The Learning Academy is a private elementary school that provides students (grades second to sixth) the opportunity to learn techniques, by way of the Orton-Gillingham (OG) Approach, that will better assist them through their lifelong journey with their reading disability. Dyslexia is very hard to diagnose, but many of the students at this school are assumed to have this reading hindrance. Reading difficulties begin to arise and become recognizable in the first grade, which is why this outstanding school does not start until grade two.

 

Classroom Observation

According to Mrs. William, "OG is the most important part of our day.” As the students did OG instruction, they taught me many of the rules they have learned thus far. For example, the students were given the words puzzle and table. For consonant ‘CLE’ words, “you identify the family and count back three- 1, 2, 3- and put [.”  The ‘[‘symbol allows us to look at the first vowel and identify whether it is open or closed (whether it needs a breve or a macron). So the word puzzle would look like, puz[zle. The ‘u’ needs a macron to make it a long vowel. The word table would look like, ta[ble, and it would receive a breve above the ‘a’ to make it short (says its name). Then, Mrs. William told me the “Sugar Story”:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived with her mom in a quaint village. The little girl and her mom were going to bake on a rainy day, but they did not have any sugar and did not want to travel to town to buy some. So her mom sent her to the next-door-neighbor’s house to borrow some sugar. The next day, the little girl’s mother went to town to buy some sugar and when she arrived home she sent the little girl to the neighbor’s house to give back the loaned amount of sugar. When the little girl reached her neighbor’s home, she knocked. You see, the little girl was a very little girl and could not pronounce some of her sounds correctly. When the neighbor opened the door the little girl said, “A E (lady) I O U.”

 

The next story I was told was the “Syllable Story.” At The Learning Academy, I wear my teacher-candidate badge attached to a lanyard. Mrs. William asked to borrow the lanyard and put the lanyard above her head. Mrs. William represented the vowel and the lanyard represented either the breve or the macron. Mrs. William walked towards the closed door and her hand hit the door- it automatically created a breve above Mrs. Williams. She said, “The door represents the consonant and because the lanyard made a breve, I am short- CVC.” Then, she opened the door and the lanyard flattened itself out. Mrs. Williams responded, “The lanyard is a long vowel because there is no consonant after the vowel.”

 

After my personalized OG instruction, the students must practice their vocabulary fluency word for the week. This week it is “attention,” and the students must write the word twenty times on their whiteboards. When Paul, a student in class, finished writing the word twenty times, Mrs. William had him close his eyes and spell the word which he was unable to do. Mrs. William said, “Twenty is just a general number- some people need more and some people need less, and I think you are one of those people who needs to practice more.”

 

Soon after the students practiced they had to practice their spelling words. Mrs. William said, “Back away from the pencil and listen to the word first.” As I walked around and observed I noticed that one student, Luke, had all of the words correct and always raised his hand to come up the board to write them (Mrs. William reads a word and then they review it). After eight words, the students were given two sentences to write which were read by the teacher. Luke was able to spell and use the correct punctuation. When asked to come to the board, Mrs. William privately asked Luke to make mistakes so that the class could practice recognizing errors.

 

After OG and snack, I helped Mrs. William and led a small group. In my small group of three, we played a game on the carpet in which there was a board, cards, and pawns. Each student took a turn by rolling the dice and reading a sentence from the card chosen- if they read it correctly they were able to move their pawn the number of spaces indicated by the dice they rolled. Once student, Dean, was particularly difficult to understand due to his braces, and another, Mike, screamed while he read and always said, “This is easy.” Dean read every card correctly.

 

After the game my observation time had ended.

 

Classroom Reflection

Many of the rules for phonics are rules that I have never been taught in school. During my primary and secondary years, I was not never taught to decode words and was never explained why words were formed the way they are. Instead, I was told to memorize the word, pronunciation, and definition in order to pass the test. Being taught these rules and procedures from the students was a new concept for me, and my eyes have been opened to the new meaning of words. If I had known many of these rules before, I would have had an easier time with domain specific vocabulary later on in my school years. I love the “sugar story!” This story is a great “WOW” starter for a vowel lesson. All students love stories and this an excellent way to get students interested in the vowel lesson. I am definitely going to teach my students this story.

 

The “syllable story” is a great visual for comparing and contrasting breves versus macrons. I think that this concept is difficult for students to grasp- I was never taught the difference between them and rarely talked about them in school. To this day I have difficulties pronouncing some words because I do not know how to say the vowels (are they long or short). This story has helped me tremendously, and I am sure it has and will help other students.

 

The students write their words twenty times so that it becomes ingrained in their minds and becomes automatic to them in the future. I was shocked when Paul was unable to spell the word, attention, correctly with his eyes shut. When Mrs. William had him do this, it was a way to see if he really knew the word. I think that Paul may have rushed with his writing and did not pay attention to each letter and letter family (at-ten-tion).

After observing Luke, I have noticed that he has excellent and precise handwriting- he makes no mistakes and seems confident in his abilities. I am wondering how long he has been at The Learning Academy and how much longer he needs to stay. My observation time does not go into the other subject areas and I am curious to know what his weaknesses are. I can say the same about Dean. Dean is very loud and appears to want his peers to pay attention to him when he reads his sentences correctly.

 

I would not recommend doing these games on the carpet as it makes the students not pay attention. My group of three boys were very hyper and they laid all over the floor, talked over each other, and did not stay quiet while the other student was reading the card on his turn. I believe that small groups, especially games need to be played at a table so that a “learning atmosphere” is still enforced. I really enjoyed the game and think that it could be beneficial at other public and private schools. The students are able to practice reading in a fun way, and in a way that does not promote the general “learning technique” of pencil, paper, and worksheets.

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Case Study Observations

During my observation today, I pulled Hannah to the side during OG instruction and had her take a spelling inventory. I started the conversation by asking Hannah what she did over the weekend and what she was going to do after she got out of school today. She told me that she went to her old school which she “still likes better than here” and watched her friend play basketball. Hannah also laid in bed with her mom on Sunday and they watched movies together.

 

After our small talk I said, “I am new to teaching and I need you to help me with it okay, Hannah? What I am going to give you is not a test or a quiz and will not be graded- I just need it for my own classes.” During this time, my own college instructors entered the classroom and Mrs. William said, “These are her college teachers who help her learn just like I am your teacher and help you learn.” I provided Hannah with a sheet of blank notebook paper and administered sixteen spelling words. Hannah did not number the words and wrote them all on the left side of the page past the red line. Hannah misspelled eleven of the words. I should have stopped earlier, but some of her mistakes came with the letters being confused (i.e. she wrote dig instead of pig). After stopping I took her paper and thanked her for helping me. We talked for five minutes more and I said, “What is something fun you would like to do next week?” She said she did not know and I asked if her favorite candy was still peppermint patties- yes. She smiled when I asked and finally looked me in the eye- something she has not been doing. She told me that she got two big peppermint patties from Santa that are still sitting in her refrigerator. I wanted Hannah to get back to OG so I let her go back to her seat.

 

Hannah was not in my small group after this so I did not get to observe her much. However, I was able to see during the brief time she was in OG that she does not say the words and letters like she is supposed to. When the students write the letter/word on their whiteboards, they are instructed to say them. However, Hannah does not and she moves her head every time I come by so that I cannot see her mouth. I bent to her level next to her and said them with the rest of the class. Once I did this, Hannah whispered them.

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Case Study Reflection

I wanted to start the spelling inventory on a light note because I do not want Hannah to get the impression that I am just there to give her problems and writing assignments to do. I was her to connect with me so that she is able to learn rather than tense up every time I come in the room. I got the impression that Hannah is still not thrilled about being here due to her comment about liking her old school better. Hannah has been at The Learning Academy since September and appears very anti-social in class. I would be very interested to see her personality on the P.E. field so that I can compare classroom attitude to outside the classroom attitude. Hannah talks highly of her family and it appears as though her family takes the weekend easy. When I meet new students, I like to see what their home life is like so that I can gage the reasons behind behaviors. Because Hannah is close to her family, she might be anxious when she first comes to school (during my observation hours). I used to be just like Hannah and dreaded the morning part of the school because I just wanted to be with my family- the same could apply to Hannah, and she could be very sad and disinterested in OG instruction.        

 

I was so thankful when my teachers came into the class during my administration of the spelling inventory because I wanted Hannah to know that I really was still learning and not “probing her mind.” I often wonder what the students think about people like me, students, coming in and observing their work. Hannah, for example, has no idea that she is my case study student and that I am looking for certain patterns in her work for practice in my future language arts instruction. Do the students feel uncomfortable when students enter the classroom because they know they are being watched when they are trying to learn?

I stopped at sixteen instead of the given twenty-six because Hannah started making mistakes in words within close proximity to each other, and I did not want Hannah to become overwhelmed or frustrated.  I wanted to see what Hannah would do with the paper which is why I did not pre-number. When I was in her grade, I was already using notebook paper and was taught how to head and number properly. I am concerned for the students once they leave The Learning Academy and the culture shock they may undergo with the new school. The students at The Learning Academy usually work on their whiteboards or off of worksheets. Many private and public schools use notebook paper and I do not want Hannah to feel out of place because she has not been taught how to properly use notebook paper. I also asked Hannah what she wanted to do next week so that she knows I will not be giving her consistent “tests.” I also wanted her to know that I remembered something she likes, peppermint patties. Hannah does not look me in the eye when I speak to her and she looks at the ceiling when she responds. I do not know if this is a habit of hers or if this is a coping method for overcoming anxiety. However, I am hoping that she warms up to me next week because she has realized that I remember something about her. I will have to bring her peppermint patties.

 

It appears like Hannah does not like to say the words/letters during OG. Perhaps she feels uncomfortable because she does not want other peers to her if she makes a mistake. I want to ask Hannah about this, but only after she warms up to me more.