Kent State UniversityReading and Writing Center

Reading Clinic: “Camp Read-a-Lot” Student: Gavin Jenkins Clinician: Ms. Kaihla Smith Grade Level in Fall 2015: 1st Grade Date: December 1, 2015

Background Information

Gavin Jenkins is currently in the first grade at Cloverleaf Local Elementary School in Lodi, Ohio. His parents in particular have expressed concern that he needs to be stronger in fluency, comprehension, and decoding. They expressed an increase in wanting Gavin to be interested and motivated in reading. We all wanted Gavin to have stronger confidence and learn what texts he does like to read. Gavin ’s first grade teachers and previous teachers have expressed that Gavin has a hard time focusing in a large group setting and needs reinforcement and repetition of skills taught. According to his parents and teacher, Gavin is well liked and respected in school. He is very helpful, a wonderful friend, and tries hard overall.

Gavin and I consistently worked weekly for 9 weeks after school tutoring. Our sessions together were based off his interest level and ability to stay focused. Many of our sessions were 35-40 minutes in length. On many occasions he seemed eager to begin and maintained this attitude throughout the duration of the program. Some days I had to get him motivated for the first few minutes of our session, after a few minutes of starting he would get into the rhythm of the lesson. Each time meeting we focused on a new poem, song word activity (such as a word sort), small text (such as readers’ theater), a high quality text (used for paired, shared, or echo reading), and always a writing activity that fit in naturally with our lesson. With my planning I always had Gavin in mind. We focused on topics that were interesting to him and ones that were not too challenging or too easy. We found his just right level in order to keep him interested and not to the point of frustration. Gavin also likes to move. When possible we played word games that involved movement of some sort. This was fun for him and I think his best memories from tutoring. Throughout our lessons I could see Gavin obtaining more confidence in reading and becoming comfortable with me and the consistency of our lessons. Everyone was proud of his accomplishments he has made with his motivation in reading and writing.

Pre-assessment/Post-assessment Results:

The following information and tables show Gavin ’s results for all pre-test and post-test assessments. Pre-assessments were given throughout the second week of September. These pre-assessments took place after school around 4:30-5:30. They took us two sessions to complete. Our post-assessments were given on the third week of November from about 4:30-5:30. This too took us about two sessions to efficiently complete. The testing occurred in a quiet place in Gavin’s home in Lodi, Ohio. Gavin was cooperative and tried him best during both assessment periods. He knew the point of these assessments ahead of time and he too was excited to hear his improvements.

Reading Attitude Survey (Johns & Lenski, 1997; Dubrow & Jason, 1973): Gavin was asked a set of questions to determine him interest as well as him general attitude toward reading. This information is important because it helped me to get to know Gavin as an individual and a literacy learner. In this way, I

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was able to design lessons and select materials that meet the interests and progress level specifically for Gavin.

Results: Gavin saw reading as something he really wasn’t interested in. He thought he wasn’t a good reader and commented that his brothers had an easier time with reading. He said he worries about how other people think of his reading and comments that he disliked to read out loud to anyone. He used the phrase, “reading is too hard.” Adding to this he said it was hard because he didn’t know words he was reading and couldn’t understand what he reads. I learned about Gavin as a readers and a person this day. We both knew that we needed to work on his overall interest and confidence in reading. Once this started to come I knew the learning could take place more efficiently.

Rigby Phonemic Awareness Assessmen t (Rigby, 2001): The Rigby Phonemic Awareness Assessment determines a student's ability to hear and articulate individual sounds of spoken words. This is an important reading skill and is considered a major predictor of future reading success. There are five different phonemic awareness categories assessed: 1) Rhyming & Alliteration, 2) Word Parts, 3) Sound Positions, 4) Sound Separation, and 5) Sound Manipulation. Each category is scored as: very competent, moderately competent, minimally competent, or not competent. Children who are less competent in one or more of these areas are likely to experience difficulty in reading and spelling.

Skills Pre-assessment Post-assessment

Rhyming & Alliteration Not Competent Very Competent

Word Parts Minimally Competent Very Competent

Sound Positions Minimally Competent Very Competent

Sound Separation Not Competent Very Competent

Sound Manipulation Not Competent Minimally Competent

Results: According to the assessment, Gavin’s pre-test score is considered to be overall “minimally competent” and progressed to “very competent” in the post-test on the Rigby Phonemic Awareness Assessment. The results indicate that the skills he needs to work on the most are sound manipulation. Gavin demonstrated growth in all areas of phonemic awareness from the pre-test to the post-test.

Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnston, 2012): Gavin was given 26 words that became increasingly difficult to spell. This assessment helps to determine Gavin’s stage of spelling, as well as specific strengths and areas of need in terms of decoding, word features, and letter patterns.

Pre-assessment Post-assessment

Words Spelled Correctly 4/26 22/26

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Results: Gavin showed progress on this spelling inventory. He was able to correctly spell 20 more words at the time of the post-test. Gavin is functioning at the primary level, indicating he is at the beginning of a late emergent stage of spelling. Him results indicate that he understands initial and final consonant sounds, short vowel sounds, digraphs (sh, ch, th, wh), and blends (st, dr, fr). He struggles with inflected endings (-ed, -es, -ies), long vowel patterns (-ike, -ate) and other vowel sounds (-ew, -aw, -ow). These are areas that he will continue to need support in order to grow in him spelling/phonics development.

Gentry Spelling Grade Level Placement Test (Gentry, 1997): This spelling assessment enables teachers or specialists to determine the student's grade level for spelling. A list of 20 words associated with each grade level is administered. When a child spells at least 50 percent of the words correctly on a particular list, the student’s approximate grade level for spelling placement is identified.

Grade Level List Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment Kindergarten 15/20 20/20

Grade 1 8/20 18/20

Results: Gavin’s results showed that him instructional level is 1st grade. This is on grade level.

3-Minute Reading Assessment (Rasinski & Padak, 2005): This assessment was developed to provide teachers and specialists with a relatively quick way to obtain valid diagnostic information about a student’s reading achievement. Word recognition accuracy, fluency, and comprehension are measured during this three-minute reading assessment. Gavin read two passages at a first grade level and was then asked to retell the story to determine comprehension. As Gavin read, I recorded the number of words read correctly per minute, which helps to determine word accuracy and fluency. Additionally, I used rubrics to determine the quality of oral reading and level of comprehension (See last page).

Pre-test Post-testGrade 1: Passage 1

% Words Correct: 34% frustration levelWords Correct Per Minute (WCPM): 4Fluency Rubric Score: 1 out of 16 pointsComprehension Rubric Score: 1 out of 6 points

Grade 1: Passage 2

% Words Correct: 85% WCPM: 28Fluency Rubric Score: 11 out of 16 pointsComprehension Rubric Score: 5 out of 6 points

Kindergarten: Passage 2

% Words Correct: 60% frustration levelWords Correct Per Minute (WCPM): 7Fluency Rubric Score: 4 out of 16 pointsComprehension Rubric Score: 1 out of 6 points

Grade 1: Passage 3

% Words Correct: 88% WCPM: 29 Fluency Rubric Score: 12 out of 16 points Comprehension Rubric Score: 6 out of 6 points

Results: 3

Gavin made progress in all areas that were measured on the 3-Minute Reading Assessments. This includes 1) the percentage of words read correctly on each passage 2) Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM) which shows the rate or speed of the student’s reading 3) the quality of the student’s reading (such as: expression and volume; phrasing; smoothness, and pace of reading as reflected in the Fluency Rubric Score), and 4) Comprehension (story recall and understanding as reflected in the Comprehension Rubric Score).

In terms of Word Recognition Accuracy (the ability to correctly decode and recognize words), Gavin showed gains from the pre- to post-test on both passages that were tested. The goal would be for Gavin to score at 90% or above. Gavin’s highest score was 88% which places him below grade level. While Gavin is indeed making gains in this area, he will continue to need support in order to achieve grade-level status.

One way fluency can be measured is through reading rate. A student whose reading rate falls within the appropriate range may be considered performing at grade-level expectations. For WCPM (words correct per minute), Gavin was able to read 28 words correctly per minute on one passage and 29 words read correctly on a second passage. This is considered below grade level for first grade. The appropriate range for Gavin would be between 30-90 WCPM. Thus, Gavin needs to work on the pace of him reading so that he is more secure in reading at an appropriate reading rate. Although Gavin is below grade level in WCPM, we observed that he did improve his reading rate (WCPM) on both passages from the pre- to the post-test.

Reading fluency is more than just reading fast. It is also the ability to interpret a text with appropriate phrasing, expression, and prosody. The Fluency Rubric Score describes the quality of the student’s reading. In other words, how does the child sound when reading aloud. Initially, Gavin read the text with little expression and at a slower than average pace. During the post-assessment, he began to show signs of improvement. He is starting to make the text sound like natural language in some places, he is able to read in two- and three-word phrases, and has less hesitations. By the end of the school year, typically students should be able to achieve a total Fluency Rubric Score of 9 or above. Gavin’s score of 9 indicates that he is approaching on grade level status.

How well students understand what they read is the ultimate goal of proficient reading. To help determine comprehension level, Gavin was asked to recall details from the assessment passages. He was able to recall the main idea and a few supporting details. At the end of first grade/beginning of second grade, students are expected to achieve a score of 4-6 on the Comprehension Rubric in order to be considered on grade level. Gavin’s highest score on the post-test was 6 out of 6 points. Gavin did get a proficient score on this. I would still like for him to focus on meaning and comprehension of everything he reads.

Overall, the results from the 3-Minute Assessment indicate that Gavin has demonstrated improvement in all areas. He will need continued help with the development of Word Recognition Accuracy, Fluency, and Comprehension as he continues first grade so that him improvements continue and that he becomes a securely on grade level reader. Him many improvements suggest that this kind of future progress is well within him reach.

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San Diego Quick Reading Assessment (LaPray & Ross, 1969): This assessment measures word recognition and determines a base reading level. Gavin was given a list of words to read aloud. If fewer than three words were missed, the student progresses to the next word list until missing three or more words.

Pre-assessment Post-assessment Pre-primer Level (Early/Mid Kindergarten)

7/10 = 70% 10/10 = 100%

Primer Level (Late Kindergarten)

6/10 = 60% 9/10 = 90%

Grade 1 5/10 = 50% 9/10 = 90%

Results: This assessment indicated that Gavin reads with a frustration level throughout kindergarten and first grade in his pre-assessment. After this assessment in particular we had to take a break as there was a frustration level. I knew guiding Gavin in word decoding was something we needed to work on frequently. The post- assessment results indicated that Gavin was able to read word recognition at the pre-primer level and grade 1 level. Gavin can recognize words proficiently on grade level.

Writing Sample (Fiderer, 1999): Gavin was asked to respond to the prompt, “Tell me about an adventure you have had playing Minecraft.

Idea Development

Organization Language Usage

Sentence Structure

Mechanics and

ConventionsPre-

Assessment 2 1 1 1 1Post-

Assessment 3 2 3 2 2

(3 = High Degree 2 = Satisfactory 1 = limited 0 = Not Evident)

Results: Gavin’s pre-assessment was on the lines on limited. He was excited to talk about his adventures in Minecraft but when asked to form a story he made a list of words. His list of words were all relevant and on topic. When asked to explain his writing to me he was able to go into much more details and even had a beginning and an ending to his story when speaking. From this assessment I knew we needed to work on more practice with writing in each of the following areas: idea development, organization, language usage, sentence structure, mechanics and conventions. His post-assessment results was an improvement in all areas. The events in him writing were in chronological order which shows an understanding that writing is supposed to make sense with an appropriate punctuation, detailed language use, sentence structure, and a more concise idea of what the format of a story includes.

Goals:

The following goals were established based on the information gained from the pre-assessments and file

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reports:

1. Decoding/Word Recognition: Gavin will use decoding strategies as he reads (thinking about what makes sense, looking for parts he knows, looking for letter patterns, looking for picture clues). Gavin will be able to recognize words accurately. This will be accomplished through making words activities, real reading experiences and written cloze activities during shared reading, and Fluent Writing Practice.

2. Fluency: Gavin will improve him fluency through daily repeated readings of text and performance of the texts such as poetry and readers theatre. Much emphasis will be placed on appropriate phrasing, pacing, expression and smoothness.

3. Comprehension: Gavin will understand and use various comprehension strategies while reading independently (making predictions, inferences, asking questions, making connections, etc). This will be accomplished by modeling during daily shared reading, read aloud experiences, and through guided reading. All activities we do will revolve back to comprehension because of its importance.

4. Writing: Gavin will continue to develop in areas of writing progress: idea development, organization, language usage, sentence structure, mechanics and conventions. This will be supported through writing about topics of interest to the student and through the sharing of writing strategies.

General Observations:

I met Gavin weekly for 4-5 days a week for about 40 plus minutes each session. Some days Gavin was hesitant to start tutoring because he was tired of the long day at school. Once we started though he was excited and motivated with what we were doing. We spent the first 10 minutes of each lesson reading a chapter from a chapter book Gavin was interested in. We spent some time doing illustrations or large body movements retelling events from the chapter. We then transitioned into a poem (either new or rereading poems previously read). We focused on fluency, phonics, and comprehension with each of these poems along with real life connections. We then did a read aloud focusing on new learning for the week. We focused on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension. We followed this with a writing activity related to our lesson and word work related to our activity. From tutoring we did word harvesting where we pulled 1-2 words each session Gavin was interested in. We harvested these words on a word wall and used these words naturally in future tutoring lessons. We created a vocabulary journal where we made our own definition of the word he wanted to harvest with Gavin’s own illustration to match. We saved this and referred to it often. We played word games that included large body movements. Gavin needed time to move and almost seemed to do better when moving. Our word games we did involves fun games that many times included movement. We always ended with a personal reflection Gavin wrote in his journal where he focused on a strength he showed or something he liked during tutoring. Throughout tutoring we focused on building Gavin’s confidence and bringing in activities and books he enjoyed and wanted to read. This motivation and interest in reading was one of our greatest success’ of the tutoring sessions. Continual support in his interest with reading and writing will help to maintain a positive attitude and willingness to learn. Gavin certainly has the potential to continue to succeed as a reader and a learner.

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Home Recommendations

Maximize Gavin’s reading at home. A great tradition to start is to read together as a family for at least 20 minutes each day. I would recommend using high quality award winning texts where discussions, comprehension, and enjoyment can be obtained. If possible, the 20 minutes of reading should take place at the same time each day and should occur in a distraction-free environment. Have Gavin choose a title and read it aloud together. It’s important to have him choose because he easily becomes disinterested if he doesn’t enjoy the book. This is best viewed as your special time together and not so much as a stressful time. Whether it’s reading aloud, going to the library, or discussing books over dinner. Reading provides a common ground for everyone and often becomes a special family memory.

Model reading and talking about books you are reading or even what you read in a magazine/newspaper. Talking about what you are reading is so important. Additionally, when Gavin is done reading or being read to, have a conversation about what he read. Some good starters are, “What character is like you in this book … why?” and “What was the most exciting part?” and “Tell me about what you just read…” Asking open-ended questions allows for a discussion. Stay away from drill and skill questions that will make Gavin feel as if it is homework task. This is a time where you bond over reading. Many times Gavin will say he doesn’t know. Always model your thinking if he does this. Something along the lines of, “This character is like me because he is brave, strong, and witty. How are you related to this character Gavin? Well you both…” It takes effort many times but sharing your ideas first and guiding his language will help with this.

Another method to focus on comprehension is to guide Gavin in retelling the story in his own words. During tutoring, we visualized the story and then drew scenes from the passage or did action performances to guide us in retelling events from the story.

To enhance vocabulary, point out certain words while reading with Gavin that he find interesting, to him because he likes the sound of it, or because he may not be sure of its meaning and he would like to figure it out together. Pulling out word that he finds interesting will guide in his natural love for words. Gavin and I during tutoring called this word harvesting. During tutoring we would pull at least one word he found pleasing or interesting that he wanted to learn about more and we would harvest it either in his word box or place it on the word wall. Together, we would use context clues to figure out our own definition of the word of his choice. I would try to use this word naturally in my own vocabulary during tutoring and praise Gavin for using one of our words. He seemed to really enjoy this, I would continue this and focus on pulling maybe 2-3 words per week, or more if he so chooses. Creating a word wall or bulletin board in his room so he can see all the words he has in a few months would be a nice visual.

Help Gavin to find a variety of reading materials that appeal to him. This was a goal we had for tutoring. We read lots of books throughout tutoring. When planning my lessons I tried to appeal to texts I thought Gavin would be interested in reading. I found he enjoys Minecraft, superhero, sports spooky, humorous, and nonfiction texts, particularly about people or animals. I would take Gavin to the local library and help him search and check out books he is interested in reading. Motivation and reading so hand in hand. He needs to enjoy what he is reading. If he wants to choose a harder text, encourage it, and do paired reading where you read with him and guide him as needed. When a family member reads, make sure Gavin can see the words and that he follows

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along with what is being read.

Encourage Gavin to do repeated readings of short passages, especially poems. The reading by the family member(s) provides an important model of expressive reading while the child learns how the poem should sound. Research has shown that practiced, repeated readings are one of the best ways to improve fluency. After he has practiced reading these poems several times, suggest he read these passages to other family members. This way it is a meaningful performance that he can be proud of and where he can show off his good work. I would even record him and let him watch himself read and give praise to himself to build some confidence. Even with repeated readings it is important to focus on meaning and to choose a text that interested him. During tutoring Gavin really enjoyed readers’ theatre activities that can be put on as a play when finished. This is reading for a purpose.

Suggest that Gavin continue to write in his journal. Having free writing time is a way for him to express himself in a safe environment. When Gavin is writing try not to focus in too much on his spelling unless this is a word you think he should be able to spell (like a red word). When writing we want him to focus on his ideas first and spelling and overall sentence structure will come with time. You may also want to have him write short notes to family members on post-it notes, leaving them around the home for family members to find. Additionally, he can practice his writing through card writing. Have him design cards and then write a message on the inside to friends, family, or teachers. All these are meaningful activities that focus on writing in fun and a real life context.

Establish a family game night and play word games like What’s GNU?, ZINGO, Very Silly Sentences, Scrabble JR., sight word/rhyming twister, forming word bowling, sight word UNO, Apples to Apples together , or any other game received from literacy night. These will be great games for the whole family to play. With your guidance all three boys can work together and benefit from this fun time.

Have Gavin use letter tiles from various board games to create and manipulate new words through beginning letter substitution, vowel substitution, or new endings. This will improve his phonemic awareness ability and understanding of spelling patterns. I would also suggest using word tiles to make sentences and even a story. Word tiles can be made or found for very cheap on Amazon.

Play rhyming games with Gavin when traveling together from place to place or in the grocery store. These games are as simple as stating, “I’m going to the store and I’m going to buy some ____ (cats).” Then Gavin would repeat the phrase and substitute the end word with a rhyming word, like (bats). Repeat, taking turns each time. Nonsense words are also fun to include. Additionally, use the game “I Spy” to incorporate rhyming clues, such as, “I spy with my little eye, something that rhymes with blue” (shoe).

Let Gavin practice reading from Fry’s instant word list. The following website contains the first 100 of these sight words: http://www.makereadingfirst.com/word_list.pdf. These are words that appear most frequently in print. If he can automatically identify these words while engaging in reading, he will not have to expend energy on decoding these words, which will allow him to focus on reading for comprehension and meaning. All these words can be turned into games such as UNO, GO Fish, War, Chutes and Ladders, or Twister. This is when you will use the sight word games in particular from literacy night. I would stay away from flash card drill and skill method. This might seem effective but it won’t be fun for Gavin and actually over time he won’t retain the words as well.

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I would also suggest you and Gavin find some of these important words naturally when reading.

Finally, family members at home should model that reading is the most important key to Gavin’s future, which will provide him with a successful journey in school as well as in life.

School Recommendations

Continue to model and explicitly teach comprehension strategies during read-alouds, shared reading, and/or guided reading. Begin by explaining the strategy (making predictions, connections, stopping to think, asking questions, synthesizing, evaluation), why good readers do it, and conclude with how this strategy can be used in their independent reading.

Retelling is an important experience for increasing and assessing text comprehension. It can be helpful to provide visuals to enhance the retelling and it helps both listeners and tellers to develop deeper understandings. The Story Bag procedure is one way to incorporate visuals into the retelling. In Story Bag, the students collect “real” representing key points in the story and place them into a bag. They can use these real items as storytelling prompts. For example, a Story Bag for Cinderella might have a cleaning rag, a high-heeled shoe, a magic wand, a pumpkin, and a clock. Story Bag may also be used as an effective pre-writing activity.

Consider capitalizing on Gavin’s enjoyment of drawing and creating stories by incorporating drawings into him comprehension and writing study. Students who enjoy drawing often like illustrating while they tell a story. The student may stand in front of an easel with a felt pen and create line drawings as they talk about story elements. Gavin enjoys movement activities as well. I found having him recreate the movement or act out the scenes of the story really guided him with his retelling and comprehension.

Provide Gavin with books of high interest (picture books, informational/nonfiction books, animal books, etc.) to read during free reading times. These books should have a predictable text and high frequency words. Allow him to read at least 20 minutes each day with a text that is his choice and at his appropriate reading level to assist in him independent reading.

Create an environment where Gavin feels comfortable to take risks in reading. Encourage him to use "his reading finger" to follow the text he's reading and is being read. Perhaps provide him with a book mark to track print or a witch pointer finger.

Provide opportunities for Gavin to do repeated readings of short text such as poems, chants, song lyrics, and Reader’s Theatre. Repeated readings will allow him to express more confidence with a text once he becomes familiar and secure with it. Reader’s Theatre will also allow Gavin to practice him fluency skills in a purposeful way.

Provide modeling of fluent reading for Gavin through teaching read alouds as well as having Gavin listen to pre-recorded books. Have him also participate in choral, echo, paired reading, and shared reading.

Have Gavin practice writing words using a personal dry erase board. See attached Fluent Writing Practice handout.

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Word Ladders (Rasinski, 2005) is also an excellent resource which provides a terrific activity for students to recognize word sounds and letter patterns, as well as develop vocabulary. You can find Dr. Rasinski's Word Ladders: Grades 1-2 online at

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/search?query=daily+word+ladders

After students complete a text or when a read aloud is completed, consider including creative response to that text. Students can engage in writing and performing a related script or poem, create artwork that symbolizes the text, write a journal response, find interesting words or sentences, share related books and other material related to the text, compare and contrast story, characters, or students’ own lives.

Provide writing experiences for Gavin focusing on how he can expand his ideas, thus providing more details and vocabulary usage.

Gavin is a delightful child and I wish him all the best in continuing his school year on a high note. I am confident that with the right encouragement and motivation Gavin can continue to make great strides in reading. We encourage you to contact the administrative secretary for the reading clinic, Ms. Shimry Ernsberger, in March to inquire about how Gavin may become a participant in the reading clinic at Kent State University for the 2016 summer session. If you are interested, she can be reached at (330) 672-2580.

Sincerely,

Ms. Kaihla Smith Kent State University Reading Clinician

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Sight Word Lesson

Adapted from Fluent Writing Practice (Clay, 1993)

Purpose: Students will “over-learn” sight words (typically these are word wall words).

Materials Needed:

Dry Erase Board Dry Erase Marker Eraser Sight Words

Students have three jobs:

SAY the word.

WRITE the word.

CHECK the word.

Procedure:

(Teaching models the procedure the first couple of times)

1. Say the word.

2. Child will write the word on a dry erase board. As child writes word on board they will say the word

out loud two or three times.

3. Child will check the word by saying the word a third time and underlining the word to check for

correctness.

Example:

Teaching: “Write the word COME.”

Student: COME (says word as they are writing the word), COME (continues to write the word and say the

word), COME (underlines the word to check it). It is important that the child says the word, rather than

spells the word.

**If at any time the child makes an error in spelling, the teacher must correct immediately. In this way, the teaching is interrupting habituating the misspelling of the word. Child starts over.

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Students are engaged in three modes of learning:

Visualizing -Taking a picture with the brain

Kinesthetic – Writing the word

Auditory – Hearing the word spoken

For extra practice as well as variety in this lesson, the teacher can prompt in the following ways:

1. Write the word as fast as you can. Pretend you are a racecar driver.

2. Pretend you are a giant and write the word as big as you can on the board (do not let the word go

off the board, or they must start over).

3. Write the word as small as you can as if you were a tiny bug, but not too small or we will not be

able to read it.

4. Write it any other way that will give them repeated practice with sight words.

Taking The Word To Fluency

When the student has learned the sight word, which could be a multiple session process, tell the student

that he or he is ready “to take it to fluency.” Taking a word to fluency means the student owns that word

and agrees not to misspell that word in the future. The procedure for taking a word to fluency: Students are

instructed to write the word in all four corners of the dry erase board which also helps with internalizing the

correct spelling of the word as well as spatial awareness. The students may write the word any way he or

he chooses in the middle of the dry erase board (e.g., large print, small print, all caps, all lower case letters,

cursive, etc.).

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