kayaking is fun. I like kayaking. (11:47)
STEPHEN I had a swimming suit last time when I kayaked at the beach, I jumped in the water. (11:55) and my
brother big big brother got in the kayak to- cause he swim to the kayaking boat and he got back in (12:02)
Me: Ohh. Did you know you can go kayaking in the ocean and you can go kayaking in lakes and rivers? (12:09)
STEPHEN You can go kayaking in the ocean?! (12:14)
Me: yeah, its called ocean kayaking. Have you ever been to the ocean?
STEPHEN Um sometimes (12:20) I saw people kayaking in the ocean, but I didnt know that you can kayak in the
ocean! (12:27) I saw one person kayak in the ocean, but they wasnt really kayaking. Is it (12:35) called bungee
jumping when you put that thing on your back? (12:41) they had a kayaking- this and they both jumped off the thing
and they jumped and they came back up. (12:48) and jumped.
Me: That is bungee jumping.
STEPHEN Im scared. I never want (12:54) to do that.
Me: Do you not like heights? (12:58)
STEPHEN Uh- Im scared of heights. Cause I go on a lot of rollercoasters. (13:04)
Me: So youre scared of heights, but you go on rollercoasters anyway? (13:07)
STEPHEN Mhm.
Me: I dont like rollercoasters. They make me cry sometimes. (13:!2) Cause I think theyre a little bit scary. But
thats just me. (13:21)
STEPHEN But I still ride the little ride and my friend was about to cry and I was just watching him like this. (13:30)
Me: Well, thank you for reading with me. Is there anything else you want to talk about or are you ready to go back to
class? (13:44)
Date: 10/14/2014
Time: 1:38PM
Subject: Informal Conversation about the Library
77
STEPHEN (0:02) Cause its almost time to go to the library. Cause I really want that shark book. (0:05)
Me: Oh- wait did you already see it in the library?
STEPHEN I saw it, but someone already (0:11) just ran to it and got it before me.
Me: Ohh, someone in your class?
STEPHEN Mhm. (0:15)
Me: So maybe theyll bring it back and then you can get the shark book. (0:21)
STEPHEN So after the shark book, I might get a super hero book, but if they have Ninja Turtles, I might (0:27) get
that cause I love Ninja Turtles.
Me: Do they have Ninja Turtle books in the library? (0:32)
STEPHEN Yes. My big brother and his friend like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (0:39) and theyre at the library
too.
Me: Ive heard about those, but Ive never read them.
STEPHEN Ive never read them either. (0:45) Only my brother and his friend did. (0:50)
Me: (0:58) Ready? Lets go. Thank you for collecting the books. (1:09) Thank you! [for pushing in my chair]
STEPHEN Youre welcome. (1:10)
78
Appendix F: Observation Notes

Date: 9/17/2014
Stephen not allowed to sit in the top right because of the behavior chart corner
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 9/24/2014
Stephen counted the pages I read 20 pages
Me: Can you tell me what happened? STEPHEN The brother bear and sister bear dont like each other, but in the tv
show they do. Me: You know what you just did? You made a connection from the book to real life. A show you saw.
Me: What happened at the end? STEPHEN They fixed the window.
Writing focus: periods (can use ! or ? too)
I like to got
on me biec.
at the prc.
I like to swim.
I asked to extend the sentence and he knew to move the period.
Stephen: sad because hes not on green (TA says its because he thinks its funny when he gets in trouble)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 9/29/2014
Stephen told me outside that he was upset. When we went inside, he told me that it was because his mom wont be
able to pick him up after school today because she has to work (at a store)
write CVC words on board:
bat cat sat mat pat that
Stephen said that he circled and put arrow to period to show that he used them
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/1/2014
Stephen playing with cars during announcements, talking to Jaiel, I looked at him and pointed to my ear (to listen)
he smiled and looked at Mr. Stone
Stephen smiled and said Were going to do math today!
Message time: Stephen sitting hand holding head looking at ceiling, playing with blue tag necklace (not reading
message or moving lips) TA took his: Sorry you had to be the example sitting looking down, head in both hands,
turn and talk, Mibsam talked and Stephen didnt, class turned to read wow words, but Stephens back was to the
board (he was one of three kids who didnt turn), playing with paper in his hands
Stephen: TA said hands on ears, Stephen flicked earlobes, raised hand for the message, didnt get called, called out,
I know TA called on Lucia, thanks for not calling out back to playing with his earlobes
Guided Reading Words Assessment
Recess: Stephen running around with Sam, Declan, Niall, running near tree by trailer, arm around Sam
79
Stephen on carpet math lesson, putting necklace over mouth

What are different strategies to do 6 + 5?
Stephen to Mibsam You go first STEPHEN Is it 7 plus 4 = 11? J putting crumpled up money on mouth
Stephen raised his hand MS. ANITA: Put your hand down. Wait, did you have something to tell us about math?
STEPHEN Yes (mumbled) MS. ANITA: I cant hear you. Youre usually loud. STEPHEN (mumbled) MS. ANITA:
No, Stephen, we want to hear what you have to say about math. Do you want us to come back to you? Stephen:
sitting legs out
Stephen: I tried to give it [dice] to her, but she didnt want a turn. Now she gets two turns. [took dice from Daniel
and gave it to Jayla] Daniel got three turns and I only got two. J erased Ds 3rd number and said, Now you have
two, I have two, and she gets two turns.
J rolled a 3 and 4, counted all dots
Stephen didnt have paper didnt look at Mibsams paper
MS. ANITA: Who said 11? (counting by 2s) Stephen raised his hand
lunch recess: Stephen by tree again playing with Marques, Niall, Kamal and Mibsam, playing football on the
blacktop
J now climbing up slide with Maddox, Jaiel, Nathan, Nia and Aidan [turned away for one minute and had to search
for Stephen- didnt think hed be on the blacktop since the others are still playing]
J on monkeybars, back to climbing up slide, back to monkey bars- he can do them
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/6/2014
8:48 AM on carpet, Stephen participated in morning message. Read Halloween with enthusiasm. Stephen playing
with tag. TA told him twice to put it in his shirt. Head down. Hands outside of face. Shirt over mouth.
8:52 AM hand on head and hand on mouth looking sideways. Took tag out of shirt and moved tag to back. Holding
ears.
8:55 AM holding ears still, face down during reading message
8:56 AM Stephen ran to table, problem with Kamal and Jaiel, STEPHEN dont snatch [the brown crayon] Jaiel
came over and told me. He wants me to talk to Stephen. Stephen said he didnt. He said Jaiel put it on the table and
he took it. Kamal said he did snatch it from Jaiels hand. Stephen agreed to let Jaiel have the brown next time.
Stephen- pick kick bick zick, talking to Kamal about words
9:02 AM folded cloth and ut crayons away, TA tapped Stephen, who was talking, stopped, still talking to Kamal
9:05 AM sitting, two hands on face, playing with earlobes
9:11 AM Stephen found page- playing with bracelets, put book up and TA Put the book in front of you, took it
down and put it in his lap
9:14 AM Mibsam heart punch for following with his finger, Stephen not tracking with finger, hands are covering his
mouth, TA turning the page for him, looking at pictures instead of words
9:17 AM TA Could you whisper to your neighbor how Rick solved the problem? Mibsam talked, Stephen didnt
turn
9:18 AM Stephen looking down, talking to self
9:25 AM kids antsy, Eddie moving head around, Jaiel arms in his shirt, Na facing Jovani playing with hair, Stephen
rocking back and forth
10:00 AM Stephen having problem sharing brown crayon with Maddox
10:08 AM TA back to your center tables Stephen: Were still at our center tables. Were still at our center
tables!!!!
11:10 AM Stephen on red- because not paying attention, wrong page in math and playing with stuff in his hand
11:35 Peas and carrots math- Stephen made it a shopping cart
80
1:05 PM Stephen didnt turn and talk until Mibsam tapped him, Stephen out loud Everyone makes mistakes
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/8/14
Stephen putting stickers on mouth and face outside. Asked him to take them off he did put them back on
8:45 AM TA gives reminder to tuck tag into shirt or else Ill take it, Stephen did not turn and talk to Mibsam, called
for message- picked out the word the, read zoo, said it was a place, example of thing- toy, animal- gorilla,
8:55 AM Stephen in words- sink pink ink tink bink jink [drink?]
9:10 AM problems with collecting boards Nooo! brown crayon problem, TA to Stephen, Youre the only one who
talks. I only hear your voice. head down, rubbing eyes, hand on head, looking at book
READ ALOUD: Arthurs Eyes by Marc Brown
talking to Marques, stick tongue out, answered question about the problem people are laughing at him, Stephen
answered out loud He started to wear his glasses Stephen makes faces and sticks his tongue out and said
ugh/yuck to Sams answer about the biggest problem= Arthur went into the girls bathroom
9:29 AM Stephen got a red- lost blue tag, might not get to go to the zoo, MS. ANITA: What did we practice?
Stephen: Skill? Details? couldnt say that we were looking for problems and solutions, favorite part- polar bear,
cats=favorite animal, Pre-K aquarium (had water and sharks)
A Trip to the Zoo
tapping strategy
RUNNING RECORD
Stephen has a book about skeletons. Taught me about babys soft spot.
10:33 AM Stephen found Daniels sticker on the floor and took it, Stephen called out the answer 1 + 8 = 9, called
out again 3 MS. ANITA: You called out, but I love your thinking Raised his hand
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/10/2014
1:14 PM writing time on carpet,
kneeling, playing with teeth
Why is he not sitting crisscross applesauce? Does he have

a loose tooth?
I messed up, I forgot the space. Thats it? Me:

Up to you, youre making the sentence. Yes.
1:41 PM Stephen put bubble in mouth when TA was
talking after hands on ears
1:48 PM Music class
blue tag in mouth, Mr. Smith said hole punch
Stephen moved position, hands folded, bubble
mouth, eye contact
Aiden fist pushing Stephens back
1:52 PM Raising hand
making fist and shaking
2:09 PM turning around on carpet
2:16 PM Read aloud during music. Stephen making
noises when theyre supposed to
smiling and laughing
took initiative
didnt sing I love music song Does he not like
music? Does he not like to sing? Was he not paying
attention?
looks like he is attentive, seems like hes paying closer
attention than in class why?
Is it because Stephen is in Aidens space?
Did Mr. Smith ask a question? I dont think so
wasnt raising hand, had to go to the bathroom
talking to Kiana?
it seems like he is having fun
he is participating and doing sounds
eye contact
Does he like participatory read alouds better? Is he
81
getting what the story is about or is he getting caught up
in the noises?
2:23 PM Stephen walked back to table and moved

pencil box
2:24 PM head down like hes supposed to, didnt get
a punch
Does he need things to be in order? What happens if its

not?
Did he think he deserved a punch?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/14/2014
STEPHEN pig sic tic pic [short i words]
Grade Group meeting
-Stephen below basic reading, proficient math
9:46 AM MS. ANITA: Ohh. Stephen can you go back and show me how to walk.
9:47 Just read resting on right hand, looking left
9:49 same- hand (left) covering mouth
9:51 looking down, scratching earlobes
9:47-9:51 not participating or talking/repeating message
9:53 facing front not turn and talk said out loud I know concentrate
MS. ANITA: If you know something about today, write it in your hand Stephen wrote something on palm
10:05 What do you see in the city? J lots of stores out loud. J to Kamir It wasnt me TA talked
10:07 Talked to Kamir about whats in a park, out loud trees
Trinity: Stephen youre in my spot!
10:10 Chickens! eyes wide open, out loud (Whats on a farm?)
add sign up
10:14 MS. ANITA: Why is important to have your hands in your lap? And you too [points to Stephen[
10:18 Stephen, how are you collecting evidence if youre not looking? sitting straight up looking at book (to
check setting)
10:23 J to me: My mom forgot to pack my snack. I just have juice.
Recess: J and Sam walking around eating snack, walking by playground, both on wall, Marques joined, running up
slide, by self, moved to other playground, walked back to other (less 1 minute)
10:34 leaving playground, 10:35 back, 10:36 wandering alone, leaving playground, 10:37 Marques, Mibsam, and
Stephen talked to me, 10:38 Stephen walking near bathroom, Maddonx followed walking backward talking to
Stephen, Maddox to me: Teacher Anna somebody is pulling Stephen. Her name is Hana
carpet time
10:45 AM X head in hand or head down O= looking at TA or sitting
X X X X O X X around carpet: O X X X
10:52 AM TA Stephen I told you, I Dont like you sitting there. Goodbye
11:00 math game. did all of his number combinations in 10 minutes before anyone else, but didnt do it with the
cubes
11:36 AM on carpet X X X O X X X O X X fluency: X X O O O is keeping track of #s by 1s correctly O did 10s,
had trouble with 5s until 45, then got it
carpet X X X (trouble by 2s, moving finger but incorrect) X (not moving finger) X (head on left knee hand on head)
X (MS. ANITA: put your paper inside book. Stephen did) X X (sitting around carpet) J calls out 15 (right answer)
MS. ANITA: Goodbye. back to seat, head down X X
12:05 rubbing earlobes. X (rubbing earlobes) X X (still rubbing) (not rubbing but hands on head) X X
12: 10 PM Stephen and Michael stay behind because theyre talking to each other
Stephen- hard worker, easily distracted by anything, beginning would hum on carpet, better with structure in place
focus below but potential to come to grade level, he wants it, immaturity misbehavior, maybe medication?
ADHD? talk to Mr. Stone?
Nov 13th is his birthday, he knows after Oct its Nov
angry- brother takes toys
points to words knew everything
knock= both long words same they were knocking on door sounding went silently touches arm
82
not trains b/c doesnt have a t (ways)

1:59 PM J picked seat all the way to side by Kamal and Mia, sitting both arms back, knees up, almost crab position
1:59 PM hand on head, talking to Kamal X X T Becky Eyes up here, mouths are closed, Stephen X Kamal talking
to J, Stephen talking to Kamal O
TB: Im not sure why youre there. Slid back to carpet.
Stephen tried to grab the box from Karon. Oww! Im telling! to Karon
2:06 J walked over to TB why?
2:07 shouted IDK what to do, Nathan: Draw a pic
TB: Stephen youre in group B (w/ Nia, Lucia, and Michael)
2:09 J talking smiling
2:09 STEPHEN How do you spell wants/once?, sitting on knees,
elbows down, close to paper, J looking up
2:46 walked over to TB walked back
STEPHEN Yay word search is all the way in the back!
2:20 kneeling face close to ground
Stephen looking at Michaels
2:24 J dancing
2:35 library sitting criss cross apple sauce and looking at book. Read
aloud: Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
did TB purposefully move him away from

Karon? Nathan? Niall?
to Nia?
seems like hes concentrating more/ a lot
looks like looking at Nias paper
unfinished?
Does he focus better when sitting that way
than crisscross?
Is he writing the same thing?
seems like he needs something hands on
to be focused
why?
2:35 O O O O O O O O end
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: 10/15/2014
8:42 AM O O (not reading message) X O X O O O O X O O O O O O
8:57 back to seat
J op words: mop cop top (in < 1 min)
9:05 J volunteered word cop
9:08 back to carpet O X X X O O O O O X X X O X O O O (closed books and sitting) X X X O O
9:42 couldnt read word put book away
Me: What did we do first? STEPHEN We broke it apart [start]
STEPHEN I dont know the y sound, so I dont know how to sound it out.
ar = ah rr not ar
thought yard from was front yard
Me: Where do you want to break it? dr-?
p a s t = past (sounding out strategy)
barn - looked at picture to get
s h a r p - I dont know. shrp (sherp)
8:44 AM message time on carpet
picking at bottom of shoe, tracking message with eyes
8:47 moving lips, TA asked them to say rocks
seems like he is following, but unsure about

comprehension, not moving lips (is he
reading?)
8:48 palm up, moving other hand, eyes up front, and wide open
8:50 raising hand, TA hands on head, ears, J didnt do it
8:53 TA J I said watch TA, then you do
9:14 on carpet, J turning pages, shaking book
TA put thumb up if open, J did, not tracking with finger
9:17 raising hand, TA said Who has evidence of setting? J calls
out, I see trees. MS. ANITA: How can you find evidence if
youre not on the right page?
9:20 J mouth moves sound came out raising hand
9:21 moving finger, called out wood
J raised hand, wasnt called on, people sitting by pond TA
raise your hand shook hand up
9:24 J called out the park
9:25 TA to class they were getting on a what? class: bus
9:26 TA She was in a class hurry
9:29 TA J and T You got a red and you got a red. Youre in for
morning recess.
83
was he making o sound? it seems like hes
writing words with the o sound
is he moving the book because hes already

on the right page?
MS. ANITA: Thank you for not calling out

and being respectful DeAnna
was he trying to find other evidence of
setting?
going to call out and stopped himself
tracking?
raised hand after corrected self-again
Is he confused because sometimes its okay

to call out answer?
I dont know why. Maybe not looking?
J tried to sink the things that floated at end
J thought things would float/sink based on weight, but he thought that the reason why the blue ball sank and floated
was because one side was heavier (with writing)
sorted into what sinks vs. floats
second sort, metal wood colored
at end me: Im going to clean up. J Ill help you. 28 min
1. thought heavy things would sink, silver ball, wood cube
2. when heavy thing (wood cube) floated material
3. used real life experience (spoon) (clear cubes ice)
4. knew size and shape didnt matter (spoons, clear things)
STEPHEN 1 + 8 = 8 in head plus 1 (shared with class 11:29)
11:29 AM O O (hand in head, but looking)
11:58 AM X X X X X X TA used him as an example of progressed used to call out 9! 9! 9! O [fluency] O [J
fell back on Aiden] X
End of the day at Library: Stephen found his shark book quickly. Marques also wanted the same shark book.
Stephen tried to find Marques other shark books.
84
APPENDIX G: Science Interview Solids Materials

Date: 10/15/2014
Time: 1:05 PM
Subject: Science Interview Sink and Float
Object
Reason for
Prediction
N/A
because its heavy
N/A
Actual (Sink/Float)
Reason for Actual
Ping pong ball

Silver ball
Blue ball
Prediction
(Sink/Float)
N/A
heavy Sink
N/A
Float
Sink it rolled
Floating and
sinking at the same
time
Blue cube
Cork
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Float
Float
Wood cube
Sink
heavy
Float
Clear cube
Clear cylinder
Float
Sink
N/A
N/A
Sink
Sink
Lid
Wooden tee
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Float
Float
because its light

because its metal
one side is heavy
and one side is light
the writing is
heavy
N/A
its light and feels
and looks like
wood
I dont know.
Because its wood?
heavy
theyre both the
same. They look like
ice and ice is heavy
so it sank.
plastic
little and not
heavy
Button
Big spoon*
Float
Float
Sink
Float
N/A
Little spoon*
Float
Float
N/A
Paper clip
Pipe cleaner
N/A
Float
small
Because he did it
before with a plastic
spoon in his milk
and cereal and it
floated
float because its
the same as the big
spoon
N/A
N/A
Sink
Sink
Washer
N/A
N/A
Sink
Jewel
N/A
N/A
Sink
N/A
because theres
metal inside
it might not sink if
there wasnt a hole
N/A
metal sinks because it feels heavier

put the whole bag in the water it floated if you take out the light stuff, it might sink
tried to make the cork sink by putting clear shapes and washers on top of it
tried to make the blue ball sink with heavy things
tried to make the clear heavy things float with the tee underneath it
APPENDIX H: Running Records
85
86

Arsenault Portraitoflearner Smaller

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Arsenault Portraitoflearner Smaller

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Running head: PORTRAIT OF A LEARNER

Term II: Portrait of a Learner

STRONG INTERESTS AND STRENGTHS

THE CHILD AS A READER AND WRITER (LITERACY METHODS)

THE CHILDS MATHEMATICAL UNDERSTANDING (MATH METHODS)

IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE TEACHING PRACTICE

THE CHILD AS A SCIENTIST (SCIENCE METHODS)

PRIOR SCIENCE EXPERIENCE

THE CHILD AS A CITIZEN AND SOCIAL STUDIES LEARNER (SOCIAL STUDIES)

BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION OF THE CHILD

RESPONDING TO A FOCUSING QUESTION (FIELD SEMINAR)

REFLECTIONS ON LEARNING (FIELD SEMINAR)

APPENDIX A: STUDENT WORK

Formal and Informal Instruction

Connections with Others

The Child as a Reader and Writer

The Child as a Scientist

Prior Science Experience

Understanding of Properties of Matter

Proposed Units of Further Study

The Child as a Citizen and Social Studies Learner

Analysis and Interpretation of Historical Thinking

Responding to a Focusing Question

APPENDIX A: Classroom Images and Student Work

APPENDIX B: Classroom Map

APPENDIX C: Student Body Position

APPENDIX E: Transcripts of Interviews with Student

Stephen: Then this- then this

Me: How do you know there are four blocks? (1:10)

Stephen: No. My favorite animals cats.

Stephen: But my favorite thing to do is just stay home.

Stephen: Shes crying and shes crying.

Me: Whats the p sound? (25:12)

Stephen: (0:13) This is a hammerhead.

STEPHEN Ah ruh yuh.

STEPHEN Is that a shark? (1:06)

Me: Is it called a beta fish? (9:27)

Appendix F: Observation Notes

Stephen on carpet math lesson, putting necklace over mouth

Why is he not sitting crisscross applesauce? Does he have

I messed up, I forgot the space. Thats it? Me:

2:23 PM Stephen walked back to table and moved

Does he need things to be in order? What happens if its

not trains b/c doesnt have a t (ways)

did TB purposefully move him away from

seems like he is following, but unsure about

is he moving the book because hes already

MS. ANITA: Thank you for not calling out

Is he confused because sometimes its okay

APPENDIX G: Science Interview Solids Materials

Reason for Actual

Ping pong ball

because its light

metal sinks because it feels heavier

APPENDIX H: Running Records

S-ar putea să vă placă și