Case Study

Elaura Oshiro
ED 291
 SALT LAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 2

Salt Lake Elementary is located in the Moanalua district. Salt Lake, is a

Title 1 school, which means that more than half of the students that attend
here have free or reduced lunch status. Salt lake strives to have their students
become lifelong learners. The school tries to teach their students through their
motto “Dolphin P.R.I.D.E.” The dolphin, represents the school’s mascot and the
word “pride” stands for Practicing Respect, Integrity and Demonstrating
Excellence.
Life as a Paraprofessional Educator... 3

Before this semester, I have worked for Salt Lake

Elementary as a paraprofessional educator for the EL, HELLO!!!
English Learners, program for three years. We have to work
with students on their reading, writing, listening, and
speaking skills. We try our very best to catch students up in
their english proficiency and hopefully near the end of the
year they can pass the WEIDA test that allows the
students to exit the EL program. Students can exit the
program once their English is adequate enough where they
don't need our support services anymore. I took this
opportunity to use one of the students that I worked with
in the class. His name is Aden.
 4

A Look at Aden...
Aden is 8 years old but since he’s born in August, he’s only
in 2nd grade. He is the eldest in his family, and his younger
brother is going to school next year for Kindergarten. He is full
korean and can speak both English and Korean well. He is very
smart and he shows it in his work. After school he goes to
Kumon to strengthen his knowledge. He likes to learn about
sharks and enjoys collecting Stranger Things Funko Pops. He’s
very athletic and was on the Tennis team for the school. When
he learns something new, he wants to read about it more, like
how animals camouflage. He’s very friendly to everyone and he’ll
run up to you just to say, “hi!”
 CLassroom Observation 5

When Aden is working by himself he is very productive and focuses on his work.
The only thing is that he tends to rush and tries to finish it first. He does double check
his work before turning it in. When he’s with a group he’s very eager to participate in
discussions and is willing to help his classmates. He does get distracted sometimes, as
any student is when they get paired with their friends. These are some strengths and
weaknesses I noticed Aden has.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
● Hard worker ● Wants to be the first to finish
● Learns from mistakes ● He rushes
● Remembers the vocabulary ● Tries to help others before he’s
● Willing to reread passages even done with his own work
● Shares his knowledge ● Gets distracted with friends
 6
When I’m working with Aden I usually practice
Working with Aden... working on his memorization with his phonetic
sounds. I do this drill by using cards (like the
white ones shown on the right). First I show the
cards individually, then I look through the cards
and lay them out to create words (just like the
picture). Because I went through the deck
Learned Words
individualy first, Aden can quickly tell me the word
that I made with the cards. Practicing this helps Build
him recognize sounds and where words can be Anyone
broken apart. I also practice the red cards with
him, as they are learned words and cannot be Laugh
sounded out or broken down.
 The Assessment 7

Here’s the steps for the assessment:

1. Read the whole passage to the student
2. Let the student read the same passage for 1 minute
a. Mark words that he/she messed up on
3. Go over with student how many words they read, minus
the ones they missed, and review those words.
4. Allow student to skim through the reading to remember
their mistakes
5. For the 2nd assessment, have them read the same
passage again for 1 minute. This is their final assessment.
6. Go over the last assessment with the student. Give them
tips on how they can improve their reading score.
 Aden’s Assessment 8

His first assessment he almost read the whole passage but with some
errors. When I went over the words that he messed up on, he quickly corrected
himself and said the correct pronunciation. Now that he wasn’t being timed he
was able to say the words without any struggle. I told him that if he gets to a
word that he needs to break down, he should take the time to figure it out,
instead of guessing what it says and moving on.
During his second assessment, he did a lot better. When he pronounced a
word wrong, he quickly corrected himself and continued reading. He almost
read the whole passage, only missing seven words. Because he corrected
himself, he didn't get any words wrong. I congratulated him for following my
advice and fixing his mistakes. The only advice I gave him was to remember to
breath while he read.
OVERALL... 9

Aden is a good student and is very intelligent. He works hard in

learning new words and building his vocabulary. In fact, I remember him
looking at a book and telling himself that he read it before and that it
was too easy. He ended up picking a book about Abraham Lincoln. He
tries to use the new vocabulary words in his writing, even though the
word is difficult to use. I also admire the fact that he would reread the
passages to look for answers.
Aden may like to rush and finish things first, but I think if he
continues to work hard and strives to excel in his learning, he can exit the
EL program He just has to be mindful of his weaknesses and work
through them. If he does this I think Aden will be a very exceptional
student.