Dafne M. is a Spanish ELL student in 2nd grade. She lives with her mother, father and 11 year old brother. They speak Spanish at home. I tested Dafne with a level 12 text, called Max and Jake. It is about two new friends that help each other learn new things. In this book, Jake helps Max learn how to swim. Dafne read this selection with 95% accuracy and had a self-correction rate of 1:2. She had 10 errors out of 212 words. Dafne used meaning and visual cues on the errors, and neglected syntax. The miscues looked similar except for the endings. The meaning was close. Sometimes she self-corrected by re-reading, integrating meaning, syntax and visual cues. Other times she would use meaning and syntax on the 1st attempt, then self-correct using visual. Dafne retold the story in detail. Her errors did not interrupt her undertanding of the story. ELLS often omit the endings of words (-s, -ed, -ing). One teaching point is to show her how close she was to the correct word, and help her manipulate and see the endings by using magnetic letters for root words or suffixes. Magnetic letters help to magnify the suffixes. With teacher support, Dafne can practice saying sentences using the appropriate sentence structure, or reread the text with accuracy. The 2nd teaching point is to get her hands out of the text. She uses her left thumb when reading the left side of the book, hiding the previous words, and her right finger for the right page. Her fingers help her track the text, but her fluency slows down. Dafne can practice reading without her fingers on familiar texts, to decrease the habit, and learn to use her finger only when there is a tricky word or phrase to read.
It is common for Spanish ELLS to make errors on suffixes and vowels. They are learning new sentence structures and grammar in their second language. Vowels are also challenging because in the Spanish, there are only 6 vowel sounds. English has many more- short, long, and dipthongs. As Dafne integrates meaning, syntax, and visual cues, those errors will decrease.
Miriam is a second grader originally from Libya. Her 1st language is Arabic. She has been in American schools since preschool, and her aunt in Libya teaches English. She has been exposed to English for most of her life, but speaks Arabic at home. Miriam selected Coco's Bell after looking at the pictures. She wanted to find out what happened to the cat and the bird. The story is about a cat that catches and kills birds. The little girl and her father try to save a bird, but it dies. They have to think of a way to stop Coco from killing birds. This is a level 13 text with 224 words. Miriam read fluently, phrased and with expression. She made 6 errors for an accuracy score of 98%. Her self-correct rate was 1:2. Miriam's errors were word endings. She integrated meaning, syntax and visual cues well, and used visual cues at the point of error to self-correct. Her retell was sequenced and detailed.
The first teaching point for Miriam is looking through the whole word, and monitoring suffixes. Practice in slow-checking through the word and re-reading to see if the sentence looks and sounds right. Magnet letter work can help as well. Miriam substituted words that had the same meaning, and were visually similar (saw/showed, ringed/rang). She relied on the words she knew. For a second teaching point, the teacher can provide choices of which sentence sounds and looks correct, and then have Miriam re-read the sentences accurately. As she becomes more familiar with grammar, those errors will decrease.
Miriam's 1st language is so different from English. Arabic is read right to left, and has cursive-like characters that do not resemble the English alphabet. I predicted that her reading would show more gramatical and syntax errors. I believe that her strong exposure to English, and her ability to think about the story prior to the text reading and use of picture cues has enabled her to integrate meaning, syntax, and visual cues more successfully. Her fluency and expression told me that she understood the meaning of what she was reading. She is an ELL student that probably will reach grade level this year, if her teacher supports her progress with material that will stretch her thinking, vocabulary development, and grammar.
Miscue analysis insights are due to a year of studying Marie Clay's Reading Recovery approach to working with struggling readers.
Information about Spanish and Arabic alphabets and challenges for students learning how to read in English were found on the Internet.
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