9-27-12 Activities and Reflection Student 2

Field Notes:

Goals: Traffic light paragraphs

            expository vs. narrative

*100 on geography test

*Test in Wordly Wise tomorrow

     *Played iPad game to review

*Talked about types of writing

     *Then writing process, then traffic light

     *Tried to say the final paragraph of his short story did not follow this formula. But that was ok--I explained his story was a different style of writing, so it followed a different formula

*Read example paragraph and color coded--not terribly enthused to color, but was happier when I told him we would be scribbling. Got bored with that eventually, but did do #3 independently--only used vertical lines to mark beginning and end of sentences.

*Worked together to create outline, but final paragraph was a story (narrative). It still works, kind of.

*Began typing paragraph at 5:19, finished 5:25, but accidentally deleted. Had full conclusion written and was very disappointed.

     *I pointed out how much less time typing the paragraph took compared to last session where 2 paragraphs took the full hour.

Reflection:

Hmm...This one might give me (more) gray hairs. This particular student has a hard time focusing anyway, so I'm not terribly surprised he lost interest with dissecting the sample paragraphs. He did do well with them, so I think he understands at least.  We definitely need some more work in the difference between expository and narrative though. As I said in the field notes, he was initially confused because his prior narrative didn't follow the "formula." I had to point out the differences between his fictional narrative and the nonfiction nature of expository writing.  Also, he had difficulty writing his own expository paragraph. Again, his story works...it's just not what I was going for. 

Hopefully he at least saw the value in doing prewriting activities. I made sure to point out to him how little time the outline and drafting took compared to a few weeks ago when he had to write a short story and he struggled and struggled to come up with his few paragraphs. He acknowledged how little time it took. I just hope he internalizes it and follows the process himself. That's my main goal for all of my students, whether they're reading or writing--for them to internalize the process so it becomes automatic, especially since so little for these students is automatic. Many will still struggle to some extent, but at least having a strategy they know works is huge.

9-27-12 Activities and Reflection Student 1

Field Notes:

Goals: Review traffic light paragraphs, elaborate on elements of expository writing

            Introduce accordion paragraphs

            Thesis sentence if time

*Came in and immediately asked if he could work on a current event assignment after I made a comment about him bringing iPad.

        *Doing iPhone 5

        *Found an article- 5 things to know about the iPhone 5

        *Read and verbally summarized: Passbook is a new feature, asked how it worked, so we played with the new features on my iPhone 4S.

playing with the panoramic camera

*Introduced basics of accordion paragraph

      *Related it to actual accordion--asked what an accordion sounded like, so I searched on iTunes and youtube for examples

*Began 2 side outline or article

     *Used each of the 5 points as key idea and added details from article

     *"What does inferior mean?"

*Talked about other iPhones

*Began drafting paragraph at 4:18, finished 4:30

     *Stopped to talk about future current events assignments

          *Choose own topic each week, but cannot be about sports

     *Stopped to talk about evolution of computers

Reflection: 

This session was so much fun. I love how eager my student was to write today!  He came in ready and raring to go. In actuality, I had spoken with him mom about doing his Current Events assignment during our time together. We agreed this week and next to spend time reading an article, summarizing it, and then doing the outline/draft. After that, he will be responsible for doing the above steps and we will work on revising/editing.  Future steps include a strong thesis statement, transitions, and conclusions.

This student completed his draft right as our time expired. Since he worked on his own iPad, I unfortunately did not get a copy of the draft, but he wrote a strong outline. This article lent itself nicely to our method of outlining. The article had 5 new features, but he ended up only using 4. The one he left out, neither of us knew much about, so since he didn't understand it I think that decision was wise. No sense in writing about something you can't actually explain.

I think this is also a great example of learning by doing. It's one thing to read about the features of the new iPhone, but to be able to try them out really helped him understand how they worked (even though I have the "old" 4S, most of the upgrades were iOS related so I got them, too!). Once again, talking is an important theme for the day. I have a feeling when I start coding data, this will be a major finding.

Student 3

I have a third participant! He has been coming only once a week to finish up his current level in Barton. Small explanation: Barton spans 10 level and do not correspond to reading levels. Most students complete levels 1-8 while in elementary school and return for Levels 9 and 10 once they have completed eighth grade, simply because of the advanced vocabulary in the last two levels. This particular student just completed Level 8. We have done some limited writing instruction towards the end of last school year and during the summer upon his mom's request (this was actually the inspiration for my project).  By participating in my study, I hope this will give us both more structure in the writing instruction and serve as a way to refine what I've done with my first two guinea pigs students.

Field Notes:

Goals: Baseline for writing and typing

           Review and sight words

           Interviews

*Writing baseline: began at 3:42, ended at 3:56, paused at 3:44 to read aloud a section I was in (I died).

     *"How do spell your name...I mean Angie?"

     *Very quickly began reading story aloud, without prompting.

           *Found 5 corrections to make

     *"That was a funny story!"

*Questionnaire-Writer's profile

*Superficial answers; got stuck for a plan, but found inspiration for iPad story.

*iPad story: began 4:07, ended 4:20

     *"Not how you spell there...That's not how you spell it either...oh well, this is the wrong there."

     *"How do you spell Philip?" "I spell it "p-h-i-l-l-i-p, but some might only have 1 L."  "Your way it [spell checker] says is wrong and my way is right."

     *Read aloud and found 2 corrections to make.

*"What was easier to write, on paper or iPad?" "iPad"

*Began attitude survey and interview

Reflection:
This student may be another toughie. He likes to be funny and I think sometimes that's his cover for his struggles.  All of his answers to questions about what kind of stories he likes to write were "funny ones", which is exemplified in his response after reading his own initial writing piece.

I'm kind of impressed we got both initial writings in this session.  He spent the least amount of time drafting both than either of my other students. Either I'm more focused or he's a "do it and be done" kind of writer.  We'll hope for the former :)

9-20-12 Activities and Reflection Student 2

Field Notes:

Goals: Expand bare bones

            Write phrases on cards and move around, check to make sure they make sense

*Has a short story to write: 3-9 pages, historical fiction.

     *Has 2 paragraphs so far, I read those to myself

     *Found 1 sentence that didn't make much sense, he edited appropriately.

*Asked how his short answer response from last week went

     *"Good!" With double thumbs up

     *This reminded him of edmodo assignment for fragments and run-on sentences

     *Had difficulty figuring out how to edit on site.

*Reviewed short story assignment details

     *The teacher had created a document with some pre-writing questions. She asked for details, but he limited how thoroughly he answered.

*Began writing paragraph 3. Had difficulty getting started: "How do I say this is the next day?"

     * "You could start the paragraph with 'The next day'"

     *Got stuck again after that sentence

*Talked through how the people to died.

     *"Did you write any of that?"   "Oh. No."

     *Had a much easier time after we talked out the details.

*Uncomfortable typing on iPad on table and chair, so he stretched out in the floor.

*Counted sentences for each paragraph--strives for 4 to be a paragraph, Got disappointed why I suggested he add a small detail sentence to a paragraph, which would have added a sentence.

*A nurse shark saved Bo (the man character) and he began telling me all about nurse sharks, what the look like, etc.

*Had about a page and a half double spaced when he left.

**Look up 6+1 traits of writing (what his class is using).

**How does SUTW teach narrative writing?

Reflection:
Since Student 2 is now official, I figure I can begin sharing his data. I've been keeping up all along with his stuff, so he's well beyond all the initial data. For the most part, Student 2 has been working about a day behind Student 1 mostly because Student 2 actually brings in writing assignments and English homework to work on. Since most of this works in to what we're doing anyway, it's been working. Just another reason individual sessions are so wonderful.

This session really wore me out!  He really struggled with this assignment, partly because he has attention difficulties anyway, partly because he did not really take the time to fully answer the teacher's pre-writing questions. Although, to be fair, asking a dyslexic student to read and write in that way may not have been the best idea. But, pre-writing is where we're headed, so he's just going to have to deal with this extra step.

Talking seemed to be the huge theme for the day. I noticed this in another session with this student when we worked on reading responses. He struggled and struggled over what to write until I had him talk it out, explain what he's thinking. "Tell me more." "What else?" He got a little frustrated I think, but this led to more thorough answers, and today a longer writing.  Talking may end up being a major theme of my findings.

I really need to look up and study how Step Up to Writing teaches narrative writing. The academic therapist recommended the traffic light first "because it's easier to teach" which I certainly agree with so far. However, between the struggles today and this student's favoring narratives anyway, I think we may briefly work on expository and move on to narratives relatively quickly.

9-20-12 Activities and Reflection Student 1

Field Notes:

Goals: Begin paragraph construction (SUTW)

                *Introduce traffic light, purpose, writing process

            ID parts of pre-written paragraphs

            Explain expository v. narrative--our focus is expository

            Do two column outline for own paragraph

*Good field trip

*School's Oktoberfest is coming up and already being set up, so dismissal is weird

        *School gets dismissed early Friday so they can finish.

*Apple came to interview sixth grade teachers and students about iPads.

*Told him we were going to move on to paragraph writing, which he said he does at school a lot.

*Introduced the traffic light-discussed the colors and what they mean

         *Read paragraph 1 to himself and together we decided what color each sentence should be and I "highlighted" with colored pencils

         *Had a pretty easy time, wanted to say a sentence was red, but once I asked if it went with a yellow sentence or the topic green sentence, he realized it wasn't.

         *Read paragraph 2 to himself and repeated the process. This time paragraphs had red sentences and we talked through those, especially if there was more than 1 red sentence per yellow. I related this paragraph to 5 paragraph essays, which he said he writes a lot for school.

         *Read paragraph 3 to himself and he independently highlighted the sentences their appropriate colors 

                 *100% accuracy

*Discussed elements of expository writing, using SUTW hand out

*Outlined paragraph about Octoberfest

*He wrote a paragraph based on the outlined and took approximately 7 minutes.

         *Made a few minor mistakes with periods, 1 wrong word.

*Once he finished, we repeated the highlighting activity as a way of checking all details were included

Reflection:

I am so glad our academic therapist showed me this program! Step Up to Writing is designed to be a multi-sensory writing program, perfect for dyslexic students. While I'm mostly working off sample pages, she also had a binder of the full program...except not? I feel like it's missing some handouts and visuals, but it is helpful for filling in some blanks left by the samples.

Our traffic light discussion was kind of funny. Paragraphs start off with the green "go" sentences, a.k.a. the topic sentences. Then you must "slow down" for yellow and the conversation turned to how most drivers speed up to get through the intersection at a yellow light.  Finally I just told him he better slow down or the detail car will make him stop anyway!

I had him deconstruct several sample paragraphs just so he could get practice with these detailed sentences. Our academic therapist warned me students cling tight to the 5-sentence paragraph like a life raft. When we first worked on Paragraph 1, he was a little confused that there were no reds. After reading Paragraph 2 (which was very similar to #1, but with more detail), I asked which was was a better paragraph and he said #2. I asked why and he said, "because the details make it more interesting. I told him absolutely and that technically nothing was wrong with #1. It's a "get it done" kind of paragraph--the kind you write for an assignment just to be done. But #2 is a "get a good grade" kind of paragraph--the kind you write and you'll get an A on.

I guided him through the writing of an outline, pointing out the different components. From there, he very quickly wrote his paragraph. His form certainly looked more like a paragraph--the first line was indented compared to the others. It still wasn't quite lined up with the vertical pink line, but it's progress!

Visuals

I officially have a second study participant! This student carpools with another of our kids and Mom and Dad had been out of town, so s/he kept forgetting. But it's signed without coercion :) I may even be able to pick up a third student, as one of my regulars finished Barton, but is staying on for review/writing instruction anyway. Now that I'm figuring out what the heck I'm doing, this student will be a good one to refine on.

Since I officially have two students, from now on I will refer to students as "he" instead of the "s/he" mystery. Protecting identities and all that.

This session was a lot of fun with Student 1. Our academic therapist introduced me to the program "Step Up to Writing", a commercial program that is great for dyslexic students because it incorperates many visual cues and is multi-sensory for the planning process of writing. It also changes the linear approach to writing students are often accustomed:


The traditional writing approach tends to go in a straight line: brainstorming/prewriting, drafting, revising and editing, final copy, publishing. However, real writers don't follow that process so rigidly. That's why there are cycle lines around drafting, revising, and editing. That's a continual process. I used the example of Kathryn Stockton writing The Help. She revised and edited her manuscript over 40 times before a publisher accepted it.

The AT brought me all of her resources to put together real writing instruction. Student 1 has worked through the basics of sentence structure, so I felt he was ready to move on to paragraph construction. What I love about the Step Up to Writing program (SUTW) is their "traffic light" approach.

(sorry, I forgot to rotate BEFORE uploading). The basic premise is the first sentence is the thesis or topic sentence (Go = green). The next sentence is a reason or detail supporting the topic (Slow Down = yellow). Then, the student must STOP (red) and explain that detail. Yellow and red cycles repeat as long as the student wants, but I encouraged at least 3 supporting details. Finally, the last sentence reminds the reader of the original topic (green again).

Because this approach is totally new to most students, I used some paragraphs from the program to illustrate what these paragraphs look like. The first, obviously, is not very detailed. I had Student 1 read the paragraph to himself and we talked through the colors. He then read the second paragraph and we again talked through the colors. I then asked which paragraph he thought was better and he said, "Definitely 2" (field notes, 9/20/12).  For the last paragraph, I turned control over to my student. He read the paragraph and then on his own marked the sentences with appropriately colors. After he finished, we talked through it, though he did not have any trouble.


Then it was his turn to write. The biggest addition to the writing process, besides the cycle method, is the planning stage. This was the thing that stuck out to me most in my initial research that dyslexic students need. They need some kind of structure to organize their thoughts BEFORE they actually try to draft.  I used the two column approach described in SUTW, although I messed it up just a little bit. We'll do it again though and do it correctly!

My student decided to write about the upcoming OktoberFest. Below is his planning outline. I walked him through the steps and afterwards, we again color-coded each step. His supporting details include, fun, friends, and the dunking booth.

Once the outline was finished, he transferred his organized ideas into sentences. Again, sorry for the rotation. The paragraph reads:

      Octoberfest is coming up. It is a blast. There are blow ups, which I think you can never get old of. Then there are the games which you can collect all the junk food. Many of my friends go. We hang out there. There is also a dunking booth. There are priest and teacher there. There is always a crowd around the mean teachers. Overall, Octoberfest is awesome.

Still some things to work on...word choice and variation, subject/verb agreement, "say what you mean", etc. For a first shot with a new system, I think he did a good job. After he finished, I went through and color coded his sentences, thinking out loud as I went.  All of his original ideas were there, slightly changed and expanded, everything (generally) makes sense.

Thick Description 2

Yesterday (Friday), I had the pleasure of eating lunch with a co-worker. We see a mutual student, who is struggling with our reading program, so we met to discuss how to personalize the otherwise generic lessons.  She also knows the mother of a student in my study and Mom had e-mailed my co-worker with some questions, not only about what we're doing in writing, but also how the student is progressing in his/her reading therapies. And P.F. Changs helps everyone talk :)

We had a wonderful discussion over egg drop soups about our first student and came out with several plans of action to help. My co-worker printed the e-mail Mom sent and showed it to me. Nothing terrifying. Just wondering if there was a particular program I was following, if sending his/her homework assignments to me was OK, how long I planned on working with him, and what I felt his strengths and weaknesses were.  I explained the activities we have done so far--Phrase or Sentence?, Create a Sentence, revising and editing, IVAN CAPP parts of speech, and Bare Bones sentences. We had just the previous day worked on expanding those sentences (which will be another post) and while the student understood the concepts, s/he struggled just a little to come up with longer sentences. The expanded ones were good, definitely longer and more descriptive, but they still lacked...something.  I told my co-worker I think this may be one of his/her weaknesses. His/Her strength is being very verbal and articulate, but there is sometimes a disconnect between what can be spoken and what gets written. I fully expected this disconnect, as it's a common struggle for students with dyslexia.  I think the next part of what I will be doing will help bring a concrete example to an otherwise ambiguous topic.

Speaking of what's next, to answer Mom's question if I was following a particular program, the question comes from reading tutoring. I've mentioned before we use Barton Reading and Spelling system for our reading sessions, so it's a planned out, "scripted" (I'm notorious for going off-script, just because I've taught the lessons enough to know the rule and its applications) program. I'm not doing anything like that. Instead of telling my co-worker what I'm kind of doing--making it up as I go along--I  couched it nicely with "I'm cobbling together the best aspects of several things I've found." Which is true. In my research, I found a fairly natural progression suggestion in one book. I found a great way of helping students organize their ideas for longer writings in another. I found a concrete way of showing students how to expand their ideas in another. Absolutely, his school assignments can be worked in to this model, so please send them with him. My co-worker said she would ask Mom to ask the classroom teacher for extensions on writing assignments or even send them to me ahead of time, so I could gather any materials the student may need.  It was then my co-worker filled me in on why Mom is so concerned--my student seems to have a case of the "no turn ins."  Homework mysteriously doesn't get turned it. I was unclear on whether it was s/he wasn't telling Mom about the assignments period and not doing homework or if it was done, just not getting turned in...point of clarification needed.

I also told my co-worker my study runs through the end of October, but that I was prepared to continue through December. However, my real plan was to continue until someone told me to stop! Once I introduce the "new" writing process, our sessions will mostly be a matter of writing and refining and can be rinsed and repeated as often as necessary. Mom is a little concerned about getting Barton done as quickly as possible, so I suggested I could take a few minutes to work on Barton, but my co-worker said she would push for the full hour remain writing instruction.

Finally, over almond and cashew chicken (me) and something my co-worker described as "not Weight Watcher's approved, but I've already had my weigh-in for the week and I've lost so it's OK" (her), we wrapped up work talk and moved on to more interesting subjects like our husbands and why we love them, the difficulties of a literal interpretation of the Bible, and a meeting she had with our boss. Hard to believe all of that and we were only gone just over an hour! We arrived back at the office in time for her to get in the car line to pick up her daughter from school and for me to finish preparing for a student I see for Academic Coaching.