Module 1: Opitz- Pg. 14 #4

           This school year, I have a classroom full of 5^th graders who are predominately proficient readers. As I have completed DRA2s this past week, I have been able to understand where my students stand based on reading level. I have a couple of students whom are reading above grade level (60 and 70), while a hand full of students are still reading at a 40 (4^th grade). The majority of my class (about 25 students) is reading either on grade level or above for this point in the school year. When looking at my CRCT reading scores from last year, I have one student (out of 32) who scored a level one. This is great, as it allows to me spend time with him, helping him conquer his struggle with reading.

                I chose to focus question fourteen from Opitz’s text on my struggling, or less proficient reader. While I was listening to this student read, he read word by word, ultimately slowing down and hurting his fluency. From this past summer, I now have a better understanding of the difference between proficient and non-proficient readers, as one reads for understanding verses word by word or individual letter sounds. As my less proficient student would come across an unfamiliar word, he would substitute it with a word in which began with the same letter. Nine times out of ten, the substituted word did not have the same meaning as the initial text (he just guessed and did not take into mind context clues). My goal this year in assisting this student is to help him gain understanding as he reads. When he comes across an unfamiliar word, I will encourage him to explain what he thinks this sentence is about. By doing this, I hope he will be able to give me a word to replace the difficult word. In my opinion, if he can gain correct meaning from the text, it does not matter if he uses synonyms or the exact word.