Formative Assessment Title IReading Resource Reading Groups

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Formative AssessmentTitle I/Reading Resource
Reading Groups

• By Ellen Maxwell
• And Kristen Wilkes
• East Salem Elementary

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Objective To increase reading levels of
students by using running records as formative
assessments to guide instruction.
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Pre-Assessment

• A teacher takes running records using Fountas and
  Pinnell Reading Assessment Kit, Rigby PM
  Benchmark Kit, or a 100 word passage from a basal
  reader or other book. The student reads leveled
  books until an instructional level is determined.
  During these assessments, the teacher makes
  anecdotal records and records things noticed
  about the childs reading, for example, fluency
  and expression, pointing, 11 correspondence,
  visual, structure, and meaning errors, reading
  strategies used, comprehension, and student
  comments.

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The students are grouped according to reading
levels

• Students reading a passage at 90 to 94 accuracy
  are reading a book at an instructional level.
  This knowledge assists teachers in placing
  students in appropriate instructional groups
  based on individual strengths and weaknesses.

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The guided reading groups are formed.

• Students reading on the same level are placed in
  a small group. During group lessons, students
  participate in guided reading lessons. The
  teacher selects books at the determined
  instructional level. Assessment is an ongoing
  process so running records are taken every one to
  two weeks on each child. It is important to keep
  track of a students growth in order to obtain
  maximum reading potential.

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Assessment drives instruction in guided reading
groups

• Grouping students of similar reading abilities
  helps teachers plan instruction that best matches
  the students needs.
• The teacher analyzes the students running
  records and makes notes of errors. These errors
  determine the instruction.
• If the students have problems with fluency, they
  would participate in such activities as choral
  reading, readers theater, echo reading, and
  listening to themselves on tape.
• Errors in use of endings, such as ing, would
  result in lessons working with words ending in
  ing, such as word sorts, using magnetic letters
  to make words, and highlighting ing words in
  text.
• Running records determine use of reading
  strategies. Instruction would include using
  reading strategies such as looking at the
  picture, self-correcting, rereading, looking for
  chunks in words, and matching voice to print.
  This is done through teacher modeling and
  practice.

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Anecdotal Records

• The teacher observes and makes anecdotal records
  on each student, making sure the student builds
  on his reading strengths and practices using the
  strategies to become a good reader.
• Students are given feedback as they read to the
  teacher. The teacher points out something they
  did well to reinforce the use of appropriate
  strategies and also so the student will continue
  to use that strategy.
  

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Using Anecdotal records to guide instruction

• An anecdotal record may contain information such
  as fluency, rate of reading, expression, errors
  such as b/d confusion, omitting endings on words,
  or confusing similar words such as want/went, or
  of/for. These errors would be addressed during
  small group time or independent reading time.

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Summative Assessment

• As a post-assessment, the teacher takes running
  records using benchmark kits such as Fountas and
  Pinnell, Rigby PM or a 100 word text selection.
  Like before, anecdotal notes are recorded and a
  new instructional reading level is determined.
  Optimally, when scores are compared between pre
  and post assessments, a students reading level
  has shown growth. In order for maximum reading
  growth to continue, the student would need to
  begin instruction at this level, which may result
  in the possibility of moving the student to a new
  reading group with other students who read on or
  about the same instructional level.