This learner analysis examines 10 third grade Hispanic students at Roan Elementary School in Dalton, Georgia. Most students speak Spanish at home and have low socioeconomic status. Based on assessments, their reading levels range from late 1st grade to 3rd grade. Motivation to read independently is low. The analysis identifies learning characteristics, cultural considerations, and accommodation strategies to increase motivation and engagement with an instructional unit based on literacy standard 5. Accommodations address needs of ELL, special education, and advanced students.

1. Shauna Sanders
Learner Analysis
September 27, 2009
Introduction
The location of Roan Elementary School is in a highly Hispanic populated area and
an extremely low socio-economic community in Dalton, Georgia. The public elementary
school is Title I funded and was recognized last year as being a Distinguished School for
making AYP for ten years in a row. Roan is actually celebrating its 40th
year of existence
this year! As of today, our enrollment is 450 students, PK through 5th
grade. Our student
population is 86% Hispanic, 4% Caucasian, 4% African American, 2% Asian and 4%
Mixed. This information was obtained from the school’s data entry clerk.
As a media specialist, I have chosen a literacy standard for my instructional unit
and will use the results from this learner analysis to guide me in my unit development. Our
district has been involved with a new Literacy Framework called Literacy Collaborative.
The framework is working great for most of our students, but seems to be lacking in the
transition from 2nd
grade to 3rd
grade. Many of our third graders are losing interest in
reading independently. Therefore, I have chosen a literacy standard that will hopefully
address these areas of concern with our 3rd
graders.
From the Literacy Standards for Student Learning, I have chosen Standard 5,
which states that “the student who is an independent learner is information literate and
appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information. The student who is an
independent learner applies the principles of information literacy to access, evaluate,
enjoy, value and create artistic products. That student actively and independently seeks to
master the principles, conventions, and criteria of literature in print, non-print, and
electronic formats. The student is able both to understand and enjoy creative works
presented in all formats and to create products that capitalize on each format’s particular
strengths” (AASL, 1998).

2. Demographics
This particular learner analysis consists of ten third grade students from very similar
backgrounds. Nine of the learners in this study are Hispanic and one girl is mixed
(Hispanic and African American). All ten learners qualify for free lunch. The following
table includes more details about the ten students being analyzed. Most of the information
included was obtained from the students’ cumulative records, their homeroom teacher,
and a short informal interview.
ELL Services Daily in Content Areas 3 students (1 boy and 2 girls)
EIP Services Daily in Literacy Instruction 2 students (2 girls)
ESS Student (Learning Disability in
Reading)
1 girl
Languages Spoken at Home Spanish with parents
English with siblings
Number of Schools Attended by 3rd
Grade Only 1 school : 3 students
2 schools: 4 students
3 schools: 2 students
4 schools: 1 student
Entry Skills & Prior Knowledge
At the beginning of each school year, our district performs a benchmark
literacy test on each and every child through our Literacy Collaborative Framework. This
information is then used immediately in setting appropriate year-long goals for moving
each child along as far as possible. After selecting a random group of third graders for this
learner analysis, the group ranges from struggling readers to independent readers. At this
point in the year, an “on grade level” third grader should be reading on a level L moving up
to a level M soon. The learners in this group range from a level I to a level M. An example
of a level I would be Come! Sit! Speak! . An example of a level M would be The Bravest
Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto. Within these levels, the students are also classified
into one of three categories, frustrational, instructional or independent. If a child is
frustrational on a level, then they should be in a group below that level, but might

3. participate in the frustrational level every two books. A student who is categorized as an
independent reader on a specific level, should be taught at the next level up. Also at the
beginning of each nine weeks, we administer a Thinkgate pretest in Reading, Writing and
Conventions, and Math. The students’ reading scores are included in the table below.
Students Gender Literacy Collaborative Level Thinkgate Pretest for
Reading
SF F Level M independent 72%
MH F Level M Instructional 44%
LO M Level M Instructional 50%
LR M Level M Instructional 83%
LF F Level L Instructional 72%
AP M Level L Instructional 44%
AG F Level L Frustrational/ Level K Instructional 39%
AM F Level I Independent/ Frustrational J
(around the end of 1st
grade)
72%
GH F Level J Instructional
(beginning to mid 2nd
grade level)
55%
CM F Level J Instructional 50%
Academic Motivation
With the standard that I have chosen, there are two main parts that stand out that I
really want to focus on with this group of students. “The student who is an independent
learner applies the principles of information literacy to…enjoy, value and create artistic
products and…actively and independently seeks to master the principles, conventions,
and criteria of literature in print, non-print, and electronic formats” (AASL, 1998). In order
to find out how these children truly feel about reading, I gave a reading interest survey to
their teacher to give to them (Appendix A). The students had no idea who was going to
read them and was told to just answer each question truthfully. The first question on the
survey was,
Do you like to read? YES NO SORT OF
Of the ten students, one girl, student AM, circled SORT OF and wrote “I don’t no a lots of

4. wrse.” Two students, students LF and AP, circled no and both wrote, “I hate reading!”
The other seven students circled YES and were able to write more titles of books for
answers to questions throughout the survey. Due to the fact that the survey was mostly
open-ended questions, the results are not included in this analysis.
My role at my school allows me to see children and how they relate to books quite
often. One of the concerns that I have, not only with these ten children, but with many
others as well, is that they only like a book because it is popular and really have no idea as
to what the book is about. I often hear comments like, “Ha, ha. I got the book first!”
However, the students are not really reading the books at all. If one was to ask them
about the book and what happened to a specific character, they have no idea. The
students are not truly independently reading any books on their true reading levels. It
seems as though, through conversations with students, they are just looking at the
pictures or reading the captions only. One of the questions on the interest survey was
What are some of the books you have read lately?
Notice the responses below are very similar from child to child. The students who “read”
Flat Stanley were asked several questions about how he became flat and they did not
know. That’s one of the main parts of the story. I’m troubled that these students don’t
read independently and have no desire to do so.
SF The Three Little Pigs, Flat Stanley
MH Bone
LO Magic Tree House, Fly Guy, Skippy Jon Jones
LR Piggy Goes Fishing, Midnight Math
LF Flat Stanley, Captain Underpants
AP Flat Stanley, Captain Underpants
AG Hannah Montana, Fly Guy
AM “Jese use womem” (We weren’t quite sure what she was referring to.)
GH Junie B. Jones, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
CM Junie B. Jones, Flat Stanley, Fly Guy

5. Therefore, motivation to read independently is extremely low in our school. Especially with
this group of students, it seems as though they are only compliantly reading because they
are supposed to in their reading groups. These students are not reading because they
want to read or because they enjoy reading.
Motivational Strategies
When thinking about strategies to increase the motivation among this particular
group of third graders, I referred to John Keller’s ARCS model for motivation. In order to
address the students’ Attention, I plan to use inquiry arousal by posing questions that will
stimulate their curiosity (Small, 1997). For example, when presenting a book about being
caught in a blizzard, I could ask the question, “Have you ever been so cold before that
your fingers and toes felt like they were going to break off?”
After working with ESOL students for almost ten years now, I have come to believe
that the Relevance component of the ARCS model is perhaps the most important when
working with students from other cultures. I plan to present content that the students are
familiar with or can relate to based on their prior experiences and values (Small, 1997).
Another very important part of the ARCS model is the Confidence piece for the
students. In order for these students to ever reach their goal of becoming independent
readers who are independently seeking more information, they are going to need
confidence in themselves and their capabilities. Therefore, I plan to build on their personal
responsibilities and personal efforts they put forth (Small, 1997). Finally, the last piece of
the ARCS model of motivation is Satisfaction. There are many options as to how this
component is fulfilled, but based on what I have learned so far with this group of students,
I plan to use extrinsic rewards such as positive reinforcement and motivational feedback to
help provide them with satisfaction (Small, 1997).

6. Learner Characteristics
After researching multiple variations of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple
intelligences quizzes and questionnaires, I decided to use a kid friendly version developed
by Kurwongbah State School in Queensland, Australia. The checklist is entitled,
Discovering Your SMARTS: A Multiple Intelligence Checklist (Appendix B). At the end of
the checklist, the student can add their total to find out if they are math smart, word smart,
picture smart, body smart, music smart, group smart, self smart and/or nature smart. Due
to the fact that I have worked with five of these students in previous grades, I really
thought I knew what most of their main intelligences were going to be. However, I was
quite surprised on a few of the outcomes. As a group, there were 3 students who were
clearly self smart and 3 students who were clearly group smart. Two students had three
top intelligences. See Appendix C for all multiple intelligence data for this group.
Since all ten learners are Hispanic and speak only Spanish with their parents, there
are definitely some potential problems with these students becoming independent readers
outside of the classroom. Not only do many of these students only speak Spanish at
home, but many of their parents are illiterate in Spanish as well. Therefore, when students
are learning to read in English (not to mention learning to speak the English language as
well), their parents are unable to assist on many occasions. When we think about this
standard which states that the student actively and independently seeks to master the
principles, conventions, and criteria of literature in print, non-print, and electronic formats,
we are faced with even a greater challenge with our Hispanic population and the existing
language barrier at home.
However, on a more positive note, when one looks at the data for student SF, she
is Hispanic, on grade level in reading, self smart according to Gardner, likes to read and
scored above the class average on a pretest.
Culture and Ethnicity

7. All of my sample learners for this analysis are Hispanic. Most of these students
were born in America, but are still using the Spanish language and experiencing the
Mexican cultures at home. Each of the ten learners shared with me that they speak
Spanish with their parents and mostly English with their siblings while at home. Knowing
this information, it is very important to think about how this mix of home life and school life
will affect the students in their reading abilities and interest levels. One way to address or
accommodate these differences is to use some of the components of the Sheltered
Instruction Observation Protocol, or SIOP. For example, in order to effectively
accommodate for these Hispanic learners, I will use SIOP component #7 which will help
link concepts to students’ backgrounds and experiences. One way to create this link is by
incorporating literature logs, which the students will respond to prompts before and after
reading (Wallace, 2004).
Another strategy to use with all ten of these learners, is to actually spend some time
with them allowing them to teach me about their culture. By learning and understanding
how their culture functions at home, I will be more likely to understand why students do
things certain ways and answer questions in particular ways (Peterson and Salas, 2004).
Hopefully, as I learn more about the Hispanic culture, I will be able to help students
develop their own love for reading by assisting with more appropriate book choices.
As for the three students who actually qualify for ESOL services, I will use lesson
outlines and visual aids as often as possible throughout the unit (Christy, 2000-2005).
Accommodations
There are definitely several special needs among this group of ten students that will
need accommodations provided. For the young girl who is LD in reading, several
accommodations will be made regularly throughout this unit. I will use a checklist to help
keep her organized, and the amount of work will be reduced from the usual assignment.
During the actual reading portions of this unit, she will be seated in areas free from

8. distractions and will be allowed to use tape recorders and/or computers when needed to
obtain and retain assignment success. This young lady will also need to be provided
immediate reinforcers and feedback throughout the unit as well (Sue, 2008). Even though
she does not qualify for ELL services, she is still a Spanish speaker at home. Therefore,
allowing for some discussions in Spanish would be quite appropriate and helpful. If she
gets stuck or confused with comprehending what she is reading, then Spanish will be used
(Hudson and Smith, 2001).
Student SF, who is already independent on reading Level M, will need
accommodations as well, in order to move her along at a different pace. She is on the
realm of being above grade level in reading and needs for her instruction to be handled
differently. One strategy I would like to use with her is to allow her to establish her own
learning goal and self-assessment strategies (Sue, 2009). Another important factor with
this student is to really find out her true interests. It could end up being difficult for her in a
different way, because she could end up being the only student in her reading level.
Therefore, it is going to be crucial to keep her reading books that are of interest to her.
Peer Review Feedback
One of the biggest changes that I made to my paper based on my feedback was
adding additional references. For some reason, I did not read the rubric carefully enough
the first time through. Thanks to my peer reviewer, I was made aware that I was lacking
sources for accommodations and for cultural differences. I also went back and elaborated
more on our district’s literacy program and how it works. The reviewer asked me “What
grade level is an I reader?”. I wasn’t very clear about the ability levels of the students
when I just listed their level. I also went back and added an example of how I was going to
achieve the Attention component under Motivational Strategies. Finally, the reviewer
noted a typo that I corrected and probably wouldn’t have noticed it on my final read
through.

9. References
American Association of School Librarians (AASL), Association for Educational
Communications and Technology, (1998). Information Literacy Standards for
Student Learning. American Library Association. Retrieved September 12, 2009,
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/informationpower/InformationLiteracyStand
ards_final.pdf
Christy, Janice (2000-2005) Helping English Language Learners in the Classroom,
Teaching Today. Retrieved September 14, 2009,
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/help_ELL.phtml.
Hudson, Roxanne F. and Smith, Stephen, W. (2001). Effective Reading Instruction for

10. Struggling Spanish-Speaking Readers: A Combination of Two Literatures.
Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/Effective_Reading_Instruction
_for_Struggling_SpanishSpeaking_Readers%3A_A_Combination_of_Two
_Literatures, September 24, 2009.
Kurwongbah State School, Queensland, Australia (2009) Retrieved September 14, 2009,
http://www.kurwongbss.eq.edu.au/thinking/MI%20Smarts/smarts.htm.
Peterson, Bob and Salas, Kelley D. (2004). Working Effectively With English Language
Learners, Rethinking Schools Online, Fall 2004. Retrieved September 27, 2009,
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/newteacher/NTBilingual.shtml.
Small, Ruth V. (1997). Motivation in Instructional Design. ERIC Digest. . Retrieved
September 14, 2009, http://www.ericdigests.org/1998-1/motivation.htm.
Sue. (2009) A 10 Step Inclusional Model: Giftedness. Retrieved September 26, 2009,
http://specialed.about.com/od/giftedness/a/giftedsteps.htm.
Sue. (2008) Practical Strategies For The Classroom Strategies For Special Education
Retrieved from http://specialed.about.com/cs/teacherstrategies/a/Strategies.htm
Wallace, Susan. (2004). Effective Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners
in Mainstream Classrooms. New Horizons for Learning. September. Retrieved
September 25, 2009, http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/ell/wallace.htm.
Appendices Appendix A
Name_________________________________________ Date_____________ Period________
Reading Interest Survey
It is important to me to get to know you as a person and as a student. Your
answers to the following 19 questions will help me to understand your
needs as a reader in our class, as well as a bit more about your routines
outside of class.
1. Do you like to read? YES NO SORT OF If you circled “SORT OF”,
then please explain:
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

11. 2. How much time do you spend reading? _____ minutes per day; _____minutes per
week
3. What are some of the books you have read lately?
4. What is/are your absolute favorite book(s)?
5. Do you ever get books from the school library? YES NO
6. About how many books do you own? ______
7. What are some books you would like to own?
8. Circle the genres/types of reading material you like or might like best.
history travel plays sports science fiction
adventure romance
detective
stories
war stories art
poetry
supernatural
stories
car stories novels biography
astrology humor folktales
how-to-do-it
books
mysteries
books in a
series
drama nonfiction gaming westerns
9. Do you like to read the newspaper? YES NO
10. What are your favorite TV programs?
11. How much time do you spend watching television? ______
minutes per day
12. Do you have a favorite magazine and what is it?

12. 13. Do you have a subscription to any magazines and what are they?
14. What are your hobbies and interests?
15. What are your top 2 favorite movies you’ve seen?
16. Who are your favorite entertainers and/or movie stars?
17. Do you enjoy having someone read aloud to you? YES NO
18. Tell me anything else that you would like to say about yourself and your
experience with reading:
19. Please write down any questions you might have for me.
Appendix B
Discovering your SMARTS:
A Multiple Intelligence Checklist
 Read each of these statements.
 If it is REALLY true for you, circle the number next to it (1 – 8)
 When you have finished, work out how many of each number you have circled.

13. 7 I keep a diary or journal
2 I know the meaning of many words
3 I like drawing and painting
2 I like making speeches and doing debates
6 I like meeting new people
1 I like setting up science experiments
5 I like singing
2 I like telling jokes, riddles and stories
1 I like to explain how things work to people
8 I like to hike through bushland settings
1 I like to learn step by step
4 I like to move around a lot when I’m working
7 I like to set goals
7 I like to think about how I feel
7 I like to think things through in my mind
2 I like to write stories and poems for others to read
3 I like using pictures and diagrams to learn
4 I like working with my hands
4 I love to dance
7 I often reflect on how well I am doing
5 I often tap my feet or fingers to various rhythms
7 I often wonder what other people are thinking
5 I play a musical instrument
4 I prefer sporting programs on television
3 I prefer television programs involving art and craft demonstrations
3 I can draw maps from memory
8 I prefer television programs with a focus on nature like Crocodile Hunter and
Man Vs. Wild
8 I prefer to be outside
I prefer to work on my own
6 I really enjoy being on a sport team
4 I really like acting
2 I really like reading
6 I really like working with other people
5 I sometimes make up my own songs
4 I understand better when I do “hands on” activities
1 If you were giving me a present I would like a board or computer game
2 If you were giving me a present I would like a book
7 If you were giving me a present, I would like a diary
5 If you were giving me a present, I would like a music CD
4 If you were giving me a present, I would like some sports equipment
3 If you were going to give me a present, I would like a jigsaw puzzle
6 If you were to give me a present, I would like an outing with my friends
8 If you were to give me a present, it would be a visit to a zoo, park or farm.
4 My favorite activities at school are PE and recess
3 My favorite subject is art
2 My favorite subject is Reading
5 My favorite subject is music
1 My favorite subjects are math and science
1 My favorite television programs are documentaries
5 My favorite television programs are VH1 Hits and Country Countdown
3 Color is important to me
1 I am happy when things seem logical (they make sense and can be explained)
3 I can see the finished product in my mind
8 I care about the environment by reusing and recycling
8 I enjoy camping and hiking
8 I enjoy gardening
6 I enjoy helping others
5 I enjoy listening to music
3 I enjoy making models, murals and collages
8 I enjoy photography
1 I enjoy solving problems
4 I enjoy sports
2 I enjoy word puzzles like crosswords and word searches
5 I find sounds fascinating
6 I have a lot of friends
8 I have a pet/s that I care for myself
6 I have good ideas for our classroom

14. 2 My favorite television programs have funny lines like The Simpsons
6 My favorite television shows are “soapies” like Friends and i Carly
7 My favorite time at school is when I can choose my own individual work
6 My favorite time at school is when we have group work
1 Working with numbers is fun
TOTALS
1 = Maths /Logic smarts
2 = Word smarts
3 = Picture smarts
4 = Body smarts
5 = Music smarts
6 = Group smarts
7 = Self smarts
8 = Nature smarts

15. This worksheet is based on a resource developed by Kurwongbah State School in Queensland. For related resources,
visit http://www.kurwongbss.eq.edu.au/thinking/MI%20Smarts/smarts.htm
Which are your main “smarts”?

16. Appendix C
Student Math
Smarts
Word
Smarts
Picture
Smarts
Body
Smarts
Music
Smarts
Group
Smarts
Self
Smarts
Nature
Smarts
SF 7 5 6 4 4 7 8 7
MH 7 8 7 6 6 8 8 7
LO 4 3 7 9 8 7 5 9
LR 6 4 5 6 5 7 5 4
LF 8 8 8 9 9 8 9 7
AP 9 4 8 9 7 8 7 8
AG 4 6 5 3 5 4 8 4
AM 5 3 6 7 5 8 7 5
GH 7 5 7 7 7 8 7 3
CM 8 7 5 6 8 8 9 6