Choosing the “Just Right Book”

 

 

Running Records, Retellings and Conferencing are the best ways to choose the “just right” book.

                 

·        Running Records are a standardized, research-based tool used to analyze a child’s changes in reading over time.

·        A running record is a graphic account of a child’s oral reading.  Unlike writing, where the written pieces themselves become

                  the records of growth, reading is a process that occurs in the brain                                  without tangible and permanent evidence of a child’s activities. 

·        Therefore, running     records provide the information I need to make wise teaching decisions.  They help you to:

 

• Decide whether the book a child is reading is matched to her stage of reading development. (Easy, Instructional, Hard)
• Analyze a child’s miscues to see which cueing systems and strategies he/she uses and the ones he/she needs to learn to use more effectively. (MSV)
• Track a child’s reading process over time.

 

 

Running Records provide information which helps to drive teacher instruction.
It is NOT a tool used to count errors.  Marie Clay states that “A Running Record provides insight into what the child does, making instruction more targeted and effective. 

 

As with any method of measurement, the more samples you take the more likely you are to obtain an accurate picture of the child’s reading.

 

You need to listen to at least 100 words of a newly introduced book.

 

The teacher needs to have a “heavy hand” in helping choosing books.

 

By looking closely at the child’s miscues and self-corrections, you can learn which cueing systems the reader uses most effectively and which they still need to adopt.

 

As reader’s become more fluent, running records need to be coupled with retellings in order to monitor a child’s overall understanding of the text.

 

All of these records can be obtained in a brief conference with a student during an independent/guided reading period in your classroom.

 

Just as we should be teaching children to be flexible in their use of reading strategies, we as teachers need to be flexible in our use of assessment tools.