An Introduction to Miscue Analysis

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An Introduction to Miscue Analysis
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Defining Reading

• One Definition Your eyes are dancing across
  the page of text, and the words are being
  translated into a voice in your head.
• Wren, Stephen. What is reading? Decoding the
  Jaberwockys song. Retrieved 1/12/06 from
  http//www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/read11.html
  . para. 9
• STATE OF MICHIGAN DEFINITION OF READING
• Reading is the process of constructing meaning
  through the dynamic interaction among the
  reader's existing knowledge, the information
  suggested by the text and the context of the
  reading situation.
• Michigan Reading Association. Retrieved 1/12 06
  from http//www.michiganreading.org/MI20DEFINITIO
  N20OF20READING0505.pdf

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The Definition that informs Miscue Analysis

• Meaning is not in the words on the page.
• The reader constructs meaning by making
  inferences and interpretations.
• These inferences and interpretations are informed
  by the text, the reader and the poem.

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The Text

• Grapho/phonic cues
• Syntactic cues
• Semantic cues
• Pragmatic cues
• The authors background and linguistic skills
• The physical text

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The Reader

• The reader brings the sum total of his linguistic
  knowledge to the literacy event.
• Decoding skills
• Past experiences both literary and in life
• Expectations for the reading (Rosenblatt)
• Experiences with reading instruction
• The situation

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The PoemRosenblatt, L. ( 1978) The reader, the
text, the poem The transactional theory of
literary work. Carbondale, Ill. Southern
Illinois University Press

• This is what happens within the transaction
  between the reader and the symbols on the printed
  page.
• It is a construct unique to a particular reader.

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Why Miscue and not Mistake

• Websters Dictionary
• Mistake
• to blunder (to make a mistake through stupidity,
  ignorance, or carelessness )
• Miscue
• Cue a signal
• Mis- wrongly
• Miscue Wrongly identify a signal

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Whats the Difference?

• Blunder through stupidity, ignorance, or
  carelessness.
• Wrongly identify a signal .
• Cause?
• Effect?

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Why is this important?

• If a reader is reading and miscues (says puppy
  for dog), the teacher has several choices.
• One They can stop the reader and say something
  like, John, look at the word you just said.
  What is the first letter of that word? What
  word did you say? Does it start with that
  letter? Lets try it again and remember the
  sound for the first letter..

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• Two John, you just said puppy for dog. Are
  those two words spelled the same? Lets try it
  again using the correct word and try to pay more
  attention to the letters on the page.

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• Three Let it go until the story is over. Take
  the student back to the miscue and say, John,
  when you came to this word (point to dog) on
  the page, you said puppy instead of dog. Can you
  tell me what you were thinking or why you think
  you might have done that?

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Which is the best choice?

• Lets Talk about this !

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Analysis

• Making inferences from the miscues and the
  patterns and themes that develop looking at those
  miscue.
• These inferences are used to discern the
  strategies that the readers is, and isnt using
  as they process the text.
• From these, teachers can develop specific lessons
  and more general teaching strategies for specific
  students