1. Hypothesis Testing Model
Student's Name: Sami Dates: 3/15/2010- 4/23/2010
Teacher: Nawal Almasmari
Observations Interpretations Hypothesis Curricular Outcome
Decisions
1. Sami seems is 1. Perhaps the Would reviewing I will start him on Sami has read
having words are too hard the consonant and the vowel and with the
difficulties reading for him to read. vowel sounds help consonant sounds classroom. His
and him read better. daily by giving teacher says that it
comprehending 2. Maybe he him words with is the first time
during reading doesn't read Since English is that have that that he has read a
time. enough at home. his second particular sound. paragraph without
language and he many mistakes.
3. Perhaps he hasn't been here I will also give He is very happy
doesn't have long, maybe he him an easy book with the results, as
enough support at needs to to read and have am I.
home and understand what him read it several
encouragement. he is reading. times until he
understands it and
can read it.
2. Sami seems to Perhaps it is a way Would making I will make sure Sami has no need
always need to got to get out of the sure that he has all that he doesn't to leave the
to his locker to get lesson. the materials enter the classroom
something that he needed before he classroom without constantly and is
has forgotten. enters the all the necessary better focused on
classroom stop the materials needed. his lesson.
frequent trips to
his locker.
3. Sami doesn't Maybe he doesn't Would practicing I will review with Sami, as well as
seem to be know his the times tables him and the rest of the rest of the
following our multiplication help him better the class the classroom,
lesson on fraction times tables. understand multiplication responded well to
equivalents. fractions and tables and make a the review and
equivalent game of it. seem to
fractions? understand
fractions a lot
better.

2. 4. Sami doesn't Perhaps he doesn't Would working I will make sure to He seems to be
seem to be able to know how to alongside him constantly check more at ease
write in his express his during journal on his work and during journal
journal. thoughts on paper. writing time help make suggestions writing time and
Perhaps he can't him with his as he is writing it. not as stressed out
spell words writing? as he was.
correctly and I will also give
doesn't want to Maybe he won't him an He expresses his
make mistakes. feel so self opportunity to thoughts more
conscience and try proofread his freely and doesn't
to express his work and give him worry as mush
thoughts without a chance to correct about it begin
having to worry it. perfect.
about his spelling
and sentence
structure.

3. Case Study: Sami
Sami was born in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. His family is originally from the
Republic of Yemen, but they migrated to Dubai in search of a better life for themselves. Now they
have migrated to the United States of America. He is the middle child. He has 2 brothers and 2
sisters. He is very bright but needs some help. He attended private school in Dubai which also
taught the English language. He knew some English but not enough. He is new to Alikhlas
Training Academy. His poor language skills are what are keeping him from excelling with his
classmates. He is very eager to learn,but is having trouble because of his low language skills.
He is also having trouble because he is reading with students who have been learning
English throughout their lives. I take him to the back of the room and give him separate lessons
about consonant and vowel sounds. We write words with the beginning sounds of all the letters of
the alphabet and sound them out together. Then we work on sentences and read them a few times.
He is also given the chance to write their meanings in Arabic just to make sure that he understands
what he is reading. He is then given spelling words from those same words. It was an excellent
way to get him working with the sounds of the alphabet.
This has worked out nicely because he is given words that he can read at his level and not
feel overwhelmed. I am slowly getting him ready to read with him classmates. Everyday, we read
a few pages from a third grade book. He reads the page a few times until he finally gets it. As he is
reading, I review with him the rules of sounds of the alphabet such as vowel consonant vowel
( robe, sore) and ight is sounded as ite and c is sounded k. I also had him read a passage from the
book that we are reading “Stone Fox” and he read much better than he has ever read. I have taken
his weaknesses and worked on them with him and now he is not making as many mistakes as he
had make before. This is, in turn, raising his self esteem and his confidence in himself and
encouraged him to be the best that he can be. Now he sees that it isn't as hard as he thought it
would be. He actually feels that he now has a chance to learn with the rest of his classmates. By
working with him one on one daily and modifying the lesson to help accommodate his needs, he

4. has improved tremendously. His progress has been impressive.
When I first met Sami, he was quiet as a mouse and when he spoke, his voice was very low.
He was very kind to his classmates and a very helpful person. He didn't talk much in my presence,
but during recess, he'd whip up a storm. He spoke Arabic a lot and his English was very broken. I
learned that he was a talker, but he didn't want to mess up when he spoke to me. He also respected
his teacher and didn't want to be disruptive in class. That was a quality that I admired and you don't
see that much these days. I have since encouraged him speak up and to talk in English and not to
worry about making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes and he won't be held accountable for
them. It was okay to make mistakes, in fact it was a way of learning. This encouraged him to talk
English a little bit more.
I also noticed with Sami that he did his work in class if you focused on him, but he hardly
brings in his homework. Homework reinforces what the student has learned in the classroom and
makes it stick so to speak. He would come in with the same old excuse, “I forgot.” I got tired of
always hearing it so I got in touch with his mother. Apparently, when she asks him about
homework he says that there was none so that he would play on his video games. She was always
wondering why he was never getting any homework,but never thought to ask. That is why
communication with the parents is very important. We must work together with the family to keep
the student on task.
I noticed that working one on one with Sami and focusing on his weak points helped him
improve a lot. Sometimes all that they need is a little extra attention. I have Sami read books with
me and also have him read with his family at home. His reading has improved a great deal from
when I first met him. He is still the same quiet child, but he had improved a great deal and will
hopefully improve a great deal more. Just to see his face light up when he reads a passage correctly
with few mistakes, is reward enough for me. It is when they light up that you get the warm feeling
inside and you know that you have entered the correct field.
Sami is a wonderful kid and it was a pleasure to work with him. In the few weeks that I hav

5. worked with him, I have discovered a great deal about him. He has opened up to me and told me
that he felt alone when he came to this country, but he quickly made friends in the school and feels
very at home. He was no longer feeling homesick. Sami is still striving to get better at reading and
he takes home a book once a week which he had to read until he reads it with few mistakes. He
enjoys reading with me especially when I give him many chances to fix his mistakes. He feels
confident when he gets it right after the fourth or fifth time. I don't correct him right away because I
want him to have the satisfaction of doing it himself. This increases his self esteem and gives him
the courage to keep on going and to make mistakes.