English Curriculum studies 2: STUDENT CASE STUDY

Sarah
Attwood

1

Sarah Attwood
2087014
STUDENT CASE STUDY
LITERACY ASSESSMENT SUMMARY (Years 2-7)
Basic student information
Name: Brock Year Level: 3
DOB: 19/1/2006 Assessment Date: 27/2/14 to 27/3/14 CA: 8 years & 1 month

Brief description about Brock:
Brock is an eight year old boy who lives at home with his parents and is an only child. Brock presented in a
friendly and confident manner and has attended the same school since Foundation years. He has been
prescribed corrective lenses (Educational Vision assessment Appendix 3.1) however often forgets to bring
his glasses to school. In some school settings Brock is confident and fun, yet in others he can become
frustrated and agitated. Brock can present with low confidence with literacy tasks and unfamiliar maths or
written tasks.
At kindergarten Brock received some speech theory due to hearing issues caused by having his adenoids
out at the age of two and several sets of gromits between the age of 3-5 (appendix 3.1 Richmond
Optometrists: Educational Visual Assessment).
Classroom setting:
The classroom is situated in a unit of three classrooms. The year levels consist of a 2/3 class, this is Brocks
class, a 3/4 class and a straight year 3 class. Brocks class has 26 students, 13 year 2s and 13 year 3s. The
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tables are set out in three rows; Brock sits in the front row, far right table. Brock is supported already
during literacy lessons attending 3 learning support sessions each week. He works closely with an SSO.
During my observational time (5 weeks), I had been keeping a close eye on Brock and have I become
increasingly interested in Brocks behaviour. I wanted to get to know him better.
This case study will begin to unfold Brocks personality and learning style through further observations test
or assessments that could be undertaken to improve Brocks overall learning.
Brock did learn and develop differently from his peers and this was evident throughout the following
observations and tests.
Summary of findings:
Auditory function:
- Auditory Assessment: Phonological Awareness R-1 (B Nielson 2006). Misrepresentation of some
beginning, ending and rhyming sounds. Appendix 2
- Assessment of Auditory Discrimination 2-7(B Nielson 2006): Misrepresentation of single (2/5),
beginning (4/5), ending (1/5) sounds. Appendix 2.1
- Observations for Auditory difficulties (Based on Hoey 1977)

The assessment sheets were undertaken one-on-one; I read the requirements and then recorded Brocks
response. Both the Auditory Skill Assessment: Phonological Awareness R-1 (Appendix 2) and
Assessment of Audio Discrimination 2-7 (Appendix 2.1) were used as I felt there were gaps in Brocks
learning.
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Using the R-1 Assessment (appendix 2) Brock misrepresented some beginning, ending and rhyming sounds
for example, Me: can you tell me the beginning sound of run? Brock: F. However during an assessment
task Brock was able to complete the worksheet on same vowel families and beginning consonants
successfully (Appendix 2.3). Brock had difficulties with the rhyming words saying duck & truck and bend
& lend do not rhyme, however he was able to tell me that Rock rhymed with Brock.

Using the Assessment of Audio Discrimination 2-7 (Appendix 2.1), Brock misrepresented some of the
single (2/5), beginning (4/5), ending (1/5) sounds. However he did well with the middle sounds, beginning
& ending consonants blends.

Brock did show many indications of auditory difficulties; these included watches speakers face, is
inattentive and restless, misunderstand instruction, fail to carry out instruction, slow in responding,
observes other children first and confuses letters, mispronounces certain consonants, confuses letters and
words that sound alike and has indistinct speech.
Auditory (Phonological) Skills
Tests carried out-
- Auditory Assessment: Phonological Awareness R-1 (B Nielson 2006). Misrepresentation of some
beginning, ending and rhyming sounds. Appendix 2
-Assessment of Auditory Discrimination 2-7(B Nielson 2006): Misrepresentation of single (2/5), beginning
(4/5), ending (1/5) sounds. Appendix 2.1
- Phonemic awareness: Appendix 2.2

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Auditory Discrimination:
Blending:
- Successful with single sounds.
- difficulty with consonant blends (th, oa, ee, (1/6)
- difficulty with long vowel sounds (oa, ee,)
Segmenting:
- Difficulties segmenting two sounds together. (8/15)
- Struggled with word length over 4 letters or sounds.
Observations for Auditory difficulties (based on Hoey 1977). Appendix 2.3
Based on Hoeys Observation for Auditory difficulties checklist, Brock demonstrates some of the
warning signs of auditory difficulties:
- Presents a high level of indicators 11/13
- Has difficulty in associating letter sound and symbol
- Presents with indicators that may/or may not be language disorder related

Visual function:
Observations were made according to the Vision Checklist for Teacher use (Appendix 3). Brock presents
with a high level of warning signs across the four headings; Fine and Gross Motor Skills, Reading behaviour,
Writing Behaviour and General Behaviour. (Appendix 3)
Optometric Examination: Educational Vision Assessment attached - Assessor: Rene Mussared .
(Appendix 3.1)

Brocks fine motor skills were lower than his peers, as he did show difficulty with cutting out, inappropriate
size or placement of drawings in relation to the page and poor coordination. For the most part Brock held
his pencil correctly. Brocks gross motor skills also required practise and this was obvious during a physical
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education lesson. The students were throwing balls to each other. Brock would often catch with his arms
too far apart and the ball would fall through his arms.
Brock appeared to show difficulty with reading behaviours; slow to develop sound/symbol relationships,
slow to develop sight vocabulary, slow, word by word reading, re-reads or skips words or lines. This was
evident in the below running record
Observation on Brock aged 8years 1 months. Focus: Reading.
Voice recording on the 27/3/14 Time: 9.50
Reading book: Aunt Jesse level 11
Brock: Aunt Jesse, Aunt Jesse. (Acting silly and saying Aunt Jesse in a funny voices)
Brock reads the first page with no issues.
Brock reads the second line on page 2 before realising and goes back and reads the first line.
Brock manages a few pages that I think he may have memorised them, then has difficulties when the
pattern of writing changes.

Brocks writing behaviours were also poor; however some of his class mates are at a similar level. Brock is
slow with book work, often not finishing tasks, has irregular letter sizing and reverses some letters (f & z, as
evident in appenix5.1) however his word and letter spacing is good. Brock use of uneven letters sizes in
words is evident in appendix 2.2 and 3.2.
According to the Vision Checklist for Teacher use, Brocks general behaviour showed a short attention
span, avoidance behaviours and disruptive behaviours. Although Brock started off focused on a task at
hand he often ran out of time, many times this was due to Brock forgetting or being confused with
instructions, this is in no way suggesting Brock is not supported in the classroom as the opposite is true.
Once Brock becomes frustrated it was difficult to bring him back on task.

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Language Development
Using Neilsons Language Development Stages (Appendix 1) Brock presents mainly as a 4 Monologue,
however he also relates to stages 1-3 depending on Brocks mood and willingness to participate.

Receptive language warning signs (Konza 2006):
8-Yes and 3 sometimes and 1- no (Appendix 1.1).
Brock is eager and tries hard to listen and be attentive, often found staring intently at the teachers face or
following her finger but is often left confused. When sitting on the floor he often fidgets and rocks from
side to side. He can become frustrated as he often misinterprets information.
Expressive language warning signs (Konza 2006): 5 Yes and 6- sometimes (Appendix 1.2)
Brock has limited vocabulary compared to that of his peers; he can use long pauses in his speech and
sentences are often short and brief. Brock is confident to speak however often becomes confused which
makes him frustrated and can slow down his engagement. This was evident in the below running record -
27/3/14 Anecdotal evidence
Literacy lesson taken by Gary.
Gary has read a number of books to the students drawing on prior knowledge of Nursery Rhymes. Gary
asks students to write a nursery rhyme they remember, they have ten minutes to write as many words as
possible. Brock looks lost. He sits down at his desk and puts his hand up. I dont know what to do Brock
says to me. I explain Garys instructions again to Brock, I dont know any nursery rhymes Brock says. I
suggest a few rhymes to Brock. Brock starts crying and becomes frustrated.
Brock writes minimal words for this task.

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Anecdotal evidence
Voice recording on the 27/3/14 Time: 9.50
Days of the week:
Brock was able to recall 3 days out of seven and left out Sunday all together.
Me: Can you tell me the days of the week?
Brock: I dont know all of them! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Fursday, Fwryday, Saturday,
..Wednesday, ahhh Wednesday (ggggrrrr)

Reading:
Brock forgets his glasses often and today is no exception. For this observation Brock appeared to hold the
book correctly and at a good distance. He could also easily identify the book title and the direction of
turning the pages turning from right to left. He was also able to track the text from left to right unaided,
however using his finger may help as during one observation a line of text was missed all together. Brock
was often very loud and silly when he read and at times he would announce his dislike of reading saying I
hate reading, its too hard. Once Brock was frustrated it was difficult to refocus on reading. Brocks
reading can be robotic in style. When making errors he did not always self correct to make meaning of the
text, this impacted on his comprehension of the text.
Observation on Brock aged 8years 1 months. Focus: Reading.
Voice recording on the 27/3/14 Time: 9.45
Reading book: Aunt Jesse level 11
Brock: Aunt Jesse, Aunt Jesse. (Acting silly and saying Aunt Jesse in a funny voices)
Brock reads the second line on page 2 before realising and goes back and reads the first line.
Brock manages a few pages that I think he may have memorised until the pattern of writing changes.
Brock: Lets..I.give..Ive had enough! I give up!
Brock: As the got.upto..the ..door. Aunt Jesse riddenup on her bike.
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Me: Have a look at this word again
Me: Jesse r
Brock: Ridded
Me: Have a look at the letters
Brock: ride, ride..ride
Me: Can you spell the letters out for me?
Brock: mmmm.(slumps in this chair and doesnt want to sit up.) Reading is so boring (in a baby voice).
Me: Can I help you read these letters here? R
Brock: Ridded
Me: No its not ridded. Have a look at the letters, R..a
Brock: Raced??
Me: Raced!
Brock: I said Raced before! (Starts growling)

Voice recording on the 27/3/14 Time: 9.50
Book: Jerry the taxi driver. Level 11
Brock read the book word by word in a robotic manner.
I suspect hes borrowed the same book over and over and has memorised the text.
He recalled the book with few issues.
He has trouble with the word Grandma, getting angry at me saying its say Grandad!, it says Grandad
Me: can you tell me what the book was about? You can go through and look at the pictures if youd like to.
Brock: It was about a person picking up kids and people, taking them to places?
Me: I what was the persons name? That picked them up?
Brock: Jerry.
Me: And what was his job?
Brock: Drive a taxi?
Me: What else can you tell me about the story?
Brock: Every one left stuff in the taxi and he yells out wait a minute
Me: Thank you Brock, well done.

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Grapho-phonological Knowledge (Spelling)
Tests used :
- Alphabet knowledge recognising letter: Observations were made according to the Alphabet
knowledge or sound-symbol correspondence (Appendix 4.1).
- Grapho-phonological encoding; Diagnostic spelling test 1 6/3/14
- Dolch basic sight word list spelling test was attempted on 13/3/14 (Appendix 4.3).
- Jolly Grammar Tricky Word Spelling Test: Appendix 4.4

Alphabet knowledge recognising letter: Observations were made according to the Alphabet knowledge
or sound-symbol correspondence (Appendix 4.1). Brock understood the instructions that were given on
this assessment sheet and completed it with few issues. Brock did however reverse f & z and wrote some
letters in capitals after explicit instruction not to (Appendix 4.1) Brock could read the letters of the
alphabet.
Brock attempted the spelling test 1 (Appendix 4.2) on 6/3/14. For the test Brock presented some letters as
capitals D, K, B,Y (Appendix 4.2). Brock managed well for the first part of the test Brock scoring 8/10 with
Short vowels but struggled with the long vowels with e & y, scoring 0/5, writing lac for lake , & Ben
for Bone and failed to attempt 3/5 of the questions. For diagraphs ck, ch, sh , Brock attempted the first
two words, fisi for fish and rip for rich. I made the decision to discontinued testing as it was becoming
stressful to Brock
Dolch basic sight word list spelling test was attempted on 13/3/14 (Appendix 4.3). Brock had difficulties
with many common sight words in this test, for example me, be, of, we, long vowels with e & e as
a y and the special sounds of x .
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I made the decision to discontinued testing as it was becoming stressful to Brock. Brock did not complete
Spelling tests 2 & 3. However through the testing completed clear gaps were showing with Brocks
knowledge of common sight words, ability to write long vowels with e, and y as a vowel and diagraphs.

1. Can read the sounds of the alphabet (lower case): Appendix 4.1
- Can read the sound of the alphabet.
- Has difficulty with correct form of letters reversing f, z.
2. Spelling Test 1. Appendix 4.2
- Attempted on 6/3/14
- Presented some letters as capitals D, K, B,Y Spelling Test 1:
- Short vowels 8/10; had difficulties.
- Long vowels with e: 0/5. Difficulties with a( lac for lake) , e( Ben for Bone), failed to attempt 3/5 of
the questions i, o, u & y
- y as a vowel Not attempted.
- Diagraphs ck, ch, sh Brock attempted the first two words, fisi for fish and rip for rich.
- I made the decision to discontinued testing as it was becaming stressful to Brock.
3. Dolch Spelling test: Appendix 4.3. Attempted on 13/3/14
- Had difficulties with long vowels with e, special sounds of x
4. Jolly Grammar Tricky Word Spelling Test: Appendix 4.4
- Dated 25/3/14
- Short vowels; had difficulties with short vowel sound (common sight words)
- Long vowels with e: few mistakes
- y sound as a vowel: onllee for only, miye for my, Biye for by. Possible pattern forming using iye
- Diagraphs ck, ch, sh th being represented as v on two occasions.

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Assessing handwriting
Assessments Used:
- Written Language (Use Nielsens stages and 3 samples of story-writing)
- Canns 1996 Just Write, Assessing Handwriting appendix 5

Using Canns 1996 Just Write, Assessing Handwriting as a guide, I observe Brocks handwriting skills. Brock
has learnt the alphabet sequence but is yet to master letter formations, often reversing letters. This is
evident in appendix 4.1. Brock has good placement of letters, positioned well on the line although the size
of each letter can vary and Brock with often place a capital letter in the middle of a word. Although Brocks
attendance at school has been good, Im finding it difficult to come up with sound written evidence; he
seems to write minimal or nothing at all. This is evident in appendix 5.1, 5.2 & 5.3
The three pieces of work collected
- Letter writing procedure: Letter to Brocks Teacher Mrs Patterson
- What happened on the week end?
- Book review
In all three tasks, Brock wrote minimal words, no more than eight on the page.
Summary Profile of the child
In summary of the above observations and assessment sheets, I have identified a few issues.
Firstly, there were a number of occasions when Brock would, day dream, forget teacher instruction and get
behind in his work. I consider this is greatly linked to auditory and phonological difficulties.
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Secondly, his letter and alphabet knowledge was limited and therefore his phonological ability was poor.
This could be due to the limited reading practise and verbal language practice. Brocks vocabulary was also
limited and he often spoke with short sentences, fillers um and err.
Action Plan
Recommendations:
Recommendations are only seen as a guide and may not be valid. However, Brock firstly presented to me
as happy student, yet through my observations over 5 weeks I have noticed a frustration in Brock that
simmers below the surface and blows when faced with literacy tasks and unfamiliar maths or written tasks.
Brock can present with low confidence in these areas, and often loses his cool. All ready at age 8 I fear
Brock is losing the joy of learning. It is for this reason I sense Brock needs to return to some basics in all
areas, which once mastered would greatly improve his overall confidence. Initially Brock needs to work on
improving his listening and comprehension of verbal instruction, during instruction time. the class
teachers could have Brock repeat the instruction if he is unclear this is an auditory prompt from Le
Messurier 2010. Though I sense the issue is more vision based with delayed development of eye
movement. Brock should also be encouraged to use his finger to track the letters or words when reading
or moving from one line to another, this will greatly improve his comprehension as his effort wont be
spent keeping his place on the page.
I feel Brock would benefit greatly spending extended periods of time learning a new concept; he needs to
have a good understanding before hes moved on. Brocks ability to read and spell individual words and
symbols are well below his peers, often unable to spell common sight words. Although Brock attends a low
level literacy group run by an SSO three times a week, I believe he would benefit from some one-on-one
direct teaching time. Brocks learning needs to be heavily scaffolded; he needs to feel confident and have
successes. As I stated before my recommendations are only seen as a guide and may not be valid however
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Brock presents as a very low learner compared to his peers, it would be my recommendation to have Brock
assessed for a specific learning difficulty such as Dyslexia, this may account for some of his frustrations.
References
Le Messurier, M. (2010). Teaching Tough Kids Simple and proven strategies for student success. London
and New York: Routledge.

Konza, D. (2011). Understanding the reading process. Government of South Australia: Department of
Education and Childrens Services.

Konza, D. (2006) Teaching Children with Reading Difficulties (2
nd
Ed). Australia: Cengage Learning.