Running Records

        Running records are an important tool in assessing oral reading.  By following standard procedures, anyone who knows the system and purpose of running records can analyze a student's oral reading behaviors.  Based on how a student reads and the miscues that are made, teachers can plan effective instruction based on student needs.  Running records can be used to group students by reading abilities or instructional needs.  In addition, they can be used to monitor and record student growth.   

(Emile is a third grade student who speaks Spanish as his first language.) 

        In analyzing Emile's oral reading, it does not seem that his errors are due to his first language.  Based on Emile's reading behaviors, I would focus instruction on strategies that he could use during reading.  Emile did not self-correct a single one of his miscues presenting a problem in his reading progress.  Most of his errors seem to be due to the fact that he is not monitoring his reading for meaning.  When he read tail as tall and mixed as messed he did not monitor his reading to see if what he'd read made sense to the story.  Had he monitored his reading and then self-corrected the meaning of the story would have been improved.  I would also focus instruction on word bases, endings and suffixes as Emile missed two suffixes when he read talking as talk and sides as side.  Emile could also benefit from instruction in paying attention to the initial letter in a word before attempting to read it.  He read the word only as really which wouldn't have made any sense had he looked at the letter o at the beginning of the word before reading it. 

(Joseph is a second grade student that speaks Russian as his first language.)



        Joseph has some similar needs when it comes to monitoring his reading for meaning.  He did not self-correct any of his errors either.  Joseph would benefit from working on checking for meaning and then attempting to self-correct his miscues while reading.  He would also benefit from instruction in paying attention to the visual cues a word provides, especially the initial letter.  Joseph read invitation for envelope.  I have a feeling he wouldn't have been able to read the word invitation as he struggles with multi-syllabic words but he would benefit from looking at the initial letter before reading a word.  I would also focus instruction on chunking multi-syllabic words so that they can be broken down into more manageable and recognizable word parts.  Joseph also seems to experience some confusion with vowel sounds as he read Flo and pony incorrectly due to incorrect vowel sounds.  Not knowing any Russian, I'm not sure if Joseph's struggles are due to differences between English and the Russian language.  

        Obviously, running records are a valuable assessment tool in ensuring that instruction matches students' learning needs.  Assessment and the information that it provides should drive instruction, otherwise it's a waste of time.