Possible Solution, Discussion Questions, and Bloom's Taxonomy

Problem scenario solution:

Jose’s difficulty with writing will be addressed in extra class period writing instruction. Local college students seeking internship or observational credit hours will provide tutorial aid. This aid will begin when school starts in the fall. Jose’s mother plans to send Jose to summer school and see about a reading/writing camp is available during the summer break. She also is going to work with him and plans to work with the school counselor on contacting local tutoring services. Jose’s teacher has offered to provide reading materials and a few hours a week over the summer to help with tutoring Jose. The help that Jose gets over the summer period from grade five to grade six will be a good start to building a foundation on writing.

The administration of the elementary and middle school are prepared to work with and offer the needed time to foster writing awareness and mastery of the subject. Jose’s father is not fully behind the plans that the stakeholders have devised, but is willing to try the team’s plan of action after much persuasion from his spouse and the administrative staff. The plans for Jose’s success hinge on Jose wanting to succeed and working with the offered help to achieve a grade-level ability to write. These suggestions are only a recommendation to Jose’s parents and the burden of fulfilling his tutorial aid falls on their shoulders.

The following academic plan is to be taken only as a suggested list for Jose and its implementation during the summer and into the next school year, in our estimation would be an asset, to his academic success. Recommended strategies by various shareholders are as follows to enhance both Jose’s reading and writing.
• Interactive environment (peers, tutors, paras)
• Group discussions and collaboration
• LEP student is part of a literate community (e.g., writing letters, dialogue, keeping journals and diaries).
• Reading books to obtain information
• Teacher’s modeling both writing and reading
• Feedback for LEP student

-top- Discussion Questions

1. How much influence does Jose’s mother have over her husband
and his family on the benefit of Jose learning to write?

2. Will there be follow-up progress meetings and reports to evaluate Jose’s writing and academic successes in the subject area of writing?

3. Would Jose’s level of writing be on grade-level for the fifth and sixth grade if he had remained in the United States?

-top-Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions

Level 1. Knowledge. - exhibits previously learned material by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers.

Where is Jose from?

Level 2: Comprehension - demonstrating understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions and stating main ideas.

How does Jose’s father and his family view Jose’s education in the United States?

Level 3: Application - solving problems by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a different way.

Why did the school administration fail to provide extracurricular writing activities for this student?

Level 4: Analysis - examining and breaking information into parts by identifying motives or causes; making inferences and finding evidence to support generalizations.

Can Jose distinguish between morphemes and phonemes?

Level 5: Synthesis - compiling information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions.

How different would Jose be academically if he had stated in the U. S. public school system instead of the Mexican public school system?

Level 6: Evaluation - presenting and defending opinions by making judgments about information, validity of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria.

Do you feel that it is fair that Jose is getting special attention to his problem just because his past academic system failed him?

Is the case of Jose Garcia unique or even unusual?

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