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Tuesday April 19th, 2011 This was my last meeting with Owen. Since they were not present last week, I had to conduct my running record this time. After speaking with Natalie, she said that I could tell his Mother I will be emailing her the final letter upon completion. We read the same book again, and only had a few chapters left. I wrote down the name of the book for him, and I hope he checks it out at his local library. Upon the running record, I found most of Owen's errors still carry meaning. I have seen him grow this semester. He now reads with more expression. Also, he does a better job of stopping at periods. Sometimes, I feel as if he couldn't possibly be comprehending what he is reading as he flies past the periods. However, he is always able to summarize the story to me. Especially this story! He really loved it. This story was great to read with him! I felt as if this book was great for his grade level, but could also be used with older grade levels as well. There were many ads throughout the book. That was part of the plot, as this is why the aliens wanted Micheal K. Since the cereal box said that, "He can do anything!" Owen understood some of the slogans, and understood that this is why the aliens wanted Micheal K. He didn't catch on to every single slogan though, but it did not affect his comprehension skills. I thoroughly enjoying working with Owen, and the literacy center this semester.

Tuesday April 12th, 2011 Owen was not present. :(

Tuesday April 5th, 2011

When Owen came to tutoring today, before he even said "Hello," he asked if I had the __Spaceheadz__ book. Of course, I had it. I told him I forgot what had happened though, and asked if he could remind me. He excitedly told me all of the main characters and how the aliens are trying to turn Micheal K into one of them. The book reached a turning point, in which we found out why the aliens wanted Micheal K. He was on a cereal box when he was younger, and the slogan was something along the lines of you can do anything with this cereal. The character's picture was on the front. I told Owen, "Well, now it all makes sense. It's because he can do anything." Owen told me that he really couldn't do anything, but that's just what it says. Throughout this whole book, slogans are mentioned. It's really interesting to see all of the pop culture references. It makes me smile when I see Owen notice one of them. Or, if I point it out he is able to recall the commercial.

I am sure that we will continue reading the book during the next tutoring session! How great it is to see children excited about literacy!

T hursday March 31st, 2011

Owen and I once again met on Thursday this week. His family got back late from spring break on Tuesday. This was the first time Owen and I read the same book the whole time. I think I found a chapter book that he is really interested in. It is another graphic novel, titled __Spaceheadz__ by Jon Scieszka. We read almost 60 pages in this book. We took turns, but I mainly had him read.

After I would model read for Owen, I noticed how he would excitedly read the next portion with just as much enthusiasm as I did. It was wonderful to see him read words with excitement, or change his voice if he was portraying an alien at that point. Owen stated that he wanted to read the book again, and we will be reading the same book today.

Thursday March 17th, 2011

ISU was on spring break the week of the 8th, so Owen and I did not meet. We rescheduled our session that would have occurred on the 15th for Thursday the 17th. Just a side note: Owen is on spring break for the week of the 22nd. His family is not coming back until late on the 29th, but we are planning to reschedule that. (If I can fit it into my schedule.) His Mother was asking me if we reschedule the hour for the week that he's gone on break. I told her I didn't think so, but that I would double check.

March 17th was a beautiful day, and I asked Owen if he wanted to read outside (after permission from his Mother) but he wanted to read inside. We read inside the Borg Center, and I feel as if this threw off Owen's schedule. Owen shared with me in the beginning of tutoring that he is autistic. He is extremely high functioning, but I still feel as if a schedule is good for him. I often try to notice if he needs a break. About half way through, I usually ask him if he wants to go to the bathroom. If he doesn't, like this particular day, I walked around the hallway with him and we got a drink. I don't want him to feel forced to read, and start to dislike reading. I also want him to be able to stay focused on reading. I notice that typically when you read with a child, you can start asking a question, and the student will stop reading and listen to your question. Or, answer your question and then continue reading.Owen doesn't pick up on that social aspect and will continue reading straight through as if he didn't hear me. I have to tell him straight forward to stop, and then ask him a question.

We read Henry and The Clubhouse today. Owen was reluctant to start reading, because he really likes to stick to those informational texts with pictures to look at. I tried to get him really excited about it by reading first with lots of expression. I noticed him laughing and smiling, so I feel as if I achieved my purpose. He was able to answer knowledge related questions about the story, such as "Why did his Mother take over his paper route?" He did get pretty bored with this book quickly.

I can't remember the name of the book (of course!) but we read one of the large books on the table when you walk in. It was a fable, with two giants and one of them wanted to fight the other. The one giant family played a trick on the opposing giant. Owen really enjoyed laughing at this book. He understood that they tricked the giant by pretending that the little baby (really the other giant dressed up) could eat rocks, but his wife made soft foods that just looked like rocks. The enemy giant figured if they baby was that strong, then the dad giant is going to be way stronger then him. Owen found this trick funny. It was a neat book, because it introduced different words from Ireland. It fit the day too, since it was St. Pats day!

By the last five minutes or so, Owen was really antsy. He asked if we had a diary of a wimpy kid, and we looked around for it. I could only find the Spanish version. He enjoyed opening up pages and looking at the pictures telling me what was happening. Is is possible to get this series for the Borg Center? I am sure that it is probably there but just checked out. It's still a hard series to get your hand out. I know they have come out with a fifth book for the series that is purple. (Yes, I enjoy reading them! I worked at the YMCA last year, and one of my fourth graders used to say, "It's just like my life Miss. Jordan." Also, I went to Normal Public Library this week and I have noticed an abundance of graphic novels that have hit the shelves since the success of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Do kids still like Captain Underpants?

I will check out that book!!! THANKS FOR THE SUGGESTION!!! :D _ Jordan, I am interested to hear how he likes reading from the chapter book. Another book that he may like is How To Be Cool in the Third Grade...Milner should have it. Just a suggestion. I like your selection, but just thought of this as he wants to be "cool." ;)

Tuesday March 1st, 2011

Today I attempted to read more non-fiction books with Owen. He read Where the Wild Things Are. He was able to answer higher level questioning about the book and did not have many errors. The same thing happened when we read the book The Moon Quilt. Owen will have some errors, but often self corrects.

Owen really enjoys the informative text, as we read more today. We also read National Geographic Kids - Sharks!, and a book about the rain forest. We had a very good dialogue around different societies and different cultures. I taught him how people may be different than us, but that doesn't mean that they are weird, as he said. I informed him about anthropology and how you can make a career about that.

After tutoring, I talked to Dr. Crumpler and he suggested trying a chapter book with Owen. This week, we are going to look at Henry and the Clubhouse by Beverly Clearly. Maybe this level will be a little bit more difficult for him.

Tuesday February 21st, 2011

Owen excitedly ran into tutoring today. It was awesome! Great feeling isn't it?  We went upstairs and picked out some books. Owen picked out books on snakes, spies, and another handful of books. The books that we read were the snakes, and spies book. Mostly, Owen read but I did read a very small amount. I did record Owen for one miscue but then I did not save it correctly on my phone. We did the miscue that was in the packet, but he did not make any errors. I'm a bit confused on exactly how you want us to do the miscue then? Are we to just pick any book? I know that I spoke with Natalie after and she said to pick like a narrative type book, but how long should I have him read for? Ect, ect? I apologize if this has been gone over already, but I can't recall explicitly what I should be doing.

The book Owen read on spies had to of been above his reading level. He was very good at sounding out, identifying phonemes and putting them together. Often times, I would go back and ask Owen what would make sense there and he was able to figure the word out. He was really interested in the spy book. He told me the week before that he likes to pull pranks, so I had to make sure that he wasn't learning any tactics. :) After he read a passage, he was able to retell the purpose of what he just read. (It was an informative text.)

The second book we read was also an informative text, and was on snakes this time. Owen also really enjoyed this book. (The kid really does like reading; I can tell.) He was again able to retell the purpose of the passages that he read. I would ask Owen higher level questions, and he would be able to answer them well. For example, I asked him if dogs shed like snakes do and he was able to tell me the difference.

QUESTIONS I HAVE: Timecards - Are they in yet? Would I just write all of my hours on that card?

Running Records - May I please have more guidance in this? Also, when would you like the completed running record by?

Thank you! :)

Tuesday February 14th, 2011

 Today I got to meet Owen. I also met his Mother. Owen and I went into a classroom in the basement. I feel as if this is nice for Owen, because it is less distractions. I think that meeting down there weekly with him will also be good, so that he is used to the routine of it. We did the CATS Lit Lab Interest Inventory. Owen is in third grade and nine AND A HALF! (We all know how important that half is!) Yep, until we get older... :) Owen has one younger brother. Science is his favorite subject in school because he likes to do all the experiments. Non-academically recess and P.E is Owen's favorite. Dodgeball is his favorite in P.E. He dislikes math and social studies. He likes to play his WII and pull pranks on people. Owen likes MANY sports: baseball, dodgeball, hockey, soccer, basketball, and boxing. He enjoys playing Yughoi cards and likes to wrestle with his friends. He reads a lot for school, because he keeps a lit log. He recieves prizes in his class for reading. He like newspapers for kids, like Kid's Time.

 Owen and I also did, "News About Me." We each were going to make a newspaper about ourselves and share it with the other person. I used markers and drew a couple little pictures on my paper. Owen ended up drawing a picture of his favorite character from a TV show, and then just filled out the sheet. (Ben 10 is his favorite TV show.) From this inventory, I found out he likes to hang out with his Mom and little brother. He also likes to play sport games with his dad. He does not get books from the library, but instead at his own home library. When he grows up he wants to be a zoo keeper. If Owen could have three wishes, they would be: to be a king, to be famous, and to be cool. When asked what being cool meant, Owen stated that, "You know, everyone likes you and wants to be your friend."  It would have been interesting to inquire about what he looks for in a friend. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Owen helps at home by doing chores. At home, he likes to talk to himself. His best friend is Campbell and they are best friends because he is nice.

Tuesday February 7th, 2011

Owen was absent.