Professional engagement with an early years learner.
A grade 1 boy aged 6 was observed, (who shall be called ‘Tom’ for confidentiality reasons) engaging in independent reading. His skill as a reader was consistent with level 1 VELS working towards level 2 (VELS database). Tom chose a book from his classroom bookshelf that he was familiar with and that he enjoyed. The bookshelf in the classroom had different coloured boxes which indicated a differing degree of difficulty for that book and each child in the class knew which colour they belonged to. Tom belonged to the blue group which was what the largest group in the class so it can be assumed that this was the average level for Tom’s age level. Tom picked out a familiar text, ‘My Toys’ from the blue box. He was easily able to follow the words and story reading quickly as if in a hurry. This may have been a cause of the book familiarity so Tom was then introduced to an unfamiliar text, ‘The Jigaree’ written by Joy Cowley. This text would be at level 1 standard using VELS as it was a “simple, predictable text with familiar content. It used simple sentences and included repetition of phrases and illustrations” (VELS database) such as “I can see a Jigaree. It is jumping after me. Jumping here, jumping there, Jigarees jump everywhere. I can see a Jigaree. It is dancing after me. Dancing here, dancing there, Jigarees dance everywhere,” (Cowley 1983, pp. 3-5). This repetition continued throughout the book whilst changing just one action such as dancing to swimming. Many of the words would be familiar to Tom as they were high frequency words. Along with this written repetition, the illustrations are also repetitive involving the same characters but using different actions. This allowed Tom to match up the different word on each page with that action and help them to use the illustrations with their reading which is consistent VELS level, “use illustrations to extend meaning” (VELS database). The picture to text ratio was such that a young student such as Tom would not get bogged down with lots of text but could instead enjoy the illustrations while feeling confident with his ability to follow the story. Tom was quite capable with the ‘The Jigaree.’ He could follow the words with his finger tracing from top to bottom and left to right and when reading aloud he could self correct when a sentence didn’t make sense which is consistent with level 2 VELS (VELS database). His fluency was between level 1 and 2 on the reading fluency rubric (Hill, p. 170) as he used little variation of rate to suit the text and didn’t use much expressive interpretation although he had some awareness of full stops and commas. For his age however, Tom was reading at a level which would be considered fairly normal.
The Jigaree
Click to enlarge
When it came time for Tom to write, he wasn’t quite sure how to begin. A few ideas were suggested such as what toys he liked to play with or what had he done the previous night. Once he decided to write a short piece about what he enjoyed playing with, he was quite enthusiastic however his story took him a while to write as he paused between sentences as he either tried to remember things or thought of what to write next. He also paused for a considerable amount of time when he tried to write harder, less frequent words. His spelling was reasonably good, most of the time spelling his high frequency words correctly but had difficulty with other words such as “tractor.” His writing was rather messy and at times difficult to decipher. There was some structure to his writing, as he had to an extent an introduction, a middle and an end however it was repetitive. He used simple language like, “I like” and “My toys are fun.” His writing would also be working towards level 2 VELS as he “wrote simply about familiar topics” but could “include several related ideas in sequence” which are level 1 and 2 respectively (VELS database).
From the professional engagement with this early years reader, much was learned not just about his reading and writing abilities which have been assessed below, but also about Tom’s funds of knowledge which impact on these abilities. Some of these funds of knowledge included having two older brothers who would share their knowledge and experiences with Tom, shopping with his mother which would develop Tom’s reading and broaden his knowledge of what is available. Being a fan of television Tom could also use this to develop his reading and writing with such shows as ‘Playschool’ who have segments devoted to such skills. With regard to his reading and writing Tom ‘”wrote about a topic that was meaningful, could write in simple sentences and could write a number of high-frequency words as well as being able to write one syllable three and four-letter words” (VELS database). He read mostly word-by-word and could match the picture to the writing when he had difficulty with a new word. This is all consistent with the ‘Early’ stage of literacy development which is fairly normal for a beginning grade one student.
The following is an assessment of Tom’s reading and writing.
·Assessment of reading fluency (Hill 2006, p. 170)
Tom would be between level 1 and 2 on the reading fluency rubric. His rate didn’t change to suit the text as he was more focussed on getting the words right. His phrasing towards the beginning of the book was word-by-word but as the book went on and he recognised the repetition he was able to put 2 or 3 words together. He had some awareness of punctuation as he would pause after full stops and commas, however he didn’t put any emphasis on appropriate words or use much expression in his reading, instead using a monotone expression. He had difficulty in getting some of the words out that were new to the page and would either spend a lengthy time on that word or skip it.
·Assessment of comprehension (Hill 2006, p. 193)
Tom was able to answer some questions about the text. When asked literal questions such as, “What did the boy do with the Jigaree?” he took a time to think about it then answered, “Swam.” This shows that he did take some of the story in rather than just reading out words. When presented with an interpretive question, “Why did the boy take the Jigaree home?” Tom was uncertain and became shy about not knowing the answer just shaking his head. This may show that Tom couldn’t grasp the meaning of the story that the boy had fun with the Jigaree and wanted to keep it as a pet. The inferential question, “What would you do with the Jigaree?” was met with uncertainty so the question was rephrased to, “What do you like to do with your pet?” Tom then answered that he would like to play with it.
·Assessment of writing (Hill 2006, pp. 290-292)
Using the emergent and early writing assessment, Tom’s written language would be a score of 4.5 out of 6 as he used a few simple sentences but his punctuation was poor. His ideas were conveyed in stems such as “I like..” and would rate a 4 out of 6. Tom’s text conventions would rate 3 out of 6 as he could correctly put spaces between words but could not use punctuation correctly.
Professional engagement with an early years learner.
A grade 1 boy aged 6 was observed, (who shall be called ‘Tom’ for confidentiality reasons) engaging in independent reading. His skill as a reader was consistent with level 1 VELS working towards level 2 (VELS database). Tom chose a book from his classroom bookshelf that he was familiar with and that he enjoyed. The bookshelf in the classroom had different coloured boxes which indicated a differing degree of difficulty for that book and each child in the class knew which colour they belonged to. Tom belonged to the blue group which was what the largest group in the class so it can be assumed that this was the average level for Tom’s age level. Tom picked out a familiar text, ‘My Toys’ from the blue box. He was easily able to follow the words and story reading quickly as if in a hurry. This may have been a cause of the book familiarity so Tom was then introduced to an unfamiliar text, ‘The Jigaree’ written by Joy Cowley. This text would be at level 1 standard using VELS as it was a “simple, predictable text with familiar content. It used simple sentences and included repetition of phrases and illustrations” (VELS database) such as “I can see a Jigaree. It is jumping after me. Jumping here, jumping there, Jigarees jump everywhere. I can see a Jigaree. It is dancing after me. Dancing here, dancing there, Jigarees dance everywhere,” (Cowley 1983, pp. 3-5). This repetition continued throughout the book whilst changing just one action such as dancing to swimming. Many of the words would be familiar to Tom as they were high frequency words. Along with this written repetition, the illustrations are also repetitive involving the same characters but using different actions. This allowed Tom to match up the different word on each page with that action and help them to use the illustrations with their reading which is consistent VELS level, “use illustrations to extend meaning” (VELS database). The picture to text ratio was such that a young student such as Tom would not get bogged down with lots of text but could instead enjoy the illustrations while feeling confident with his ability to follow the story. Tom was quite capable with the ‘The Jigaree.’ He could follow the words with his finger tracing from top to bottom and left to right and when reading aloud he could self correct when a sentence didn’t make sense which is consistent with level 2 VELS (VELS database). His fluency was between level 1 and 2 on the reading fluency rubric (Hill, p. 170) as he used little variation of rate to suit the text and didn’t use much expressive interpretation although he had some awareness of full stops and commas. For his age however, Tom was reading at a level which would be considered fairly normal.
When it came time for Tom to write, he wasn’t quite sure how to begin. A few ideas were suggested such as what toys he liked to play with or what had he done the previous night. Once he decided to write a short piece about what he enjoyed playing with, he was quite enthusiastic however his story took him a while to write as he paused between sentences as he either tried to remember things or thought of what to write next. He also paused for a considerable amount of time when he tried to write harder, less frequent words. His spelling was reasonably good, most of the time spelling his high frequency words correctly but had difficulty with other words such as “tractor.” His writing was rather messy and at times difficult to decipher. There was some structure to his writing, as he had to an extent an introduction, a middle and an end however it was repetitive. He used simple language like, “I like” and “My toys are fun.” His writing would also be working towards level 2 VELS as he “wrote simply about familiar topics” but could “include several related ideas in sequence” which are level 1 and 2 respectively (VELS database).
From the professional engagement with this early years reader, much was learned not just about his reading and writing abilities which have been assessed below, but also about Tom’s funds of knowledge which impact on these abilities. Some of these funds of knowledge included having two older brothers who would share their knowledge and experiences with Tom, shopping with his mother which would develop Tom’s reading and broaden his knowledge of what is available. Being a fan of television Tom could also use this to develop his reading and writing with such shows as ‘Playschool’ who have segments devoted to such skills. With regard to his reading and writing Tom ‘”wrote about a topic that was meaningful, could write in simple sentences and could write a number of high-frequency words as well as being able to write one syllable three and four-letter words” (VELS database). He read mostly word-by-word and could match the picture to the writing when he had difficulty with a new word. This is all consistent with the ‘Early’ stage of literacy development which is fairly normal for a beginning grade one student.
The following is an assessment of Tom’s reading and writing.
· Assessment of reading fluency (Hill 2006, p. 170)
Tom would be between level 1 and 2 on the reading fluency rubric. His rate didn’t change to suit the text as he was more focussed on getting the words right. His phrasing towards the beginning of the book was word-by-word but as the book went on and he recognised the repetition he was able to put 2 or 3 words together. He had some awareness of punctuation as he would pause after full stops and commas, however he didn’t put any emphasis on appropriate words or use much expression in his reading, instead using a monotone expression. He had difficulty in getting some of the words out that were new to the page and would either spend a lengthy time on that word or skip it.
· Assessment of comprehension (Hill 2006, p. 193)
Tom was able to answer some questions about the text. When asked literal questions such as, “What did the boy do with the Jigaree?” he took a time to think about it then answered, “Swam.” This shows that he did take some of the story in rather than just reading out words. When presented with an interpretive question, “Why did the boy take the Jigaree home?” Tom was uncertain and became shy about not knowing the answer just shaking his head. This may show that Tom couldn’t grasp the meaning of the story that the boy had fun with the Jigaree and wanted to keep it as a pet. The inferential question, “What would you do with the Jigaree?” was met with uncertainty so the question was rephrased to, “What do you like to do with your pet?” Tom then answered that he would like to play with it.
· Assessment of writing (Hill 2006, pp. 290-292)
Using the emergent and early writing assessment, Tom’s written language would be a score of 4.5 out of 6 as he used a few simple sentences but his punctuation was poor. His ideas were conveyed in stems such as “I like..” and would rate a 4 out of 6. Tom’s text conventions would rate 3 out of 6 as he could correctly put spaces between words but could not use punctuation correctly.
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