Case Study Task

Carson Taylor

Part 1:
Background

- We are looking at a kindergarten (5 year old) male, named Yuusuf.

- Yussuf is from Somalia and has come to Canada with his family to seek refuge.
- Yuusuf’s family lived in Somalia for generations but his parents brought him and his
older sister to Canada in 2020. Since then, his sister has acquired a fairly decent
proficiency level in English, but the parents are still in the process of learning. This
family is often reliant on the daughter’s English to navigate daily life in Canada.
Meanwhile Yuusuf has acquired some English skills from daycare and his sister, thus a
basic understanding of the language.
 - This family (in Canada) consists of Yusuuf, his sister, and his parents. They have been in
Brooks, Alberta, for almost four years now. The sister has acquired a strong
understanding of the English language in being in the school system here. Yusuuf is just
entering (kindergarten). The extended family remains in Somalia.
- The family came to Brooks to work at JBS Canada meat packing plant. Both the mother
and the father each make thirty dollars an hour at JBS. At JBS, there are also plenty of
other refugees/immigrants working there, providing them a strong sense of belonging in
their community. Yuusuf’s family lives in a rental apartment located in the multicultural
sector of Brooks called Greenbrooke. In this area of the city, there are lots of Somali
families living interconnected to one another.
- Yuusuf’s family has connected as a part of the Somali community within the City of
Brooks through religion as they regularly attend ceremonies at the mosque. Specifically,
Yuusuf’s family is Muslim and worship Allah.
- Yuusuf loves to play/watch soccer, building towers (with toy blocks), and playing with
Tonka trucks.

Learning and Developmental characteristics

- Though Yuusuf has a basic understanding of the English language but he struggles with
number and letter recognition. He needs further reinforcement in fluency, phonological
awareness, and phonics. Yuusuf takes interest and is gifted in both social studies and
physical education.
- Yuusuf is fortunate enough to not have any outstanding medical needs that impact his
academic performance.
- Yuusuf was born six weeks early/premature in the month of December. This is significant
because he is underdeveloped respective to his grade (kindergarten). This is important
because his peers have had much more time to develop while he hasn’t. It should also be
noted that Yuusuf’s fine motor skills are underdeveloped. Though undiagnosed, it is
suspected that Yuusuf might have ADHD as he sometimes struggles to sit still and focus.
- As previously mentioned, Yuusuf struggles with number and letter recognition. This is
not solely to blame on the fact that Yuusuf is learning English as a second language, but
he simply lacks retention skills.

Motivational Traits

- Yuusuf is an extroverted individual and seeks collaboration with others in his classroom.
He likes to share his blocks and Tonka trucks with students, and will gladly play with
others in the setting of a soccer game. Yuusuf finds enjoyment in talking with a variety of
people, new or old.
 - Regarding learned helplessness, Yuusuf struggles to independently complete daily tasks
such as removing/putting on shoes, jacket, and gloves. This might be due to the high
degree of which his family helps him complete these tasks (on his behalf).
- As mentioned before, Yuusuf loves social studies and physical education. Contrastingly,
Yuusuf takes a disinterest in math and english due to his difficulties with number and
letter recognition/retention.
- Internally, Yuusuf has good self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. In reality, Yuusuf
is unaware that he is underdeveloped in various areas such as a lack of fine motor skills
and the ability to complete daily tasks. Simply, he’s confident but unaware of his
weaknesses. Overall, he is a happy boy with a pleasant demeanor.
- Yuusuf does not really face any anxiety thus has no coping methods. Simply, Yuusuf
doesn’t care and isn’t bothered by his lack of ability to pursue and complete simple tasks.
He is unaware, therefore unbothered by his academic/development delays.
- Yuusuf is extrinsically motivated. Due to his home life, he often does tasks seeking
reward. For example, he gets assistance in taking off his shoes and jacket so he can go in
the house and watch TV. He learns English from his sister because she promises to give
him candy after.

Part 2: Strengths and Limitations

Strength(s) - Extroverted
- Strong gross motor skills (soccer/physical
education)
- Seeks collaboration
- Desires social interaction
- Confident
- Supportive and fluent (in English) sister
- Quite competitive

Limitation(s) - Unaware of weaknesses

- Number/letter recognition and retention difficulties
- Lacking fine motor skills
- Might have ADHD (can’t sit still)
- Struggles following two-step directions
- Little bit of a language barrier as English is his
second language
- Extrinsically motivated
 - Premature birth has delayed development
- Born late in the year (December)

Part 3: Individualized Plan for teaching and engaging your student

In making an individualized learning plan for Yuusuf, I will need to consider what needs
to be addressed followed by thinking of how his characteristics/strengths can be used to do so.
To start, I need to address the following problems in order to ensure Yuusuf has equal
opportunity in his learning and to get him motivated. The following issues that need to be
addressed are:

1. Potential ADHD (as shown through frequent fidgeting/easily distractedness).

2. Developing Yuusuf’s fine motor skills.
3. Improving letter/number recognition and retention
4. Catching Yuusuf up in consideration of his late birthday through extra repetition.
5. Ensuring Yuusuf can follow two-step instructions with the aid of the “first and then”
strategy.
6. Bringing awareness to his shortcomings regarding simple tasks and addressing learned
helplessness through consistency.
7. Developing intrinsic motivation to promote life-long learning.
8. Using the extroverted nature in Yuusuf’s favor to diminish language barriers (in a social
context) by considering his interests.

1, Potential ADHD:

In order to support Yuusuf in his future learning, we want to eliminate any extraneous
cognitive load that may be diminishing his educational experiences. Potential ADHD in this case
is extraneous to his cognitive load wherein continual focus on his studies is often broken up by
fidgeting. We need to ensure that Yuusuf is fully focused and engaged with his studies and we
need to diminish extraneous factors such as factors that take away from his learning.

To start, I would like to offer Yuusuf the use of a wobble stool (since he has a hard time
sitting still). This will keep his body moving white still in his desk. Depending on school
resources, one might also opt to use a seat wedge/cushion that he can sit on in a regular chair.
This can be paired with any fidgets that he may desire (that aren’t disruptive). Another physical
tool that we can use to keep him on task is tying an exercise band around the legs of the desk so
he can put his feet up on it when sitting down. He can bounce his feet around on this band to help
him focus (through subconscious movement). It might also be worth providing the parents with
some resources in the community to which they can seek help on getting Yuusuf observed and
tested for ADHD.

The teacher can also play a significant role in helping students with ADHD (and the
whole class) by incorporating frequently planned but brief movement breaks. Since Yuusuf really
likes activity and has strong gross motor skills, maybe task him with doing ten jumping jacks
before returning back to studying. Since he is really social, maybe have him find five people and
give them a unique handshake before returning to his desk. On that note, it is also important to
consider his interests/hobbies into his learning to ensure he stays engaged with the content. It is
much more likely that Yuusuf will stay engaged in math class when he uses his favorite blocks or
contextualizes a problem in a soccer scenario.

That said, the teacher should also try to keep tasks for Yuusuf quite collaborative because
he is very social and seeks interaction. In doing this, we aren’t just simply appeasing his
interests, but rather, we are using his interests in the context of learning to better enhance his
experiences. Note that also keeping Yuusuf in the zone of proximal development is critical for
not only his learning, but keeping him on task. That is, the highest point of engagement for a
student like Yuusuf will be found when they are challenged enough to do tasks or doable though
not too easy and boring.

In consideration of Yuusuf’s potential ADHD, we as teachers need to ensure that he is

onboard with any given task, reducing any ambiguity (extraneous factor). In order to do this,
what I will do as a teacher is have Yuusuf repeat a set of given instructions back to me upon
delivery. That is, I will ask him for a step by step explanation of how he will conduct himself in
completing a task. It would also be of value to have Yuusuf improve his own critical thinking
skills beforehand. What I mean by this is giving Yuusuf a task and then asking questions such as
“how are you going to do this?”. It is important to ensure he can make these connections and
navigate through simple problems independently.

2. Fine motor skills:

As with addressing the potential for ADHD, we need to minimize the extraneous load
that has the potential to hinder future learning. Since Yuusuf has poor fine motor skills, this is to
be addressed so he can focus on learning instead of focusing on how to properly hold a pencil for
example. We want to make it so that tasks are focused on learning outcomes instead of how to
execute fine motor skills.

First, it has been noted that Yuusuf has a poor pencil grip. While everyone else in
kindergarten is holding a pencil correctly, Yuusuf just can’t seem to get it but remains
unbothered. To improve his pencil grip, I would like to use a contraption on him wherein there is
an elastic on both the wrist and pencil with tension. This will work to improve his grip strength
and fine motor skill of manipulating small objects in a desirable way, such as a pencil.
 We can aid this strategy in an educational setting wherein we are almost “killing two
birds with one stone”. For example, we can use this contraption while having Yuusuf tracing
numbers/letters (written by the teacher) with a highlighter. This activity will not only work on his
fine motor skill of manipulating a pencil, but it’ll reinforce his knowledge and competency in
recognizing numbers/letters through repetition.

Simply, we are trying to strengthen his hands and instill a greater degree of control in his
movements. There are two specific strategies that might be used to do so. First, one could give
him an empty water bottle (filled with air) and place a cotton ball on a table. Then, he is to
squeeze the air out of the bottle to blow the ball off of the table. This is particularly good for
strengthening his hands. The second thing that we could do to focus on small object
manipulation involves an uncooked strand of spaghetti and some cheerios. He will be tasked to
hold the spaghetti and place the cheerios on the strand (strand goes through cheerio loops).

While this will be effective, we must consider his interests to ensure a more sustainable
way of learning. That said, we can utilize his inherent interests in playing with his toy blocks and
Tonka trucks. These are good tools to use in creating games because they will work both fine
motor skills and he will be interested. So simply, take these objects and create games out of
them. We can even use this in an educational setting too! For example, in math we can create a
performance task on geometry that challenges students to build the highest tower using his
blocks. Not only will Yuusuf be learning about geometry in constructing his tower, but he is
interested in the task itself (because of the items he’s using) and it’ll work to develop fine motor
skills. We can even take his competitive nature into consideration and challenge him and his
classmates to see who can build the tallest tower.

It is important to keep Yuusuf’s weaknesses and interests in mind in creating any task. IN
particular, we want to address fine motor skills for this section. That said, maybe one scenario
that one might come across in working with Yuusuf is having him cut out and glue a soccer ball
to something for an art project. Learning to cut and glue will improve fine motor skills so we
should try to incorporate these steps into a variety of contexts such as a social, science, or math
lesson.

Lastly, it is important to be resourceful in supporting Yuusuf by using his supportive

family. As a teacher, one should try to provide Yuusuf’s family with some extra homework that’ll
work to improve his fine motor skills. These tasks should be fun, but the importance here is just
having work on these skills outside of school, at home.

3. Letter/number recognition and retention:

It has also been noted that Yuusuf has difficulties with number/letter recognition and
retention. This is not solely to blame on the fact that he is learning English as a second language,
but rather this regards the slower development rate of which Yuusuf experiences. To address this,
the main focus here is using repetition. We want Yuusuf doing things over and over and over
again to reinforce his knowledge and understanding. To perfect any skill in life, one must invest
a great quantity of time and effort into that skill, therefore I see investing time into this as very
valuable.

One way that we can use repetition to expose Yuusuf to content regarding letters and
numbers is by providing him extra worksheets for at home. These worksheets (for english and
math) should obviously be repetitive in their respective nature. For example, a teacher may elect
to send Yuusuf home with a book called the “B Book”. In this hypothetical book, there could be
a whole bunch of pictures of items that start with the letter B. An example of this is “bat, ball,
bed, book, bowl…”. This helps with identifying patterns and predicting, but more importantly,
letter recognition (phonics, phonological awareness, and fluency). One could also spend time
closely with Yuusuf using laminated flashcards with letters on them.

In talking about patterns, we can create a variety of patterns to help him with
number/letter recognition. When creating these patterns, we can have Yuusuf identify them on
things of interest whether that be through soccer, or on an arrangement of his blocks/Tonka
trucks. It would be beneficial to do such math tasks with the blocks that he plays with as he will
inherently be interested.

Another thing that teachers often do to ensure retention and recognition is by delivering
content through some sort of jig or song. Think of the alphabet song for example. To this day, I
still sing the alphabet song in my mind in order to decipher what letter comes after one another.
A song that Yuusuf can rely on will help him recall the letters (and potentially) numbers that he
learns.

One can utilize his interest in soccer to create authentic tasks that are meaningful to
Yuusuf. As mentioned before, use soccer to contextualize math and english problems that’ll
expose him to repetition of letter/use.

4. Late birthday/underdevelopment:

As with letter and number retention and recognition, repetition will be key in addressing
this issue as we can not simply turn back the hands of time and change the date of birth of
Yuusuf’s. Since Yuusuf is behind by almost a whole year (relative to other kindergarteners), we
need to ensure that we catch Yuusuf up regarding experiences that inform his understanding of
the world.

It is important to ensure that this occurs in schools, but realistically, only so much can be
done during class. That said, it is critical that the parents are onboard in working to provide
Yuusuf extra experiences. The teacher might do something such as introducing the family to a
service offered in the community such as an english language learning club. It is with Yuusuf’s
desire for social interaction and extroverted nature that we improve his educational experience
by giving him extra exposure to such experiences. Through potential collaboration as such, he
can broaden his perspective and understanding of the world around him through various social
interactions.

Alongside giving Yuusuf a surplus of experiences (as he lacks knowledge gained from
doing such activity), we need to challenge Yuusuf in doing independent work too. Simply, he
needs to be challenged with a diverse range of tasks to be completed individually. In exposing
him to these tasks, Yuusuf will explore different strategies to problem solve and figure out how
to do stuff on his own.

5. Follow two-step instructions:

Yuusuf has difficulty completing simple two-step instructions. That is, he struggles to
independently navigate his way through problems that require more than one singular step to
complete. To combat this, there are a few strategies that we can use to address his needs.

One strategy that I would like to use to assist Yuusuf in completing two (or more) step
tasks independently is called the “first” and “then” strategy. Since Yuusuf is still learning a lot,
this strategy is used to simplify everything that is happening. When explaining what Yuusuf
needs to do, use minimal words. For example, if we are trying to get Yuusuf to put his winter
jacket on, we might say “first, arms in holes, then, zip up”. This highlights the intrinsic cognitive
load whilst minimizing extraneous factors such as trying to consider the formulation of sentences
for example. This is also in consideration of the fact that English being a second language is a
weakness and that we should simplify. Instructions are to be clear and concise.

In using this strategy, we can pair these instructions with the simple use of laminated
cards for visuals. Simply, the teacher may wear a lanyard with pictures on them (and
numbers/letters) to help provide directions. In this case, there might be a simple illustration of (1)
a kid putting his arms through the sleeves of a jacket, and (2) the zipper being zipped up once it's
on.

Once we begin to see improvements and Yuusuf starts to develop these skills, we can
reverse the format of this strategy to make it more reflective. That is, we will have Yuusuf
explain what he did to complete a task. This will look like Yuusuf reflecting on his actions by
saying “first I put my arms through the sleeves, then I zipped up my coat”. This reflective part
will be crucial in working to ensure long-lasting learning occurs.
 Lastly, it might not hurt to incorporate his interests into this process as it’ll give him a
motivating factor to do such tasks. For example, we will use this strategy in the context of
playing soccer. “First you need to put on your cleats, then you can play soccer”.

Nonetheless, we must be consistent to our approach in teaching him two-step

instructions, to ultimately guide him to independence.

6. Completing simple tasks:

This section's approach is very similar to that of the previous’ where we will work toward
greater independence in completing simple tasks such as taking off a jacket or shoes upon
entering a room. As with the previous section, consistency is the absolute key in providing
appropriate amounts of scaffolding for Yuusuf in working toward independence.

As mentioned, we are likely to make use of visuals, whether that be a picture illustrating
how to take one’s shoe off or how to remove a jacket. Since Yuusuf has such a supportive family
in helping him, we need to ensure this consistency persists at home as well. That said, it is
important to enlighten Yuusuf’s family that in order for him to grow independent, they are going
got have to stop doing everything for him. That is, he is used to just getting home and walking
through the door where his sister will take off his shoes for him. We want to move away from
this and ensure that she is scaffolding his learning and making him do it on his own (with a
gradual decrease in assistance).

Since Yuusuf is confident, we want to utilize this characteristic in his learning as we can
use both affirmation and reinforcement/feedback to better his future actions. Affirmations will be
positive but constructive criticism will be provided on how he can improve in the future. It is
good that he is confident so he won’t be discouraged by such remarks. Also, through
affirmations, we can encourage him to try tasks on his own. Since he is confident, ensure that he
knows that he is capable of doing something if you expect to see the following actions.

Note that this “first” and “then” strategy isn’t only for such tasks. This addresses his
cognitive needs in learning as a whole as this strategy might be used in learning core concepts in
any given subject. This could range anywhere from science to math to art, and beyond. When
possible though, make learning authentic and applicable to real life. That is, we want him to be
able to problem solve. An example is that if he wants to play soccer, he’s going to have to figure
out how to put his cleats on. Start by asking him what he needs to do before playing. Though
assistance may be given, challenge him at first with questions such as “what do you need to do
first?”. This leads into the next point of developing intrinsic motivation as he begins to see the
“why” behind what he’s doing.

7. Develop intrinsic motivation:

 Yuusuf is used to learning English at home with his sister so he can receive candy as a
reward. Yuusuf is used to learning to complete simple tasks so he can go on about his day and
watch cartoons. Yuusuf is being extrinsically motivated at home and we need to work to instill a
degree of extrinsic motivation in him to complete these tasks.

First, it is clear that we can use his weakness of English as a second language as a
vulnerable point in his learning. It is important to show him the importance of why he’s learning
it. At this point, he's no longer learning for candy promised by his sister, but rather, he is learning
for the betterment of oneself. Maybe challenge him to do tasks without using any communication
whatsoever. He will soon see the importance of language. Yuusuf will explore intrinsic
motivation as he reaps the benefits of learning English as it broadens his possibilities in any
context. He will realize that he is learning English to enjoy things he enjoys such as social
interaction and understanding the world around him. The same goes for doing easy tasks such as
undressing from the outdoor weather. Show him the importance of learning any other subject too
as it enables active and knowledgeable citizens.

One can utilize his extroverted nature and inherent interest in seeking socialization and
interaction to build intrinsic motivation. The more conversation that Yuusuf engages in, the
better. Therefore, we need to increase English interactions. This works towards intrinsic
motivation because he is having conversations for the joy of it. He is not solely focused on doing
it with the intent of bettering his english. Teachers can facilitate this in a classroom by
incorporating lots of collaborative work. Collaboration is important to helping Yuusuf develop
his understanding of the English language as he’s intrinsically motivated to communicate with
others, thus opening opportunities for learning English which results in a better overall learning
experience.

8. Extroversion to learn English:

This has been touched on briefly in the last section, but we want to use the strength of
extroversion to enhance Yuusuf’s learning of English. Since Yuusuf has a desire for interaction,
this is a focal point in developing his English skills.

First, I need to ensure that as a teacher, Yuusuf’s classroom has a high degree of
collaborative work where students can interact. Yuusuf thrives in this type of environment. That
said, I see an importance of inviting him (and all students) to engage back with the teacher even
during lecture. For example, this could look like simply asking him questions to which he is to
follow up with a response back. He is confident so have him elaborate and explore a variety of
word usages to formulate messages. It is also to note that since Yuusuf is confident and
extroverted, he will be likely to try and use much more English than he really knows. This is
important to encourage as we can use mistakes that have been made as learning possibilities. It is
also important to note that along with all of the other points, this isn’t necessarily exclusive to
only English learning. This is applicable to any subject.
 Again, it is important to consider points of interest when using extroversion to learn.
Maybe contextualize conversational practice in a sports setting. Do this in a social studies class
too. Introduce new terms/vocabulary that he will be eager to learn regarding his favorite areas of
study. Afterall, he is going to want words that are authentic and applicable to real life. As a
teacher, you can even conduct courses such as science to help improve English learning
simultaneously. Consider the following example of using centers in a classroom. That is, students
might be learning about the seasons, and one center might be labeled “fall”. At this center,
students will discuss the season of fall and what words then know about it. At these centers,
students will also expand their knowledge on key terms such as “leaves, yellow, pumpkin, etc.”.

An extroverted centered task that a teacher could give a student as such would be to send
home an ISpy jar (made of rice and small objects within) to which the student is to find the
object. When he finds the object, have him show and explain that object in English to his family
members. Afterall, he will be super excited to have found the object. Even simpler, one could
task Yuusuf with having him play with his toys with others. Note how frequently one might use
English in this case to describe what’s happening and the role of onomatopoeia.

Lastly, his extroverted nature will lead him to new relationships and support systems as
friends are developed through such tasks. In this instance, we will see growth in not only English
skills, but it’ll expose him to a variety of experiences that’ll improve his social skills and
understanding of the world around him. I think of these connections as the start of a
snowball-effect-like reaction, where future learning is catalyzed by these early connections.