ENTRY #8

Running records are an important assessment to inform instruction.  Teachers can learn both strengths and weaknesses of their students through running records.  By identifying where and how they struggle as readers, instruction can be planned to better address the students’ needs.  Running records can also be used to group students who have similar reading needs.  It is important to be able to identify what types of miscues the student makes to assess which reading strategies they use and which reading strategies they are not using.  Running records can be used on all types of learners.  Below are two examples from students whose first language is not English.

This student speaks Karen as his first language.  Karen is a tonal language spoken in areas of Burma and Thailand.  The student was tested at a mid-2^nd grade level but he is currently in 5^th grade.

 

While the student made a few errors by omitting difficult words or changing words, his biggest area of need was reading the “s” at the end of his words.  He read the word “forests” thirteen times and did not read the “s” ten of those times.  He also omitted the “s” on the word “comes” and “animals”.  It was difficult to determine the origin of the errors but it is likely that it is due to his difficulties as an English Language Learner.  When he did add the “s” to the word “forests” it seemed difficult for him to pronounce.  One of the errors his self-corrected was adding the “ed” to the word “covered”.  It appears that this student would benefit from small group instruction focusing on different word endings and their importance.  While it doesn’t appear that it intervenes with his understanding of what he is reading, it will hinder his progress to move forward with his reading.  He showed that he did use reading for meaning as a strategy to self-correct.  This would be identified as a strength for this student.

The next English Language Learner who was given a running record is a native Spanish speaker.  He was given an early 2^nd grade prompt and is currently in 3^rd grade.

This student was able to self-correct a few miscues by using meaning, syntax, and visual cues.  He did however, skip over a few words without seeming to notice.  When he came to words he was not sure of he would always say “What is that?” before attempting to try the word on his own.  He was able to use visual cues to identify most of the words he asked about.  He also used visual cues when making errors.  For example the word was “tracks” and he read “trucks”.  He was able to self-correct by using his understanding of what he was reading.  The biggest area of need for this student would be confidence.  If he didn’t stop so frequently to ask what the word was then his fluency would improve.  This could be due to the fact that he is still learning English as a second language so he feels unsure of his reading skills.  This student would benefit from reading aloud familiar texts to younger students or other activities to build confidence.

Running records are a powerful assessment tool.  The most important idea is that they are being used to inform instruction and plan for specific needs of individual students.  They can be used frequently or sporadically to progress monitor student achievement.