By looking further into my target low group, I have found that one of my students is actually being considered for special education testing, I had not been informed of it prior because the parents had requested it. The student has had trouble learning new information and retaining, which may have some underlying causes that neither that student's parents nor I know about. 3 students in my target group also come from nuclear families, have working parents, and regular attendance. One of my students is from a separated family and has a two home situation. All of my students are in the first grade, which limits how much information I can find from teachers and tests. One possible reason as to why students are not doing so well is the amount of quality reading time students have at home. All of the students in my low group are in families where both parents are working.
I am hoping to see students increase their reading scores before the end of the school year, with an increase in fluency, reading ability, and comprehension. Each student will have his/her individual goals and will work towards those goals. Realistically those goals will not be the end of year benchmark expected of first grade students, but realistic figures that the low students will be able to work towards.
Fluency, accuracy, and comprehension are scored individually on the DRA. Fluency is determined by how many words per minute students are able to read. For my target group I found that students at a DRA 3 are reading very slowly while those in the 6-8 range read faster and more fluently. Accuracy varies according to student, the closer he/she is to the next reading level, the more accurate he/she will be on the current reading level. Comprehension is very dependent on the amount of vocabulary a student knows, if a student is unable to communicate clearly in Spanish, then comprehension will be reduced. This is because they will be unable to convey any main ideas or answer basic questions about the text. Answering comprehension questions is introduced in higher DRA levels (20 and above I believe), but none of my students are at that stage yet.
Language acquisition is very important in any bilingual program. Students with larger oral vocabulary, oral fluency, and oral comprehension tend to do really well with reading and writing my Spanish classroom. The DRA test allows for the testing of oral ability through the comprehension questions. This is important because language acquisition follows these steps: first oral acquisition, then reading acquisition, lastly writing acquisition. In order for students to read in Spanish, they must know how to speak and comprehend it. My target group has far more limited vocabulary and oral ability, this shows when asked questions about a text. I will look for any potential oral Spanish tests that I can use to determine the ability of my students.
Goals:
Students will read at a higher level than their winter benchmark
Students will work towards improving their fluency
Students will receive additional support before/after school
Families will learn to better support their child
I will find additional resources and strategies to better teach my low students
Objectives:
Students will improve DRA score by at least 1 level
Families will keep a log of how much time a student spends reading
Families will attend a session on how to support reading development at home
I will read with my target group (1 on 1) every other day in order to build their reading skills
I am hoping to see students increase their reading scores before the end of the school year, with an increase in fluency, reading ability, and comprehension. Each student will have his/her individual goals and will work towards those goals. Realistically those goals will not be the end of year benchmark expected of first grade students, but realistic figures that the low students will be able to work towards.
Fluency, accuracy, and comprehension are scored individually on the DRA. Fluency is determined by how many words per minute students are able to read. For my target group I found that students at a DRA 3 are reading very slowly while those in the 6-8 range read faster and more fluently. Accuracy varies according to student, the closer he/she is to the next reading level, the more accurate he/she will be on the current reading level. Comprehension is very dependent on the amount of vocabulary a student knows, if a student is unable to communicate clearly in Spanish, then comprehension will be reduced. This is because they will be unable to convey any main ideas or answer basic questions about the text. Answering comprehension questions is introduced in higher DRA levels (20 and above I believe), but none of my students are at that stage yet.
Language acquisition is very important in any bilingual program. Students with larger oral vocabulary, oral fluency, and oral comprehension tend to do really well with reading and writing my Spanish classroom. The DRA test allows for the testing of oral ability through the comprehension questions. This is important because language acquisition follows these steps: first oral acquisition, then reading acquisition, lastly writing acquisition. In order for students to read in Spanish, they must know how to speak and comprehend it. My target group has far more limited vocabulary and oral ability, this shows when asked questions about a text. I will look for any potential oral Spanish tests that I can use to determine the ability of my students.
Goals:
Students will read at a higher level than their winter benchmark
Students will work towards improving their fluency
Students will receive additional support before/after school
Families will learn to better support their child
I will find additional resources and strategies to better teach my low students
Objectives:
Students will improve DRA score by at least 1 level
Families will keep a log of how much time a student spends reading
Families will attend a session on how to support reading development at home
I will read with my target group (1 on 1) every other day in order to build their reading skills