Maria Villalvazo

Week 2 Assignment: Individual Assessment, Analysis, and Planning Project (Part Two)-

Signature Assignment

ITL 514- Language Literacy Assessment

Kirsten Antonius

National University
Reading Comprehension Need, Strategy, and Rationale

According to an Informal Reading Inventory, Julianna scored a 6/10 on the reading

comprehension portion of the assessment. When asked an inferential comprehension question,

she answered incorrectly and used her prior knowledge of dogs to answer the question instead.

Strategy #1 and Rationale

One strategy to use with Julianna is concept maps. Depending on the text and the unit,

connecting the text and showing the correlation between themes or main ideas can help the

student comprehend. “Concept maps used before reading help students identify important

concepts and ideas and how they are related to each other. By understanding these relationships

in advance, students are more likely to comprehend their text readings” (Sousa, 190). Once the

student comprehends, then we can focus on inferences.

Strategy #2 and Rationale

Another strategy could be Reciprocal Questioning where the student would take the role

of the teacher and create their own questions based on the text. This would help the student

understand the text and actively search for the importance of the text, including making

inferences based on the text.

Strategy #3 and Rationale

A strategy that can be used to help with comprehension in general is Question-Answer

Relationships (QAR). QAR helps students determine the type of questions that are being asked.

The teacher will show them how the wording of “right there”, “think and search”, “author and
me”, and “on my own” questions are asked and how to approach them. This strategy will help

the student see what type of question it is and how to answer it and how to get the information.

Strategy #4 and Rationale

Also, an extra strategy, according to Reading Rockets would be DRTA. “The Directed

Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) is a comprehension strategy that guides students in asking

questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm or refute their

predictions. The DRTA process encourages students to be active and thoughtful readers,

enhancing their comprehension.”

Motivation Need, Strategy, and Rationale

Julianna did not show an area of need in motivation, but this student can still be

challenged to expand her reading. She likes chapter books, fiction books, and enjoys reading

when she has time. She already above her grade level, and needs to be motivated to attempt

higher books.

Strategy #1 and Rationale

One strategy to challenge Julianna in motivation on expanding her reading motivation

would be to use the author’s chair. Although the chair is used for published writing, Julianna

could use the chair to read to the class a higher leveled book, or a summary of what she learned

on a book.

Strategy #2 and Rationale

 Another strategy would be to use her interest in fiction books and find fiction books that

have a series that are a higher level. The books would be a little higher, but with interest, she

will be able to read them.

Strategy #3 and Rationale

A strategy that would Julianna and challenge her in reading motivation is to create

projects like comics and what she read to expand motivation.

Spelling (Advanced Affixes) Need, Strategy, and Rationale

According to the Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Inventory, Julianna struggles

with advanced affixes by scoring a 3/5. Although the score was not high, this is developmentally

normal for a ten-year-old student. This student would benefit from being challenged.

Strategy #1 and Rationale

A strategy that can be used to help with her need in spelling would be to use word sorts.

The teacher will sort words with a certain affix by herself while the student watches. The second

step would be to have the student sort the words with the teacher. Finally, the student would

attempt to sort the words by herself. After, to challenge, the student can go on a word hunt and

try to find words that follow the same pattern. The rationale is that with a lot of practice the

student would internalize the pattern and be able to apply the pattern and spell the words

correctly. It is important to only do one to two affixes at a time to be taught. Doing too many

will not let the students internalize it correctly.

Strategy #2 and Rationale

 One strategy would also be explicit instruction in affixes. “Explicit instruction in the

phonological structure of speech and of phonemes and their spellings helps children acquire the

alphabetic principle and use it appropriately when they encounter unfamiliar words in text.

Neural circuits help to map these new graphemes onto known phoneme” (Sousa, 78).

Strategy #3 and Rationale

Another strategy would be having a form of web/ graphic organizer to help learn affixes.

The student can do one to two affixes at a time and find words that all have that affix. The

student will then see the relationships of the affix and be able to internalize and then use and

recognize the affix in the future.

Reflection

Because of Spring break, I had to find a family member rather than one of my students.

Luckily, the family member that I used happened to be same age group as my students. I interact

with my cousin on level not attributed to academics. It was interesting and fascinating to see

how high she actually was. I was excited to hear her dictate and answer questions. This is the

same excitement I get when assessing a student and seeing any type of growth as well in my

class.

References
Bear, D., Invernizzi, M, Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2016). Words Their Way, Word Study

for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Sousa, D. (2014). How the Brain Learns to Read. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin