Background

In order to gain a full understanding about Hannah’s background, I conducted an interest inventory and administered it on the first day I met her. This inventory tells me a story about the circumstances Hannah has gone through in order to get her where she is today, and I am able to gain full insight into what she likes and dislikes so that I can incorporate them into future assessments and lessons. I have also been able to better place her maturity and ability level.  

 

Hannah was born on August 9, 2007 which makes her eight years old. Hannah is a third grade student at The Learning Academy. She is relatively new to this school as she started attending in September of 2015 when she transferred from a school she had been attending since the start of kindergarten. Hannah transferred from a public elementary school about five minutes from her home. Now, she must travel about twenty minutes each morning in order to come to The Learning Academy. Hannah lives her with her father, mother, and twin sister whom still attends Hannah’s original elementary school. Hannah informed me that she misses her old school because she had more friends there. Hannah also lives with her pet hamster and dog who “does not like children.” Hannah’s favorite subject is art and social studies, and her least favorite subject is mathematics. When Hannah grows up, she wants to be an artist. Hannah does not mind reading, but prefers to be read to rather than actually reading books independently. Her favorite types of books are chapter books that contain animals, drama, action, and fantasy. Hannah’s favorite book is, “Warrior Cats” because it is full of action and revolves around Hannah’s favorite animal, cats. Hannah also likes bears and would like to spend a day with her favorite character from the “Seekers” series, Cusa.

When Hannah ends her day at The Learning Academy, her babysitter picks her up and drives her the full twenty minutes home with a stop in-between to pick up Hannah’s sister. On the way home, Hannah listens to audio versions of chapter books in her portable CD player. Hannah’s babysitter does not require Hannah to do the assigned nightly homework Mrs. William distributes. Instead, Hannah is allowed to play video games until her parents arrive home from work around six o’clock.  Hannah enjoys playing games, watching movies, and doing arts and crafts in her free time. She participated in piano, swim, and tennis lessons until her family became too busy to transport her.

 

Hannah believes that her three best qualities are playing Minecraft, crafting, and climbing up the trees in her backyard. I asked Hannah what she thinks the qualities of the best teacher in the world should have. Hannah responded with, “I think the best teacher should be playful, flexible, and funny.”

I have also spoken with Mrs. William about other aspects of Hannah’s learning. Hannah was administered an IEP before starting at The Learning Academy, and Mrs. William has recently had to fill out a “Teacher Input Form” to better accommodate Hannah in the classroom. On this form, Mrs. William says that Hannah is being taught the sequential structured practices of Orton Gillingham that will better help Hannah with her difficulty identifying the main idea of a passage. Hannah typically does not follow the norm computation style the class has been taught; instead, Hannah works on mathematics in her own way by writing down number patterns. Mrs. William accommodates (as instructed by her IEP) Hannah by repeating oral directions, reading test items, giving extra work time in small group settings, and providing a multisensory approach in all subjects. Hannah participates in class and will often times ask for help and for answers to her questions. Mrs. William wrote, “Hannah wants to learn.” Hannah, according to the report, is able to receive the extra attention she needs thanks to the small class size. However, Hannah would benefit from practice with re-stating directions, and practice toward continued confidence. Mrs. William says that Hannah tends to be quiet during instruction, but tends to drift off into her own world.

 

Hannah was recently administered a reading assessment in which she scored in the “Needs Assistance” category. This test was given on January 13, 2016 and is called the WRMT (Woodcock Reading Master Test). Hannah scored a 10 on word identification; 5 on word attack; 7 on word comprehension; 6 on passage comprehension; 17 on listening comprehension. Based on these scores, I can assume that Hannah is on the far left end of the bell curve.

 

Mrs. William believes that Hannah is on a second grade academic level. However, she excels in mathematics and tries to do her best in reading. Hannah does well with vocabulary terms and their meanings, as well as her use of high frequency words. During the Oroton Gillingham instruction provided to the students each morning at The Learning Academy, Mrs. William incorporates high frequency words that the students must say, spell, and give the definition for. Mrs. William says that Hannah has improved drastically with her knowledge of these since the beginning of the school year. Hannah is on a Lexile level of 6-9 (860-960L) which puts her at the higher end of the class spectrum. Mrs. William says that half of the class is at the same Lexile range as Hannah, and the rest of the class is at a range of 2-5 (450-845L). “Hannah’s oral language skills need some work,” Mrs. William told me. “She needs constant reminders when it comes to directions, homework, and class chores.” Hannah needs prompting in order to complete classroom assignments, and her reading homework is not completed independently as it should be. “Hannah is loved by her classmates and is doing so well in her new environment. She is always prepared and ready to go at 8:00 am,” Mrs. William said. The specific academic skills Hannah needs assistance with at this time are procedures that will help her with comprehension. Mrs. William believes that Hannah will benefit from listening activities that will allow her to complete tasks more efficiently and effectively as she is very slow but methodical. Although Hannah gets help with reading, she needs further assistance with phonemic awareness and sound-symbol relations. Hannah is encouraged to point to words that will help her read more fluently.  

 

Background Reflection

Based on Hannah’s grade level and age, I can assume that she was never held back which will benefit her in the long run. I am concerned about the length of time Hannah must travel in the morning in order to come to school. Twenty minutes is not a bad travel time, however, I am curious as to what time she must get up in the morning. I only come into contact with her from 8:00 am- 10:30 am and during that time she is very sluggish and shy. Perhaps she is slow because she is tired, and she may be shy because she does not have as many friends at The Learning Academy like she did at her old elementary school. I am also curious to know why Hannah’s babysitter allows Hannah to wait until evening to do her homework. Does the babysitter not know how to help Hannah with her reading, thus, pushing the task off to the parents; or do Hannah’s parents want to help Hannah as much as they can so doing some of the work for her is their version of helping? It is great the Hannah enjoys chapter books, specifically books that relate to culture and religious aspects of each which correctly matches up with one of her favorite subjects (social studies). However, Hannah needs practice with comprehension and merely listening to books will not help her with that. Listening to these books only gives Hannah the chance to “zone out” like she does in the classroom according to Mrs. William. Is Hannah pushed at home to read independently or is her day dreaming a constant thing which translates into the classroom setting? I would recommend that Hannah still be allowed to listen to the chapter books; however, she needs the book in front of her so that she can follow along with her finger (giving her practice with fluency, comprehension, and identifying sight words).