O'Malley's/Valdez Reading Assess Ch 5

This chapter has ideas that I implement in the Reading Assessments. One of them involve the running record where I open the student’s prior knowledge to what their about to read. Before they read, I tell them the main idea of the story, inform them that I’ll be asking them questions when their done reading pertaining to what they’ve just read, and to be prepared to retell the story in their own words. Something that I’ve learned from reading this chapter is to note hesitations. I do not mark that in their running records, and I will begin doing that, but I do write in the word substitutions and self-corrections. The chapter stated that running records benefit with training, something that I haven’t received. I learned by practicing testing my own students.

Often, my students have trouble reading with expression. During reading instruction, I highlight the punctuation marks and allow the students to practice. I’ve observed that students who are struggling to read are finding it more difficult to read with impression. I also practice asking the students what they think the story will be about when I show the cover of the story. When there is no answer, which is most of the time, I do a model think-aloud of what I think the book will be about. According to the readings on page 120, the students will be ready to do a think aloud in groups or individuals after practicing for a number of times.

I know that good readers became good readers by reading every day. In class, right after the students are done with their spelling words, I tell them to read until its time for math. Each day, I roam around the classroom and listen to the students read, but I mostly spend listening and working with struggling readers. I allow the students to choose the book they want to read, but when I notice a student trying to read above their frustration level, I tell them to choose another book. Something that I would like to begin doing is to give time for the students to talk to each other about what they’ve just read. My students often have trouble retelling the story in their own words. This would give them a chance to practice retelling with each other.