Attitudes Toward Literacy

Attitudes Toward Literacy

Lauren Wallingford
University of South Florida

Attitudes Toward Literacy

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Attitudes Toward Literacy

Component 1:
Because of security precautions I will be introducing my focus student for this
portion of my program as Jane. Jane is in first grade and she is an emergent reader just like most
of the first graders in her class. Jane enjoys school and is always excited to come in, sit down,
and jump immediately into her bell work. When I first met Jane she was very shy and did not
talk to me at all. During the second week of my internship Jane came around and started
participating more with what I was doing with the class. I could tell that by this week Jane
became more comfortable with me coming into her classroom and leading a few of their
everyday activities. Now into the third week of my internship Jane has become very friendly and
she has been more open to me assisting her in her reading and writing. What I have learned over
the past three weeks in Janes first grade class is that she loves to help the teacher and I in
anything that is going on. She is usually the student to look at for a good example to show the
other students on how they should be acting and doing their work. Jane finds pride in being the
good example for the class and it encourages her to make sure the other students are doing good
as well. What I have noticed about Jane is that although she is an amazing student she does not
do well when the class is loud and when she is put next to trouble makers that are often messing
around when they shouldnt be. Although Jane is often quite I have noticed that she speaks a
thousand words just by her facial expressions during class. Jane does well during read aloud and
guided writing most of the time while in class. During read to self is where Jane is at her best and
during read to friend is where she is not so comfortable. When put with others to read, such as a
partner, Jane often enjoys playing teacher which gets the both of the students off topic and
they are not able to complete the task. During the second week of my internship I assessed Jane

Attitudes Toward Literacy

in her attitude toward literacy by administering to her the McKenna ERAS. I decided to
administer this assessment to Jane because she is a emergent learner and I also wanted to see
different aspects to the reason she is on the grade level that she is for reading. The McKenna
ERAS are a series of questions that I read aloud to Jane that pertain to how she feels about
reading. The questions start out by asking her questions on how she feels about recreational
reading and followed by academic reading. In both categories Jane scored a 34 which put her in
the 70th percentile for first grade. Jane does enjoy reading both in class and at home and this test
gave me a better understanding of the reason that Jane is considered on a high reading level in
first grade. Coming from Kindergarten Jane was reading on a level eleven which is pretty high
just coming out of Kindergarten. The average student of Janes first grade class is reading on a
level eight which is almost a first grade level. By the end of first grade students are
recommended to be a level ten or beyond. Currently Jane is reading on a level sixteen in her
class with the teacher. This level is assessed by a district plan of DRA. DRA stands for
Developmental Reading Assessment and this is how my CT (Collaborating Teacher) assesses her
students on their reading level. How it is conducted is not very simple to learn as an intern but
from what I have viewed I believe it is an accurate way of putting what each student knows and
can understand into a reading level that is straight forward. Students are given a certain level
book that is on the level of their reading comprehension. The student is then asked two or three
questions that in some way reflect what is used on the McKenna ERAS. After the questions the
student is then asked to read the book at their regular pace, they are timed by how many words
per minute they can correctly read. At the teachers discretion she/he is able to try a harder
reading level with the student if they are showing signs of the book being too easy. After reading
the book students are asked to retell the story back to the teacher. This gives the teacher the

Attitudes Toward Literacy

knowledge that the student understood what was going on in the story. During Janes DRA she
did very well. I was able to watch her move up to a higher level of 15. Just recently Jane had
moved up to reading on a level 16 on the DRA books. She is showing a high level of
improvement in her reading. Between the two assessments of McKenna ERAS and the states
DRA I can interpret that Janes level of enjoying reading both in recreation and academics has
made an impact in her reading level according to the DRA.

Attitudes Toward Literacy