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Gail Boldt
2 December 2016
I have had the pleasure to spend some time the past few weeks with a second
grader, Dylan, to get to know him as a reader and writer. Dylan is a shy, yet interesting
young boy who is very unique. During my time with Dylan, it was very hard to get him to
talk, let alone get information out of him. But, as I continued to ask questions and spark
an interest of his, I was able to really understand him as a reader. He is quite complex, in
the sense that I cannot figure out his true opinion and potential, but I was sure able to get
a good idea. From what I observed, Dylan does struggle a lot with reading and writing in
multiple aspects, but after putting his personality into consideration, I believe I was able
to uncover a lot about the underlying questions. It is apparent that Dylan is quite
intelligent and mature for his age, so with minor tweaks and a change of attitude he will
Theory of Reading
Dylan thinks reading is only beneficial in the fact that it serves as a platform for
gathering knowledge or information. He simply thinks people read to get smarter, and
does not consider reading to have any other purpose. Dylan doesnt see the value in
reading for personal reasons or enjoyment. This observation led to one of my main goals,
which is to open Dylans eyes to the numerous ways reading can have an impact and the
other reasons why people read besides gathering information. He also described a good
reader as someone who practices a lot. I believe his is correct in some sense, but he
doesnt consider the comprehension aspect of reading. In order to be a good reader, one
must be able to understand, retell, analyze, and make connections. Dylan envisions a
good reader as someone who is attentive to accuracy rather than meaning. The way he
described the best reader he knows, his friend Patrick, is by his ability to read fast,
pronounce words correctly, and the fact he makes little to no mistakes. Although this
could be some traits of a good reader, I believe it is mostly about how the reader takes the
Dylan knows he isnt the best, but he thinks he is a good reader because he reads a
lot. Although I would agree that good readers tend to read a lot, I believe there is a lot
more to it. I dont think he puts into consideration the other strengths good readers have,
which is the ability to understand the text and be able to analyze it. Dylan doesnt
broaden his genres of reading unless he isnt given the choice. When reading, Dylan
makes a significant amount of errors, and for the most part he continues to read without
fixing them even if they dont make sense. I agree with Dylan in the fact that a good
reader reads a lot to practice, but if he isnt fixing or learning from his mistakes then the
practice is ineffective. I am glad he thinks hes a good reader, because that shows his
confidence in himself, but he definitely needs to start with addressing his mistakes so he
has the opportunity to fix them therefore putting him on the track to becoming a better
reader.
Identification with Aspects of Reading (Personal Value)
Dylan struggles a lot with finding personal value in reading other than for an
for fun. I am unsure whether this is just his opinion on reading, or if he thinks everyone
else only reads for learning purposes as well. Either way, it is difficult to get Dylan to talk
about reading in a positive way. When asked if he likes reading he responded with yes,
which made me initially think he found enjoyment in it. But, after asking why he liked it
knowledge from reading, I would like for him to enjoy reading just for personal pleasure.
I think his mindset on the topic is just based on the idea that people read for the specific
reading of gaining knowledge, but I would like to see him broaden his opinion on the
School/Home Reading
When talking about reading at home, I am starting to understand why Dylan has
some trouble with reading. Dylan said his dad reads to him at home occasionally, but not
often. He also mentioned he never reads on his own at home, which I can see as a
but once its not required of him he doesnt. Dylan also told me his dad sometimes reads
to him in German or Hebrew, but again not independently. I feel Dylan would benefit
and not pressured to be a good reader. If he were to read on his own at home, he could
have that opportunity to fix his mistakes without having pressure, and he could also
potentially start to see the enjoyment in reading. I can assume his dad makes an effort to
support and better his reading, but his parents should also heavily encourage Dylan to
independently read.
From my time observing and miscuing, Dylan does not make good use of the
cuing systems. He often reads sentences that to make sense, but continues without
correcting himself. He either doesnt seem to recognize an error even if it doesnt make
sense, or he doesnt care enough to fix it. This has happened in a few situations: Dylan
read Bony lumps at the end of Euoplocephaluss tail created the club shop (shape), and
Intent (instead) they probably waited for a sign (single) dinosaur to winder (wander) off
on its one (own). Its quite hard to tell whether he didnt correct himself due to laziness
or because he actually though it made sense. He makes few errors such as the first, but
also sometimes reads with a number of mistakes, such as the second. Since Dylan tends
to be all over the place it is hard to decipher the root of his errors. I feel Dylan also has
trouble with syntactic cues. If it doesnt sound right, the most he will do is pause for a
second, and then just continue. I think in situations he may be pausing because he notices
that it doesnt sound correct, but he either trusts himself that what he said was right or he
doesnt go back simply because he doesnt want to. For how often Dylan pauses after
mistakes, I can infer that he seems a little skeptical about it, but for the most part he
doesnt end up fixing them. One cue Dylan uses occasionally is graphophonics. As he
said in the interview, if he get stuck on a work he will try and sound it out by breaking the
word down. He will work towards sounding it out using the strategy of breaking words
down and saying it in chunks. Even if he doesnt mess up, Dylan often breaks down the
word, and then repeats it again either way. Even though he doesnt use most of the cuing
systems, since he has adapted the method of breaking words down and sounding them out
Evidence of Self-monitoring
he either skips the word, or ignores his mistake even if it doesnt make sense. One thing I
did notice was he occasionally skips sight words, which could be a good indicator of use
of the chunking method. Other than that, its quite hard to tell if he self-monitors or not.
Dylan pauses very often, between words he says correctly as well as ones that are
incorrect. I think this shows signs of him questioning himself, and although he tends to be
unsure a lot he rarely takes action upon it. Repeating is also something Dylan does a lot,
himself or not.
Dylan doesnt show much evidence of efficient reading. He tends to read at a fast
pace, which results in skipping over words or just pronouncing them incorrectly. As
mentioned, Dylan shows signs of self-monitoring but doesnt follow through with self-
correcting. From what I can assume, if he does pause when something sounds wrong but
doesnt fix it, it could mean either two things: he is too lazy/bored to correct himself, or
he isnt confident that he will be able to correct it so he doesnt. Throughout my time with
Dylan I have been questioning a lot on whether he is uninterested, incapable, or just lacks
the confidence and is scared of failure. I believe if Dylan were to become interested,
When asked each time, Dylan would not necessarily retell the story. Since all of
his chosen books were on dinosaurs, a subject he is very knowledgeable about, he would
retell me his prior knowledge about the topic rather than retell what he just read. This
Since he was able to inform me so much on these specific dinosaurs, I can infer he read
about them in the past, leading me to assume he is actually able to retell what he has read.
Seeing him know such specific facts about these dinosaurs, I am confident that he is able
Dylan isnt quite at the level he should be at this grade and age, he does well with
understanding but not so much with the basics and mechanics of reading. Dylans theory
of reading is something I would try to work on. I would like for him to see reading in a
more positive and fun way, rather than just a source of information. He doesnt read for
pleasure, which would be a main goal for me. Steering him away from the opinion that
reading is only educational would potentially result in him becoming more open to read
things on his own. Another big problem I see with Dylan is his description of a good
reader. From our interview, I can infer he thinks reading is only about accuracy, pace,
and correct pronunciation. He doesnt really consider how the content has a lot more to
do with it. The curriculum should include teaching students the value of reading and all
the content of the text has to offer. I would allow the students to read and make minor
mistakes, avoiding fixing them and instead shifting focus onto what they can do with
what theyve read. They should be enforced to make connections, ask questions, evaluate
information, and retell in their own words. My two main goals would include helping
Dylan see the personal value in reading, and also redefining to him what it means to be a
good reader.
In order to work towards these goals, Dylan would need to make a lot of
adjustments in how he reads. He should be able to gain the confidence to not only address
his errors but also make an attempt at fixing them. With this confidence, he should also
be able to reference reading cues as a checklist when he gets stuck. But, in order to gain
this confidence, he must be able to enjoy reading and have a lot of support. This leads to
reading independently at home. Dylan should read independently out of school more
often. If he chooses his own books he has interest in and has a support system at home, I
am sure that he will start to become more motivated and dedicated to improve his reading
skills. Without support or encouragement, I can picture him making errors and just
reading right through them, avoiding the opportunity to self-correct. I believe a lot of
improvement can start with a stronger support system and a new view on reading.
If Dylan is able to achieve these few goals, I am confident that it will solve many
of the issues I am recognizing. Although Dylan makes a number of mistakes, I would not
categorize him as a bad reader. he has a lot of potential and comes across as a very
intelligent second grader. In my opinion, his problems lie in his attitude towards reading,
and lack of confidence. If he were to change his views on the benefits of reading as well
as consider what else makes someone a good at it, he would be on track to becoming a
very successful reader. Dylans problems all seem to root from the main two goals I have
identified, and since they are both achievable, with few adjustments he will be able to