Chapter+8


 * Chapter 8 **

**#1**

assessment goals
// On p. 138 is bulleted the “bottom rung of reading assessment”. These are the assessments “so necessary they should be required of every teacher”. As you read through this list and reflect on the assessments and procedures you utilize, are you meeting each of these goals? Can you name how and when you measure each of these necessities? Are there any holes for you that you’ll want to give some time and focus this year? //

// Each year, unless you are a Multi-Age Instructor, we have some notes on our children from the previous year. It is a start, but not great. One way this year will start with Open House. I will have my parents complete a Literature Interest Inventory on their child. The Open House is five days before the official opening of school. I know you're thinking they'll take it home and I'll never see it again. It's all in the packaging. Let's say it'll be my first minilesson with the whole group, parents. The data collected can help me present to my students what the Readers Workshop is about and why it can create a community of great literate individuals based on what I know about the strengths and needs of each child. The goals presented on page 138, will be based on some data I have collected. The research starts day one, informal inventories built into minilessons. Unit 1 will be our session for me to create lessons that will meet the needs of the whole, groups and individuals. When regrouping to debrief I will be keeping a record of obsevations and what was heard. Let's say I have a connection/link to how I will develop multi -leveled plans, // // Margaret Fox ﻿ //

Stephanie Cooper
 * While not perfect, I feel my method of using the information from the child’s previous teacher enables me to “quickly and roughly match readers with books.” (138) Students have books to choose from before school even starts so they are ready to read on day one.
 * I would like to conduct some type of informal reading inventory this year, although I will likely send it home to be completed as I don’t expect my first grade students would be able to record their thoughts on paper. I usually get a fair hold on students values about reading through observation, but have never asked how they perceive themselves as readers or asked about their reading life outside of school, though the kindergarten teachers in our building have a form for this.
 * Conferring with students last year and conducting formal and informal running records gave me information regarding which strategies students used and didn’t use in their reading. I expect I will become better this year after having read these texts and attending the classes to support my own knowledge.
 * Taking those students who are “failing to thrive” (138) under my wing and giving them extra time and attention is something I feel strong in throughout the school year. I use last year’s information as a baseline of which students I should be looking out for. These students are the first I test and observe frequently throughout the first few days. Last year, I had several students completely reading recovery passages with me and I was progress monitoring these students biweekly with regards to fluency using Dibels. I do not believe that the Dibels testing is perfect, but it does give a quick snapshot as to how students are progressing in one area of their reading.
 * One plan to make my goals more public, is to send home a list at the beginning of each new unit so parents know what skills their child is accountable for learning. I feel that I have not always done a great job even communicating the daily goals to my students, but improved this last year as a result of my work with math workshop and carries this over to other subjects. I posted the math objective at the top of our rotation descriptions so students could see it throughout the lesson. I am going to work on posting it for other workshops as well. This will likely be more of a benefit to my second grade students to start, but eventually the first grade students will be able to read their goals as well.
 * I would like to conduct more informal running records with whatever book the child is reading at the time to add to my assessment system. I do feel that I teach with multilevel plans in the strategy lessons, guided reading, and individual conferences I conduct because I feel it’s important to ensure the higher level readers are not held back and the lower level readers feel like they can be successful. The more I learn from the workshop series and reading these texts will make me even stronger in this area.

Like Stephanie, I have the resources of last years data to get my students"quickly and roughly matched with books." Unless of course I have new students to the district.:>) I would check their CA-60 to see if any assessment information was included to give me an idea of where to get started with my new students. As far as ***//We need to understand and support our children's habits, values, and self perceptions as readers.//__p138__**__,__ I see my reading interest survey as one way to address this goal. I haven't REALLY valued this type of survey in the past and hope to use it as a means to drive the questions I ask and the lessons I teach for each student. I found on **__p.142__**, a piece that may be helpful at the bottom of the page that describes using "the whole class in an inquiry about what we are each like as readers." I think the more we can use peers to help in discussing or opening ideas to our students the more buy-in we will get, and that will lead to more success in our classrooms. I see me as being "middle -of-the-road" when it comes to understanding the startegies and sources of information that my students use and don't use. I see that as an experience factor, the more I do this the better I will become. Kind of like, //**Volume leads to better Reading,**// practice leads to better assessing. I see myself and my District as being better at identifying students that fail to thrive, and when my ideas don't work I have a great support system at our school to help put new startegies and ideas in place. Tracking progress and being accountable is difficult for me because I view it as an organizational issue. I know what to do, and often when to do it, but keeping on track and collecting evidence to show what my students and I are working on together has been difficult for me. I hope to use some new forms and binder ideas from my colleagues to get me better able to storehouse the important information I need to show accountability. One small step at a time, and I hope to get to the level where I can quickly take my assessments and move them into meaningful lessons that can be differentiated for each of my students. Mike Like Mike, I can also access the assessment information from the CA-60, However, not all teachers are teaching reading or conducting any kind of running records, miscue analysis, or even assessing with the Brigance. On the other hand, they may be working on life skills instead of functional communication and reading. In summary, I get students who are very low with site words and language arts period. UGH! I have always felt very strongly about ELA's and will continue to do my BEST to educate any students who come to may classroom. M.J.

To match quickly I can look at the Dibels book to see not just the score but theaccuracy and the type of mistakes made. A spelling inventory help with groups.MLPP test are also assist. If timepermits the Fountas and Pinnell assessment gives so much data that can aid inindependent reading, comprehension tips and other conferrings and small groupwork. P140was a great visual on how to assist students in give info and madding personalgoals, which are always the most powerful. KDN

(Bullet one)We use the DIBELS test to roughly match or give us a starting point at the beginning of the year of where to place leveled readers. From this point on one-on-one conferences (Bullet two and three) and small group work give us the information about individual readers and how to best match their reading level books and their personal interest books. (Bullet four) One area that I know that I am not very strong in is that I need to make sure all independent readers are truely engaged and not just sitting there. I know that small group conferences are important to help these children develop strategies to stay focused on their books. (Bullet five) We assess our students weekly with timed reads, individual reading conferences and comprehension questions that lets us know how we choose to proceed with the our students. Ronda

First and foremost I'd like to say that I LOVE the idea of having meetings between students and teachers before school actually begins to do reading assessments. I agree that instruction grinds to a halt for an extended period of time, several times a year, to administer required assessments (pg. 138). Who knows if anything like that would really happen in my school district..not so sure. Would my principal allow ME to do it and try it out? Maybe. I don't think I'll try and pull it off this year, but maybe it's food-for-thought for next year! This past year I utilized Running Records and DIBELs scores as the assessments that drove my leveling and instruction in the classroom. I did meet with children one-on-one (conferring) during reading workshop and used that time for anticdotal notes that also helped as an assessment tool. I felt a lot of success this past year, but I also know it's only the beginning. There are many areas that I still need to work on and focused, meaningful assessments that continually guide my reading instruction (whole group, small group, and individually) is definitely at the top of that list. The year that is starting is going to be full of new things for me, one of which is learning how to administer the Fountas and Pinnell assessments. So excited! Keri Cooper Chapter 8 from Bobbi Friend #1 I do a fairly good job of assessing at the beginning of the year and meeting these minimal goals. The first one, quickly and roughly matching readers with books, is fulfilled by doing a DIBELS fluency screening at the beginning of the year in addition to having students complete the Fountas and Pinnell word list to help identify reading level. The next bullet point, the need to understand and support our children’s habits values, and self perceptions as readers, can be fulfilled by completing a reading interest inventory to learn about our students as individual readers. In order to support their habits and values, we need to know what they believe about reading. The next point, to understand the strategies and sources of information individual readers use and don’t use, I believe the best source of information is an informal reading inventory taken while a student is doing a brief oral reading. A very quick one minute timed reading that includes miscue analysis is the best way to analyze how students are reading as well as what strategies they use and do not use. The next point, the take early note of students who are failing to thrive, is simple by the time students reach sixth grade by looking at their reading grades and assessment data from the past. Once we have identified students who are not thriving, we need to identify strategies to work with those students to develop better reading skills. The next point, to hold our teaching accountable as we work toward clear and public goals, should be an easy thing to do if we have clear reading targets and skills that students should acquire by certain grades. In order to be held accountable, we must develop a system of recording that will satisfy both curriculum goals as well as a way to communicate with parents how their students are doing with reading. If we use data properly, and record what we do in our classrooms through formal and informal types of reading, we will be held accountable for our teaching. The final point on the list, if we do all this we will achieve a classroom system of assessment that forces us to develop multilevel teaching plans. I agree that if we gather the data correctly and find a level for our students to begin their reading journey with us, then we will need to develop multilevel plans for our students in order to meet their diverse reading needs.


 * I don't feel like there is an efficient way to have my whole class matched to leveled books in a quick efficient manner. My district expects a benchmark DRA to be done by a deadline in September. On page 138 Lucy says "I have seen instruction grind to a halt for a month or two while teachers try to administer required assessments." While instruction doesn't come to a halt for a month or two in my classroom it does suffer for a couple of weeks while I take the time to administer DRA. I would love to be able to do these assessments prior to the start of the year. I value the information they provide but I hate the time it takes away from instruction.
 * I need to give a personal reading inventory to my students at the beginning of the year to help me quickly get a picture of them as readers.
 * I need to do individul conferences with my students and keep track of the data in a usabe format to aid with lesson plans.
 * I need to be in tune to the needs, strengths, and weaknesses of each student and then provide them with tailored instruction.
 * I will be inviting icolleagues into my room to observe and give me feedback to improve my instruction.
 * Through all of this my ultimate goal is to teach each reader as an individual and to keep clear and focused goals at the forefront for each reader. Since I will be providing minilessons based on strategies and not individual books I believe these students will carry over lessons into their independent readong. --Jodee Tuttle

**FYI: New data on accuracy %, comprehension and fluency for independent reading**
Just and FYI – on p. 141 it reads, “In general I’d recommend that we watch whether a child can read the book with 90 percent accuracy and talk in detail about the text.” This thinking has changed since the publication of this book. I looked back at my notes from attending the Summer Reading Institute at Columbia University's Teachers College to post the new data for us.

“ Accuracy: Students must be matched to texts – high level of accuracy (lower levels = 96% or above). As students move into harder levels, their accuracy needs to increase. In our adult reading, with 96% accuracy, we would miss about 14 words a page and would be expected to understand. That is not good enough for comprehension. So after a level J or K, they should be reading at a 98 or 99% accuracy. When dropping words more often than this, our motivation and stamina decrease. (Research came from Allington and others) Comprehension: Not that they can retell 4 things in the book. Rather, retell and tell why what happened in the book is an important thing for the author to write about. Fluency: In terms of fluency, fluency is most important in the first read by about the time they are at a level J. Earlier than that, they might not be very fluent at all in the first read, but will increase as text is re-read.”

**#2**

**comparing assessments**
//This chapter went in depth comparing running records, informal reading inventories and miscue analysis. While reading this chapter you possibly had connections of familiarity with what you or your school does regarding reading assessments. Did you notice a common thread between each of the examples outlined in the chapter? Each required real reading by a student with a teacher sitting right there observing and analyzing the strategies the student relied upon as he or she read. How important is it to you to do this type of one-on-one reading assessment in your classroom? Though it requires time, do you find that the instructional impact is worth it or not?//

Is this making the 'invisible" visible? We at our school use it with the failing to thrive students. Ok? My other students are failing to thrive. I say this because I'm watching my class miss out on the joy of reading. Spending time one- on-one means creating strategies to meet that child's needs. Also grouping like needs during group conferring. or Creating minilessons for whole group based on the one-on-one.

Margaret Fox Yes, this does require a huge amount of time. But it is worth it! I haven't done running records for my Young 5's students, but I did them for my first graders years ago. I am convinced that without spending time, one-on-one, I would not have a clue as to how my students were learning. I also had my first graders read through various lists of words, all on a sheet (I totally forget what that list was called), to see approximately where they were, "level wise". I did this several times each year. The lists were not attached to a reading passage that they needed to read either. So it wasn't exactly as it was described in the book as an "informal reading inventory". Kari

When I did my student teaching, I took part in a Running-Records training. After reading pages 153-157 I can see that each assessment required a teacher to make marks on the actual text while listening to the student read from the same text. After that, the student retold the text they had read as the comprehension piece for assessment. Yes, I agree that it does take time, but the instructional impact is worth it. “**Instead of teaching in a whole-class fashion to a hypothetical average student, we need to take into account the range of development within our classrooms, designing a curriculum that meets all our children where they are and takes each child further.” (pg. 157)** Like Kari, in the past I have used 'running records' with my students. I believe the lower levels of Unique Curriculum have a miscue analysis assessment as well as vocabulary for the months unit and other comprehension pieces. Common thread between the assessments were the fact that it required 1:1 teacher/student interaction that is sometimes difficult to do. However, I am planning on taking the first week of school like I did last year, to get a level on reading, comprehension, math and money. I am very fortunate to have 2 IA's who can help with the testing. Is it worth all the hard work? ABSOLUTELY M.J. Running records are required as part of our data collection. I am fortunate to have Rigby Benchmark Assessment kits to use. We have had parent volunteers make copies of each assessment so it is easy to follow along as the students read, and mark an exact copy of the text. I need the visual copy myself, and find it easier to, mark/write the substitutions or errors quickly and accurately this way. I have tried to follow along and do a running record without a copy and found myself getting lost or too far behind to assess accurately. These tests take time, and I want my students efforts and my efforts to deliver the best results possible. I have found that good classroom management is important during these assessments, and it is easy to insist that everyone gets a chance to do their best in a calm and quiet classroom. I know I need to do a better job of identifying the type of errors or miscues so that I can match the best strategies to my students needs. Mike

It is critical for teacher to hear his or her own students read struggle andsucceed. When any one is listening or Ihave the ability to pick I always error toward letting the teacher hear the student sread—Some how we need to make this more available to teacher—sure center are the logical way to do this but depending on your class make up and teacher experienceand management skill—at time we have to do alternative things to make this possible. KDN

Margaret, you mentioned that you are watching your class “miss out on the joy of reading.” Do you while you administer these assessments? I feel that way. In order to give a running record that I believe will give me the most accurate results, I give my students a text from the Rigby assessment kit. The books aren’t circulated in the classroom so I’m confident they haven’t read it before, unless they did in the previous grade. Though that is an advantage, I worry that some students aren’t too invested in the book because they didn’t select it. (Though I plan to start offering at least two books from the kit so there is some student-choice.) I find it helpful to have information from these assessments, but I haven’t always been the best with using it effectively. So I have felt frustrated and debated if it’s worth my time. I know that it is though when I can quickly match students with appropriate texts as well as understand their strengths and challenges. I love that Calkins recommended on page 138 for “schools to support two days of one-to-one appointments between all teachers and all children before the first day of school.” One school I worked in actually did this with in-coming kindergarteners. We had all the beginning of the year assessments completed during these individual sessions. Our time in the classroom is so precious and I want to make sure everything I do is necessary!

Sara Sabourin

I definitely think that the one-on-one assessments are extremely important in the classroom. Especially in the areas of reading and writing. Up until this coming year, we have relied solely on DIBELs scores and Running Records. Before DIBELs was adopted as an assessment piece in our school district, it was primarily Running Records. Once DIBELs tests became more of a focus, we have been producing really fast readers who aren't gaining any information from what they read. They are just reading the words to see how many they can read in one minute. We even had a teacher or two in our building who would "pay" the students classroom bucks for how many words they could read in a minute. Reading is SO MUCH MORE than just decoding words on a page. I am excited to learn how to use Fountas and Pinnell because from what I hear it takes Running Records, Informal Reading Inventories, Miscues, and Comprehension and combines it into one great assessment piece that provides a TON of information about each student. What I will work on this coming school year, in the area of assessments, is finding a way to weave them into the conferring part of the Reading Workshop so I can minimize how often my instruction has to come to a halt to administer the assessments. Keri Cooper Chapter 8 from Bobbi Friend #2 Completing running records or informal reading inventories with individual students is an extremely valuable us of teaching time. It is without a doubt the best way to gather valuable insights into our students as readers and perhaps the only way for us to truly analyze our students’ individual strengths and weaknesses. In order for a teaching to understand how our students use their cueing systems allows us to focus on developing their strengths and improving on their weaknesses. The true running record system seems unreasonable to me due the huge time factor per student. However, completing a one-minute informal reading inventory on each student is a powerful teaching tool. I do believe it is worth the amount of time it takes.


 * #3 **

** more than telling **
// (p. 156) “We may tell readers that it is important to … but teaching means more than telling. It means finding ways to track our children’s progress…to devise solutions to these problems. This is teaching.” Wow – so true. Gone are the days we lower our head and push through the mountain of standards at a “death march” as Michael Shackelford calls it without looking to see if our students are even following until the end of the marking period. // // So if “our assessment system should provide us with a constant source of feedback” to hold us accountable to what we are really teaching (not just telling) our individual readers, this means that we will need to have a high degree of flexibility in our instruction to respond to our assessment findings. How do the structures of Reading Workshop provide this flexibility for us to truly teach in response to our assessment feedback? Where and how can we deepen our work with our readers if our assessments tell us it is needed? //

The more I read and learn about reading workshop, the more I have really come to see the importance of it. The way that I taught reading in the past, in Kindergarten, was largely whole- group, with just a small amount of time given to individual reading and assessment. This coming year, I am going to do a much better job of observing and recording progress on an individual basis. And then helping each student to grow as they need to. Kari // Like Kari, I have also taught reading in whole group. However, my 12 students are in 3 reading groups based on a 'Words Their Way' assessment and according to their ability. Although I have not taken Reading Workshop, I can see that from reading on pages 66 & 67 that the structures of Reading Workshop provides teachers with the flexibility of teaching a //// more specific //// mini-lesson or strategy based on the assessments of his/her student’s abilities and non-abilities. During Reading Workshop and other lessons from disciplines across the curriculum, the teacher is able to read and confer with small groups as well as share with the classroom in a **highly structured and predictable** manner. I feel truly blessed that I have 2 IA’s who are qualified to help with assessments which really makes my life easer. // // M.J. // The flexibility can be in the minilessons which lets you revisit, skip or modifybased on the classes needs. Inconferring this can also be done. Small group lets this also occur. KDN

"Reading workshop makes independent reading an instructional time." It is a very highly structured and predictable time where we as teachers can provide explicit instruction called the minilesson and supoort our students with conferences and small groups. This allows time for our students to discuss their books and reading work with us and other students. During this time we can be flexible with the information we have taked in from the assessments of the students and plan our strategy lessons accordingly. Ronda //﻿// I appreciate the structures built into the Reading Workshop that help teachers meet their students’ needs. For example, my teaching points in mini-lessons, strategy groups, guided reading groups, and individual conferences come from not only the recommended sequence in the units of study but also from data collected from various assessments and observations. I am looking forward to better creating these structures to deepen my work with readers. Calkins gives a tip on page 156 to “draw imaginary lines in the sand, saying ‘This is the day to really notice…’”. I find that tip helpful to gain a clearer focus on one particular issue. Sara Sabourin

==﻿I feel that this chapter is pushing me even harder to know each of my students individually as a reader. It is not enough that I can tell you what level he is at. I need to know if he has home support, if he is doing his reading homework, if he uses the strategies we have been working on, if he can transfer across texts and so forth. The only way I can possibly do this is if I have taken accurate notes when conferring and actually taken time to read individually with each child. My planning can only take place after I have given thought to each child's current ability and level, and chances are I will have 24 different plans for 24 students. --Jodee Tuttle==


 * // In addition to the questions and thoughts above, here is a place to post other ideas and burning questions from chapter eight, if any. //**
 * **Do any of you have a Kindergarten teacher at your school who does Reading Workshop? If so, I would love to come and observe how he/ she runs it. Let me know. Thanks! Kari**