Case Study

Logan 8 years old

CONFIDENTIAL

Amanda CarlisleSiena Heights University

SED 344/544 – Early Childhood and Special EducationFall Semester, 2012

Columbia Elementary School

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Field Experience Log

SED 344 – Early Childhood Special Education

Date Time Cumulative Time9/24/12 2:00-2:30 p.m., 30 min. 30 min. Discussed with special education

teacher a student that may be appropriate for case study.

9/25/12 2:00-2:15 p.m., 15 min. 45 min. Left letter for parent with special education teacher

9/28/12 2:00-2:15 p.m., 15 min. 1 hour Checked with special education teacher to see if the parent had

responded to letter. She indicated she had not sent it home yet. Called the parents/guardian and sent letter

home with student.10/3/12 Received phone call from the

guardian asking if it was too late to return letter. I indicated that it was not, I would not begin interacting with the child until the letter was

received.10/5/12 2:00-2:30 p.m., 30 min. 1 hour, 30 min. Received letter back & talked with

general education teacher about observing student

10/8/12 8:00-8:10 a.m., 10 min. 1 hour, 40 min. Obtained permission from the Principal to complete the case study

in her school

10/24/12 8:00-9:10 a.m., 1 hr. 10 min. 2 hours, 50 min. Observation10/31/12 8:10-10:10 a.m., 2 hours 4 hours, 50 min. Observation11/7/12 9:10 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. 5 hr. 10 min. 10 hours Observation

11/12/12 1:00 -- 2:00 p.m., 1 hr. 11 hours Observation11/13/12 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., 1 hr. 12 hours Observation11/14/12 8:20 – 11:30 a.m., 3 hr. 10 min. 15 hours, 10 min. Observation11/14/12 12:00 – 2:00 p.m., 2 hr. 17 hours, 10 min. Observation11/15/12 10:30 – 11: 05 a.m., 0 hr. 35 min. 17 hours, 45 min. Observation11/19/12 8:00 – 11:20 a.m., 3 hr. 20 min. 21 hours, 05 min. Observation

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General Description of the ProgramLogan is enrolled at Columbia Elementary School in Brooklyn, Michigan. He is in the

2nd grade general education classroom of Mrs. Caryl. There are twenty-six students in his classroom. The environment inside the classroom is inviting to students. Each student has their own assigned desk; there is a reading area with a book shelf accessible to the students with a large rug that students sit on. Mrs. Caryl has a kidney shaped table, called the blue table, at the back of the room where students can come and sit with her to receive extra help with completing their assignments. There are two computers available to students to use during the “Café” time and at other times during the day. There are a posters and pictures displayed on the walls in a pleasing manner.

The daily schedule is as follows:

8:00 a.m. Attendance and Announcements

8:10 a.m. Spelling, Phonics, Handwriting

8:40 a.m. Read Aloud

9:00 a.m. Grammar

9:30 a.m. Treasurers (English Language

Arts)

10:15 a.m. Snack

10:30-11:05 a.m. Specials = Gym/Music

11:20 a.m. Recess/Lunch

12:00 p.m. Math

1:00 p.m. Writing Workshop

1:45 p.m. Science/Social Studies

2:30 p.m. Recess

2:50 p.m. Dismissal

Logan’s schedule includes a pull-out time where he leaves the classroom each day from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. During this time he works individually with Mrs. Berkemeier the Resource Room teacher on reading and writing instruction.

In the classroom there are many materials available. Each student is given their own science, treasurers, and atlas to keep in their desk. Each student also has a poetry folder, and a "to finish" folder in their desks. Mrs. Caryl has a few baskets of extra crayons for students to use when they need them. Mrs. Caryl also has many manipulatives that are available for the students

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to use for completing different activities. She pulls the manipulatives out that correspond with specific learning activities. She invites the students who come and work with her at the blue table to use the manipulatives to help solve the problems.

Technology available in Mrs. Caryl’s classroom includes the two student computers that are used for students to take Accelerated Reader tests, Accelerated Math tests, and for playing educational games. She has also brought in her own technology for the classroom which includes two I-Pods, a Zune reader, and a MP3 player. Mrs. Caryl spoke with me about also possibly purchasing some CD players or cassette players in the future so students could listen to audio books. Also in the next few weeks all the classrooms will have Smart Boards installed in the classrooms.

The philosophy and curriculum are based on the Michigan Department of Education Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE) and the Common Core Standards. The school does include the use of the Treasurers, Science, and Math text books in the curriculum. Mrs. Caryl implements the “Café” as a part of her reading and writing curriculum.

Journal Entries:

Columbia Elementary School, 2nd grade Mrs. CarylWednesday, October 24, 2012Time: 8:00-9:10 a.m. (1 hr., 10 min.)Cumulative Time: 1 hr., 10 min.Confidential

Daily Events:Upon my arrival today the class was completing their morning worksheet. Next they

transitioned into spelling time. Logan asked what I was doing. I indicated that I was taking some notes. He responded and told me about writing notes to his cousin. The teacher began the spelling lesson and had the students take out their spelling word cards and remove the label cards that are bolded. Logan followed the directions as the teacher gave them. Next the students were paired up with partners and began quizzing each other verbally on the words on the cards. Logan showed me a card and said “what’s this say?” I asked him to read it to me. He responded /d/ /o/ /p/. The word was drop. He worked in small a small group and they took turns asking each other the words. Logan would show me a card and ask me what it said. I would help him out by sounding out the word with him.

When spelling was over the class was giving a worksheet sorting words by consonant blends, sl, dr, sk, st, sp. The teacher reviewed the worksheet with the class and the students then were to sort the words listed at the top of the page into the proper blend group. Logan asked that

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I read the directions to him. He pointed to the bolded words and said “what’s that say?” When given the directions verbally he was able to sort the words. Logan easily identified the words that started with the blends but he was perplexed when the blends came at the end of the word. I suggested that he move on to the next blending group and see if he could find those blends and see if there were any left over. Logan did this and then saw that the blend was at the end of the word and pointed to the blend as he found it.

Next the class moved on to a worksheet diagrams and their text features. Logan wanted to talk about what he was going to be doing tomorrow instead of listening to the teacher. I redirected him toward the teacher and he was then able to focus. After the directions were given the teacher came over to check on Logan. She read the first question on the paper. Logan pointed to the answer on the paper and she then highlighted it yellow and told him to write it down on the line by number 1. The teacher then went back to the blue table and told students she would be there if they needed help. Logan worked with me on completing the worksheet. There was one question at the bottom of the worksheet that asked him to respond in his own words. He verbally told me what he wanted to say and I wrote it in my notebook and he then copied what I had written onto the paper. When the teacher came back I indicated that I had helped him complete the paper and she said that was fine. She indicated that usually he would come back to the table with her but my helping was perfectly acceptable. She stamped the paper completed with help.

Reflection: Logan has difficulty reading independently. He can identify beginning sounds, end sounds, and some middle sounds in words but missed the /r/ sound in the word drop. He is very verbal and likes to talk about things he knows about. Logan is a hard worker he never gave up on the worksheets even though they were not easy for him.

Development:

Social – worked in small group wellEmotional –Physical/Perceptual – being able to see the blends at the beginning of the words but not at the

endCognitive – match blend patternsCommunication – receptive language, able to follow directions, conversation skills,

identification of blending patternsAdaptive –

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Columbia Elementary School, 2nd grade Mrs. CarylWednesday, October 31, 2012Time: 8:10-10:10 a.m. (2 hr.)Cumulative Time: 3 hr., 10 min.Confidential

Daily Events:When I arrived today the students were gathered at the carpet area listening to another

student reading a story to the group. During this time Logan sat on the carpet with his legs crossed Indian style and hands folded in his lap and listened to the student who was reading. There was a brief interruption where he put his arm around the boy sitting next to him and smiled a big grin. When the student had finished reading the story the teacher introduced “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.” She explained to the class that they would need to help with the story and complete the actions that went along with the story. These included: clapping their hands on their lap for the phrase “clomp, clomp”, wiggling their body for the phrase “wiggle, wiggle”, shake their arms in front of them for “shake, shake”, clap their hands for the gloves going “clap, clap”, nod their head for the hat going “nod, nod” and to say “boo, boo” and open their hands in front of them for the pumpkin saying boo. Logan listened intently and completed all the motions properly throughout the story. Mrs. Caryl asked the students to predict what was going to happen next in the story. Logan raised his hand and when Mrs. Caryl called on him he said it would be a scarecrow. She then finished the story and Logan said “I told you it was a scarecrow.”

Next, Mrs. Caryl talked with the students about estimating and measuring. She had a pumpkin on the table and asked each student to estimate how tall the pumpkin was. She prompted the class to be thinking about their prediction while she was writing down the other students. When she asked Logan for his prediction he quickly gave a response and she praised him for giving an answer right away. After they all had predictions she then measured the height of the pumpkin and then they circled who was closest to the correct height. She then had the students do the same for the circumference of the pumpkin.

Next the class went back to their seats and responded to their pen pal letters that they had received yesterday. Logan raised his hand and said “I don’t have one.” Mrs. Caryl indicated that she would help him get a pen pal. Mrs. Caryl directed the class that this work was independent work and if they have a question they need to raise their hand and she will come around and help. She reminded them that there is only one of her and they must be patient. Logan raised his hand and Mrs. Caryl went to him. She asked what he wanted to write. He told her a sentence and she wrote down what he wanted to say (scribed) and handed him the piece of paper and told him to write that. Every time that Logan finished a sentence he would raise his hand and Mrs. Caryl would return and scribe what he wanted to say and then he would copy what she had written onto his letter. Logan completed his letter early and was able to choose an activity that he

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wanted to do. He went to Mrs. Caryl and asked three times “Can we draw something?” His words are slurred together and hard to understand sometimes. Another student had to translate for Mrs. Caryl what Logan was saying. She told him he could draw something.

Reflection:

Logan enjoyed the reading activity with the group at the carpet. He has good large motor skills and was able to complete all the movements that went with the story. Logan has some difficulty with making a decision. Mrs. Caryl did a good job of prompting him to be thinking of his response before she came to him. It seemed that she was pleasantly surprised that he had followed her transition prompt and was ready when she called on him. Logan is hard to understand; sometimes more than others, he slurs his words together and talks in simple sentences.

Development:

Social – followed directions at the carpet during the storyEmotional – expressed his feelings toward a friend by putting his arm around him

and smiling, given a prompt to give him time to think about what his prediction would be on the size of the pumpkin seemed to be a good thing for Logan. Signs of independence by choosing an activity to do during free time.

Physical/Perceptual – – large motor skills seem to be good he was able to complete all the motions for the story and walked throughout the room without any difficulty

Cognitive – he was able to make predictions about the end of the story and about how tall the pumpkin was going to be, expressed what he wanted to write in his pen pal letter

Communication – Receptive language, listening to story and directions, expressive language – he can express himself verbally, has some difficulty using written language. Spoken words are sometimes difficult to understand needs to improve on enunciation.

Adaptive –

Columbia Elementary School, 2nd grade Mrs. Caryl

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Wednesday, November 7, 2012Time: 9:50 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (5 hr., 10 min.)Cumulative Time: 8 hr., 20 min.Confidential

Daily Events: Upon my arrival in the room today the students were getting ready to start their day.

They began this school day with a two hour delay so their normal schedule was a little askew. Logan came up to me carrying a paper which had a pencil drawing on it. He said to me “I need help. Look what I draw.” I followed Logan to a table at the back of the classroom. I asked what I could do and he directed me to write down what he wanted to put on the paper. He did want me to write it on the paper but in my notebook so he could put it on his artwork himself. He said “You saw this on cartoons. You saw this on channels. You saw this on paper.” Mrs. Caryl then had the class find their seats. The morning announcements were made and the class went to the carpet area to listen to the “Reader of the Day.”

Logan made his way back to the carpet and met me at the table and asked to finish his work. I indicated that he must listen at the carpet while the other student read. He sighed and sat down. He sat and quietly picked at his nails while the student read his story. Next, Mrs. Caryl asked how many students had finished their antonym books and directed the students who had not finished to return to their seats to complete them. Logan motioned me to come sit by him. Mrs. Caryl handed me “Little Quacks Opposite Book” and said that the students were making their own antonym books and asked that I sit with Logan and help him. Logan’s title to his book was “The Woofs 2”. He had begun one sentence on the inside page of the book which said “I my was”. He verbally told me that it said “I am wet.” He had drawn a picture of dog on the bottom of the page and colored it blue. I put my finger under the word I and said read the words with me. Logan said “I am” and I said “am what letter makes the /a/ sound?” Logan responded “/a/ oh, A makes the /a/ sound” and erased the word my. We worked through the word was the same way. He said “/a/ A, /m/ M, that makes am.” He then wrote the word am. Next he asked how to spell wet. I asked him what letter made the /w/ sound. He thought for a long time and said “I don’t know.” So I told him W makes the /w/ sound. Logan worked on writing sentences for his story on each page. When he tried to think of an antonym for the second set of pages he said “I can’t think of any.” Together we looked at the book and read a few pages. He then wrote sentences on the next couple of pages. He got to the last page of the book and said “I can’t think of any more.” I helped him look at the Little Quack book again. He said “asleep, /u/ /sweep/, I will do that.” He finished all the sentences and then went back and read each page to me. Next he drew pictures of his dog on each page making the dog match the antonyms and then he colored all the dogs brown. When Logan completed his book he proudly went to Mrs. Caryl and read it to her. While Logan was finishing his book with me and the others that had not completed it yesterday the rest of the class went to their special of the day music.

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When the class returned they met at the carpet area to work on writing workshop. The teacher discussed writing stories and that stories all have a beginning, middle, and end part. At the end of the lesson the teacher had the students return to their seats and get out their notebooks to write. Logan said to me “I work on the computer.” I indicated he needed to talk ask his teacher. Mrs. Caryl said yes go to the computer. Logan got onto the computer and went to a site called educationcity.com. He attempted to complete tasks that it was asking him to do. The sound on the computer was not working and limited his ability to follow the directions of the program. He continued with this until writing workshop was complete.

Next the students got ready for recess. Logan put on his goat and tied his shoe to go outside. Outside he ran across the playground and played tag with two other boys in the class. The class was asked to line up early and stand quietly for 5 minutes because they had ran and talked loudly in the hall the day before. This was their punishment for their inappropriate behavior. Logan stood quietly and waited in line with the other students. The students were then lead to lunch. Logan got his own lunch tray from the line and came back and sat by me. He opened his yogurt, and milk independently. He asked for help opening up the plastic wrapper that surrounded his muffin. He picked apart the blueberry muffin pulling out the blueberries and dissecting them with his fork. He asked “what’s this” pointing to the inside of the dried up blueberry. I told him it was a blueberry. He said “yes but what’s this stuff inside?” I said the inside stuff and he said “oh, the seeds.” He then picked at and ate his muffin and then started eating the grapes. He was eating the skin off the outside of the grape before he would eat the whole grape. Time was up and Logan cleaned up his tray and area and headed back to class.

In class the teacher said it was time for math and asked all the students to clear their desks and get out a pencil for a timed math test. Logan followed the directions. The students took the timed math test. Logan finished about 3 rows of his timed addition test. Next the teacher talked about odd and even numbers. When we sat down Logan picked up his picture and said “now we finish this?” I told him he had to do math now but I still had his sentences written down. As a group the class read a poem about odd and even numbers and talked about the new sitting arrangement in the room. Logan left his seat and asked his teacher if it was time for him to go. She told him in about 10 minutes and then sent him back to his seat. Mrs. Caryl asked the students to put their poem into their poetry folder. Logan said “I don’t have one.” I helped him search his desk and could not locate the folder but did find some additional poems to go into it. Mrs. Caryl gave him a new folder for the poems and he put the poems into it. The class then was able to choose a few favorite poems and read them together.

At 2:00 p.m. Logan got up and said it is time for me to go and motioned for me to come with him. He had grabbed his picture and was walking down the hall. He went to the resource room at the other end of the building. Mrs. Berkemeier was working with another student and said that Logan could work on the picture he had brought. I told him he had been patient all day long and opened up my notebook and read what he had told me. I asked him if the sentences

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were something I have seen or something he had seen. He said I saw it. I indicated that he should write “I saw this on paper, instead of You saw this on paper.” He agreed that sounded better. He wrote his sentences on to the paper by the letters A. B. C. that were on the paper. Next he worked with Mrs. Berkemeier on individual phonemes of letter cards that she had for him. She showed him a card that had the letter Y on it and asked what does this letter say? Logan paused for a long moment and said “hold on” and then said “/y/ it says /y/”. Mrs. Berkemeier responded and said yes Y says /y/. They continued through the stack of cards and then she asked Logan if he remembered the brothers. He said no she showed him the letters “th”, “ch”, “wh” and “sh” together as she showed him each one she made the corresponding blends associated with the blend group. Then she had Logan repeat them. Logan did that work but then asked for a post it note from Mrs. Berkemeier and said let me show you the other brothers. He wrote down sa, ta, ca, and wa and said see these are the other brothers. Mrs. Berkemeier then went back over the blend pairs with the /h/ sound in them. Logan insisted that his were brothers also. Mrs. Berekemeier then took his pairs and put an end sound of /t/ at the end of them and asked Logan to use them to make the words. She indicated that some of the words would be nonsense words. Logan did this and then he moved on to writing. He asked Mrs. Berkemeier if she remembered “Zoom” and she laughed and said yes. He said “this story is going to be about Zoom.” He continued to create a book with illustrations of “Zoom” going to school. He drew with his right hand and his pencil in a tripod grasp. He pushed down heavily on the pencil while he worked. He worked on creating his illustrations for about 12 minutes. He filled every illustration box of his book. Then it was time to go.

When we returned back to Mrs. Caryl’s second grade classroom the students were working quietly at their desks. Mrs. Caryl then announced that it was time to get ready to go out to recess. The students cleared their desks and went out to the hall and got their coats. Logan said “it’s warm out we don’t need our coats.” He waited a minute and then went to his locker and got his coat and put it on. He then ran out the door with his friend and ran toward the far climber on the playground. The two boys joined up with another set up boys and began playing a game of tag. Logan then tagged another boy and wrestled him to the ground where he kept the boy pinned until his friends showed up. He then released the boy and all the boys started playing tag again. When the whistle blew I walked back with Logan towards the classroom. I asked him if he could hop on one foot. He then hopped on his right foot. I asked if he could hop on the other foot he then hopped on the other foot and continued to hop to the line that way. When we got inside the students gathered their backpacks to go home. Logan put all his folders and papers in his backpack and waited at his table to line up.

Reflection:

Spending this time with Logan gave me sense of what a kind spirit he has. He seems to really like to please his teacher. His pencil grip and drawing ability seem to be at a typical developmental level. However, his letter formation is delayed and not well formed. He is a very

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hard worker and continues to work on a task even when he has to wait for assistance from a teacher. He is very creative and likes to draw. He was so excited to show me his drawing and to have help completing it. It is apparent that he has some delays with his phonemic awareness and phonics which causes delays in his reading and writing skills. He tries hard to read and decode though. He also has some good math skills, when he was completing the time math sheet he was able correctly answer the questions by himself with accuracy. I did not score the test but the answers seemed to be mostly correct. This leads me to believe that his math levels are in the typical range. He has some difficulty with speech. He does not articulate all his letters so sometimes it can be difficult to understand him. I was most amazed with his patience. He asked me when I first arrived at 9:50 a.m. to help him complete his picture by adding words. We started to work on this immediately but he had to do his school work first. He must have asked me 2 times per hour if we could finish the picture and I had to respond when we have time right now we need to do what the teacher says. He took that as an answer and waited until 2:00 p.m. when he had to wait for Mrs. Berkemeier because she was with another student. He was so excited to complete the picture and then he presented it to Mrs. Berekemeier as a type of quiz about what he had drawn.

Development:

Social – Decided that he did need his coat for outside even though it may be warm – moral reasoning, played with friends on the playground interacting with them and playing tag with them.

Emotional – Exhibited patience in waiting to complete his drawing,Physical/Perceptual – Large motor skills seem to be adequate – is able to hop on one foot at a

time, played tag with the other boys and wrestled with them. Fine motor skills while he hold his pencil properly has a need for improving his quality of movement and level of control in using his pencil demonstrated when he was writing and drawing his pictures.

Cognitive – math addition facts is able to complete independently without help or manipulatives,

Communication – Some speech sounds are not pronounced when he is speaking.Adaptive – – he was able to dress himself in his coat for outdoors, pack his

backpack, and mostly take care of his lunch. He did have difficulty with opening the plastic bag around his muffin. He could not pull it apart. He tried to poke it open with his fork but was unsuccessful.

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Columbia Elementary School, Resource Room, Mrs. BerkemeierMonday, November 12, 2012Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (1 hr.)Cumulative Time: 9 hr., 20 min.Confidential

Daily Events:Logan arrived and seemed excited about a new pencil and eraser that he had just

received. He sat down and began to identify the 30 cards with sight words on them that he knew. The cards which he knew the words were put in a pile on his left and the ones he did not know were put in a pile on the right. When he finished the teacher picked up the pile of cards he had sorted as words he knew and used them as flash cards. Logan then identified all the words in his pile. Next the teacher took the pile of words which he indicated he did not know and put six of them out on the table. She then asked him if he could find the word “can” and Logan pointed to the word. The word card was then removed and another card was put down on the table. They continued through the unknown stack of cards until he identified all the words.

Next the teacher pulled a yellow folder out and said “it is time to write, would you like to write a story book or draw a picture and write some words?” Logan replied “I want that” pointing to a book. He took it and began drawing at the top of the page. He looked at the teacher and smiled and said “do you remember Zoom?” She laughed and said “yes!” He said “this is another Zoom story.” Logan drew picture on the top of each page of the book. He then described what Zoom was doing in each picture orally to the teacher. She asked if he wanted to write the words on the page and he responded “not yet, when I’m done.” Logan continued to draw his pictures his teacher gave him a two minute warning that his time was almost up and he would have to return to class. When the two minutes had passed she asked him to put his book about Zoom in his writing folder and explained they would work on it again tomorrow. Logan followed her directions and then returned to his regular class.

Reflection:

Logan is beginning to learn some sight words. His pile of sight words that are know is small compared to the ones that he is still learning. I believe that he has about 10-12 sight words that he can identify automatically. The pile for the unknown sight words was definitely larger than the words he knew. He did a good job identifying words out of the ones that he did not know automatically by repeating the word and focusing on the first letter sound. In most circumstances he was able to choose the correct word the teacher asked for. Logan is very creative and likes to draw pictures and orally tell you about them. He had a reference for each of the Zoom pictures he was drawing. He did not want to write the story until the drawings were complete.

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Development:

Social – Exhibited pro-social behaviors with the teacher when he came and told her about the pencil he had.

Emotional – Demonstrated happiness about his new pencil.Physical/Perceptual –Cognitive – Identified the 10-12 sight words correctly, is able identify other sight

words if he is asked for a specific oneCommunication – Verbally expressed himself appropriately, avoided completing written

tasksAdaptive –

Columbia Elementary School, Resource Room, Mrs. BerkemeierTuesday, November 13, 2012Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (1 hr.)Cumulative Time: 10 hr., 20 min.Confidential

Daily Events:

Logan arrived at the room with a smile on his face. He sat down at the table and began telling his teacher about what had happened on the playground at lunch. She directed Logan to get his writing folder out and begin working on his story about Zoom. Logan frowned and said “I don’t want to.” The teacher then gave him choices he could write or he could do his 30 sight words cards. Logan chose the sight word cards. The teacher asked if he could do his sight words with me and he said yes. Logan brought the cards to the table I was at and opened the box. He then started sorting out the cards he could identify automatically in a pile and the ones he did not know he put in another pile. While he said the words under to himself I would check for errors if he put a card into the wrong pile I gently pulled it out and said “let’s look at this one in a minute.”

After Logan sorted the cards I had him read the cards in the pile he knew aloud. Next we took the unknown cards and laid 6 of them out on the table. I asked him to locate words after I said them aloud. I asked him to find the word “here” he picked up the word “have”. I said “that does start with the /h/ sound let’s see what other sounds are in it.” I used my finger to point to each letter and make the corresponding sounds of each letter. We then stretched the word and until the correct word was read. I then asked if he could find the word “here” again. He then located the word here. We continued through the stack of cards until he had identified all the cards.

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He went back with his teacher and she had his book of Zoom out. He said “I can’t write, I don’t know how.” The teacher responded “we will work on it together. You start by telling me what you want to say.” Logan sighed and said “okay. Zoom goes to school.” The teacher responded “that’s great let’s start with Zoom. What sound does Zoom start with?” Logan made the /z/ sound and thought and said “Z” and wrote Z on his paper. They continued to work through writing his entire sentence this way. When he had finished the teacher had him re-read what he had written to make sure it said what he wanted it to say. Logan said “it’s right.” The teacher worked with him on the next page. Then his time was up and he returned to his regular class.

Reflection:

Logan avoided doing his writing at first he preferred to identify the sight words rather than write his story. When he was decoding the words he does not know automatically he used the first letter of the word to identify the word and did not identify the middle sounds. He responded to the teacher that “I can’t write, I don’t know how.” Indicating that he feels he struggles with this area and possibly a low self-esteem. He demonstrates that he verbally has many ideas that he wants to share about his pictures but struggles with putting those words into written text.

Social – Moral reasoning – completed a task he didn’t want to do after he did his sight cards, kind of through a conflict resolution first he was able to choose something he wanted to complete then he completed the task he did not want to do.

Emotional – Demonstrated displeasure at completing his writing. Self-concept seems to be a little low, he feels there are things that he cannot do.

Physical/Perceptual –Cognitive – Was able to match the sounds to the letters when guided one by one with

the teacher. In whole words that have the same beginning sound he mis-identified the word when broken down into smaller individual sounds of the word he was able to decipher the word properly.

Communication – Quality of language -- his sentence length in the sentences he had to write independently were short.

Adaptive –

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Columbia Elementary School, 2nd grade, Mrs. CarylWednesday, November 14, 2012Time: 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (3 hr., 10 min.)Cumulative Time: 13 hr., 30 min.Confidential

Daily Events:

Upon my arrival into Mrs. Caryl’s classroom Logan was working with Mrs. Caryl at the blue helping table in the back of the room on a grammar worksheet about proper nouns. He continued to work on the worksheet until it was finished. Another student helped by reading aloud the questions on the worksheet. Next the entire group was called back to the carpet area to review abbreviations that they had discussed the day before. Logan sat on the carpet and listened to the teacher as she reviewed the chart paper about abbreviations of the months of the year, and days of the week.

Next the group was released to “Café” reading groups. The teacher reminded the class of their choices of buddy reading, independent reading, and journal time. The class was released to make their choices and begin their work. Logan chose to use his time for journaling. He drew a picture in his journal. With his right hand he took his pencil in a tripod pencil grasp and drew a boat on the water with waves beneath it. There was a crow’s nest with two men in it. He looked at me and pointed to the man on the left and said “he looking through his scope.” He continued to adding people and details to his picture. He then said to me “look,” in a normal room voice, I reminded him to whisper because others were working, he continued in his normal voice “this is the captain, the ladder to the roof, and two boxes of food.” Then he added more details of fish in the water, and drew lines across the top of the page. Logan then looked at me and said “these are lines for writing, will you help me?” I nodded yes. He began to tell me the story about his ship picture. He said “This is the ship with a captain, with 5 fishes, 3 bowls in the water. One ship on the water, seven people on the ship.” He then pointed to four things in the water that he had drawn and said “I don’t know what they are called.” He took out another piece of paper and drew a picture trying to show what these items were so I could identify it for him. I suggested that maybe they were life jackets and he said “no”. Finally he said “it’s a bowl that goes around their neck.” The teacher indicated that it was time to switch to their second choice.

Logan put his things away and moved to buddy reading. He buddy read with me. We read the book Bad Kitty for President. I began by reading the title and Logan responded “that should be cat” while pointing to the word “Kitty”. I explained that a kitty was a baby cat. He studied the picture on the cover and said “this is an old cat not a kitty.” I agreed with him that the cat that was on the cover looked older we would have to see what the author had to say. While reading he sat up on his knees in his chair and used his finger to track was I was reading. There were stars in the book marking definitions that were listed in the glossary of the book. Logan would count the stars that he found on each page. He would also read a few sight words as we

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were reading page by page. The teacher indicated that time and to get their library books out. Logan put his things away and pulled his library book from his desk.

At the Library Logan picked out a new library book independently and then stood by a table of three boys and began looking at this book. Another student asked him “what are you doing? Sit down.” Logan sat down and continued to look through his book for a few minutes he then left the table and walked back to the book shelves and looked at some more books and then returned to the table. The teacher then asked tables of students to push their chairs in and line up with the library books and the class headed back to the room.

At snack time Logan told his teacher that he had forgotten his snack. She asked if his parents had sent any snack from home and he said “no, just my lunch.” Mrs. Caryl gave Logan three saltine crackers. Logan said “thank you!” He ate the crackers at his desk. After he finished the crackers he wiped the crumbs off his desk into his hand and then ate them. He looked at me and smiled. While he waited for the rest of the class to finish their snack he tore a corner of his name tag off and stuck it to his forehead. He looked at the girl across from him and smiled. She giggled.

Mrs. Caryl asked the class to get out their “Treasurers” books and turn to page 226. Logan followed directions and opened to the page. She then asked the students to read the page to themselves and then answer the questions. She asked the students whisper read with their “study buddies” and reminded them to use their finger to point to the words as you read them. After the students had completed reading the page Mrs. Caryl asked the students to answer questions about the story. Logan raised his hand to indicate that he knew the answer to the question “What type of story is this?” Logan listened and followed along until all the questions were answered by the class together.

Next, the class was given a sequencing paper and asked to put the events in order that they happened in the story. After the directions were given by the teacher and work had begun Logan came back to me at my table and said “I need help.” I nodded my head and then he said “I need pencil” and went back to his desk and got a pencil. I read the story aloud to Logan and asked him what happened first. I read the options at the bottom of the page pointing to each sentence as I read it. He said “she went to soccer practice” and pointed to the correct sentence on the paper and then added a number one on the line in front of it. I asked “what happened next.” He told me “it rained”. I read all the options at the bottom of the page and pointed to the one that indicated it had rained. We continued with this process until he put the sentences in sequential order. When he finished he took the paper to the turn in basket. Mrs. Caryl then called the group together to line up for gym.

At gym Logan laid down on the stage instead of sitting up and was put into “reset” (this is where the student sits where they are at and puts their head down to think about what they have done wrong usually only for a minute and then they are “welcomed” back to the class by

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the teacher) because he had not followed the directions. The class took turns doing sit ups, pull-ups, shuttle run, or reach and sit. Logan chose to do the sit and reach, and while he waited the students lined up in a boy line or a girl line and took turns shooting basket balls. Logan shot at the basket with an underhand thrown towards the hoop and then rebounded the basketball and dribbled back with his right hand. The teacher had them sit down while activities changed and Logan took his shoes off. He put them back on and fastened the Velcro independently. The teacher had the student’s line up and sent them back to their regular classroom.

Mrs. Caryl stopped the students at their lockers and had them get their coats on for early recess. Logan was able to put on his coat and zip it independently. He waited with a friend for the aids to arrive so that the class could go outside.

Reflection:

Logan seems to be very creative. He seemed to really enjoy drawing his picture and had many ideas that he shared with me about what was happening in the picture. He had difficulty putting his verbal words into text. He also had difficulty identifying the correct vocab word for his “bowl” in the picture. He called it a bowl because he could not think of the proper term for it. I was unable to identify what he was trying to say or create so he just called it a bowl. He has a greater understanding of verbal communication than he is able to give back to you verbally and it is even more difficult for him to put his thoughts into written words. He was able to sequence events from the story when the worksheet was orally read to him. He was able to shoot the basketball but used an underhand throw without much accuracy. He was able to use his adaptive skills of putting his coat on and zipping it and putting his shoes back on.

Development:

Social – Initiated interactions with peers when he put the corner of his name tag on his head and made other students laugh and interact with him.

Emotional – Activity level: seems lower than other students, he laid down on the stage when he arrived after walking from one end of the school to the other end. He did chase after the basketball but was not the quickest student on the court.

Physical/Perceptual –

Perceptual skill – doesn’t understand using a whisper voice always talks in the same volume level in the classroom even when reminded.

Cognitive – He was able to complete the sequencing activity with the directions read to him. This also includes his memory skills being good because he does not read well so he listens to what is said and remembers the order and then puts them in order.

Communication – Vocabulary – he could not pull out the vocabulary word that he wanted to use for his picture of the bowl.

Adaptive – Self-help skills: he was able to put his own shoes on and was able to put on his coat and zip it up independently.Self-regulation: made the choice to lay down on the stage instead of sit and was placed in time out.

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Columbia Elementary School, 2nd grade Mrs. Caryl, & Resource Room, Mrs. BerkemeierWednesday, November 14, 2012Time: 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (2 hr.)Cumulative Time: 15 hr., 30 min.Confidential

Daily Events:

In the afternoon the class began with Math the students watching and singing along with YouTube video clips about singing doubles, skips counting, and counting to 10. Logan participated in this with the class. Next, the class was giving a 5 minute timed math test. Logan was able to complete 3 and ¾ rows of the addition math problems correctly. Once the class had finished the timed math test the teacher had the students watch the board as she presented a lesson on making change back after purchasing an item. She demonstrated on the board and Logan appeared to be watching the teacher while she gave the instruction. She then had the students open their math workbook and remove the next page. Logan had a few extra pages in front of the page the class was directed to remove. It took him a minute to locate the correct page and remove it. When he removed the page to complete he took it to the teacher and said “I need some help.” She replied “come to the blue table.” Logan walked to the blue table and sat down in the chair next to the teacher. The teacher pulled out a cardboard cutout of a penny, nickel, and dime. She asked the students which one was worth 5 cents. After thinking for a moment Logan said “the nickel is worth 5 cents.” The teacher then helped the group of students complete the math worksheet. She insisted that they attempt the problems on their own not wait for their neighbor to do it and give them the answer. Logan finished his worksheet and the teacher looked it over. She asked Logan “how much change to do you get” and pointed to his last problem which had a nickel and a penny drawn as the change he would get back. Logan said “two.” The teacher said “you get two coins back but what are they worth?” Logan shrugged his shoulders and said “I don’t know.” Mrs. Caryl waited and then asked “what is this one worth” pointing to the nickel. Logan replied “5”. Mrs. Caryl said “good, what is this one worth?” pointing to the penny. Logan said “1”. Mrs. Caryl said “now add them together.” Logan said “5, 6.” She said “yes, write that down 6 is your change.” Then she sent Logan to the resource room.

Logan went to his desk and pulled out a package of pencil top erasers and then headed to Mrs. Berkemeier’s classroom. When he arrived he told Mrs. Berkemeier that he wanted to give everyone in the class an eraser. Mrs. Berkemeier said that his grandma had bought the erasers for him and that he should keep them for himself. Logan seemed sad but then sat down to complete his work. Mrs. Berkemeier began by having Logan sort his 30 words cards into known and unknown pile. Logan went through the cards with Mrs. Berkemeier. When they finished Mrs. Berkemeier asked him to draw a picture and write a story about it. Logan began drawing a picture describing the picture of soldiers and what was happening in the picture as he drew.

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When he finished Mrs. Berkemeier asked him to write something about the picture and he said “I can’t, I don’t know how.” Mrs. Berkemeier said “then just tell me and I will write it for you.” Logan responded with “I can’t, I don’t know how.” She said “Okay, then I will write about the picture on this white board it says ‘This is Logan’s picture about flowers and fairies outside.’ Logan said “that’s not what my picture is about.” Mrs. Berekemeier said “oh, what is your picture about?” Logan told her “it is about soldiers and a helicopter.” She said “oh, I see. What words should I take out of my sentence and change?” Logan pointed to the words flowers and fairies. Mrs. Berkemeier asked “what words should I put in this sentence again?” Logan responded “soldiers and helicopters.” Mrs. Berekemeier erased flowers and fairies from the white board and changed it to soldiers and helicopters. Logan then asked “can I get on cool-math?” Mrs. Berkemeier said it was time for him to go back to class.

Reflection:

Logan wanted to share his erasers with the students in the resource room and was saddened when he was not permitted to. These students are not necessarily all his friends, they may be from other grades and just acquaintances so socially this was not an appropriate thing to do. Logan prefers to work on identifying sight words visually over writing a story. He did not want to even pick up a pencil or white board to write today. He was aware what his story was about and did not like it when Mrs. Berkemeier changed what his story was about. Today he had a bad case of the I can’t-s and I don’t want to’s, demonstrating his lack of self-belief/self-esteem and what he is capable of doing.

Development:

Social – Pro-social behaviors: he wanted to share his erasers with the entire class at the resource room.

Emotional – Self-concept: seems low on this day said I can’t a lot more than he has in the past.

Physical/Perceptual –Cognitive – Math: knowledge of the value of a nickel and then counting up the

coins from there. This is not automatic yet but he has the basic concept.Communication – Conversation skills: verbal sentences are not always fully formed when

talking with teachers and peers – vocabulary could delayed.Adaptive – Self-regulation: he was testing to make sure he was an arm’s length

away from other students during “Café” time.

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Columbia Elementary School, 2nd grade Music, Mr. CrydermanThursday, November 14, 2012Time: 10:30 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. (35 min.)Cumulative Time: 16 hr., 05 min.Confidential

Daily Events:

The class went to music for their specials. Logan walked with the class quietly down the hallway and waited in line with his classmates until the music teacher was ready for the class. When the class entered the room they were instructed to stand in their spots on the floor for the musical. The class broke into three rows that stood in lines on the blue rectangles on the carpet facing the windows. The music teacher asked them to be sure to use their best singing voice while they rehearsed for the musical. They were reminded that the musical is going to be at the end of December and the more they practice the better they will sound. The teacher started the music. The students sang along with the music. Logan stood in his spot and sang with the class. The second song was a fast song many of the students started dancing and swaying to the music. Logan stood there and sang. They continued through the songs of the musical in this manner. Logan sang but showed little enthusiasm about the music.

On the fourth song Logan sat down on the floor and then lay down on the floor. He stopped singing. The teacher came over and asked him to stand up and sing with the group. He did not respond verbally he simply stood back up in his spot.

On the last song the teacher reminded the class that they are going to do some movements with this song. The class practiced stomping their left foot, then stomping their right foot and then putting their right hand in the air. The music started and the class made the motions with the beat of the music. Most of the students kept the beat well. Logan and some others struggled to keep their motions with the beat of the music. The teacher started to say left, right, up, left, right, up to help guide the students with their motions. This seemed to help Logan and the other students to keep with the beat of the music.

The teacher told the students what a good job they had done practicing the songs and reminded them to practice over the weekend. The students were then asked to line up to go back to class. Logan quickly walked to his spot in line with a smile on his face.

Reflection:

Logan does not seem overly excited about singing. After about 20 minutes of signing he was tired and wanted to sit down and lay down to take a break. He did as he was asked and stood up. He also has a hard time keeping up with the motions to the song while and keeping them in time without verbal prompts.

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Development:

Social –Emotional – Demonstrated a laid back activity level, not much movement or

excitement during the singing, even wanted to lay downPhysical/Perceptual – Coordination for moving with the beat of music needs improvement

became tired while standing for a prolonged period of time.Cognitive –Communication – Receptive language demonstrated through his listening to the teacher to

follow directions in class and for prompts for the movements with the rhythm of the music

Adaptive –

Columbia Elementary School, 2nd Grade, Mrs. CarylMonday, November 19, 2012Time: 8:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. (3 hr., 20 min.)Cumulative Time: 19 hr., 25 min.Confidential

Daily Events:Upon my arrival this morning the students were working at their desks on seat work

dittos. Logan worked quietly and completed the two dittos and turned them in. He then opened his desk and found the picture of the ship that he had drawn last Wednesday (11/14/12) and brought it over to me. He then asked me “we finish this?” The teacher called the class to attention and he took his picture and returned to his seat. She then asked for volunteers for class jobs for the week. Logan volunteered for the job of caboose and then for the office runner. He was selected as the office runner for the week. When Mrs. Caryl called his name for office runner he said “Yeah!” While the rest of the class jobs were assigned Logan watched and talked with two girls at the desk next to him. The girls were playing with an IPod. The teacher then called his group to the back carpet area. There was a delayed response from the entire group at the table because they were talking. The teacher called the group a second time to the carpet area.

When the entire class had gathered at the carpet area the teacher began explaining why the room was colder than normal today. Logan blurted out and she directed him to wait a moment it was her turn. He put his head down and began to pick at his nose. The teacher began to read the story Author’s Thanksgiving aloud to the class. Logan sat during this time and picked at his nose for some time the teacher reminded him quietly that we don’t do that. Logan sat up and then began picking at his nails and closed his eyes and began swaying back and forth and then began picking at his nose again. When the teacher finished the story she brought out a stack of books about Thanksgiving that she had checked out of the library. She introduced the

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books and the reading level that each one was at. She introduced the book Why We Have Thanksgiving and indicated that it was a reading level of 1.0. Logan said “that’s my level.” She then explained that they were going to do a worksheet on homophones. She reminded the class that homophones were two words that sounded the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. The class then returned to work at their desks. Logan sat on one knee half standing up and half sitting on his knee and leaning on his arms on his desk instead of sitting down on his bottom. The teacher instructed the class to read the “learn bubble” at the top of the paper. Logan used his pencil to follow along with what was being read. While the teacher reviewed the rest of the homophone sheet Logan was distracted. He connected the lines on the paper to create rectangles and was looking behind him. When the teacher directed the class to start the worksheet Logan stood up on his knees and wrote his name on the paper. Mrs. Caryl then invited him to work at the blue table with her.

Logan followed her to the blue table and she asked him “think of a sentence for the word knows.” She pointed to the word knows on the paper and said “this one is something you know about or for the nose on your face.” Logan looked at her and said “I know something.” The teacher wrote the sentence on a sticky note and handed it to Logan and he began to write the sentence and said “done” when he finished. She then pointed to the word nose on the paper and said “we need to use this nose in a sentence.” After a minute Logan responded “I don’t know.” She pointed to her nose on her face and said “this nose the nose that we breathe with.” Logan looked at her for a moment and then said “I don’t know. She asked again “can you think of something.” Logan said “I don’t know.” Mrs. Caryl said “let’s look at this one week and weak. She gave him the definition for both words. Logan said “I am weak.” Mrs. Caryl wrote down the sentence on a sticky note and handed it to Logan. He said “done” and she said “what about the other week?” Logan said “I don’t know”. She said “okay” and asked him to take his paper with him when he went to the resource room today. Logan returned to his seat.

Next, the class was instructed it was time for “Café” and was reminded of their three choices, buddy reading, independent reading, and writing. The teacher reviewed some items for writing which included little books to create at the back table, new stationary she had purchased for the class and writing in their journals. Then she released the class to begin their first rotation of “Café”. Logan choose writing he walked to the back table humming and singing to himself and took a little book, he then found the teacher and held up the book and asked “Can I do that?” Mrs. Caryl nodded his head yes. He took the book and went back to his seat. He began to draw and then he looked at me and said “I need help on this.” I went and sat by him to help him and our conversation went as follows:

AC = Amanda Carlisle LB = Logan Burton

AC: “What is your book called?” LB: “The Tree”AC: “Can you write that?

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LB: “I need help”AC: “‘The’ how do you write that?”LB: “That’s easy” he wrote the word the and said “what’s next?”AC: “Tree -- /t/”LB: “/t/” and he wrote the letter TAC: “/r/”LB: “/r/ is that O?”AC: “/r/”LB: “R this is the /r/” he wrote KAC: “/e/” LB: He wrote the letter a and then said “/e/” and changed his letter A to an E.AC: pointed to the K and asked “what letter is this?”LB: “R”AC: “Show me the R on your name tag.”LB: pointed to the KAC: “That is the K /k/” and pointed to the R on the name tag and said “this is R”LB: Changed his letter K on the book to a letter R.LB: “I need to finish all my pictures and then I will add the words.” He began drawing with

pencil on every page until they were all completed. Then he used his crayons to add colors to the pictures.

LB: “Now its gwowing (glowing).” He had added yellow marks around the tree he drew.AC: “I see. I like your pictures and the details you have added.”LB: “Now I need to write the words on here. I need you to write them and don’t write so

fancy.”

Mrs. Caryl said it was time to switch from writing to another choice. Logan looked at me and said “I don’t know how to read it’s hard.” I told him we could read together and I would help him. Logan opened his desk and found a book Handy Manny Cookie Rescue and opened it up. He used his finger to guide him through the words. I let him read the words he knew and he would stop and look at me when he needed help and I would help him stretch out the words and read them. Next we stopped for snack. After snack we started round 3 of the “Café”. Logan’s option that was left was independent reading. It took him a long time to get to his desk but he finally took out a book and grabbed an independent reading sheet. He wrote is name on the top of the sheet. He then put his arms out and twisted to make sure he was a helicopter length apart from any other students. He smiled and he held his book up to show me and smiled and said “I need help.” I sat quietly in the back his desk neighbor helped him. Logan and his buddy took turns reading the story aloud. Next, he brought the paper back to me and said “I need help.” I pointed to the first sentence and read it “what is the title of your story? Can you write it here?” He took his paper back to his desk and wrote the title on the line. He then walked back to me with the paper. I asked the next question “did you take an AR test?” He said “no” and circled the word no on the paper. Then I read the next question “did you like the story?” He nodded his

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head yes and circled the word yes on his paper. Next I read the directions above the big box at the bottom of the paper it said “draw a picture of the main character of the story.” Logan said “I can’t do it. Manny too hard, he has a hat.” I told him “just do your best, it’s okay.” Logan replied “I can’t, it’s too hard! I don’t want to. I need someone to write the words for me.” I said “it says draw a picture of the main character you do not need words, you just need to draw it.” He shook his head. I again reminded him to just do his best work. He went back to his seat and looked through the book until time was up.

Next, Mrs. Caryl asked the class to get their “Treasurers” books out and turn to page 156. Logan pulled the book out and put his head down on his desk with his eyes closed. Mrs. Caryl explained the story was called a fantasy because there were animals that talked to each other and that doesn’t happen in real life so it is called a fantasy. Mrs. Caryl said the first vocabulary word giggled, she pointed out –ed on the end of the word means it happened in the past (past tense). Then she used the word in a sentence and gave the definition. Next she asked the class if they could tell her about a time when they had giggled. She did this with all the vocabulary words. Logan volunteered to tell a time when he recognized someone. Next, she introduced the word snuggled. Logan volunteered to share a time he snuggled with something. When Mrs. Caryl called on him he said “My bear.” Next, she told the class to read the story to themselves. She asked Logan if he could share his book with his partner and if they could whisper read the story. His desk partner whisper read the story Leo Grows Up and Logan listened and followed along while she read. Mrs. Caryl brought the class together and they answer the first question about the story. Then it was time for lunch so they go there things together for lunch and went outside.

Reflection:

It has to be frustrating to begin something and be able to finish it independently. His picture of his ship he just wants to add the words but he cannot do it on his own without any additional support. As teachers if we just scribe things for him he is never going to learn how to independently write so it is important to scaffold him. Logan is frequently picking at his nose sniffling. His nose seems to be very drippy. This seems to be a social/adaptive skill that may need to be addressed with him and taught directly to him. He was frustrated that I would just not write the words for him. He demonstrated independence in making choices for “Café” time. He was frustrated with the fact that the independent reading paper told him to draw something specific he did not think he could draw Handy Manny.

Development:

Social – Pro-social: Volunteered to give answer to questions asked by the teacher

Emotional – Expressed his emotion or feelings of “I can’t do this, I need help.” Was visibly frustrated with the task. Independence was able to choose activities for the “Café” and what he wanted to draw about.

Physical/Perceptual –Cognitive – Interests: Most pictures he draws are about soldiers, boats, or

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helicopters. He seems to be very interested in these areas.Mode of Learner: based on his understanding of verbal directions I would say that he is more of a verbal learner. He also likes to have manipulatives to be able to touch and move so he is a kinesthetic learner.Written/Reading behaviors: demonstrates delays in letter and sound (phoneme) identification, he wrote the letter K for the /r/ sound.

Communication – Reading behaviors: needs assistance with helping decoding the words. He can identify beginning sounds and some sight words but needs support to improve these skills.

Adaptive – Self-care: personal hygiene taking care of blowing his nose needs improvement.

IEP summary was not included because of confidentiality reasons I was not allowed to review his Individualized Educational Plan.

Child Case Study/Individualized PlanChild Profile:

Logan Burton is an 8 year old male in the second grade. He is 4 foot 5 inches tall and weighs about 85 pounds with an overall appearance of an endomorph body type. He has brown crew cut hair and brown eyes. He has one eye that tends to turn slightly inward when speaking or looking at you. He does appear to have a slight overbite and his upper teeth seem to have several wide gaps between them. His other physical characteristics appear to be developing normally.

Based upon discussions with his teachers he has been identified for special education under the disability of a specific learning disability in the areas of written expression and reading fluency. He receives his services daily for 60 minutes at a time. During this time he is pulled out of the general education setting and goes to the resource room to work with Mrs. Berkemeier on developing the identified areas.

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Communication BehaviorsExpressive language: Logan’s expressive language is delayed. He demonstrated difficulty in verbally communicating with proper grammar in both written and verbal communication. For example when he uses spoken language his sentences are not grammatically correct, choppy, and tends to omits words that would complete the sentence. He also demonstrated a lack of vocabulary. When he drew his ship he knew that there was an item that the crew would wear around their neck but he could not recall the vocabulary term for what the item was. Logan also demonstrated that he slurs words, and does not articulate his words properly which sometimes makes it difficult for others to understand him. In written language he exhibits difficulty in putting his words on paper. He needs support in individual blends, and sounds in words especially in the middle of the words. He is unable to write what he verbally communicates with you.

Receptive language: Logan’s receptive language skills are typical in development. He listens while instructions are given and understands the content of the conversations that are had with him. He is able to follow multi-step instructions given to him by his teachers during class time.

Impairments/delays: Logan demonstrates delays in his writing abilities. He struggles with writing words. With support he is able to identify each sound of some words and then write them. He exhibited verbal delays in having difficulty in enunciating words when speaking and talking in complete sentences. Sounds that require the tongue to go to the roof of his mouth such as /th/, /gl/ are not enunciated properly.

Individualized Plan

Domain: Communication

Behavior: When speaking with others Logan has difficulty enunciating the blend sound of /th/. He typically says a /h/ sound only. He has difficulty making sounds that require him to put his tongue at the roof of his mouth.

Objective: Isolate the /th/ at the beginning of words by when identifying objects.Logan has demonstrated an interest in using manipulatives to learn about new materials. Using a small tub of objects that have the /th/ sound in them have Logan say the name of each item.

Plan: Embedded: Referring back to his lesson in the resource room about the “th” brothers draw the letters th on a sheet of paper and ask Logan what sound they make together. When Logan says the

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sound then repeat the sound. Next, use self-talk to explain how your tongue feels in your mouth when you say the /th/ sound in your own mouth. Ask Logan to repeat the sound and think about how it feels in his mouth. Next, ask Logan to say the names of each item in your tub. Have him pull out one item at a time (objects include a thimble, thermos, thread, thumb, number 3) and say the words making sure that he puts his tongue to the roof of his mouth at the back of his top teeth.

Child-Focused: Use a physical prompt and pick up one item, use a verbal prompt of “what is this?” Pause and confirm yes it is a thimble. Then model for the child how you put your tongue in your mouth to the back of your top teeth and make the /th/ sound. Have Logan repeat the word again with you making sure to emphasize the /th/ sound. Provide praise and positive reinforcement for each time he enunciates the /th/ word properly. Continue with this until all items in the tub have been identified by the child.

Supports: none

Physical BehaviorsLarge muscle skills: Logan was able to hop on one foot, run, and play tag with other friends on the playground. He also demonstrated that he could throw a basketball towards the basketball hoop with an underhanded toss. He also demonstrated that he would get worn out from physical activities after a prolonged period of time and would sit down to rest.

Fine motor skills: Logan is able to use his fine motor skills to create illustrations, put on his coat and shoes, and is also able to create letters and words. He demonstrated that he applied sufficient pressure when creating his drawings and words. While he is able to form letters and words he has difficulty in forming the letters properly and with accuracy. When writing and during gym he demonstrated that he has a right hand preference. He used his right hand when completing all his writing activities and also when playing basketball at the gym.

Impairments/delays: I observed that Logan exhibits some delays in his physical development in his stamina to participate in prolonged physical activities. He took time to rest during music and gym when he had to walk from one end of the school to the other end. He took time to sit down on the playground after playing tag with

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his friends. He also displayed a delay in the quality of his large and fine motor movements. His handwriting was not formed properly and when hopping on one foot he as not very stable. His movements were not precise and fluid and he lacks the speed of completing these movements that his typically developing peers have.

Individualized Plan

Domain: Physical

Behavior: Logan demonstrates a lack balance and fluid movement when completing large motor movements. He also demonstrates a lack of stamina when completing physical tasks. He typically stops to sit down and take a break after a long walk or large amounts of physical activities in gym.

Objective: To complete an obstacle course building his balance and fluid movements and increase his stamina. Obstacle course will include army crawl, balance beam, hopping on one foot and shooting basketballs at the hoop. Because of Logan’s interest in army soldiers the army crawl was included; he also demonstrated an interest in shooting the basketballs during gym so it was included also.

Plan: Embedded: The goal of the obstacle course would to be to have Logan increase his quality of his large motor movements and to increase stamina. Begin by having the army crawl is a short distance, followed by the balance beam, and then have the students hop on one foot, ending with shooting 2 times at the basketball hoop. Have the students time one another to see if they can beat their time. Model the obstacle course before having the students complete the course independently. Use praise and support for students as they complete the course. After they complete the course let the students rest for a few minutes and then go again. As the students’ progress increase the length of the activities they are completing building their balance, fluid motor movement and stamina.

Child-Focused: As Logan begins each task model the task and complete it with him. Give him performance cues on how to complete the task and use self-talk of how you are going to complete each task. If needed adapt the balance beam so it is lower and wider for Logan to keep his balance on and stand next to him while he goes across it to provide a hand for him to hold onto. Provide positive praise and support while he completes each task.

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Supports: none

Cognitive BehaviorsInterests: In my observations of Logan I found that he had a real interest in creating pictures that related to army soldiers or “Halo” characters from video games. Typically these pictures involved a battle scene. When given free choice time he typically would choose to draw a picture over other activities available. He also preferred using technology to play games. In the classroom he was allowed to go onto educationcity.com and in his resource room time he asked to go onto coolmathforkids.com. Logan seemed to avoid tasks that were more difficult for him especially reading and writing independently. When I was available he would ask me to come and help him complete these tasks.

Abilities/cognitive behaviors: Throughout my observations Logan demonstrated skills of working hard to complete tasks even though he needed assistance to complete them. He did not give up on activities that were difficult for him he found ways to receive support to complete the tasks. He teacher was diligent in her effort to make sure that Logan had supports available to him to complete each activity. Supports included a buddy to read with, the teacher scribing what he wrote so he could copy it onto his paper, and providing him extra help at the blue table. Logan’s math abilities seem to be typical of his peers. He is able to complete math addition and in the math lessons that I observed he was able to calculate and complete the work given as well as his typical peers. His math abilities indicate that he is in the concrete operational stage of cognitive development. He was on task to the lessons that were being taught and activities to be completed approximately 85% of the time.

Learning Modalities: Logan exhibited a preference for kinesthetic learning with hands on activities or manipulatives. He also uses visual clues to help him understand what is being presented to him. He does not read well but he would use the visual references on the pages as a guide for what to complete. He is also very good at his auditory learning and skills. If you explained directions to him he could understand them and follow through.

Impairments/delays: Logan demonstrated delays in the areas of reading and written language. He has difficulty with determining what letters represents sounds to make up words in the English language. He is building on this area and has made some improvements even in the short amount of time I had to observe him. He is able to identify most beginning sounds in words, and the ending sounds of words but struggles

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with the middle sounds. He also knows a few sight words automatically but shows delays in these areas.

Individualized Plan

Domain: Cognitive

Behavior: Logan has difficulty identifying individual phonemes and relating those sounds to the correct corresponding letter. He would identify some sounds orally but could not correctly produce the correct letter symbol that corresponds to the phoneme.

Objective: Demonstrate the ability to identify correct phoneme sounds for r, k, l, a, e, i, o & u.Due to Logan’s interest in using manipulatives to help learn tasks, Logan will use sand in a jelly roll pan to identify the specific phonemes by drawing the corresponding letter in the sand. During his pull-out time for reading and writing instruction at the resource recovery room.

Plan: Embedded: Using the jelly roll pan filled with sand have Logan sit next and explain that I am going to make some sounds and I want you to draw the letter in the sand and then a line underneath of it. Using self-talk and modeling: say /m/, draw a letter m in the sand and say /m/ is for M and draw a line underneath the letter as you say it. Now ask Logan to try it with a /s/. Continue through the letters until all letters in the objective are identified. As he learns each phoneme and corresponding letters add new phonemes and then move to blends to the lesson.

Child-Focused: Prompt Logan to write the letter that matches the sound. Use hand-over hand to draw the letter in the sand and say the saying with him. Instruct him to use his “smart finger” right hand (dominate hand) pointer finger. Shake the sand tray and have him do it independently. Provide positive reinforcement when he completes identifying each letter in the sand.

Supports:

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Social/Emotional BehaviorsSocial behaviors: Logan’s social and emotional behaviors appear to be typical of his peer group. When on the playground he sought out same gender playmates to play tag with. In the classroom he demonstrated that he wanted to participate in group activities by raising his hand and responding when called on. He interacted with other peers at his table group in pro-social ways. His interactions with his teachers and other adults were cooperative. He typically demonstrated that he was a happy child who was easy going and had little difficulty in getting along in group activities. As discussed in his physical behaviors his activity level seemed to be a little delayed in relation to his peers. He was on task in the classroom but his stamina for physical activities was lower. His teacher did help him with his transitioning in a few activities by prompting him that he would have to give an answer when she came to him. This seemed to help him to be ready to respond when it was his turn. Logan at times did demonstrated some lower self-esteem he did not have the confidence to complete reading and writing tasks that other students were working on. He verbalized that he felt he could not do the task requested.

Delays: Logan exhibited mild delays in his social and emotional behaviors. The area of concern for me is his activity level in play groups. He has demonstrated the he would lose stamina quicker than other students. He would participate in activities but not at the same intensity as the other students. Logan also demonstrated some low self-esteem towards his reading and writing activities saying “I can’t do this.” His overall social and emotional development appears to be in the typical developmental range.

Individualized Plan

Domain: Social/Emotional

Behavior: When asked to complete a writing activity Logan indicates that he can’t do it, or does not want to complete the activity because he does not feel he can succeed.

Objective: Have Logan feel more confidence and attempt his writing without encountering feelings of failure and resistance to complete the activity.Using his interest in drawing pictures allow him to create a picture of whatever he chooses (usually soldiers) and then write one sentence about his picture.

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Plan: Embedded: During writing time use self-talk to describe that I don’t think I do this activity so well. Then describe how I use my picture to decide what to write. Model drawing a picture and using a visual prompt to point to an object in my picture and then use self-talk to think about writing the sentence and then write a sentence. Model where to find words in the room to help me write my sentence. Self-talk about how I feel when I completed the task myself.

Child-Focused: Have Logan draw his picture verbally talk with him while he draws the picture. Let him explain all the details of the picture to you. When he has completed his drawing ask him to write a sentence. Reassure him that he can do it that you will help. Have him tell you the sentence verbally. Write the sentence on a piece of paper and cover it with your hand. Next, ask Logan how to spell the words one at a time. Work with him saying the words sound by sound while he writes them. Use praise every time he completes writing a word. When he finishes writing the entire sentence have him re-read the sentence to you to verify that it sounds correct. Give Logan praise for completing the sentence. I like to use praise phrases like “kiss your brain”, and identifying specific things that they did correctly in his work. Also give positive reinforcement for completing an activity that he thought he could not do.

Supports: none

Adaptive (self-help) behaviorsAdaptive behaviors: Logan appears to be developing in the typical range for most of his adaptive behaviors. He demonstrated that he was able to dress himself, by putting on his coat when going out for recess, and he was able to put his own shoes on at gym. He was mostly able to take care of himself at lunch time. He did struggle with opening his muffin wrapper but this seemed to be a skill that others at his table had difficulty doing. In the area of personal hygiene he seemed to be mostly on track. He was wearing clean clothes, had a clean face after lunch, and washed his hands after using the restroom. I did observe him picking at his nose often and would suggest this as an improvement for him. Logan was able to follow the routines of the classroom. He was aware what the routines were in the classroom and followed them with ease. I observed him one day ask if it was time for him to

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leave for his pull-out time for special education. He was very comfortable with the routine of the classroom. As I discussed in the social and emotional domain the teacher helped Logan by prompting the entire class that they would need to respond with an answer. This was helpful to Logan and he was able to have think time before answering and was able to give a response.

Delays: Logan’s adaptive behaviors are in the typical range. I would recommend some guidance with personal hygiene in the area of picking at his nose. While observing I noticed that this behavior tends to happen while he is at carpet time and appears to be a nervous fidgeting activity that he does.

Individualized Plan

Domain: Adaptive

Behavior: Demonstrated picking at his nose while at carpet time.

Objective: To have Logan find a tissue instead of picking at his nose and to wash his hands with hand sanitizer after he is done.

Plan: Embedded: While at carpet time with the students use self-talk to explain that my nose is drippy and that I need to find a tissue to clean it because there are germs in my nose and I do not want to share them with others in the class. If I touch what is in my nose and then touch someone else or the desk then I have put my germs on the items. Then model for the students how to blow my nose, throw the tissue away, and use hand sanitizer when finished. Then return to the carpet time activity.

Child-Focused: Sit beside Logan during carpet time with a box of tissues that is decorated in camouflage. Use a physical prompt of “use a tissue when our nose itches” when he begins to pick at his nose and hold the box of tissues up. Use hand-over hand directions for him if needed. After he has blown/wiped his nose have empty tissue box labeled garbage with you at the carpet and have him dispose of the dirty tissue in there. Next hand him the hand sanitizer to clean his hands. Provide positive reinforcement when he completes each of the three tasks.

Supports: None

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Summative Reflection: Based on this case study on Logan I learned how important it is to make our instruction

child focused. By using child-focused instruction we obtain a way into the child’s learning skills, interests, and abilities to create lesson plans. By using these areas we are able to make a connection with the child and the learning so that they are able to implement and use the skill we are trying to teach. I found when writing my lesson plans it was not as easy as I thought it would be to embed the lesson into the regular lessons because the other students in Logan’s classroom are more advanced and therefore may not need this lesson presented at the same time. Most of my lessons reflect on a small group instruction for Logan not whole group instruction because of this.

I also learned that working with Logan during this period of time allowed me to gain a greater appreciation for his determination and good work ethic. Logan faces some challenges with writing and reading that as a student I never encountered. Faced with those challenges he doesn’t give up he tries hard to complete the assignments and activities. I admire his work ethic and positive attitude.

I also learned that as a teacher in a general education setting the use of technology plays a vital role. Mrs. Caryl did an excellent job trying to make sure that the students had access to technology to progress learning. She brought in items from home to help supplement what was provided from the school. She also discussed finding more technology for allowing students to listen to books on tapes to help her students who needed extra support.

I think it is important to say that Logan received extra help on the days I came into observe in the classroom. He was always excited to see me and brought me new pictures that he wanted to add text to. He normally was able to do this because there is only one teacher in the classroom and she has to help several students and cannot always be helping him with his writing even though she wants to. I also think that sometimes when I was there it made it harder for Logan to complete his writing work at his pullout time with Mrs. Berkemeier because I had made him write his own words on the pictures he created with me.

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