Watching and Listening to Children Read
Reading this article reminded me how important non-standardized assessment is to the optimal growth of a learner.
Watson says, “Standardized measurements for non-standardized kids fall short of helping teachers watch, enjoy, and describe…A score of 3.2 doesn’t begin to describe a child’s ability to use language.”
Through strategy mini lessons, guided reading groups, and individual reading and writing conferencing, a child is continuing to grow as they acquire new knowledge. As an educator, we need to be acutely aware to their zone of proximal development and strive to keep the student learning. By constantly conducting informal observations through kid watching or observational notes, the teacher has access to the most reliable recent data to continue the students learning.
Watching and Listening to Children Read was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI love the activity that the first grade teacher did where she wrote the letters to her students,and had then read them in order to check on their abilties as readers. What a great idea! She gained a lot of information about them as readers from this activity.
I look forward to trying he Burke Reading Inventory with my students this coming school year.
The information about the miscue analysis was very helpful. It will help me with interpreting my Dominie assessments.
Once again, we are reminded of how much influence a student's background has in his ability to read. It makes me want to provide many rich experiences for my six year old to draw upon for his own off-the-page information.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I like the examples given, and the specific ideas for watching readers and gaining information on their abilities. I especially like the example of the first grade teacher and her first day with her children. This makes me wonder, does she already have her lesson plans set for the next few weeks, or does she wait until she gets this vital initial information from her class before she does her planning??
I agree that standardized tests don't always paint an accurate portrait of our student's abilities and that teachers can assess students by good "kid-watching". "Kid-watching" is an informal assessment of students' use of language in real situations. I enjoyed the story of a first grade classroom on the first day of school. Just by asking the children questions and listening to their responses. The teacher was able to assess how many of her students could read their own name by watching and listening. This teacher did her assessment very informally and gained knoweledge about her students as a starting block.
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ReplyDeletePg. 115 – “When beliefs are clear, teachers have a better understanding about their expectations of readers, as well as a guide for making instructional decisions.”
ReplyDeleteIt is vitally important for us to know what we believe about how children learn language – both written and spoken in order for us to set expectations for students. We can’t expect
students to reach our expectations if we don’t know how they are supposed to get there.
Pg. 116 – “If these same readers are presented text that is unpredictable, lacks cohesion, is conceptually inappropriate, and holds no interest, the students will appear to be poor readers—their potential diminished by poor text.”
I have never thought of the “potential” of a text as factor in the reader being considered
proficient or poor. This was an interesting thought for me and a definite reminder of the
importance of providing our students with interesting, well-written text.
Pg. 118 – “By watching Donald’s after-the-book-is-closed activity it was not difficult to see that this reader/writer enjoyed and understood [the book]; no need for a quiz or book report.”
We sometimes worry if we will have adequate assessments for students when not all students
are reading and writing the same things. Using observation and informal assessment such as
this story suggests is a way to keep up with the necessary assessments.
Pg. 121 – “Find out what a child is trying to do and then help him do it. Good kidwatchers make it a point to see the student’s strengths first. This does not mean problems are ignored. It simply indicates that teachers need to build their reading programs on what students are doing right, not on what they are doing wrong.”
It is always important to build on what students already know and do well. We can validate them, encourage them, and give them confidence while building a relationship that will allow us to strengthen their areas of weakness.
Pg. 126 – “Miscue analysis helps teachers look at what children are doing “right,” while becoming aware of their problems in reading.”
Miscue analysis is a very valuable tool in my classroom. It is incredibly beneficial to me to
know what types of errors my students are making so that I can adequately plan my instruction.
Pg. 127 – “Standardized measurements for nonstandardized kids fall short of helping teachers watch, enjoy, and describe.”
Are kids are not standardized…they don’t all come wrapped in the same packaging. We
have to, therefore, change our assessment in the classroom to accurately measure the gains
they are making.
This article shows the true benefit of an informal observation as well as formal reading observation such as the Burke Reading Interview and formal and informal miscue analysis. I especially appreciated the the statement "Miscue analysis helps teachers look at what the children are doing "right", while becoming aware of their problems in reading."
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Jackie that the more the child is exposed to rich language and experiences the more "off-the-page-information" they will bring with them to school. I also hold to the personal belief that if the child lacks "off-the-page-information", it is our responsibility as educators to fill in the gaps.
My favorite quote in this article was, "Standardized measurements for nonstandardized kids fall short..." Several people have mentioned standardized testing in their comments and I agree that that they are not a true measure of our kids and what they can do. We know our kids and what is and isn't good for them. What works for me doesn't work for everyone so why should kids be any different. I think that it is sad that our students have to be put through lengthy standardized tests that do not provided accurate and useful data.
ReplyDeleteI also found the story in the beginning of the story very disturbing. It is sad that in some classrooms the only opportunity children are provided to read is after a test as busy work.
Finally, I really liked reading about watching the reader before they began reading. I feel that a lot of the observing and questioning comes during and after the text is read instead of before. Finding out where your students are before they began reading can allow you to know who needs help and with what.
This article does a great job of highlighting the benefits of informal observation of readers from the time they enter your classroom. Combined with using the Burke Reading Interview, miscue analysis, and background experience, a teacher can gain insight into a student's process of developing as a reader. I am intrigued with the success and motivation read-alouds, guided reading, etc., seem to have on the classroom community in these examples. I also learned something new... miscue analysis!
ReplyDeleteDorothy Watson's article reminds me of the learning that took place in the video taping sequence on my inquiry lesson submitted for national boards! Having video taped my laboratory sessions of students interaction with themselves, each other and the teacher (me), it was evident the multitude of cues and miscues during a single 90 minute lab. By using "invitational" language the students were encouraged to delve deeper into the inquiry process which was beyond their comfort zone. Pausing for appropriate wait time, and using facial expressions fostered more interdependence among the lab groups. Students lead the questioning. Video taping class in progress certainly aided me in this analysis of watching and listening to students' inquiry. Extreme reflection.
ReplyDeleteLove the article, especially how it articulated what to look for when watching readers.
ReplyDeleteObserving "before the book is opened" clues you into to where the student is at as an independent reader-are they choosing appropriate books? Upon what basis do they choose books? Many struggling readers make faulty decisions and lack self-awareness of who they are as a reader. Teachers must start supporting such readers before a word is even read.
While students are reading independently, it is essential that teachers monitor their behavior-there is a marked behavioral contrast between a student who is in to a book and one who isn't. In each case, find out what's going on. When a student is into a book, celebrate!
After reading, students need time to share and talk. Students love the attention, but also other learners take a recommendation from a peer seriously. Certain books catch on and make their way around the room--and before you know it you have a community of readers--evaluating books, developing alliances, and forging individual and group identities as readers and thinkers.
Reading workshop centered on indepednent reading (at the middle school level) with mini-lessons that spring from careful teacher obervations and dialogues with the class are powerful if the teacher pays attention and orchestrates them passionately. This article gave me numerous new insights and confirmed many of my current ideas.