Issue 151: Sep 26, 2011 Connections Newsletter

The Importance of Reading Records

Carol Brewer
Oct 24, 2011

How are Reading Records used to identify the students' reading behavior?

Reading Records are an essential tool for identifying the reading behaviors of students. Student reading behaviors will provide you with great information about what they are doing when they come to an unknown word. Reading Records are used for both assessment and instructional purposes. For assessment purposes, students read one-on-one with you while you are coding what they are doing. You are not supposed to interact with students while they are reading when performing Reading Records for assessment purposes. For instructional purposes, students read one-on-one with you while you are taking notes to identify reading behaviors. The identified reading behaviors indicate what students are doing while they are reading. For example, what does the student do when they come to an unknown word? Do they look at you to tell them the word or do they use self monitoring strategies such as rereading, reading on, or inserting a word that makes sense? Reading Records for instructional purposes allow you to interact with students while they are reading. If a student is reading and stops because the text does not make sense, you are able to ask different prompts or questions to guide the student to reread the text for understanding. You are able to teach students during the Reading Record. The result of performing Reading Records is that your students are better able to understand the self monitoring strategies to become lifelong learners.

It is important to find time to listen to your students read. The best suggestion is for students to read to you right after their Flexible Grouping time. For example, the Flex Group session ends and you send all but one student back to their seat to complete their assignment. One student stays with you to read the next page to you. Perform a Reading Record while the student is reading. Stop the student occasionally to praise and prompt - praise the reading strategies being used and prompt for the reading strategies that will lead the student to be an independent reader that comprehends what they have read.

Another suggestion is to create a Self Selected Reading Center where students can read for enjoyment and build stamina. Students can also read to you at this time while you take the Reading Record. Again, this is an informal reading session that helps you to identify the reading behaviors of your students. The information from these Reading Records can be used as the Teaching Point for the Flexible Grouping lessons. For example, if a student stops reading at an unknown word and looks to you for help: instead of you telling the student the word, prompt the student to think about the text, check the pictures (if any) and reread the text. You identify these reading behaviors of the student and the next Flex Group lesson focuses on rereading the text to identify the unknown word. This self monitoring strategy will strengthen the students independence and confidence.