INTERVIEWER: Hi, how are you doing today?
SUBJECT: I’m good.
INTERVIEWER: Good. Well, today we’re going to do our ABC Support Intervention, OK? So we’re going to start by reviewing our expectations, our READ expectations. They stand for, “Read carefully, but not too slowly;” “Enthusiasm and Excitement are in my voice when I read,” “Attitude and Attention are good,” and “Do my best reading and behavior.”
So one example of reading carefully, but not too slowly, would be looking at words that you don’t know and trying to sound them out as best you can, but not getting stuck on every single word and making sure you sound every single word out, just the words that you don’t know. When there’s an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence, what does your voice need to do?
SUBJECT: Go up.
INTERVIEWER: Go up, you’re right. So that would be an example of enthusiasm and excitement in your voice. If there’s a period or an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence, and I just read it like this– (MONOTONE) “Enthusiasm and Excitement are in my voice”– would that be an example of having enthusiasm?
SUBJECT: No.
INTERVIEWER: No, because I missed my voice going up with the exclamation mark. “Attitude and Attention are good.” One example of this would be if somebody comes up and talks, I don’t look at them and have a conversation while I’m in the middle of reading, because that wouldn’t be using very good attention.
Another thing that’s hard with this one too is, sometimes, I’ll give you feedback and tell you things that you need to improve, and that’s OK, I’m just trying to help you. But if you were to get really upset, and mad, and frustrated about what I was saying to you, that would mean that your attitude wasn’t super good. But if you were like, OK, I’ll make sure to work on that next time, that would show me a good attitude.
“Do your best reading and behavior.” This means that you’re just going to try your best through everything and give it your best effort. You think you can do all these?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: I know you can. All right. Do you have any questions?
SUBJECT: Uh-uh.
INTERVIEWER: OK. So next, what we’re going to do is set our reading goal. So your reading goal for today is 65. That is right here, on your graph, OK? So each time, you’re going to read, and you might start a little bit lower than 65, but I have a feeling you’re going to improve every single time, and by that third reading, get to that 65. So that’s your reading goal for today.
We’re going to set your behavior goal now. Your behavior points goal is 18. That’s right here on this behavior graph, OK? So we’re going to give you points for your behavior after every reading. You can either get 1 to 3 in each of the expectation categories, OK? And then we’re going to total them all up at the end, so your goal total is going to be 18, so make sure to do your very best behavior, OK?
All right. So now we’re ready for you to read the first passage for the day. Remember, the passage might be hard to read the first time, but you’re going to get two more times to practice, and I’ll give you help with your reading when you need it. Remember, Read carefully, but not too slowly; lots of Excitement and Enthusiasm in your voice, good Attitude and Attention, and Do your best reading and behavior.
All right, here’s your reading passage. I would like you to read this passage for me. The title of this story is Hungry Baby Birds. It is about some baby birds that keep their mother very busy. When I say “begin,” start reading aloud from the top of the page. Try to read each word, but if you come to one that you don’t know, I will tell it to you. Do you have any questions?
SUBJECT: Uh-uh.
INTERVIEWER: All right, let me get my phone so I can time us. You are being so patient, waiting for me. All right, whenever you’re ready, you can begin.
SUBJECT: “There is a large ‘mahp–‘ ‘mah-puhl’ tree outside my bedroom ‘wihn-dowww–‘ ‘wihn-dow.’ A mother robin built her ‘nnn-ehst–?’ nest in the tree. She laid three– ‘ah–‘ ‘ahhh–‘ ‘ah-ggs?'”
INTERVIEWER: Eggs.
SUBJECT: “-eggs. I could see the nest from my ‘wihn-dow.’ Soon the small, ‘buh-lowww–” ‘blow’ ‘ah-ggs’ ‘ha–‘ hatched. There were three little birds sitting in the nest.”
INTERVIEWER: Stop. OK, let me do some counting real quick. All right. You did such a nice job stopping and sounding out words when they were a little bit tricky. I know there were a couple of words you got a little stuck on, but you persisted through them, so great work there.
You read 39 words correctly, so we’re going to write that on your graph. So 39 is one below 40, so go ahead and write 39 right below 40 for me. And that’s just showing us that that’s how many you read that time, OK? I think you’re going to make a lot of improvements.
OK, next we are going to do your behavior points card. OK, the first expectation is “am I Reading carefully, but not too slowly?” I thought that you did a good job sounding out all of the words that you didn’t know, but you didn’t let them hold you up for too long, so I’m going to give you a 3 for that one.
“Is there Enthusiasm and Excitement in my voice?” There was one exclamation mark in the part that you read today, and I didn’t really hear your voice go up at all, so I really want you to practice working on that for next time, OK? So I’m going to give you a 1 for that one, knowing that you’re going to make a lot of improvement as we go on.
“Do I have a positive Attitude and good Attention?” Your attitude and attention seemed really good that time. You were focused on the passage the whole time, which I really appreciated, so I’m going to give you a 3. “Am I Doing my best reading and behavior?” Your behavior was super awesome that time, you had great attention, so I want you to keep it up there. There does need to be more enthusiasm in your voice, and I’ve heard you use enthusiasm in your voice, so I’m going to give you a 2 for that one, since you had great behavior, but your enthusiasm in your reading needs to go up a little.
So let’s count these points together. We’re going to start with 3–
BOTH: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
INTERVIEWER: 9 points from this time. Good work, I just loved your attention and focus on that reading. Keep it up. All right, let’s see what’s next. OK, so I’m going to read the passage now. When I read, I’m going to remember to Read carefully, but not too slowly; I’m going to have a lot of Enthusiasm and Excitement in my voice, my Attention and Attitude are going to be good, and I will Do my best reading and behavior.
I want you to follow with your finger when I read, OK? But here’s the tricky part– sometimes, I’m going to stop reading. When I stop, it’ll be your turn to read. This will show me that you are following along, OK? Put your finger at the top of the page. “There is a large maple tree outside my bedroom window. A mother robin built her nest in the tree.”
SUBJECT: “She laid three ‘ahggs.'”
INTERVIEWER: Eggs. “I could see the nest from my window. Soon, the small, blue eggs hatched. There were three little birds sitting in the nest! The baby birds were hungry. They chirped for their mother to feed them.”
SUBJECT: “I knew the mother would get–”
INTERVIEWER: “–no rest until she fed her babies. I watched her leave the nest to go search for dinner.”
SUBJECT: “She flew all–”
INTERVIEWER: “–around looking for a worm. Soon, she saw one sliding through the grass near a bush. She quickly–”
SUBJECT: “–flew down–”
BOTH: “–to snatch it up in her beak.”
INTERVIEWER: “Then she went back to the nest.”
SUBJECT: “The second she returned–”
INTERVIEWER: “–the baby birds opened their mouths wide. They were ready to be fed their meal. Their mother can take a nap at last.” Great attention and focus there. I didn’t ever have to remind you where we were, which showed me that you were really following along. Awesome work.
OK, so now you get another try at reading the story on your own. Remember, Read careful, but not too slow; lots of Enthusiasm, good Attention, and Do your best. OK, let me pull my timer up real quick. Boop. All right, I’m ready. You’re going to get another try. When I say begin, read the passage aloud from the top. Try to read each word, but if you come to one you don’t know, I will save for you. Whenever you’re ready.
SUBJECT: “There is a large maple tree outside my bedroom window. A mother robin built her– ‘nnn–‘ ‘nnn-eh–‘ nest in the tree. She laid three ‘ahggs.’ I could see the nest from my window. Soon, the small, blue eggs hatched. There were three little birds sitting in the nest! The baby birds were hungry. They chirped for their mother to feed them. I knew the mother would get no rest until–”
INTERVIEWER: Stop. Awesome work, you made a lot of improvement that time! Let me count really fast. All right, we’re going to work on some words that were tricky, OK? So the first one is “window.” You say it.
SUBJECT: “Window.”
INTERVIEWER: Say it again.
SUBJECT: “Window.”
INTERVIEWER: One more.
SUBJECT: “Window.”
INTERVIEWER: All right, listen to me read a phrase with that word in it, and you’ll repeat after. “Outside my bedroom window.” You go.
SUBJECT: “Outside my bedroom window.”
INTERVIEWER: Again.
SUBJECT: “Outside my bedroom window.”
INTERVIEWER: One more.
SUBJECT: “Outside my bedroom window.”
INTERVIEWER: Great job. That’s “window.” It’s in here a few times, OK? So remember, “window.” Another one that was tricky was the word “eggs.” Let’s find it in here. “She laid three eggs.” Here it is. OK, so I’m going to say this word. This word is “eggs.” You go.
SUBJECT: “Eggs.”
INTERVIEWER: “Eggs.”
SUBJECT: “Eggs.”
INTERVIEWER: Say it again.
SUBJECT: “Eggs.”
INTERVIEWER: All right, listen to me. “Small blue eggs hatched.” You go.
SUBJECT: “Small blue eggs hatched.”
INTERVIEWER: Again.
SUBJECT: “Small blue eggs hatched.”
INTERVIEWER: One more.
SUBJECT: “Small blue eggs hatched.”
INTERVIEWER: Good work. Those two were a little bit tricky, so I’m glad that we practiced those. OK, that time, before we practiced those tricky words, you read 65 words correct. What was your goal today?
SUBJECT: 65.
INTERVIEWER: Did you meet that goal?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Yes, you did. So write a 65 in this second column. Awesome work! How much improvement you made. Do you see how much of a jump you did?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: That’s so great. I really liked how you persisted through, and you made sure that when I was reading the passage, you were following along, and it made sure that you went a lot quicker that time, which was really a good strategy, to make sure you were following along the whole time.
OK, let’s look at your behavior points. Ooh, if I can pick it up. All right, “am I Reading carefully, but not too slowly?” Absolutely. You did a great job again persisting through, I love that you really try to sound out words when you don’t know them. “Is there Enthusiasm and Excitement in my voice?” I circled the exclamation mark that you read, because I heard your voice go up, and show a lot of enthusiasm and excitement, so I’m going to give you a 3 for that one, since you made such awesome improvement.
“Did I have a positive Attitude and good Attention?” Absolutely. You were focused on the story the whole entire time, and really did a good job practicing those tricky words with me, so a 3 for that one. “Am I Doing my best reading and behavior?” I think you definitely are. You showed me some great attention and focus, and really improved your reading, which shows that you were listening to me when I gave you that feedback, so a 3 for that one. We’re going to count, we’re going to start with 3. 3–
BOTH: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
INTERVIEWER: Oh my goodness! You’ve got so much improvement in your reading and your behavior. Awesome work. OK. So now you’re going to get one more try to read this story on your own. Remember, careful Reading, but not too slow; lots of Enthusiasm, good Attitude and Attention, and Do your very best. All right. When I say begin, you can start reading the passage aloud from the top. Try to read each word, but if you come to one you don’t know, I will say it for you. Whenever you’re ready.
SUBJECT: “There is a large maple tree outside my bedroom window. A mother robin built her nest in the tree. She laid three ‘eh–‘ eggs. I could see the nest from my window. Soon–”
INTERVIEWER: Stay focused.
SUBJECT: “Soon, the small, blue eggs hatched. There were three little birds sitting in the nest! The baby birds were hungry. They chirped for their mother to feed them. I knew the mother would get no rest until she fed her babies. I watched her ‘loaf’ the nest to go search for–”
INTERVIEWER: Stop. Awesome work. You made so many corrections that time. You fixed “eggs” and “window,” which I really appreciate. That shows me that you were really trying hard to read carefully. I’m going to count these words real quick, OK? All right. That time, you read 81 words correct! Oh my goodness! That’s right above 80, so you can write 81 right above there. Did you meet your reading goal?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Yes, you did. Go ahead and connect the lines from each of those points. That shows you how much improvement you made. Look how steep that line is. That means that you’re making a ton of improvement each time. Really great work on that. All right, let’s look at your behavior. All right, “am my Reading carefully, but not too slowly?” Absolutely. You had a great pace of your reading, that means how fast you were going. You were definitely reading carefully, because you fixed all of the mistakes that you had earlier. 3 for that one.
“Is there Enthusiasm and Excitement in my voice?” There definitely was. When you read “nest,” you made sure that your voice went up again, which I appreciated. 3 for that one. “Do I have a positive Attitude and good Attention?” You definitely had a positive attitude, and I know this because you didn’t get upset when I told you that you were making some mistakes on those little words, and you made sure to fix them. But what did you think about your attention?
SUBJECT: Ummm.
INTERVIEWER: Were your eyes on the page the whole entire time?
SUBJECT: Almost the whole time.
INTERVIEWER: Almost, but not all the way, right? I had to give you a little remind–
SUBJECT: There was a sound.
INTERVIEWER: Did it distract you? That happens to me sometimes too. When we’re reading, we’re going to do our best to always– if we hear, something we can maybe look for just a teeny, tiny little second. But you looked so long that I had to remind you where you were, which is no big deal. It’s something to work on, right? This happens to everyone. So for that one, I’m going to give you a 2, OK?
SUBJECT: OK.
INTERVIEWER: And then, am I doing my best reading and behavior? You did an awesome job making corrections today, and you really made sure that all of your reading was good, and you tried really hard with your behavior that last time. Even though you got a little bit distracted, you found your place right when I directed you back to the page, so I’m going to give you a 3 for that one, OK? Let’s count together, we’re going to start with 3.
BOTH: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
INTERVIEWER: Oh my goodness. OK, let’s see. 18 plus 12. [GASPS] You got 30 points! Oh my goodness. I think that’s above your behavior goal, what do you think?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Can you find 30? There it is, go ahead and mark it off. Awesome work today. You really showed me a lot of attention and focus, I really appreciate it. OK, let’s look here. OK, so did you meet your behavior goal today?
SUBJECT: Uh-huh.
INTERVIEWER: Yep. Did you meet your reading goal?
SUBJECT: Mm-hmm.
INTERVIEWER: Did you make both goals?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Yes, you did. Awesome work today. All right, the last thing that I’m going to show you is this “I Can READ” card. So remember how we talked about this “I Can READ” card?
SUBJECT: Mm-hmm.
INTERVIEWER: Does it look familiar? So this is going to go in the corner of your desk, OK? So you’re going to take it with you today, and every time that you are doing a reading activity, or anything that, really, you have to read in class, you can look at this, and it will remind you to Read carefully, but not too slowly; show a lot of Enthusiasm and Excitement in your voice, and then have a good Attitude and Attention when you’re reading, and then Do your best reading and behavior.
So this can remind you to do all of these expectations when you’re reading. And then another thing is it can just remind you about some of these expectations for other classroom activities too. So maybe you are having a hard time having a good Attitude and Attention, when we’re doing a math lesson, and this expectation can remind you, oh, I need to pay attention, I need to look and listen at what the teacher’s saying, and it will remind you to always Do your best.
All right, so I’m going to have you take this and put it at your desk. Do you have any questions? All right, you did a great job today, I’m excited to work with you more.
SUBJECT: Thank you.