RICA Case Study 1

RICA Case Study Project

Gino Fragoso

TEP 521/SPED 525 Methods of Teaching Reading and Writing (K-8)

Dr. Kathleen Bautista

December 7, 2018
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RICA Case Study Project

Introduction

This case study will focus on a first-grade student named Noah. His primary language is

English. The three assessments used to measure his progress were a reading ability assessment, a

concepts of print assessment, and a reading interest inventory. We began with the reading ability

assessment which identified Noah’s independent reading level at preprimer, his instructional

reading level at primer, and his frustration reading level at 1st grade. Secondly, his answers in the

reading interest survey showed he enjoyed reading once he began but felt neutral at the

beginning of reading new books. Lastly, the concepts of print assessment showed he knew book

concepts, directionality, most text concepts, and some punctuation marks.

Analysis

THREE STRENGTHS/NEEDS

1. Need: Word Identification. For this assessment, a list of ten words per grade level was

used to identify the reading levels. The assessment specified that one error in the list of

ten would identify his independent level, two errors would identify his instructional level,

and three errors would identify his frustration level. Noah, who is in first grade, tested at

preprimer as his independent reading level which is the level he is capable of reading on

his own without assistance. His instructional reading level is primer which is the level in

which he can read a text and understand it with the aid of a teacher. His frustration

reading level is grade 1, which would include words that cannot be read or understood

even with aid. To reach this frustration reading level the assessment asked that at least 3

words be read incorrectly. Noah read five of the 10 words incorrectly which is far below

the 90% goal of his 1st grade level.

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2. Strength: Independent reading. The assessment used was a questionnaire which

asked about his home life, reading interests, and reading attitude. Based on the Interest

and attitude survey, Noah tested as enjoying reading and looking at books on his own.

Although he was neutral about reading at home, he showed happiness at receiving books

as gifts. The survey also shows that he enjoys reading during summer and going to book

stores. He did stay neutral at starting new books and reading at home but liked being able

to choose anything he wanted to read.

3. Strength: Concepts about print. This survey used an early level story book from his

daycare classroom and a checklist questionnaire. Noah did well on the concepts of print

assessment. He knew most of the book concept questions as well as text directionality

and punctuation. He was working on finding similar words and upper-case letters in the

text. This may have to do with losing interest after the previous two surveys. Noah was

able to identify period, question mark, and exclamation point with fairly accurate

descriptions. For example, when asked what a period was, Noah answered “not a

question, it’s talking” (personal communication, November 9, 2018).

Improvement Plan

TWO INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES/ ACTIVITIES

1. Part-To-Whole lessons. To help Noah increase his reading level I would use Part-

To-Whole lessons. In this kind of lesson, I would be able to begin with the target sound

and model letter combinations to make words. After modeling what sound the letter

makes I would have Noah say the sound each time I pointed to it. Because Noah is in the

first grade and his independent reading level is pre-primer, I would begin with some

basics to aid in his reading of smaller words. I could use this in a small group with direct
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instruction allowing me to target that skill with Noah and any other children who are

performing below reading level.

2. Shared Book Experience. To increase his knowledge of concepts about print and help

with independent reading I would use the Shared Book Experience. By suing an

oversized book, I can model the concepts about print that Noah and other students need to

know. The oversized book would allow me to easily identify and demonstrate the

concepts I am trying to teach or re-teach. The survey I administered shows that Noah is

lacking in certain punctuation marks. Knowing this, I can plan what kind of questions I

want to bring up in the reading and choose books accordingly taking into account he

goals of lesson and the student’s interest from the student interest survey.

Application

HOW EACH STRATEGY/ ACTIVITY HELPS

1. Part-To-Whole lessons. Part-to-whole lessons would help students like Noah by

beginning with sound identification and then having the student blend the sounds to build

words (Zarrillo, 2017, p. 50). Honig, Diamond, and Gutlohn write that systematic and

explicit phonics instruction “significantly improves students reading and spelling in

Kindergarten and Grade 1” (2018, p. 171). Systematic phonics lessons like the part-to-

whole lesson build on previous skills like sound identification and slowly become more

complex when they begin to blend the sounds in smaller to larger words (Honig et al.,

2018, p. 171).

2. Shared Book Experience. In this type of lesson, the teacher sits and reads picture

books to students using oversized picture books and through the activity the students

potentially learn all the concepts about print (Zarrillo, 2017, p. 33). Teachers can begin
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by pointing out book features and asking predictive questions (Zarrillo, 2017, p. 33).

Using these strategies, the teacher models what students can use to identify the different

concepts.