Reading Background

1. David: Reading Background • Teaching reading has evolved over many years and how you were taught to read is different to how children are taught today • Higher expectations on what Kindergarten are expected to know from when I first started teaching • Need for students to learn with text of gradual increase in difficulty

2. What is Reading? “…… a message-getting, problem solving activity which increases in power and flexibility the more it is practiced.” Marie Clay (1991) Becoming Literate p.6

3. How do successful readers read? Successful readers • Expect what they read to make sense and look right • Can predict what is to come in the text on the basis of their understanding of the content, of language and of the print • Are able to test their predictions • Are able to monitor their own reading and self-correct when they find their predictions to be unsatisfactory • Are risk-takers and active problem solvers

4. What is a Running Record? • It is the most important task for assessing text reading • A child’s reading is calculated on a piece of text; looking at their successes and their errors • It shows what strategies they are using and ignoring when they are reading • Competence at being fast, fluent and phrased • A score is determined as a percentage of the words correct

7. How do teacher’s analyse a running record? Where there are error behaviours or self corrections …. A teacher works out why the child has made that error: • The meaning of the text (M) • The structure of the sentence (S) • Sometimes from the visual cues (V) Teacher work out why the child self-corrected spontaneously

8. Running Record Scoring • Easy- any score over 95% • Instructional- 94 to 90% • Hard- 89% and below

9. Why level books?A Gradient of Difficulty in Texts • A sequenced introduction of what has to be learned setting children up for success • Little books have been developed on several levels of difficulty and the gradient of difficulty has been determined by the publisher • The level of difficulty will vary from district to district • What might be easy for one child could be hard for another

11. How PM Readers are written- Beverley Randell • Traditional story structure- central character, a problem, problem solved • Meaning at all levels. Use concepts children can grasp • Meticulous grading that gives children the reward of success • Introduction of basic sight words- never more than 5 a book. About 150 words introduced by Level 11 • Meticulous care with illustrations that match text

12. Guide for Minimum Reading Levels • Kindergarten- Level 5 • Year One- Level 12 • Year Two- Level 18 • Year Three-Level 21 • Year Four-Level 24

13. Linking Children to Text level • Checking on their levels with Running records • Meaning- Ensuring the children understand the more complex text structure and language • Keeping it easy so that they can practise fluency, phrasing and expression • Allows the teacher to work in class on reading strategies at an appropriate level for group work

14. Linking Levels to Reading Age