CASE STUDY - WORD RECOGNITION

Case Study - Word Recognition

Megan Knight

EDU 474

4 December 2020

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CASE STUDY - WORD RECOGNITION

Word Recognition

Student Pseudonym: Anna

Grade Level: 8th Grade

QRI Word Lists:

I administered the QRI Word Lists from Pre-Primer 1 through Fifth Grade. As I

mentioned in the QRI Summary, I gave the student instructions before administering the word

lists. I started with the Pre-Primer 1 Word list, and had the student continue reading until it

appeared she met frustration. Therefore, I didn’t have her read beyond the Fifth Grade Word

List.

Pre-Primer 1 - First Grade Word Lists: Independent

On the Pre-Primer 1, Anna automatically identified all 17 words correctly, earning 100%.

Therefore, she was Independent on the Pre-Primer 1. Because she was independent at this

level, I had Anna read the next list, which was the Pre-Primer 2/3. Again, Anna automatically

identified every word on this list, receiving a score of 20/20 or 100%. Anna’s reading level for

the Pre-Primer 2/3 is Independent as well. Because of this, I had Anna move onto the Primer

Word List. Once again, Anna automatically identified 20/20 words, which indicates that the

Primer Word List is also at her Independent Level. After the Primer, I had Anna read the First

Grade Word List. Anna scored 20/20 on this list, so she was Independent on the First Grade

Word List as well.

Second Grade Word List: Independent

Because Anna was independent on the First Grade Word List, I administered the Second

Grade Word List. On this list, Anna automatically identified 19/20 words correctly. In addition,

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she identified one word correctly, but was not automatic. This word was pieces. Anna hesitated

before reading this word, so even though she identified it correctly, she was not automatic. The

total number for words correct on this list was 20/20. Therefore, Anna was still Independent at

the Second Grade Level.

Third Grade Word List: Independent

Anna was independent on the Second Grade Word List, so next I had her read the Third

Grade Word List. On this list, Anna automatically identified 17/20 words correctly. In addition,

she also identified the word wool correctly, but she was not automatic. However Anna was

unable to correctly identify two words on the list. These words were introduced and enemies.

Because of this, Anna scored 18/20 for her Total Number Correct. Although Anna was unable to

correctly identify two of the words on the list, she was still Independent on the Third Grade

Word List because she scored 90%. However, while this falls within the Independent range,

Anna is at the very low end of the Independent Level on this word list because Independent

ranges from 90% through 100%. Anna’s errors on the Third Grade Word List are included in the

table below, along with her actual response for each word.

3rd Grade Word List Errors

Item Response

introduced intra, intra-tude

enemies emenies

According to the data above, Anna was able to correctly identify most of the sounds of

each word. For example, on the word introduced, Anna was able to correctly identify the

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beginning sounds. However, she misread the ending of the word. Similarly, on the word

enemies, Anna was very close to identifying this word. However, she flipped the letters n and m.

This is a pretty common error for students to make when reading this word.

Fourth Grade Word List: Frustration

Because Anna was still independent on the Third Grade Word List, I administered the

Fourth Grade Word List. Anna automatically identified 12/20 words correctly on this list.

Additionally, she identified the word adventurer, but she hesitated and sounded it out. Therefore,

her Total Number Correct was 13/20, which is 65%. Based on these results, the Fourth Grade

Word List is at Anna’s Frustration Level. However, she is at the high end of the Frustration

Level because Frustration is anything below 14/20 or 70%. If Anna would have read one more

word correctly, she would have been in the Independent Level on the Fourth Grade Word List.

Anna’s errors on the Fourth Grade Word List are included in the table below:

4th Grade Word List Errors

Item Response

adaptation adaption

illustrated illnustrated

dynamite dyniminate

symbolized Symboliz (short i)

competition completion

passenger passing

memorize memory

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Based on this data above, Anna made some similar errors. One pattern that Anna makes

is that she frequently reads the initial sounds correctly, but changes or omits the ending sounds.

For example, Anna read symbolized as symboliz, omitting the -ed suffix at the end of the word. In

addition, Anna read the word passenger as passing. These two words are similar, but the endings

are different. Finally, Anna read memorize as memory. In this example, Anna ignored the suffix

-ize and just read the root word. Based on these patterns, Anna might need an intervention

focusing on reading ending sounds and suffixes of words.

Fifth Grade Word List: Frustration

Although Anna was at the Frustration Level on the Fourth Grade Word List, I still had

her read the Fifth Grade List. One reason for this was because I didn’t actually score the list until

later in the day, so I hadn’t yet determined that she met frustration. In addition, because Anna

was close to being Independent on the Fourth Grade Word List, I decided to have her read one

more list above just to check. On the Fifth Grade Word List, Anna automatically identified 3/20

words correctly. These words were reflected, medicine, and tales. In addition, Anna read the

word content correctly, but she was not automatic. Therefore, Anna’s Total Number Correct was

4/20, which equals 20%. Because of this, Anna was at her Frustration Level while reading the

Fifth Grade Word List. I have included a table of Anna’s errors on the Fifth Grade Word List

below:

5th Grade Word List Errors

Item Response

biography biograph

artery intery

capture capiture

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CASE STUDY - WORD RECOGNITION

vessels ves

stampede stabled

obstacles obst a sle (long a)

divorced dis-ver-ced

registration re-kistration

scarce scare

primitive prime-it- ee

visualize vis-ul-ee

bulletin bullet

solitary sool-eetary

fluent flu

pioneers piosers

advantage advention

The data above follows many of the same patterns I noted with the previous two word

lists. For example, Anna correctly identifies most of the beginning sounds of each word.

However, she mispronounces or omits the ending of the word. For example, in the word bulletin,

Anna omitted the ending sound by saying bullet. Similarly, Anna made this same error when she

read the word biography as biograph. In addition, Anna read the word fluent as flu and vessels as

ves. Therefore, she read the initial sounds of each of these words, but omitted the rest of the

word. Because of this, Anna might benefit from an intervention focussing on reading ending

sounds of words.

Based on the results of the QRI Word Lists, I was not able to identify Anna’s exact

Instructional Level. This is because she went from being Independent on the Third Grade Word

List to Frustration on the Fourth Grade Word List. However, these results indicate that Anna is

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most likely Instructional between the third and fourth grade levels. This is because she was at the

low end of Independent, and on the verge of Instructional on the Third Grade Word List. In

addition, Anna was at the high end of Frustration on the Fourth Grade Word List. In this case, if

she would have read one more word correct, she could have been instructional. Because Anna’s

results indicate she is instructional somewhere between third and fourth grade, this could mean

she is instructional at a late third grade or early fourth grade level. Either way, Anna’s

Instructional Level is significantly below her grade level. Anna is in 8th grade, but the QRI Word

Lists indicate she is performing at a third or fourth grade level. This reveals a discrepancy

between Anna’s grade level and actual instructional level. Therefore, Anna may need additional

interventions to help her improve her accuracy of word recognition. I have included Anna’s

overall performance on the QRI Word Lists in the table and graph below:

QRI Word List Level

Pre-Primer 1 Independent

Pre-Primer 2 Independent

Primer Independent

First Grade Independent

Second Grade Independent

Third Grade Independent

Fourth Grade Frustration

Fifth Grade Frustration

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Narrative Passage - Level 3:

Because Anna was instructional between third and fourth grade on the QRI Word Lists, I

decided to administer the Third Grade passage. Although I know that words are more difficult to

read in isolation, I chose to start with the lower level passage and then have Anna move up a

grade level if she ended up reading at the independent level. I decided to have Anna read the

Level 3 Narrative Passage titled “A New Friend From Europe” because some of the words she

misread in the Word Lists were included in this passage, and I wanted to see if she would be able

to correctly identify them in the context of the passage. For example, on the Third Grade Word

List, Anna read the word introduced as intra-tude. This word is included in the passage “A New

Friend From Europe,” so I wanted to see if she would be able to read it in context.

On the Level 3 Narrative Passage, Anna made a total of 37 miscues, including

substitutions, omissions, and insertions. Therefore, her Total Accuracy was in the Instructional

range. In addition, Anna’s score for total meaning changing miscues was 18, which also falls into

the Instructional Range for Total Acceptability. Based on these results, this Level 3 Narrative

Passage is at Anna’s Instructional Level. I have included a table of Anna’s substitutions from

this passage in the table below:

Narrative Passage Miscues (Substitutions Only)

Item Response

Miss Wagner Miss Wigner

Ivan Alvin

introduced intruded

parents family

orphanage orp-engine

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English Spanish

know don’t

gestures gustrolls

chose choose

book books

beautifully beautiful

colored color

sleek sleenk

diesel disel

usual usually

Ivan him

knees knee

interested interesting

page pages

ravine ralvine

expression experience

indicated inducated

it he

heavily heavy

tablet Ta-blet (long a) and table

of to

indicate indicade

Based on this data, Anna seems to still struggle reading some words in context. She

misread the same word on both the Word Lists and Level 3 Narrative Passage. For instance, on

the Word Lists, Anna read introduced as intra-tude. While reading the passage, Anna read the

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word introduced as intruded. Therefore, she struggles with this word when it is isolated and in

context. In addition, similarly to the Word Lists, Anna made some of the same errors when

identifying words in this passage. Again, one main pattern that I noticed is that Anna changes or

omits the ending or suffix of words. For example, she read the word beautifully as beautiful,

colored as color, knees as knee, and heavily as heavy. In each of these examples, Anna omits the

suffix and instead just reads the root word. In addition, Anna read the word interested as

interesting. This shows that she changed the suffix of the word while she was reading from -ed to

-ing. Because of this, like I mentioned previously, Anna might benefit from an intervention

focused on identifying and reading suffixes.

Narrative Passage Total Miscues

Type of Miscue Total Level

Accuracy 37 Instructional

Acceptability 18 Instructional

Expository Passage - Level 3:

Because Anna was Instructional on the Level 3 Narrative Passage, I chose not to have her

move up to a fourth grade passage. Instead, I decided to keep Anna on the same level and have

her read a Level 3 Expository Passage. Typically, expository passages tend to be harder for

students to read, so I wanted to see how Anna’s scores would compare to the Level 3 narrative

passage. In addition, I chose the passage “Cats: Lions and Tigers in Your House” in order to see

if Anna would be able to read the word enemies in context since she mispronounced it as

emenies on the Word Lists.

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Anna did really well reading this Level 3 Expository Passage. She had a total of 7

miscues, which placed her at the Instructional Level for Total Accuracy. However, only one of

these miscues was meaning changing, so she was at the Independent Level for Total

Acceptability. I have included a table of Anna’s miscues from the Level 3 Expository Passage in

the table below:

Expository Passage Miscues (Substitutions Only)

Item Response

animals aminals

necks neck

it its

good look

brushing blushing SC brushing

Based on these results, Anna made some similar mistakes to the previous passage and

Word Lists. For example, she read the word necks as neck and it as its. Again, these errors

involve suffixes. Another mistake that Anna made that is similar to a previous mistake is that she

read animals as aminals. In this example, Anna switched the letters n and m, which is similar to

what she did when she read the word enemies on the Word Lists. However, this time, Anna was

able to correctly pronounce the word enemies in the context of the passage.

Expository Passage Total Miscues

Type of Miscue Total Level

Accuracy 7 Instructional

Acceptability 1 Independent

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Overall, the results from the QRI Word Lists and Passages indicate that Anna is

Instructional at the Third Grade Level. Although Anna was Independent on the Third Grade

Word List, her performance on the Passages indicates that she is Instructional at this level.

Again, this is significantly below her grade level because she is in 8th grade. Therefore, Anna

needs some additional practice and assistance in the area of accurately reading words. Anna’s

miscues on the Word Lists and Passages reveal some patterns in her word recognition skills. The

main pattern that I noticed was that she would change or leave out suffixes of words while

reading. Because of this, I feel that it would be beneficial for Anna to participate in an

intervention focusing on identifying and reading words with suffixes.

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