1.StudentandTeacherFriendlyAssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders7thAnnualWesternCanadianFirstNationsAdministratorsEducationSymposiumEnochCreeNation,March9,10,11,2011DouglasB.Rogers,Ed.D.StudentLearningAssessmentandPerformanceMeasuresLeadFirstNationStudentSuccessProgramKwayaciiwinEducationResourceCentreAfterMarch31,2011:LiteracyEducationDirector,BabyStepsToReading.comdouglasb.rogers@sympatico.ca4166970533 Theelementaryschoolmustassumeasitssublimeandmostsolemnresponsibilitythetaskofteachingeverychildinittoread.Anyschoolthatdoesnotaccomplishthishasfailed. WilliamJohnBennett[S]1 Teachersmustunderstandhowchildrenlearntoreadandwritetoassesschildrenandadaptinstructionforfastestprogress.Achildwilllearntoreadandwritebetterifeveryonesignificantinthatchildslifecanarticulatehiscurrentreadingandwritingperformanceandhowhecanimprove,andbyeveryone,Imeanhisteachers,parents,andhimselffrombeforehebeginsJKthroughhighschool.Ihopethatbytheendofthispresentationyouwillfeelpreparedtohelpthepeopleinyourcommunitytodothis.Rightnow,manyteacherssaythattheyarehelpingchildrenlearntoreadbypracticingbalancedliteracy,butthatviewpointhasasignificantweaknessasaninstructionalperspective:Itdoesnotexplainhowchildrendevelopreadingability.DrawingontheworkofJeanChall(1966),balancedliteracypractitionerspositthatchildrenmovethroughstages,buttheviewpointdoesnotsayhow,anditisclearthatfromveryearlytheirlives,childrenshowthattheyhavelearnedtoreadsomeindividualwords:Atoddlerridingwithhisfamilyrecentlyspokeupfromhiscarseat.Speakingthelongestsentencehecouldmake,hesaid,WantfriesashegazedatthetopofatallpoleatthegoldenarchesadvertisingaMcDonaldsrestaurant.[S]And,oncethatwordislearned,childrenwillrememberitalifetime,orleastuntilastrokeordegenerativebraindiseaserobsthemofthestorageorroutetothatword.Itsnotthatbeginnerreadersareatadifferentstage;theyjustcantreadmanywords,yet.Thereisonemorewaythatbeginnerreadersdifferfrommaturereaders,andwelladdressthatlater.Muchofwhatbalancedliteracyenthusiastssayaboutreadingiswrong!Practitionerssaythattheycanteachcomprehension,butcomprehensionisanexperience.ToddlerDanecertainly1 Inthishandout,[S]and[pt]indicatewhenIshowanewslideoranewpointonaslidewhenpresentingthepaper.

2. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.2seemedabletounderstandthethreatofmonsterswhenIreadWheretheWildThingsAre.FourtotssatinfrontofmeasIperformedthestory,makingsuretheycouldseethepictures.Danewastransfixedwhenhesawthefirstpaintingofthemonsters.DanewasabiterattheECEcentre,andhismomreportedthathefoughtalotwithhisolderbrother,apreschooler.Infact,momreported,theyhadtoletDaneusethebroominthefightstoevenupthematches.AsIreadmoreofthestory,Danegotuponhishaunchesandleanedtowardthebook.IflashedonanimageofNeanderthalsaroundacampfire.Suddenly,Danerushedforward,andclawedatthemonstersonthepageofthebook,thenhastilyretreatedtohisspotonthecarpet.Nobodyhadtoteach20montholdDanetovisualize,predict,orinfer.ThebalancedliteracyadvocatescouldbelabeledSkillists:Theyseecomprehensionascomprisedofskillsthatmustbetaught(e.g.,Miller,2002).Eruditionistssaythatevenveryyoungbabiesarealreadythinkingwell,buttheydontknowmuch(e.g.,Hirsch,2003;HirschandPondiscio,2010).LookattheseobservationsfromDebraBlacksreviewofthePhilosophicalBaby:[S]"Wevediscoveredveryyoungchildrenevenbabieshavepowerfullearningmechanismssuchastheabilitytodostatistics,doexperimentsanduselogic.Theyhelpthemdeterminewhattheworldislike.Oneofthebasicquestionsishowdowegettruthabouttheworld.Well,wehavebrainsthatevenasyoungchildrenaredesignedtoletusfindoutthetruth(2009).Aninfantshownatoytraintravellingacirclethroughatunnelisfascinatedatfirstbutsoonlosesinterest.Butiftheexaminerstopsthattraininthetunnel,thebabydoesadoubletake.Clearlytheinfanthaspredictedthatthetrainwillexitthetunnel.Ateachertoldmeastoryrecentlythatshowsthatthedifferencesbetweenthethinkingofadultsandchildrenislessadifferenceofthinkingskillsthanhowmuchtheyknow.Achildliketheladinthestorythatfollowshasnotlikelybeenreadstoriesaboutfarms,certainlynevervisitedone.Hereshowaguidedescribedhisfirstmomentsonthefarm.[S]BeforeIwasateacher,Iusedtoworkonafarmgivingfieldtripstoclasses.Iwouldtakeclassesthroughthefarm,teachingabouttheanimals,theroleofthefarm,thefarmcommunity,etc.,andthenwewouldpickpumpkinsoutinthefieldandgoonanaturehikeinthebackforest.SincewewerejustinthegreenbeltoutsideofToronto,wedidgetmanygroupsfromthecity.Oneday,Ihadakindergartenclassfromdowntowntakethebusup.Iknewrightawaythatthekidsdidnthavemuchexperienceonafarmwhentheysteppedoffofthebus,soItriedtomakeeverythingreallyaccessibleforthem.Whenwegottothecow,Ibegantotalkaboutitgivingthemfactsabouttheanimalascluesastoitsidentity,andasIdidInoticedonekidseyesgettingbig.WhenIaskedifanyoneknewwhattheanimalwas,hestartedwavinghishandfrantically.NowyouhavetopicturethedayitwasOctober,soabitchillyandthecowsbreathwasfoggingup.Thiskid,too,wasstandingrightupnearthefence,starringdirectlyupatthecowthattoweredoverhim.Nooneelsehadanyclue,soIchosehim."IknowIknow!Itsadragon!"heshoutedcompletelywideeyed.Sincestartingkindergarten,hehadheardstoriesaboutdragons,andhemadeaprettygoodguessthatthismightbeone,too.Eruditionistsbelievethatthemaindifferencebetweensomeonewhoknowsalmostnothingabout,sayreadingeducation,andsomeonewhospeaksatconferencesis10,000hoursofqualityinstructionandstudy.Thisladmaybejust9,999hoursawayfromlecturingonthepreventionofmadcowdisease. 3. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.3TeachersworkingfromtheSimpleViewofReading[S],thedominanttheoryofhowpeopleread,aimtoconsiderbothhowwellchildrenarelearningtorecognizeandspellsinglewordsandhowwelltheycanunderstandandwritetext.Readingcomprehensionissimplytheproductofonesproficiencyinwordrecognitionandoneslisteningcomprehension(Aaron,Joshi,Gooden,&Bentum,2008;Coltheart,2006;RobertsandScott,2006;GoughandTunmer,1986).Learningtoreadisreallyjustlearningtounderstandlanguageweseeratherthanhear(Rose,2006).[S]Knowingwhathappensinthebrainhelpsusassessandteachliteracybetter.HereswhattheydidntshowyouinteacherscollegeorinadditionalPDyouhaveparticipatedin.[S]AquickglanceatthistimelineMaryanneWolfhascreatedshowsusthathumanbeingsstoreeachmeaning,pronunciation,andspellingofawordindifferentplacesinthebrainandactivateelaboratecellassembliestoconnectallthisinformationasmoreinformationcomesinthroughtheretinaoftheeye,allinthequartersecondthatittakestoreadthewordwefocuson(Wolf,2008,p.144).Onceweactivatethemeaningofawordwesee,wehaveaccessedthesamelanguagesystemweusetounderstandawordwehear. Thatsmaturereading,viathedirectroute.Letslookmorecloselyatanotherrepresentationofthedirectroutetoreadingasingleword(Rose,2006,p.86). 4. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.4 WehaveasimpletesttomeasurehowwellastudentcanreadwordsdirectlyandIllshowyouthatmomentarily.Butwhatifyoucantreadawordviathedirectroute?Youllhavetousethephonologicalrecodingornonlexicalroute.Youlearnedanewwordthiswayrecently.Letmetestyouonit:[S][pt]TahrirSquare.Stillsoundingitout?Ididntthinkso.Thisistheotherwaythatbeginnerreadersdifferfrommaturereaders:Beginnerreadersarenotyetskilledatsoundingoutwords.Theydontknowlettersoundcorrespondencesaswellnorhowtoblendsoundstogetherforawholeword.Andwehaveatestofabilitytorecodefromtheprintedformofawordtoitsspokenformandconnecttoitsmeaning.Letstestyourrecodingabilityrightnow.[SofPretestofDecodingMastery]Thatsitthedualroutetowordrecognitionnotthetriplerouteorthequadrupleroute.Butthebalancedliteracypeoplerecommendtrainingchildrentousefourcueingsystemstorecognizewordsinprint(Clay,1985;ClayandCazden,1990;citedinRose,2006).Theybelievethatwhenchildrenhesitatetoreadormisreadawordthatteachersshouldencouragechildrentotryagaintoreadthewordafterusingthesesocalledcueingsystemsbyaskingquestionslike,Doesthatmakesense?(toencourageuseofsemanticcueingsystem),Doesthatsoundright?(toencourageuseofsyntacticorgrammaticalcueingsystem),Couldthewordyoureadlooklikethat?(toencourageuseofthevisualcueingsystem),andCouldthewordbespelledthatway?(toencouragetheuseofthephonologicalcueingsystem).Aswellseeshortly,thesciencesuggeststhatwecanhelpchildrenreadandunderstandbetterfollowingadifferentprocedurewhenchildrenmisreadaword. 5. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.5Sonowyouhaveatheorybasedonresearchanditwillreallyhelpyouassessandteachlanguageartsbetter.Itwillshow,concretelyandinenoughdetailthatyouwillleavethepresentationfeelingthatyouhaveanuptodate,scientific,evidencebasedunderstandingofhowtoassessstudentstohelpthemreadandwritebetter,fromJKtograde12.Letslookatwhatreallymakeskidsbetterdecodersandbettercomprehenders.Tohelpstudentsunderstandincreasinglysophisticatedtext,themainwaywecanhelpthemlearnaboutanewtopicistoensurethattheybeginwithmaterialthattheycanlargelyunderstandalreadysothattheycanlearnalittlenewmaterialatatime.Towardtheendofthepresentationwelllookathowtopromotethedevelopmentoflinguisticcomprehension.ButuntilstudentscanreadthewordsonthePretestofDecodingMastery,themoreimportantjobinliteracyinstructionwillbetohelpthestudentlearntoreadsinglewords.Throughoutourassessment,then,wewillconsiderbothhowwellthestudentisdevelopingwordrecognitionandlisteningcomprehensionorverbalknowledge.Readingdiagnosis,then,explores[S] currentreadingperformance(wordrecognitionandreadingcomprehension), listeningcomprehension,and relatedfactorsthatwemayhavetotakeintoaccountinreadinginstruction(e.g., autism,hyperactivity,intellectualdeficit,depression,attitudetowardschool,andso forth).Analogously,writingassessmentexplores[S] handwriting, spelling, conventionsofstandardwrittenEnglish, listeningcomprehension, genrewriting,and relatedfactors.Thisapproachtolanguageartsassessmenthasfourfeaturesimportanttorealizingmyaimtohelpthestudentslearntoreadandwritewell:[S]1. Teacherscanlearnquicklyhowtoimplementtheassessmenttostudentsfromjunior kindergartenthroughhighschool.2. Thecostsofimplementingtheassessmentaremodest.3. Teachersneedlittletimetoconductlanguageartsassessmentsofalltheirstudents, startingwiththosemostatriskoffailingtolearntoreadandwrite.4. Theassessmentshowsstudents,parents,andteacherspreciselytheinstructionand practicethatwillleadtoeachstudentslearningtoreadandwritebetter,faster.Theassessmentprocedureispresentedchronologicallyfromyoungertoolderstudents,butonceteachersarefamiliarwithimplementingit,theywillbeabletoproceedmorequickly bychangingtheorderoftestingandomittingsomeparts.IwilltellyouhowyoucangetcopiesofthematerialsIshowyoutodaysothat,ifyoucareto,youcanbegintoimplementtheassessmentimmediately:[S] 6. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.6 EnvironmentalPrintReadingTest(Rogers,2011) KnowledgeofTextConventionsSubtest(RogersPhonicsTest,2011) AlphabetKnowledgeSubtest(RogersPhonicsTest,2011) SanDiegoQuickAssessment(LaPrayandRoss,1969) leveledreaderstodetermineindependentandinstructionalreadinglevels BasicSightWordTest(Dolch,1942) RogersPhonicsTest(2011) PretestofDecodingMastery(RogersPhonicsTest,2011) FundamentalCodePhonicsSubtest(RogersPhonicsTest,2011) VariantsCodePhonicsSubtest(RogersPhonicsTest,2011) PhonemicAwarenessSubtest(RogersPhonicsTest,2011) leveledreaderstodeterminelisteningcomprehensionlevel ReadingComprehensionExplorationTest(Rogers,2011) OntarioWritingExemplarsProject(OntarioMinistryofEducation,1999)WritingAssessmentDetermineEachStudentsCurrentReadingAbility[S]Tobegintoexplorewhetherweshouldpayparticularattentiontothewordrecognitionorlisteningcomprehensionaspectsofreadingorbothwestartthereadingdiagnosisbyassessingthestudentscurrentabilitytoreadsinglewords.Ifthestudenthasjustbegunjuniorkindergarten,orifyouknowthatthestudentisabeginnerreader,beginbyadministeringtheEnvironmentalPrintReadingTest.[S][Seehandout.]TheEnvironmentalPrintReadingTest[pt]isasimpletooltohelpateacherdetermineifaparticularstudenthaslearnedtoreadanywordssofar.Simplyaskthestudenttolookoverthe3pagetestandreadanywordsherecognizes.Ifthestudentcanreadaword,hecanlearntoreadmore,andthosewordscanbeusedtoteachtherecognitionofmoreprintedwords.Ifthestudentdoesntseemtoreadawordyettheteachercantryteachingone,pickingawordprominentinthechildsenvironmentandimportanttohim.Ifastudentseemstoreadfewornowords,theassessmentshouldexploreotherearlyaccomplishmentsinlearningtoreadandwrite.AdministertheKnowledgeofTextConventionsSubtest[S]fromtheRogersPhonicsTesttoexplorehowwellthestudentislearningthemeaningofwordsteachersuseastheyteachchildrentoreadandwrite.Thesubtestalsorevealsifthestudenthaslearnedwhereonapagetobegintoreadandotherinformationcrucialtoprogress.Thestudentisshownapagesimilartothis[S]wordAHereisasentence.____________________________________________Onceuponatime,threepigswentoutintotheworld.Thefirstpigdecidedtobuildhimselfahouseofstraw.Thesecondpigdecidedtobuildherselfahouseofsticks.Thethirdpigdecidedtobuildherselfahouseofbricks.Theexaminerqueriesthestudentlikethis[S] Pointwithyourfingerataletterthatisallbyitself. 7. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.7 Pointtothewordthatisallbyitself. Pointtoasentence. Showmewheretobegintoreadhere.[Touchintothemiddleofthetextbelowthelineonthestudentcopy.] IfIreadthiswordfirst[touchthewordOnce],showmethewordsIwouldreadnext WhenIgethere,[Touchtheendofthefirstline],pointtowhereIshouldgotoreadmore.TheteachercanalsoadministertheAlphabetKnowledgeSubtest[S]oftheRogersPhonicsTesttoassessifthestudentcannameandwritethelettersofthealphabet,becausedoingsoiscrucialtolearningtoreadandwrite.Studentsshouldformeachletterquickly,automatically,andlegibly,thesamewayeverytime.Teachersneedtoknowhowwelltheirstudentscanhandwritebecausestudentswilllearnphonicsfasteriftheycanwriteforthelessonsorexplorationsthattheteacherprovides.Whenateachersuspectsorknowsthatachildcanalreadyreadsomewords,[S]shecanstartthereadingdiagnosisbyaskingthestudenttoreadasimplegradedwordlist,liketheSanDiegoQuickAssessment[pt](LaPrayandRoss,1969),to[S]quicklybegintolearnthemostimportantinformation:Whatisthedifficultyleveloftextthatthestudentcanreadrelativelyeasily,makingthetextsuitableforinstructionaluseor,indeed,theleveloftextthestudentcanreadveryeasily,makingthetextsuitableforreadingindependently?[Wewanttoidentifytextthatthestudentcanreadeasilybecausereadingalotoftexteasilyisapowerfulwaytolearntoreadbetter(Allington,2006)].Hereisthegrade6list: bridge commercial abolish trucker apparatus elementary comment necessity gallery relativityFollowtheseprocedurestoadministertheSanDiegoQuickAssessment, Beginningwithalisttwogradesbelowthestudentsclassplacement,askthestudentto readaloudeachwordonalist. Gotoeveneasierlists,ifnecessary,untilastudentreadsallthewordscorrectly. OntheTeachersCopy,recordphoneticallyallmisreadings. Stopthetestingwhenthestudentmakesthreeerrorsonalist.TheresultsoftheSanDiegoQuickAssessmenttentativelyidentifythestudentscurrentreadingachievementlevels:[S] Astudentsindependentreadinglevelisthegradelevelofthehardestlistonwhichhe misreadsoneorfewerwords. Astudentsinstructionalreadinglevelisthegradelevelofthelistonwhichhemisreads twowords. 8. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.8 Astudentsfrustrationreadinglevelisthegradelevelofthelistonwhichhemisreadsthreewords.Suchresultsgivecrude,tentativeestimatesofinstructionalandindependentreadinglevels,sotheteacherwillwanttodeterminemorepreciselythebooklevelastudentcanreadinstructionallyandindependently.DetermineBookReadingLevels(instructionalandindependentreadinglevels)toMatchReaderswithTextofAppropriateDifficultyTeacherscanaskstudentstoreadshortbooksfromasetoflevelledreaders[S]likethoseavailableatwww.readingaz.comorpassagesfromaninformalreadinginventory(IRI)topreciselymatchthecurrentreadingabilityofastudenttoreadingmaterialofjusttherightdifficultylevel.Studentswillreadmoreiftheycanreadeasily. Anassessmentofinstructionalandindependentreadinglevelsismorereliablewhenit isbasedonreadingtext,notjustisolatedwordsonalist.Theteacherwillalsocodethe studentsoralreadingmistakestounderstandhowthestudentattemptstoreadsingle wordsviaboththedirectrouteaccessingthemeaningoftheworddirectlyfromits printedformandtheindirectroutesoundingoutthewordsothat,ifitisinthe studentslisteningvocabulary,itwillactivatethemeaning.Thisinformationwillbe usefulintweakinginstructioninwordrecognition.Theteacheralsoasksquestionsto probehowwellthestudentunderstandsthepassage,lookingforinformationusefulto helpingthestudentdevelopgreaterunderstanding.Directthestudenttoreadalouda bookbelowthelevelthattheSanDiegoQuickAssessmentidentifiedasherinstructional readinglevel.YoucanusethehandoutBookLevelComparisonChartforreadinga z.comandOtherLevelingSystemspleaseseeattachmenttochooseabookthatthe studentcanprobablyreadprettyeasily,whichiswhereyouwanttostartsoyoudonot discouragethestudent.TheLearningAZorganizationprovidesbooksthatcanbeusedforassessmentfromwhenstudentsarejustbeginningtoreaduntiltheycanreadintroductorymaterials,atleast,aboutanytopic. Gotowww.readingaz.comandsignupforafreetrialaccount. Onceyoureonthesite,clickontheASSESSMENTtabatthetopofthescreen. UnderthebluefilefoldertabLevelAssessment,thesecondtabontheleftsideof yourscreen,chooseBenchmarkBooks. Scrolldowntothelevelwiththebooksyouwant,andclickonafictionornonfiction BenchmarkBook. Underthegreenletteringontherightsideofyourscreen,BookResources,clickon SingleSidedColorBook(underBookOptions),andprintit.Nowyouhaveacopyof awholebook.Or,underProjectableResources,chooseProjectableBook. Atthispoint,youmaywishtoclosethebookafterprinting,andchoosetoprinttwomoredocumentsunderLessonResources:RunningRecordForm,onwhichyoucanrecordthestudentsoralreading,andBenchmarkQuickCheck,afewquestionsyoucanaskthestudenttogaugehiscomprehension.TheBenchmarkQuickCheckisalsoavailableforviewingonacomputermonitororviaaprojector. 9. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.9Werecommendthisproceduretodetermineastudentsinstructionalandindependentreadinglevels: Asthestudentreadsaloudthepassage,recordonacopyofthereadingthechilds readingerrorsremember:readingaz.comprovidesforeachbenchmarkbooka convenientversionofthetextonwhichtocodethestudentsoralreadingbehaviour bycirclingwordsheomits,insertingacaretmarkandwritingoutanywordthestudent addstothetext,writingaboveeachmistakeaphoneticrepresentationofthatword attempt,andbracketingtextyoureadforthestudentafterhepausedformorethana fewseconds.(Youmayalsowanttounderlinetextthestudentrepeatsandputacheck markorscbesideanywordsinitiallyreadincorrectlybutselfcorrected,butdontcount theseaserrors.)Youmaynotneedthestudenttoreadanentirelongbook.Afterthe studentreadsaminimumof100words,youcoulddirectthestudenttocompletethe booksilentlyandaskthequestionswhenhesfinishedbut,generally,themoreoral readingyouassess,themoreyoulearnthatcanhelpyoudifferentiateinstruction. Donttakethetimetodeterminetheuseofcueingsystemsbecausegoodreadersdont guesswordsmuchandwhentheyareunabletodirectlyaccessthemeaningofthe word,theyarecapableofphonologicallyrecodingawordtoitsspokenform.Indeed, poorreadersrelyoncontextmorethangoodreadersandguessingwordsisseldom successful(Torgesen,Wagner,andRashotte,1999,p.4).Goodreaderstendtouse contextasacheckonreadingaccuracy.Thismonitoringofcomprehensionoccursvery rapidlyautomaticallywiththeeyessometimesjumpingback(regressing)tolook morecloselyattextreadpreviously. Askthestudentquestionstoestimatethestudentscomprehension.(Underthe readingaz.comtabAssessment,clickonListofBenchmarkQuizzestofind comprehensionquestionsforeachtextyouuseinyourassessment.) Calculatethepercentageofwordsreadcorrectlyandthepercentageofcomprehension questionsansweredcorrectly. Continueaskingthestudenttoreadtextsfromhigherbooklevelsuntilthestudent readswithlessthan95%correctwordrecognitionoranswersfewerthan70%ofthe comprehensionquestions.Thatlevelrepresentsthestudentsfrustrationreadinglevel. Identifytheinstructionalreadinglevel(i.e.,thehighestlevelatwhichthestudentreads thewordswithbetween95and97%successandanswersthequestionswithatleast 70%accuracy). Identifytheindependentreadinglevel(i.e.,thehighestbooklevelthatthestudent readswithatleast98%wordaccuracyand70%comprehension).Beginnerreadersmay havenoindependentreadinglevel:Theywilllearnbestifalltheirreadingissupported byinstruction.[S]Theimmediate,practicaluseoftheoralreadinganalysisisthatateachercanassignreadingthatwillhelpthestudentbecomeastrongerreaderthroughindependentreadingandknowpreciselythereadabilityoftextsuitableforguidingthestudentsreading.[pt]Theinformationisalsousefultoconsiderinformationusefultohelpingthestudentdobetterlexicalandnonlexicalwordrecognitionandtodecidehowtohelpthestudentdevelopintoabettercomprehender.[pt]Hereisasummaryofthewordrecognitionaccuracyandcomprehensionthatsignalastudentsindependentandinstructionalreadinglevels: 10. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.10 Thehighestreadabilityleveloftextthestudentcanreadwithatleast98%wordrecognitionishisindependentreadinglevel Thehighestreadabilityleveloftextthestudentcanreadwithatleast95%wordrecognitionishisinstructionalreadinglevel Poorerperformancewillfrustratethestudent.RichardL.Allington(2009)presentsconvincingevidencethatreadingmoretextattheindependentleveleasilypermitsfastestprogress,concludingHighlevelsofreadingaccuracyproducethebestreadinggrowth(p.46).[S]Ehri,Dreyer,Flugman,andGross(2007)describeafineexperimentthatleadsthemtofavourlotsofeasyreadingastheroutetoreadingbetter:[S]ThereadingachievementofstudentswhoreceivedReadingRescuetutoring[aprogramthatemphasizedlotsofeasyreadingandphonicslessons]appearedtobeexplainedprimarilybyoneaspectoftheirtutoringexperiencereadingtextsatahighlevelofaccuracy,between98%and100%(p.441).Further,[S]Thesefindingsindicatethathightextreadingaccuracyduringtutoringwasthestrongestpredictorandtheonlyuniquepredictorofstudentsreadingachievementattheendoffirstgrade(p.440).Thisstudyshowsthis;sodoesotherworkgoingbackdecades,includingBettsworkquantifyingtheoriginaldesignationsofindependentandinstructionalreadinglevelsfrom1949!Theresnodoubtthatthemarvelous,parallelprocessingbrainschildrenusetoreadtheirfirsttextdoattendtosenseandgrammarastheyread,buttheseprocesseslargelyoccurbelowconsciousness.Perhapsthereasonwhythereissolittleevidencefortheefficacyofteachingcueingsystemsisthatthepracticereducesthetimethatteachershelpchildrenreadtext,andthattimeontaskisthemostimportantfactorinhelpingchildrenreadbetter.Establishingtheindependentreadinglevelusingonelevellingsystemcanhelpateacherfindothermaterialthatachildcanalsoreadeasily.AsSingerpointedoutyearsago(1975),ifthestudentorteacherexaminesasampleoftextidentifiedasappropriateforindependentreading,aneyeballestimatewillbegoodenoughtorecognizeotherreadingmaterialofsimilardifficulty.Teacherscanalsoseekreadingmaterialofappropriatereadabilitybyreferringtoachartthatshowsthedifferentdesignationsofseveralbooklevelingsystemsforbooksofcomparablereadability.Oneofthebestkindsofinstructionalreadinghelpishelpingastudentreadinstructionalleveltextorevenindependentleveltext.Howcanatutorbesthelpastudentwhilehereadseasytext?[S]Whenhemakesanerror,correctitandhavehimsaythewordandrereadthesentence(HeubuschandLloyd,1998).GrossenandCarnine[S](1990)saythateveryoralreadingerrorshouldbecorrected,notjusttheonesthatalterthemeaningp.18).[S]Afterhereadsthepassageorshortbook,studyeachwordmisreadbytalkingabouthowthelettersspellthesoundsofthewordandreadingthewordseveraltimes(Stuart,2003,p.3).[S]Thenthestudentshouldrereadthebookforfurtherexperiencereadingwithhighwordrecognitionaccuracy(Allington,2009).Howcanweensureourstudentsdogreateramountsofeasyreading?[S] 11. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.11 Matcheachstudentwithtexthecanreadeasilyandarrangeforlotsofreading,includinghavingstudentsreadintrios,assigningtextthattheweakestreaderofthetriocanreadeasily. Arrangeforstudentstoreadtoabuddy. Encouragestudentstoreadtoparentsandvolunteers.Doyoufindithardtobelievethatreadingmustbesoeasyforchildrentomakeoptimalprogress?ConsidersomeinformationAllingtonpresents(2009,pp.5152).Wouldyouwanttoreadabookwhereyouhadtostruggletoreadwordseverypage?ReadingtheSecretLifeofBeesat99%wordrecognitionaccuracywouldmeanthatin300pagesyouwouldencountermorethan1000wordsthatyoucouldntreadcorrectlyoronlybyslowingtodecode![S][pt]AchildreadingtheMagicSchoolBusserieseachbookisabout40pageslongwith95%wordrecognitionaccuracywouldencounter250wordsthathecouldntreadeasily![pt]Evenat99%wordrecognitionaccuracy,hewouldstillmeetalmost50wordshardtoread,ifhecouldreadthematall!DeterminetheStudentsAbilitytoReadWordsonSightandtoSoundThemOutIfthestudentisreadingbelowthefourthgradelevel,theteachershouldlookcloselyathisabilitytoreadsinglewords.[S]Progressinreadingisinhibitedaslongasstudentscannotreadmostwordsdirectlyandquickly.IfastudentoftenmisreadsthemostcommonwordsofEnglish,[S]manyofwhicharelessphoneticallyregularthanmanyEnglishlanguagewords,theteacherwillwanttotakeacloserlook.AdministertheBasicSightWordTestlistofhighfrequencywordstoshowwhetherastudentneedsadditionalhelpinlearningtoreadthesecommonwords(Dolch,1942).[PleaseseethehandoutBasicSightWordTest,whichpresentsafivelevelversionoftheBasicSightWordTestforeasyrecordingbytheteacher.]HerearethetenmostcommonlyprintedEnglishwords: the to and a I you it in said forSimplyaskthestudenttoreadeachword,beginningwiththepreprimerlistoraPowerPointpresentationofthosewords.Whenthestudentmakesanerror,youmaywishtowritethechildsreadingerrorphoneticallytoconsiderlaterhowwellhecanrecodewordsfromtheprintedformtothespokenform,butyouareprimarilyinterestedinlearninghowwellthestudentcanrapidlyreadthemostcommonwordsofthelanguage.Noteifthechildreadsthewordsslowlybecausereadersneedtoreadthemrapidly. 12. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.12Howcommonarethesewords?The100mostcommonwordsmakeupabout50%ofEnglishprintedmaterials,andthe220mostcommonwordsontheBasicSightWordTestcompriseperhapstwothirdsoftherunningtextinacommunitynewspaper.TheDolchwordsareamongthefirstthatastudentdoesandshouldbeabletoreaddirectly,thatisviathedirectroute,thelexicalroute,towordrecognition(Coltheart,2006).TheBasicSightWordTestisidentifiedasalistofwordsthatchildrenshouldknowbyearlygrade3.ThatmayhavebeentruewhenEdgarDolchcompiledhislistin1936,butmanynowexpectthatstudentscanreadallthesewordsbytheendofgrade1.Ifstudentsaretolearnall220wordsduringthe35weeksofaschoolyear,theymustlearnslightlymorethan6wordsaweek,notanunrealisticgoal,especiallyifthereislotsofeasyreadinggoingonintheclassroomandteachersuseawordwallforstudyanddrillordisplaytheliststhemselvesandensurethatstudentsknowwhytheyreworkingtoreadthesewords.[S][S]Suchprocedureswillhelpthestudentdeveloptheabilitytodirectlyactivatethewordmeaningsforeachofthesehighfrequencywords.Ifthestudentoftenmisreadsphoneticallyregularwords,and,again,thisisparticularlylikelyinabeginnerreader,theteachershouldadministertheRogersPhonicsTesttoassessthestudentsphonicsskills(i.e.,knowledgeoflettersoundcorrespondencesandtheabilitytoblendthemtosoundoutaword).Usingthistestallowstheteachertoseehowwellastudentisabletousetheotherprocedureforreadingsinglewords,theroutetowordrecognitionthatweallusewhenwedontrecognizeawordonsight:Wetrytodeterminethespokenformofthewordfromitsprintedform;inotherwords,whenwecantreadawordonsight,wesounditout,wephonologicallyrecodethewordfromprinttospeech(Coltheart,2006);weusethenonlexicalroute,asillustratedearlierbyRose(2006,p.86).[S]TheteachermustdecidewhethertoadministerthePretestofDecodingMastery,thefirstsubtestoftheRogersPhonicsTest,alistofpolysyllabicnonwords(pseudowords)thatarespelledphonetically.[S]IftheteacherknowsthatthestudentisveryunskilledatlookingatawordintheEnglishlanguageandreadingthewordaloudwithacrediblepronunciation,theteachershouldskipaskingthestudenttoreadthePretestofDecodingMastery.Childrenwhocanreadthewordsonthepretestwillalmostcertainlybeabletodecodewordsthatareintheirlisteningvocabulary,evenwhentheyhaveneverpreviouslyreadthem,justaswereadTahrirSquarethefirsttimewesawitinprint.Thepretestisusedonlytoquicklyidentifystudentswhoaresoproficientatusingthephonologicalroutetoreadingsinglewordsthatthereisnoneedtoadministertherestofthephonicstest.Teacherscanfocusonhelpingsuchproficientdecodersincreasetheircomprehensionandabilitytolearnfromtext.Next,theteachershouldadministertheFundamentalCodePhonicsSubtest[S],todetermineifthestudentknowsthemostcommonlettersoundcorrespondencesforourEnglishdialectandcanapplythemtoreadwordswiththemostcommonspellingpatterns(e.g.,sib,slin,nope,andsoforth).[Pleaseseehandout,RogersPhonicsTest.][Thenextfewslidesshowsomedetailsfromthesubtest.]Studentswhoperformperfectlyhavemastered,ornearlymastered,automaticwordrecognition,soteachersshouldadministertheVariantsCodePhonicsSubtest.[S]Simplyaskthestudenttoreadaloudeachwordandrecordphoneticallyallerrors.Everyitemthestudentfailsonthatsubtestindicatesalesscommonlettersoundcorrespondencethatthe 13. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.13studentdoesnotseemtoknowandcannotusetosoundoutwordsand,thus,shouldbeconsideredforexploringorreteaching.Forstudentswhoareunsuccessfulonmanyofthephonicanalysistestitemsorareunabletoreadthebasicsightwords,theteachershouldcontinuetestingbylookingatthechildsphonemicawarenessskills[S]withthePhonemicAwarenessSubtest.[Pleaseseehandout.][Twoslidesshowdetailsfromthissubtest.]Whenstudentshavephonemicawarenesstheycanisolateandmanipulatethesoundsofthelanguage.Althoughrecentresearch(e.g.,Castlesetal,2009)showsthatalphabetknowledge,phonemicawareness,andphonicsarebesttaughtsimultaneously,teachersgainusefulknowledgewhentheyidentifystudentswhoarejustbeginningtohavethisknowledgeandskill.Teacherscan,forexample,helpstudentsimprovetheirspellingofandreadingofwordsandsyllablesbysingingthealphabetsongandlisteningtoalotofalphabetbooksrepeatedly,spellinganddecodingwordsintheconsonantvowelconsonantpattern(e.g.,mat,tas),andreadingdecodablebookswiththephonicelementstaughttodate.StudentswithautomaticwordrecognitionwhocaneasilyreadalltheDolchwords,forexample,andthepseudowordsofthePretestofDecodingMasteryenjoyreadingcasually.ThirdgraderswhocanrecognizeautomaticallyanywordinprintthattheyknowwhentheyhearitorspeakitmayreadahundredAnimorphsbooksoverasummervacation.Otherchildrenwillbeexcitedbyopportunitiestoreadbooks[S]fromtheGoosebumpsorChooseYourOwnAdventuresorMagicSchoolBusorJunieB.Jonesseries.Whenstudentshavestrongwordrecognitionskills,theyfindreadinganinterestingbookforrecreationisaseasyandenjoyableaswatchingaTVsitcomorplayingacomputergame.Theyarereadingcasually,notintendingtoapplytheinformationlearnedwhilereadingoreventorememberitforlong.Rather,theyfocusontheirimmediatesensationsofbeingamusedorfrightenedorsatingcuriosity.DeterminetheStudentsListeningComprehensionLevel[S]Whenstudentsdemonstrateautomaticwordrecognition,teachersmustshiftthefocusofreadingassessmentfromstudentsprogressinlearningtoreadtostudentsabilitytolearnfromreading.Theassessmentfocuswillbecomeconsideringhowwellstudentsunderstandwhattheyhearandreadandhowwelltheycanreadtolearnmoreandexpressthemselvesinprint.TheSimpleViewassertsthatreadingcomprehensionistheproductofastudentsabilitytoreadsinglewordsandhislisteningcomprehension.[S]AsRose(2006)putit,[S]learningtoreadisjustlearningtounderstandlanguageweseeratherthanhear.Juniorkindergartenstudentscanreadveryfewwords,buttheycanunderstandalotoflanguageaboutmanytopicsif,forexample,theylistentosomeonetalkingaboutthesetopics.Ifweassesstheirlinguisticcomprehension,wecandeterminetheleveloftextthattheycouldreadiftheylearnedtoreadtheindividualwords.Weusethesameproceduretoassessthelisteningcomprehensionofkindergartenchildrenaswedoolderstudents:Wesimplyreadpassagesliketheleveledbooksonthereadingaz.comsiteofincreasinglyhigherreadabilityandaskthemtosummarizethemoraskthemquestionsaboutthematerialuntilwefindthehardestpassageforwhichtheycanstilldemonstrateabout70%comprehension.[S]Evenifastudentcandirectlyreadthousandsofwordsandefficientlysoundoutnewwords,hemaystillstrugglewithschoolwork,soateacherwillwanttoconsiderthestudentsabilityto 14. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.14understanddiscourse,includingtext.Onceateacherfindsthehighestreadabilitytextthatastudentcannotadequatelyreadandunderstandthefrustrationlevelatwhichheanswersthequestionswithlessthan70%successshecanlookmorecloselyatwhatisinhibitinghisunderstanding.Whydosomekidsnotunderstandschooltexts?[S]Usethisproceduretofindout:Readthepassageorbooktothestudentandthenaskthequestions.Askthestudenttodefinesomeofthewords.HartandRisley(citedinHirsch,2003,p.16)suggestthatstudentsareunlikelytoadequatelyunderstandareadingpassageunlesstheyalreadyunderstandsome9095%ofthevocabulary.(Hirschexpressesitthisway:[pt]Vocabularyexpertsagreethatadequatereadingcomprehensiondependsonapersonalreadyknowingbetween90and95percentofthewordsinatext.Knowingsuchahighpercentageofwordsallowsthereadertogetthegistofwhatisbeingsaidandthereforetoguesscorrectlywhattheunfamiliarwordsprobablymean.)Tohelpastudentstudyatopicforwhichthetextbookistoohardforthestudenttounderstand,theteacherwouldhavetohelphimfindmoreintroductorytextorothermedia. Studentswillhavedifficultyunderstandingpassagesontopicsaboutwhichtheyknowlittle.Beforetheycanunderstandsuchmaterials,theywillneedtofillingapsintheirbackgroundknowledge.Thatswhyschoolsmustsupporteverytopicofcurriculawithrichmaterialsaboutthosetopics:DVDs,bookstoreadtostudents,bookskidscanreadthemselvestoresearchtodoandpresentprojects,alltoexplorethisremarkableworldinwhichwelive,alltohelpthemdevelopmoreverbalandnonverbalknowledgeofourworld.Aswesawearlier,helpingtobooststudentscomprehensionisnotteachingthemskills:DanedidntneedanyvisualizationtrainingtoanticipatethatSendaksmonsterscouldmeantrouble.Thehighestreadabilityleveloftextatwhichthestudentcanansweratleast70%ofthequestionsishislisteningcomprehensionlevel.[S]Ifitishigherthanhiscurrentindependentreadinglevel,theteacherknowsthatifshecanhelpthestudentimprovehiswordrecognition,thestudentwillbeabletoreadandunderstandmoreadvancedmaterial.Ifastudentsindependentreadinglevelissixthgradeorhigher,hisgenerallanguagecomprehensionissufficienttolearnaboutanytopicprovidingthathestartswithmaterialatanappropriateintroductorylevelsothathealreadyknowssome90%ofthewordmeaningsofthetext(orotherdiscourse,forthatmatter).DetermineHowtoHelptheStudentReadtoLearn[S]Ifstudentscanrecognizethewordsinthetextreadthemaloud,forexample,withmostlycorrectpronunciationtheywillunderstandthetextatleastaswellastheywouldunderstandifsomeonereadittothem.Theappropriateresponseifstudentscannotunderstandtextthatyouareusingintheirclassroomevenifyoureadittothemistoprovidethemwithmaterialatamoreintroductorylevel.However,thereareotherways,too,thatteacherscanexplorehowstudentsareattemptingtounderstandtextand,possibly,helpthemunderstanditbetter.Toassesshowwellstudentsareabletoreadtexttolearnortoreporttootherssomethingtheyvelearnedasforsituationslikelearningbiologyforahighschoolsciencecreditorreportingprogresstoamanagertheyworkforinabanktheteachermustobservestudentswhiletheyresearch,read,andwrite,andaskthemquestions:ThepointsmadeinthediscussionthatfollowshavebeenincorporatedintotheReadingComprehensionExplorationTest,whichteacherscancompletetonoteastudentscurrent 15. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.15readingperformancetoplanhowtohelpthemlearnevenbetterfromtheirreading.[Seehandout.]Whenthestudentispuzzledwhilereading,doesheroutinelytryhardertounderstand?[S] Doesthestudentrereadpuzzlingtext? Doesthestudentskipafewwordstoseeifitmakessensewhenonereadsonabit? Ifstillpuzzled,doesthestudentseekoutmaterialatamoreintroductorylevel?Doesthestudentshowanunderstandingofhowtolearneffectively?[S] Doesthestudentpauseinreadingtoaskquestionstodetermineifhehasbeenableto buildamentalrepresentationofthepassagetopic?Ifhecantvisualizeandsummarize thetopicwiththeappropriatewords,hehasnotreallyunderstoodorrememberedthe material. Doesthestudentuseadictionarytoclarifythemeaningofthepuzzlingwordsinthe passage? Doesthestudentseektotalkaboutmaterialreadtobetterunderstandandremember? Doesthestudenthighlightwhatmustberememberedtolimitmaterialtoreviewfora testorjusttorememberforlife? Doesthestudentusemnemonictactics,suchascreatingacronyms,toremember information(e.g.,RememberingthewordHOMEScanhelponenamethegreatlakes)? Doesthestudentusestudyprocedures,suchaspreviewingtext,settingquestions beforereading,tryingtoanswerthequestionsafterreading,andreviewingthetextto restudypointsstillnotunderstood? Doesthestudentknowthatheshouldpayvigilantattentionwhenhisteachersteacha guidedordirectedreadinglessonbeforeassigningreading,thatsuchlessonsmayhelp himfillinsomeofthebackgroundmaterialandvocabularyhemustknowtomakesense ofthereading? Doesthestudentrealizethattherearewaysotherthanreadingtolearninformation (e.g.,Doesthestudentknowthatifhecannotreadthewords,hecanstilllearnthe informationifhecangetsomeonetoreadanddiscussthetextwithhim)? Veryimportantly,doesthestudentunderstandthatifhereadswidelyonmanytopics hewilllearnmoreinformationandvocabularysothathewillbeabletolistentoorread moreandmorematerial,includingtextthatisincreasinglysophisticated(Rogers,2002)? Doesthestudenttakeresponsibilityforstudyingbypracticinggoodstudyhabits(e.g., settingasideadequatetimetostudyfortestsandtoprepareprojects)? Doesthestudentmakenotes,documentsources,makegraphicaids,outline,draft,and revisewritingasawaytolearn? Perhapsmostimportantly,doesthestudentknowthatifhecannotunderstandthetext (orlectureorvideotapedmaterial),hewillbeabletounderstandamoreintroductory presentationoftheinformationandbegintolearnaboutthetopic?Arationalreadingassessmentwillalsoincludealookatastudentsabilitytolocateinformation(Rogers,1984)[S].Canthestudentsfindthetexthemustreadtolearn? Teachersshoulddetermineifastudentcanusebookparts,forexample,tofindthetitleofawork,aswellastheauthor,publisher,cityofpublication,edition,copyrightdate,andsoforth.Canthestudentquicklylocateandunderstandthefunctionofbookparts 16. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.16suchaspreface,foreword,introduction,tableofcontents,listoffigures,chapterheadings,subtitles,footnotes,bibliography,glossary,index,andappendices? Doesthestudentlocateinformationinadictionary(e.g.,useguidewordsandathumbindex,locaterootwords,usethepronunciationguide,selectthewordmeaningappropriatetothepassage)? Doesthestudentuseencyclopediasandotherreferenceworks? Doesthestudentuseinformationretrievaltoolssuchasanelectroniccardcataloginalibrary,anonlinedatabase,oranInternetsearchengine?Teacherscanalsoassessstudentsspecificabilitytounderstandthegraphicaidsthatauthorsoftenusetoaugmenttextwhentheytrytocommunicatetheirthoughts. Doesthestudentreadgraphs,charts,tables,cartoons,pictures,diagrams?Somestandardizedreadingtestsassesssuchskills,butsimplequestioningcanrevealwhetherastudentisskilledatinterpretingsuchgraphicaids[S](Rogers,1984).DetermineHowtoHelptheStudentWriteandWritetoLearnJustasassessingreadingismorepowerfulwhenweassessstudentswhiletheyarereadingwordsandtryingtounderstandtext,theassessmentofwritingwillbemorepowerfulifweobservestudentswhiletheyarewriting.Considerabriefpieceofwritingthatateachermighthelpstudentswriteasearlyaskindergarten.AfterreadingThereWasanOldLadyWhoSwallowedaFly,[pt]theteachergiveseachchildabigpieceofpapershapedlikeastoutlady.[S]Thechildrenareencouragedtobrainstormandwriteapageforanexpandedbookaboutotherthingsthatladymighthaveswallowed.Asthechildrenlearntospellfromcopyingtext,inventingspellingsbasedonmemoriesofthevisualappearanceofthewordandknowledgeoflettersoundcorrespondencesandorthographicpatterns,theteacherscanscrutinizethestudentsworktodecidehowtohelpthemwritebetter.BooksthatwereadtochildrencanoftenleadtointerestingwritingprojectsforevenourstudentsjustbeginningtolearnEnglishlanguagearts.[S]StudentswhohadlistenedtoEricCarlesTheGrouchyLadybugwereaskedtowriteandillustratetheirmostvividmemoryofthestoryandtotellaboutatimetheyweregrouchy.[S][S]StudentswilllearntowritefastestiftheyarehelpedtowriteprojectslikeonesketchedbelowaboutinterestinganimalsinthispartofNorthAmerica.[S][pt]Readingaboutthiswritingprojectwillhelpyouinplanninglotsofthekindsofwritingthatwillhelpstudentsbecomebetteratreadingandwriting.Thisworkwillstretchoutoveracoupleofweeksandgiveallthechildreninagrade3or4classmanyopportunitiestoreadandwrite.Theteacherprovidesbothapurposeandanaudienceforthewriting.AfterreadingJudithViorstsAlexanderandtheTerrible,Horrible,NoGood,VeryBadDay,finishingwiththememorablephraseeveninAustralia,theteachershowsthestudentswhereAustraliaisonaglobe.ShetellsthemthatathirdgradeteacherinAustraliahasproposedaproject:HerstudentswillwriteandillustrateabookabouttheanimalsthestudentswouldseeiftheyvisitedAustralia;shehopesCanadiankidswillwriteabookdescribingtheanimalsstudentswouldseeiftheyvisitednorthernOntario. 17. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.17Theteacherproposesthattheentireclasswillcollaboratewiththeteachertocreateapagetogetheraboutananimalthatvisitorsmightsee.ThenthestudentswillworkinpairstocreateapageforthebooktheywillwritetogetherandsendtotheclassinAustralia.TheteacherhasassembledalotofmaterialaboutanimalsofCanada.ThereareDVDsandbooksrangingindifficultyfromshortandsimpleenoughfortheweakestreadersintheclasstosohighinreadabilitythatitwillbebestiftheteacherreadsthemtoeveryone.TheteacherpassesoutpadsofPostItnotesandsuggeststhateachstudentmakenotesaboutwhattheylearnaboutbearsfromtheDVDofaDiscoveryprogramthatsheshowstointroducethetopicofbrownbears,thetopicofthefirstpageoftheirbookorPowerPointforthestudentsinAustralia.AftershowingtheDVD,theteacherreadsafewintroductorybooksaboutbearstothestudents.Onanotheroccasion,theteacherandstudentsvisitwebsitesrunbyzoostoseewhatzoossayaboutbrownbears.Allthewhilethestudentsarerecordingnotesandtemporarilypostingtheminanotebooksotheydontlosethem.Afterexploringthetopicforawhile,theteachersays,Letsstartourwriting.WhohassomeinterestinginformationthatwemightsharewithchildreninAustralia,childrenwhohaveneverseenabrownbear.ShelistensasherstudentsreadaloudfromtheirPostItnotes.Hmm,shesays,WhatifIstarttowritedowneverythingyousayasyoutellittome?Wouldthatmakeagoodreport?Theteacherengagesthechildrenintheideathattheclassneedstodecidehowtoorganizetheinformationsothatitiseasyforreaderstoreadthroughit.Letsdraftourtitlerightonthechartpaper,shesays,IllwriteTheBrownBearatthetop.Whatshouldwetellfirstaboutthebear?Theteachercoachesthechildrentodecidethattellingwhatabrownbearlookslikeisagoodplacetostartthereport.Letmemakeanoutlinehere:Imgoingtocreateatablewithacolumncalledappearance.Wereprobablygoingtowriteseveralparagraphs,soIllmakeachartforourpoints.[s]EveryonewhohasaPostItnoteaboutappearance,pleasecomeupandattachittomyappearancecolumn.Oncetheteacherhasallthenotesdisplayedinthecolumnaboutappearance,shecangoontosay,Letstalkaboutourtopicsentence.Whatisthemainideaofthisparagraphweregoingtowriteabouttheappearanceofbrownbears?Talkingwiththestudents,workingfromtheirnotes,theteachergraduallywritesforthestudentsawholeparagraphabouttheappearanceofbrownbears.Youcanimaginethesimilarworktowritenotesfortheorganizerandthentodraftwiththestudentstheadditionalparagraphsaboutthediet,habitat,andfamilylifeofbrownbears.Thestudentscanalsosuggestanillustrationfortheentirepageaboutthebrownbear.Oncestudentshavewrittenwiththeteacher,theycanbegintoreadandviewmaterialswithapartnertoresearchtheotheranimalsthatwillbeincludedinthebookaboutanimalsonemightseeinnorthernOntario.Inturn,theywillmakenotesandorganizethemonachartliketheycompletedwiththeirteacher.Aftertheteachervetsthechart,thestudentsarereadytodrafttheirparagraphs.Overandoveragain,teacherswillhelptheirstudentsbecomestrongerreadersandwritersbyworkingthroughprojectswiththem:sciencefairprojects,diariesaboutprecontactlifeinCanada,newspaperaccountsofsurvivalinthewildernesssparkedbynovelslikeWilliamStiegsAbelsIsland,andsoforth.Studentscanworkinpairsorgroupsorindividually.Alongthewaytheycanreadoneanotherswork.Theycanexaminetherubrictheteacherusestoassesstheir 18. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.18work.WhenstudentsstudytherubrictheirteacherusedtomarktheirworkperhapsliketheonebelowbyWestbyandClauser(2005,pp.288289)theycanseemoreclearlyhowtowritebetterforthenextproject.Studentscanhelptheteachertocreatetherubrics.Studentscanhelponeanotherproofreadandeditgoodcopyfordisplayforparentnights.Projectbyproject,studentswillbecomemoreliterate. 19. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.19 TwodocumentsontheOntarioMinistryofEducationwebsitewillbeofparticularhelpinassessingandteachingwriting.[S]Thedocumentathttp://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/task18.pdf,[pt]TheOntarioCurriculumExemplarsProjectWritingExemplars:YearendWritingTasks,showstheproceduresteachersfollowedtoguidestudentswritingforseveralprojectsandthematerialsthattheyused,aprojectforeachgrade.Teacherscanworkthroughoneoftheseexemplaryprojects.ThesixthgradeprojecttakesthestudentsthroughaprocesstohelpthemsummarizewhattheyreadaboutNunavut,acommonschoolassignmentfrommiddleschoolthroughuniversityandintotheworkworld.TheOntarioCurriculumExemplarsGrades18Writingat[pt]http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/writing18ex.pdfshowsexamplesofworkcreatedbystudentsfromgrades18.Notonlydoesthisdocumentshowrealstudentwork;itshowstheassessmentofthelevelofwritingdemonstratedineachexampleofstudentwork.Theexamplesofstudentworkmakeiteasiertocomparehowaparticularstudentisprogressinginlearningtohandwrite,spell,punctuate,capitalize,paragraph,takenotes,draft,revise,andeditwriting,againstprovincialexpectations.Comparingtheseexemplarstotheworkyourstudentwritescanhelpyouassesscurrentwritingcapacityandmakeiteasiertheinstructionthatwillhelpthestudentwritebetter.Teachersandparentscanconsiderthelanguageartsexpectationsforthirdandsixthgradestudentsanotherway,too,byvisitingeqao.com,thesiteoftheEducationQualityandAccountabilityOfficefortheOntarioMinistryofEducation.Pasttestsareposted,completewith 20. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.20therubricsusedtoscorethemandexamplesofactualstudentworkmarkedwiththoserubrics.Someoftherubricsfocusonthecontentofthewriting;othersfocusonhowwellthestudentisobservingtheconventionsofstandardwrittenCanadianEnglish.Ontarioaimsfor75%ofitsstudentstoattainlevel3,andstudyingtheworkonthissitemakesiteasierforteachersandparentstoseewhatlevel3and4writinglookslike.Teacherswhohelpstudentsworktheirwaythroughsomeofthetestitemsarehelpingtheirstudentsdevelopthequalitiesnecessarytocommunicateeffectivelyinwriting.Teachersmusttakecertainstepstoassesswritinginwaysthatarenotconflatedbystudentsreadingability.Thisisnotalwaysdone.Forexample,studentswritingscoresontheEQAOtestsdependpartlyonhowwellthestudentsareabletoreadthematerialusedinthetestitems.Somelowscoreswillbeduetoreadingdifficultiesmorethanwritingdifficulties.Theeasiestwaytogetacleanerlookatwritingistoensurethatastudentsindependentreadinglevelisatleastashighasthematerialinthewritingtestitemsor,ataminimum,toreadtothestudentalltextinthetestitemandtheinstructionsforcompletingit.TeacherscanarrangeforstudentstoparticipateinthelessonandwritingassignmentoftheOntarioWritingExemplarProjectatthesamegradelevelastheirindependentreadinglevel.Anexemplarwritingprojectcouldalsobechosenatthestudentslisteningcomprehensionlevel,ifsomeonereadsforthestudentthroughoutthewritingassignment.Teacherswillalsoassesstheirstudentswritingmoreeffectivelywhentheyteachwritingmoreeffectively.Forexample,studentswillbemorelikelytoshowtheirbestwritingifteachersshowstudentsexamplesorexemplarsofthekindofwritingtheyaredoing,therubricsthattheteacherwilluse,andthemarksassignedforthewriting.AssessFactorsRelatedtoLiteracyLearning[S]Onceteachershaveidentifiedwhatchildrenknowalreadyandwhattheymuststilllearn,teacherscanconsiderfactorsthatmaynecessitatemodifyinginstruction.Literacyproficiencyisinfluenced,forexample,bychildrensabilitytolistenandspeak.Achildwithasmallvocabularyduringhispreschoolyears,forinstance,may,evenifhelearnswordrecognitioneffectively,slumpinfourthgradeorlater(Challetal,1990,citedbyHirsch,2003,p.10)becausehemaynotknowthemeaningofwordshecanread.Hecanreadthewordsaloudcorrectlybutdoesntunderstandthetext.Wecanexploreachildsorallanguagecapacitybysimplyaskingchildrentosummarizeoranswerquestionsaboutinformalreadinginventorypassageswereadtothem.(Childrenshowingpronounceddifficultytalkingshouldbereferredtoaspeechandlanguagepathologist.)Theseareotherfactorsthatshouldbetakenintoaccountastheteacherplanslanguageartsinstruction: Physicaldisabilities Developmentaldisorders(hyperactivity,autism,andsoforth)Differencesinmemoryandratesofautomaticnamingmayalsoexplaindifferencesinthepaceoflearningtoreadandwrite,anduniversityreadingclinicsoftenadministerteststomeasuretheseconstructs.TheComprehensiveTestofPhonologicalProcessing(CTOPP)isfrequentlyusedwhenchildrenlearnlanguageartsveryslowlydespiteinstruction.TheCTOPPmaybeused,forexample,toassessphonologicalmemoryviameasuresofrecallofbothdigitsandphonemes.Ifthestudentseemstobeabletoholdlessinformationinworkingmemory,perhapsthatslows 21. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.21phonologicalrecodingorlearningtoconnectthewrittenformtothespokenform.Slowerrapidautomaticnaming(ofdigits,colours,andobjects)maymakeitharderforalltheinformationtogetintoworkingmemoryfromtheplacesinthebrainwheretheforms,sounds,andmeaningsofwordsarestored.Sciencehasreachednofirmconclusionsabouthowtoremediatetheseobserveddifferences,butteacherswhoassiduouslyencouragetheirstudentstoreadeasilyattheirindependentlevel,whohelpstudentsreadattheirinstructionallevels,whosystematicallyexplorewithstudentshowthesoundsoftheEnglishlanguagearespelled,whohelpstudentslearntoreaddirectlythemostcommonwordsofthelanguage,andwhohelpthemtodeveloptheirlisteningcomprehensionandwritingskillsarealreadyprovidingthekindofinstructionthattheclinicsadvise.Moreelaborateassessmentsarenotnecessaryforafundamentalliteracyassessmentusefultoclassroomteachers.Thecasehistoryoflanguagedevelopmentgatheredfrominterviewingthechildandparentsandguardiansintheliteracyassessmentmayalsorevealinformationthatwillleadtorecommendationstoadaptthelanguageartsinstruction:Theteachermaychoosetospeakintoamicrophoneforthebenefitofachildwithhearingloss.Shemayscheduleshorter,morefrequentlessonsandmotivatewithconcretereinforcerslikecandytohelpanactivechildlearn.Ateachermayarrangeextralessonsforachildwholearnsmoreslowly.Asteachersadjustreadinginstructionastheylearnofrelevantrelatedfactors,theycancontinuetoobservestudentsreading,writing,andgeneralbehaviourtofurtherrefinetheliteracylessons.WriteaLearningPlanforEachStudent[S]ThelastcomponentofaneffectivesystemofstudentlearningassessmentofEnglishlanguageartsis,Ithink,alearningplan,orlifeplan,anLP,foreachstudent.Ienvisionarecordthatwouldbepassedfromteachertoteachersothateachreceptionteachercouldquicklylearnkeyinformationaboutastudentnewtohersothatshecouldbeginimmediatelytoprovideappropriateinstruction.SeveralcomponentswouldmaketheLPworththework.Thebasicinformationshouldcertainlyidentifythemostimportantinformationrelevanttoliteracylearning: currentreadingperformance(wordrecognitionandreadingcomprehension), listeningcomprehension, handwriting, spelling, conventionsofstandardwrittenEnglish, listeningcomprehension, genrewriting,and relatedfactors HeretherewillbestatementslikeAlbertachievedalevel3forwritinghedidonthegrade4OntarioWritingExemplarsProjectassignmentwhetherAlbertisingrade2or6.InconjunctionwithmaterialslikethehandoutEndofYearReadingLevelTargetsforthePrimaryGrades,teacherscanusetheseresultstoarrangeformoreinstructionforstudentswhoarefallingbehindtheirpeers. 22. AssessmentthatTurnsKidsintoReaders,p.22TheLPshouldbemorethanthis.Itshouldbeadigitalfile,includingaportfolioofthestudentswork.Itcouldevenincludethecoverandcommentsabouteverybookastudenthasread.Itshouldincludeyearbyyearstatementsbystudentsoftheirplansforlivingagoodlifeintheupcomingyear.ConclusionYouveexploredacomprehensiveapproachtoassessingthereadingandwritingperformanceofstudents:[S] assessmentofbeginnerreadersandwriters, thegrowingwordrecognitionprowessofstudents, limitstostudentsabilitytocomprehenddiscourse, howwellstudentsarelearningtowrite,and relatedfactorsthateducatorsmustconsiderinplanninginstruction.Ifschoolsassessandinstructlanguageartseffectively,thestudentswillshowtheirliteracyproficiencyonanytestsweputthemto.[S]Studentswilllearnbestwhentheyandthepeoplewhocareforthem,mostespeciallytheirteachers,haveasolid,modern,scientificunderstandingofthereadingprocess.Ifyoucanfillintheblanksinthisnextparagraph,yourewellonyourwaytothatunderstandingandtobeingabletoensurethatyourstudentscanarticulateit,too.Capablereaderscanlookatwordsandunderstandthemaseasilyastheydowhenthey_____them.Mostlyreaderslookatawordandconnectdirectlytothewordintheir_____vocabulary:Theycanunderstandlanguagethroughtheireyesaswellaslanguagetheyhear.Whenreadersseeawordtheydontrecognizeonsight,theycanfigureoutquiteaccuratelythe_____formoftheprintedform.Ifthewordisintheirlisteningvocabulary,theywillrecognizethiswordbecausetheirbrainwillhaveconnectedthespokenformwiththewordmeaningstoredintheir_____.Readingistheproductofourabilityto_____singlewordsandto_____them.Ifstudentscanreadthetextaloudbutcantsummarizeitoranswerquestions,theyneedtofindmore_____materials,eithersimplerbooksorothermedia. 23. 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