Program analysis project part b

Program Analysis
Project Part B
The Reading Recovery Program
Learning to write words and messages

Rational for Selection
• This year, in our Reading
Recovery training class, our
trainer decided to focus on
the writing component of
the lessons because there is
such good learning that
comes out of this part of
the lesson, that it was
crucial that we look deeply
at what we were observing
when it comes to the
writing process and how we
facilitate and analyze this all
important skill.
Picture: article.wn.com

Rational for Selection
• In the fall, we began by reading
various articles about the impact of
the writing component on our
student’s reading abilities and we
watched videos showing Reading
Recovery trained teachers who were
able to really use this learning to
enhance the overall program. We
watched our fellow classmates when
they went “behind the glass” with the
critical eye on the writing portion of
the lesson. With all of this focus on
the writing, I decided to use this
opportunity to dig even deeper into
this important learning process that is
embedded in the Reading Recovery
program.
Picture:
belmoresouthpublicschool.edublogs.org

How Learning to
Write fits into the
Reading Recovery
Program

How the Writing Fits
• The overall purpose of the Reading Recovery program is to
ultimately help struggling readers build their self-extending
system to be able to read on the same level as the average
student in his class and maintain that level of success. One of the
most powerful ways to get a reader to really build an
understanding of text is through writing. Through the writing
component of Reading Recovery, “the student practices the
operations needed in early reading. It helps them build a known
body of words and construct new words from their parts. They
shift from simple sentences to more complex sentences and they
learn a variety of ways to structure sentences (Clay, 2006).
• The writing portion of the lesson is organized into three ten
minutes chunks. The first is the Familiar Reads and the Running
Record assessment, then there is the second chunk is the writing
component and then the third part is the introduction of the new
book and the reading of the new book.

Objectives,
Activities and Time
Frames

Objectives
• The objectives of the writing
component of the Reading
Recovery program are not
spelled out like course
objectives in a Basel text or
found in our Common Core state
standards. These objectives are
more specific to the needs of
the individual child and depend
on the reading and writing
understanding that the child
has. There are, however some
expected outcomes of the
writing component that are
explained in Marie Clay’s book.
Picture: www.stultans.ie

Objectives cont.
She lists the following:
• Writing fosters a slow analysis of print from left to right.
• Writing highlights letter forms.
• Writing left to right coaches the eyes to scan letters in a word from left to right.
• Writing focuses the learner to attend to different levels of analysis (features and
letters) and to the importance of letter sequence.
• Writing requires the eye and hand to coordinate awareness and actions.
• Writing puts the learner under pressure to group letters so they can get the message
down quickly.
• Writing consistently but subtly seduces the learner to switch between the different
levels of letters, clusters, words, phrases and messages.
• Reference: Clay, M. M. (2006). Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals Part Two: Teaching
Procedures. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, a division of Reed Publishing (USA) Inc.

Activities
• Below is a list of the activities in the order that they occur in
the lesson along with a description of each activity.
•
• Eliciting a story – In this portion of the lesson, the teacher
must coax the student into providing the message that they
intend to write. The teacher has this part of the lesson in
mind when they first receive the student from the regular
classroom each day. The story must come from genuine,
casual and friendly conversation that the teacher and the
student have had. It is important that the student is writing
about something that they feel is important and interesting.

Activities cont.
• Composing the story – During this
portion of the writing there are lots
of important learning that takes
place. The student writes the story
on a message page, a piece of blank
white paper turned side-ways. They
also have a practice page just like it
above the message page. The child
writes the message on the message
page but the practice page is
important because this is where the
child is able to try out words that
are unknown or partially known.
They use this space to write words
that they should take to fluency.
These are words that the child
should know how to spell because
they are words frequently used in
our vocabulary (sight words).
Picture:
lowellacuff.wordpress.com

Activities Cont.
• The practice page is also used for
hearing sounds in words using
sound or letterboxes. The sound
boxes are a group of squares that
the teacher writes on the page
indicating the amount of sounds
or letters in an unknown word.
The student must then think
about, say, stretch the unknown
word and decide where the
letters that make the sounds that
the child hears should go in the
boxes. The child uses his finger to
touch the boxes as they say the
word indicating where the letters
must go based on the sounds that
they hear. This allows the child to
really think and internalize the
letter sounds and letter patterns
that happen in words.Picture: www.fsd1.org

Activities Cont.
• As the student composes the story on the
message page. The teacher makes sure that
the student is paying attention to basic
sentence structure. She prompts the student
for use of capital letters, punctuation, spacing
and letter formation. These things then
quickly become automatic processes within
the writing. The student then reads the
completed story.

Activities Cont.
• Assembling the cut-up story -
After the child composes the
story the teacher writes it on a
thin sentence strip and cuts the
words apart. Then the pieces
are mixed up and the student
must reconstruct the story in
the proper order and reread
the story to check for accuracy.
This is important because it
helps with directionality, one-
to-one correspondence and
monitoring and self-correcting
behaviors. They will soon learn
to do this to their own writing
and fix errors on their own.
Picture: www.lismoresth-
p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Activities Cont.
• Taking home the story –
Lastly the cut up story is
placed in an envelop with
the sentence correctly
written on the front and
sent home with the child to
practice for homework.
Some teachers encourage
the student to paste the
words on the envelope or in
a notebook, others keep the
envelops in the
reading/homework bag so
that the student can
practice putting the
sentences together over
and over again. Picture:
curriculum.alpineschools.org

Time Frames
• Amazingly, the entire written portion of the Reading
Recovery lesson only lasts for ten minutes. This is
approximately one-third of the whole daily lesson.
Most teachers utilize the “middle ten” for their writing
instruction. It comes after the familiar reads and the
running record “the first ten”, but before the new book
introduction and the reading of the new book, “the
final ten”. The teacher and student must work at a
rapid pace to be able to incorporate all of the activities
in that small amount of time. But, even though there is
not much time to get in all of the activities, it is very
worth the effort and the pace of the lesson keeps the
child engaged will no down time to spend.

The Unit: Evidence: Recommendations:
Reflects a coherent
design– big ideas clearly
guide the design of, and
are aligned with,
assessments and
teaching and learning
activities
Yes, the writing portion of the
Reading Recovery Program
does reflect a coherent design.
This part of the lesson was
designed to maximize student
learning and increase the
students self-extending
system. The teaching and
learning that happens in this
portion is able to translate
right back to the assessments
that are given in the program
as well as over all classroom
performance. For instance,
using sound and letter boxes
will help the child hear the
sounds in words and thus, give
them the tools to be able to
write and read more fluently.
With these skills the student
will increase his scores on the
Hearing Sounds in Words
Assessment as well as the Oral
Reading Fluency and Nonsense
Word Fluency.
As long as the teacher
follows the intended
design of the program,
the writing portion of
the Reading Recovery
Program clearly
matches the focus of
the overall program and
directly aligns with
assessments that are
used within the
program as well as
those that the students
will use in the regular
classroom.

Uses multiple forms of
assessment to let
students demonstrate
their understanding in
various ways.
Embedded within the
writing lesson there are
multiple opportunities
for formative
assessment.
• Using sound and
letter boxes and
analyzing that
information.
• Weekly record of
know writing
vocabulary
• Change over time in
known writing
vocabulary
• Utilizing the practice
page to guide what
the child knows and
needs to learn.
There are lots of
opportunities within the
lessons that lend
themselves to allowing
the student to
demonstrate his
understanding. The
whole format of the
writing portion of the
lesson provides
numerous formative
assessment
opportunities. As long
as the teacher analyses
this data, I recommend
that the program
includes more than a
sufficient amount
assessment
opportunities.

Anchors assessment of
understanding with
authentic tasks calling
for students to
demonstrate their
understanding and
apply knowledge and
skills.
Prior to the first meeting that
the teacher has with the
student, a number of
assessments are given to first
of all, rank the student as
eligible to be served in this
program, and second of all,
give the instructor a guide as
to what the student knows and
is able to do and what he does
not know. The teacher then
uses this data to complete the
Observation Survey, and
Predictions of Progress, when
guide the teacher as to the
level of understanding that the
student has. Then the teacher
is able to gear the lessons to
help the student build on what
he knows and is comfortable
with.
This process grantees
that the student will be
engaged in authentic
learning situations that
allow them to
demonstrate
understandings.

Enables students to
revisit and rethink
important ideas to
deepen their
understanding
Children who are
learning to read are able
to build upon this
learning by writing.
According to Marie Clay,
“writing, like reading,
involves paying close
attention to the
learning of letter
features and symbols
and to clusters of letters
that are likely to occur
together” (Clay, 2006).
Therefore, this daily
writing allows the child
to continue to revisit
and rethink his
understanding and
solidify his learning.
I recommend that the
use of the daily writing
embedded in the
program will work to
enhance and deepen
the child’s
understanding.

Incorporates a variety
of resources. The
textbook is only one
resource among many.
The entire Reading Recovery
Program is based on the
principles of Marie Clay, a
world renowned psychologist
and educator. The majority of
resources for teaching the
program come from the books
that she wrote called Literacy
Lessons Designed for Individuals
part one and part two and The
Observation Survey. The
teacher also continues to
utilize the expertize of the
Reading Recovery Trainer and
the Monthly Staff
Development that includes the
“Behind the Glass”
experiences to help guide their
instructional practices. They
also read relevant articles and
attend the yearly conference
to gain more insight.
My recommendation is
that the program, in the
way it is structured,
does not need anymore
resources because they
would confuse and
dilute the teacher’s
understanding of the
process and they would
take away from the
consistent routine of
the lessons for the child.

Uses clear criteria for
teacher, peer, and self-
evaluations of student
products and
performances.
The criteria used for
evaluation of student
products and
performances is based
on the Observation
Survey Assessments
and the child’s own
understandings.
Students are evaluated
before participating in
the program and then
again after bing exited.
The growth is then
tracked for with the
classroom teacher for
the remainder of the
school year.
Because the program is
one on one with the
teacher there is no
evidence of peer or self-
evaluation. I don’t
recommend any
changes to this because
of the age of the
students and the short
time span of the
lessons.

Incorporates instruction
and assessment– the
design provides
opportunities for
students to explain,
interpret, apply, shift
perspective, empathize,
and self-assess.
Yes, this program is
geared toward the
conversation of the
teacher and student as
well as the observations
that the teacher
constantly conducts of
the student’s progress.
Evidence of these
opportunities are in the
lessons ability to be
intuitive and address the
needs of the student. In
this way, the student is
able to explain, interpret,
apply shift perspective,
empathize and self-
assess his own
understandings.
The differentiated
nature of the Reading
Recovery program
allows for instruction
and assessment to
provide multiple
opportunities for the
students to interact and
I think that because of
the programs ability to
be one on one, this is
one of the programs
assets.

Evaluation of
Differentiation
Procedures

Evaluation of
Differentiation
• Reading Recovery is the epitome of differentiated instruction. Each
teacher works with one single student one on one. They use the
thirty-minute block of time to devote to only that particular student
and provide instruction that is geared especially to what that
individual student needs. Teachers must create and maintain special
individualized documents that help them to truly understand the
needs of the student. They write an Observation Survey, which is
based on the initial assessments that the child must participate in, in
order to be chosen for the program. This document is the teacher’s
analysis of the student’s tests. She looks at the tests and thinks
about what the student can do and needs to improve on. From
there the teacher write a Predictions of Progress document where
the teacher decides on what strategies the child needs to develop in
order to progress on to the next level of independence. All of this
planning is done with the needs of that particular student in mind.
•

Evaluation of
Differentiation Cont.
• From there, the program specifies that the teacher
spend the first ten days of instruction just getting to
know the student, making observations and only
working on things that the student already knows and
can do well. This helps the student and teacher build a
strong relationship that in turn helps the child feel
more comfortable with the teacher and helps them to
take more risks as a learner. From there the teacher is
able to create daily lesson plans that build upon what
that child already knows. Reading Recovery provides
the almost impossible. It give students a program that
is completely and utterly designed to be differentiated
to exactly what that individual student needs.

Evaluation of
Formative and
Summative
Assessment

Evaluation of Formative and
Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment
- Practice Page
• - Sound/Letter Boxes
• - Weekly Record of Known
Writing Vocabulary
• - Change Over Time in
Known Writing Vocabulary
• - Analysis of the cut up
sentence
Summative Assessment
• Hearing Sounds in Words
Assessment
• Writing Vocabulary
Assessment

Explicit, Hidden
and Absent
Curriculum

Explicit Curriculum
• The explicit curriculum in the writing process
allows the child to be able to build a reading
and writing vocabulary and learn strategies
that could be used on their own when they are
exited and back in the regular classroom. On
the next slide are a list of explicit curricular
goals for each child during the writing portion
of the program.

Explicit Curriculum Cont.
• * being able to hear the sounds in words to spell them
correctly
• * building a wealth of written vocabulary
• * understanding sentence structure
• * capitalization and punctuation
• * spacing
• * letter formation
• * creating a message that can be read by others

Hidden Curriculum
• It is expected that a student in the Reading
Recovery program work quickly and become
independent problem solvers. There is little time
to waste in the Reading Recovery lesson and so
the teachers much set a timer and move the
lesson at a rigorous pace. In the writing portion of
the program, the child is encouraged to take
chances and risks in spelling and writing. They are
praised to get started writing quickly and to use
strategies for solving problems automatically.
These things help the teacher see what the
student does and thinks when pressured to make
split second discussions.

Absent Curriculum
• The Reading Recovery writing program does not
include explicitly teaching phonics skills or word sorts
to spell words. The philosophy of the program
discourages having children use sight word lists to
learn words in isolation. It encourages students and
teachers to work on spelling words that the child is
using in that moment. It does not spend time
practicing those words and taking spelling tests on
the words that are important. Instead, the child takes
important sight words to fluency by practicing
noticing these words in there reading, writing that
word on the practice page if the child is using it in the
message that they are composing and encouraging
the child to know the word correctly and always write
it correctly every time they use it.

Strengths and
Opportunities for
Improvements

Strengths and Opportunities for
Improvement
Strengths
• Children are able to transfer
their knowledge of sentence
structure to the classroom.
They learn how to write
complete sentences that
increase in difficulty and they
are able to use this to help with
their classroom writings.
• They become more confident in
their ability to sound out words
for writing. They learn how to
listen for the sounds of the
letters in the words and
eventually connect sounds to
vowel pairs, blends, diagraphs
and endings.
Opportunities for
Improvement
• One of the major
weaknesses of the writing
program is the fact that our
children have to write
multiple sentences across
pages in the first grade
according to the Lucy
Calkins writing program
that we use school wide.
The program does not
provide the time for the
writing to mimic the writing
done in the class.

Strengths and Opportunities for
Improvement Cont.
Strengths
• They are able to use the strategies
that they learn to spell and write
words in the regular classroom. They
use the sound boxes and letter boxes
to help them hear the sounds in the
words. Then as the lessons come to a
close the children begin to know
when they need to use these boxes
on their own and in many cases, they
write the boxes and solve the spelling
of the words themselves.
• They are able to get one on one
support to help them learn new
things and fix any misconceptions
that they have about writing.
• Another weakness is that
according to our M-Class
assessment criteria, our
students must complete
written response questions
that are based on
comprehension techniques.
The writing process, as
outlined by the Reading
Recovery program, does
not include teaching
children how to answer
these type of questions in
the lesson.
Opportunities for
Improvement

Unit Reflection
The writing component of the
Reading Recovery program is a very
well developed and systematic
differentiated way to help teach
struggling readers. It involves all of
the important processes needed to
build on the strategies that young
readers require. Marie Clay says,
“When the child is at the end of a
series of early intervention lessons he
will have fluent control of these
practical aspects of story production
and will be ready to blossom into
producing stories of greater length
and quality back in his classroom
activities” (Clay, 2006). When a child
is able to firm up his understandings
of the written word and build on his
own understandings, he is able to
finally gain the self-extending system
that all students need in order to be
good readers and writers.
Reference:
Clay, M. M. (2006). Literacy Lessons Designed for
Individuals Part Two: Teaching Procedures. Portsmouth,
New Hampshire: Heinemann, a division of Reed
Publishing (USA) Inc.
Picture: www.southgateschools.com

References
• Clay, M. M. (2006). Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals Part Two:
Teaching Procedures. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, a
division of Reed Publishing (USA) Inc.
• Clay, M. M. (2006). Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals Part One:
Why? When? And How?. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, a
division of Reed Publishing (USA) Inc.
• Ornstein, A. C. & Hunkins, F. P. (2013). Curriculum Foundations, Principles,
and Issues. Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Program analysis project part b

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