Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary - Chapter 6 Tracking Kids:Progress and Using Assessment to Support Instruction

A Guide to the Reading Workshop: Primary Grades by Lucy Calkins

Session led by Kindergarten Team Leader, Debbie Harbour

BIG ideas in Chapter 6

Tracking Kids: Progress and Using Assessment to Support Instruction

Which assessments will you use at the beginning of the year?

	Assessment	Who is this assessment for?	What will you find out?
Emergent Readers
	Concepts about print
	Emergent Storybook Reading Stages (Sulzby)
Foundational Skills & Reading Levels
	Letter-Sound Identification
	Spelling Inventory
	High-frequency words
	Running Records
Volume, Stamina & Comprehension
	Tallies or book logs
	Writing about Reading

How will you get to know your readers at the start of the year?

•  a list of reading levels for incoming students
•  last running record from the year before
•  last letter sound identification and/or spelling inventory and high frequency work assessments from the year before
• end-of-the-year writing (on-demand from Units of Study) from the year before

How will you use running records to inform classroom instruction?

• Committing to  TCRWP’s QRI system for running records
•  Making running records an on-going part of Reading Workshop

o   Prepare in bulk ahead of time

o   Create a running record station

o   Have students sit in a line so you can progress quickly

o   Avoid doing more than one running record at a time with the same child

o   Use the old DRA as a back-up text when you are not sure                                      

• Accuracy -Using MSV for analyzing what systems a child is using – work from what a child can do and use this a jumping off point for what to teach
• Fluency - At level J begin checking for first reading fluency (accuracy, automaticity, prosody or expression)
• Comprehension – retelling and answering inferential questions
•  Use this data for guided reading and strategy groups and also to tailor shared reading, read alouds and Skills Block 

How will you keep notes and anecdotal records? Let me count the ways!

How will you assess volume and stamina?

• Running graph of the number of minutes the class reads each day
• Goals with tally book logs for K-1
• Reading logs in 2^nd grade
• Pulling back as the year goes along to get rid of reading too quickly and fibbing and then bringing them back periodically just to check

How will you assess writing about reading?

•  Keep student work in their portfolios or your assessment system
• Begin writing about reading at levels H/I
•  Use read aloud time for writing about reading, e.g., stop and jot, stop and sketch 

How will students self-assess, making reading goals visible?

• Talk explicitly in conferences giving students words for what they are doing
• Use anchor charts
• Leave a reminder , e.g., sticky note