READING OBSERVATION

Reading Observation
Jocelyn Vazquez
EDU 214-701 Process & Acquisition Reading

READING OBSERVATION

During the reading observational study, I interacted with a seven-year-old boy

named Julian. Julian is a first grader at White Marsh Elementary School. Ive been
babysitting him for three years. I chose to write my paper on him because he is one of the
brightest kids I know.
According to Holmberg (2005), pre-reading activities were created to help
students use their prior knowledge to become interested about a book prior to reading it.
Before reading Romeow and Drooliet, I asked Julian a few questions. The first
question was, what do you think the book is going to be about? He said, I think its
going to be about a dog and a cat that like each other. I responded and asked, What
makes you think that? He said, The boy cat is kneeling in front of girl dog. Maybe he is
singing her a song to make her like him. By analyzing the cover of the book and
engaging in conversation, we were completing a pre-reading activity.
As I was listening to him read, I was paying close attention to his reading
behavior. From the very beginning, I noticed that Julian used his pointer finger as a
guide. I thought that was a good technique because it allowed him to follow the words
one at a time.
There were a few times when Julian was intimidated by the words. As a result, he
made no effort to sound out the words. For example, there was a sentence that said,
carnivorous canine. Another phrase was mousignor mouse. Julian asked me for help,
and we sounded out the words together. After he had read the words, he took an extra
step to ask me they meant. By asking for the meaning, it showed me that he was
interested in the book.

READING OBSERVATION

I wanted to reassure him that it was okay for him to have difficulty with those
words since theyre uncommon for children his age. I also explained that this is the
beauty of reading. I told him that reading expands your vocabulary because it exposes
you to words that you may not have ever heard.
I also noticed that he would mispronounce certain words. Mispronunciation was
expected because hes only in the first grade. For example, there was a phrase in the
book, hot headed. However, he pronounced it as hot heeded. In order to correct his
mistake, we broke up the word head and then added the ed. Julian realized that there
was an a and not two es which was why it was pronounced differently.
Another reading behavior that I noticed was he changed the original word to a
different word. The phrase was, were disguised. Instead, he said, were disgusted.
After realizing his mistake, he explained that the words look alike, and he got them
confused. Julian also mentioned that he has heard the word disgusted more than
disguised. That may have been why he got the two words mixed up.
Julian read the story with a lot of expressions. By him reading with expression, it
showed me that he was engaged in the story. According to Peha, reading a text with
emotion, is one of the best ways to understand it. The reader needs to understand the
meaning of the words and the grammar of each sentence, in order to use the right type of
expression.
Although Julian was able to read the story fairly well, I wanted to see if he
understood what he read. Reading comprehension is being able to understand what you
read (Smith, 2014). I asked him to summarize the story to me. Based on his response, I
got the impression that he understood the story. I also asked him a few questions; such as

READING OBSERVATION

why do you think the mouse said, You may lick the bride? He said, because theyre
cats and dogs and instead of kissing they lick because theyre animals.
According to Holmberg, fluency is the ability to read a text orally with speed,
accuracy, and expression, and comprehension. I would say that Julian met all those
requirements. Despite the fact, that we had to stop a few times to sound out a word and
understand the meaning, he did an overall great job.
Julians ability to read with expression showed me that he was able to understand
the meaning of words and the grammar. Although he made a few mistakes, he was able to
correct them. Not only was he able to read the book, but also he understood what he read.
The child needs to understand what he or she is reading, if not it defeats the purpose. In
order to properly read the text, there are many steps and precautions that must be taken.
The Language Experience Approach is a useful guide to use when teaching
students how to read. According to Taylor, it promotes reading and writing by using
personal experiences and conversations. During my personal experience with Julian, I
was able to sit with him one and one and observe his strengths and weaknesses regarding
reading.

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References:

Holmberg, B., & Allen, S. (2005). Working With Emergent Readers and Writers.
In Processes and Acquisition of Reading (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Pearson Custom Publishing.

Peha, S. (n.d.). Reading: Expression Equals Comprehension -- Fluency Strategies

Expressive

Reading.

Retrieved

October

17,

2014,

from

http://www.ttms.org/say_about_a_book/expression_equals_comprehension.htm

Smith, W.

(2014).

What

is

Reading

Comprehension?

Retrieved

from

http://www.k12reader.com/what-is-reading-comprehension/

Taylor, M. (1992, June). CAELA: ESL Resources: Digests. Retrieved from

http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/LEA.html

UNC School of Education. (n.d.). 1.4 Reading behaviors. Retrieved October 17,
2014, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/readassess/976