Week 1: Lesson Plan
Did I introduce the assessments with a positive attitude and an explanation of how the results will help student be a better reader?
Yes, I introduced the assessments with a positive attitude and explained how the results would support the student’s literacy development. To engage him, I brought a giant book titled The Biggest Word Book into the room and showed it to him. Because of its unusual size, the book immediately captured his attention as soon as he entered. I asked, “Are you interested in this book?” He responded enthusiastically and began reading it on his own initiative. Recognizing his curiosity about the word book, I introduced the assessments with a warm-up question: “What is the book mainly about?” When he answered, “Words,” I continued, “Today, our first activity will also focus on words. Through this activity, I hope to gain a clearer understanding of your current knowledge of vocabulary. This will help me plan our future sessions more effectively and support you in becoming a stronger reader.”
Assessment: Motivation to Read Fiction (MRF)
Due to time limitations today, we completed only half of the MRF test (specifically, the first eight questions). Nevertheless, the student participated actively throughout the assessment. At the beginning, when I asked whether he knew what fiction was, he responded affirmatively and expressed great interest in reading fiction. While I explained the instructions for the test, he listened attentively and appeared to understand everything clearly. During the assessment, when I read each question aloud, he maintained focus on the paper and followed the directions carefully. Each time, after I instructed him to mark his answer, he used his pencil to place a check beside his chosen response, as required.
On a few occasions, he found questions confusing. For example, when encountering the third question, “When I come to a word in a fiction book that I don’t know, I can ____,” he hesitated. His confusion seemed to stem from the fact that he rarely comes across unfamiliar words while reading. To clarify, I rephrased the question as, “How often do you refer to the dictionary when you read?” He replied, “Sometimes,” and then marked “sometimes figure it out” as his answer.
Overall, the student followed my instructions carefully and responded appropriately. He was able to answer my questions logically and with confidence, which reflected both his engagement and his ability to understand the assessment process.
Assessment: Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
When I read the instructions for the TOWRE test to him, he demonstrated clear understanding and was able to follow them without difficulty. In the word reading subtest, he read 59 words within 45 seconds, 58 of which were correct. In the nonword reading subtest, he reached the 33rd item within the 45-second time limit. He read 6 words incorrectly, though he successfully self-corrected 3 of them. Additionally, he skipped a total of 8 words. Compared with his word reading performance, his nonword reading was noticeably weaker.
