Assessing Reading and Writing Powerpoint

This powerpoint is a great resource for determining the steps to assess reading and writing. The fact that the powerpoint lays out very specific instructions on assessing both of these skills is extremely beneficial to use as an educator. My favorite part of the powerpoint is the insight into creating and using rubrics. Rubrics are essential for grading, but they must be done correctly in order to ensure they are measuring the correct skill or strategy. I like the idea of having the students participate in creating a rubric. If students help to create the rubric, they are in-tune with what they will be assessed on. This can provide them with direction for meeting their goals. From the teachers perspective, it is also important to know what the end goal of a lesson or unit is. If you know what you will be testing students on, you are better prepared in creating lesson plans. Although you should not teach to the test, you should have a firm idea on what you will expect of students and how best to prepare them to meet those expectations.

Opitz Ch. 5/6 and Article Comparison

When researching an article on informal assessments, I read an article by a fifth grade teacher. This teacher wrote specifically about a type of informal assessment he did on a struggling reading in his class. Through informal observations, as well as placement tests at the beginning of the year, the teacher determined the need for extra reading tutoring for one of his students. This student had very few comprehension abilities and often just got the basics of what he was reading. The reader needed both reading instruction as well as comprehension instruction. I enjoyed reading about the informal reading survey the teacher gave to the struggling student. The informal survey the teacher gave is very similar to the informal student interviews Opitz, Rubin, and Erekson discuss (Opitz, 2011).

Pages 79 through 88 in the Opitz text discuss how to use informal student interviews and what can be gained from them. The teacher in the article chose this type of assessment based on many of the benefits Opitz discusses. The first reason to use informal student interviews is because they are the easiest way to determine what students like and dislike. Teachers can do this throughout the school day or during specific times set up to meet with individual students. The second reason this is a great informal assessment is because it lets the teacher know how the student perceives reading. Do they enjoy reading? Do they dislike reading? Does reading give them anxiety? The way a student perceives reading typically determines what type of reader they are. If a student dislikes reading, he or she likely reads very little and is not as fluent of a reader as they should be. A third purpose for this assessment is to help students understand themselves. This informal interview gives the student the opportunity to reflect on his or her own perceptions and views on reading. The teacher in the article found it interesting to hear how the student perceives his abilities and enjoyment versus how the teacher views his abilities.

The teacher in the article only performed this student interview/survey once. However, Opitz gives a rubric for doing a student interview at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. This will allow the teacher to track how the students perspective has changed and whether or not their reading abilities have changed because of it. The text is a great resource for different types of interest inventories, rubrics, and interview forms to use when doing an informal assessment like the student interviews.

Weih, T. G. (2013). The Melding of Literacy Strategies to Enhance Reading Fluency, Comprehension, and Enjoyment. Online Submission,

Making the Most of Assessments to Form Instruction

As teachers, it is imperative that we use assessments to guide and shape our instruction. Assessments give us insight into where are students are excelling, and where they are struggling. Assessments form a way for teachers to reflect on their own instruction and adjust accordingly. Using assessments is a way to get quick feedback rather it is a formal or informal assessment. Risko and Walker-Dallhouse say, "because of their timeliness and representation of specific data, assessments are far preferable to pacing guides that require every teacher and student to be on the same page at the same time" ( 2010, p.420). Classroom assessments are a reliable and relevant way to reach the goals set forth by the curriculum in the classroom. 

There are many different types of assessments that match the assessment to the curriculum in order to improve instruction. When assessing a single skill set, it is important to go beyond the comprehension questions. To truly understand if the student has mastered a particular standard in the curriculum, they need to be assessed using higher order thinking questions. These types of questions will require that students apply the skills and strategies in order to form the correct answer. 

Curriculum can also be enhanced when using formal assessments int he classroom. Benchmark assessments are a way to look at the skills taught and determine whether or not the teachers instruction has been effective. There is research that shows the importance of using this data to form instruction and change existing instruction. Teachers should also involve the students in this type of assessment. Students should show what they know prior to instruction, and they should then be reassessed at the end of a unit or lesson. 

The goal of a teacher is to ensure that each student in the classroom masters the given curriculum for the year. What better way to determine if this goal is met, than by using assessments throughout the year to reflect on the instruction. When teachers match the assessments to the curriculum, instruction is enhanced and students are more likely to find success in the classroom. Teachers must be experts in designing assessments that match the curriculum and give students a chance to show what they know. 

 Risko, V. J., & Walker-Dalhouse. (2010). Making the most of assessments to inform instruction. 

The Reading Teacher, 63(5), 420-422. DOI:10.1598/RT.63.5.7 

Discuss ways 

QRI-5 Video Reflection

This video did a nice job of showing how to introduce the word lists in a QRI-5. I think many times we forget to properly introduce a reading inventory or word lists and go straight into having the students read the words. The teacher in the video took about a minute to learn more about the reader she was assessing. She asked her if she likes to read, what types of books she likes to read, and if she knows a good reader. These questions tell the teacher a lot about the student and can help her in determining how best to help her. Once the teacher establishes what level reader the student is, she can pull the types of books that will interest the student. When students are interested in the books they are reading, they are more likely to want to continue reading and become a better reader. When doing a QRI-5 with my own students, I will take time to get to know what kind of reader they are and what they are interested in before asking them to go straight into reading word lists. A solid introduction to the activity was my main take away from watching the video.

Opitz pg. 14 Activity #4

Use Table 1.1 “Summary of Proficient and Less Proficient Reading Behaviors” to observe a reader.  Highlight the characteristics you notice and provide an example of what you see.

The student I have focused on, exhibits many of the qualities of a less than proficient reader. I was able to determine this based upon pretests. The young boy has good phonemic awareness and is on target for the beginning of first grade. However, he struggles with decoding the words and putting together the phonemes that he knows. He attempts to identify all of the words correctly, however, he often mispronounces correspondences between letters and their sounds. Because of his slow decoding, like the girl in the video, he struggles with being able to comprehend what he reads. When I spend time asking comprehension questions, he often doesn't remember the majority of what the book or story was about. he relies heavily on visual information, using the pictures to guide what the words might be or what the story is about. He also doesn't use punctuation to guide his inflections in reading. He reads very monotone and doesn't use those clues to help with reading questions or exclamations. This student is able to recognize a miscues when he pronounces a word that doesn't sound like it would fit in the sentence. These are all characteristics of a less than proficient reader found in Optiz's text. I think there are many ways in which I can help this reader become a proficient reader. This student needs extra instruction in learning correspondences, specifically of vowels. He also would benefit from read-alouds in order to hear what a good reader sounds like. I think he has the potential to be a proficient reader, he just needs more instruction in phonics, decoding, and comprehension. 

Watch & Learn: Assessing Reading Skills Video

I thought the video was very interesting for many reasons. Many students can relate to this young girls struggles with reading. She is a slow decoder, which in turn effects her ability to comprehend a passage. I found it especially interesting that she was in the 90th percentile and doing math in the 94th percentile. However, she is only in the 12th percentile in reading. I think this is a great example of IQ not having a major impact on reading ability. She is clearly a very smart young girl, but she still has troubles with reading and that doesn't make her unintelligent. The video also talks about the importance of ongoing assessment. This is important for all students in order to ensure that the teacher is aware of each students' progress as well as areas of improvement. The video also addresses an important factor of struggling readers. Trouble reading is not just an academic issue, but it is a motivational issue and emotional issue. Students don't want to sound stupid when they read aloud in class, so it is important that all teachers find how best to help each student become a successful reader.

Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

Over the course of the semester, my personal model of reading theory has evolved based on Constance Weaver’s perspective in Reading Process & Practice. I have used many of the approaches Weaver discusses, however I learned a great deal more about incorporating them all together. I have some experience with teaching with a balanced approach, but now have a greater understanding of how children learn to read. I believe this will be very beneficial to my teaching and my students.

            My biggest take away is the importance of a whole-to-part literacy instruction. This essentially emphasizes the importance of not isolating instruction of rules or strategies. Phonics rules and reading strategies should be taught through reading and writing rather than individually. Much of my teaching experience and observations isolated teaching of rules and strategies. However, I now see the reasons why this is an ineffective teaching strategy. Rules and strategies should be taught as a part of a comprehensive literacy program.

            A comprehensive literacy program is a teaching technique that I want to further incorporate into my lessons. This program is a balanced approach to reading and writing instruction that allows students to get more reinforcement on the skills being taught. A comprehensive literacy program has many pieces that make up the whole. I love Weaver’s quote when she says, “teachers and students attend to skill-related knowledge like phonics by drawing examples from texts being read and relating the skills back to their reading (Weaver, 2002, p.3).  It is important that skills are constantly being tied back to reading and writing. Text is the foundation of building fluent readers in he early years.

 Pieces of a comprehension literacy program include read/write alouds, share reading/writing, guide reading/writing, sustained reading/writing, reading/writing conferences, literature discussion, journals, opportunities for response, and reading/writing to learn. Each of these components eliminates the skill being taught in isolation. I see my students benefiting immensely through a comprehensive literacy approach. I believe it is important to take the focus off phonics and decoding instruction and put more focus on a balanced approach.

            I also believe in the importance of providing multiple opportunities for children to read and write. Reading and writing should be incorporated across the curriculum and students should have multiple chances each day to practice. The more students engage in reading experiences, the stronger their writing will become and they faster they will develop into fluent readers. I believe this starts by modeling. As I teach, I think it is necessary that I model reading and writing strategies to my students. Students need to be shown how to decode words as well as comprehension strategies like “think-aloud” or predicting the text. Read alouds are a great opportunity for such modeling. Read alouds show the students how to read with expression, teach about concepts of print, and teach comprehension strategies. This should also be done in writing. Students need instruction in writing from the beginning stages of planning to the final publication of their product.

            Overall I feel this class has transitioned my thinking from taking a skills approach to an approach focused on comprehension. The purpose of reading is to comprehend. Teaching skills are important, however phonics instruction should not be the main focus. Weaver discusses readers’ abilities to derive meaning from a text even when the text is not read with 100% accuracy. Instruction should be aimed at teaching comprehension strategies with phonics instruction integrated through reading. By putting the focus on comprehension, a comprehensive literacy program can be easily implemented. I believe my new knowledge in this course is going to provide my students with new learning opportunities that emphasize reading and writing instruction in a variety of methods. I am looking forward to using these new strategies and my knowledge in my lessons with my upcoming classes.

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books.