Formative AssessmentTitle I/Reading Resource

Reading GroupsBy Ellen Maxwell

And Kristen Wilkes

East Salem Elementary

Objective: To increase reading levels of students by using

running records as formative assessments to guide instruction.

Pre-Assessment• A teacher takes running records

using Fountas and Pinnell Reading Assessment Kit, Rigby PM Benchmark Kit, or a 100 word passage from a basal reader or other book. The student reads leveled books until an instructional level is determined. During these assessments, the teacher makes anecdotal records and records things noticed about the child’s reading, for example, fluency and expression, pointing, 1:1 correspondence, visual, structure, and meaning errors, reading strategies used, comprehension, and student comments.

The students are grouped according to reading levels

• Students reading a passage at 90% to 94% accuracy are reading a book at an instructional level. This knowledge assists teachers in placing students in appropriate instructional groups based on individual strengths and weaknesses.

The guided reading groups are formed.

• Students reading on the same level are placed in a small group. During group lessons, students participate in guided reading lessons. The teacher selects books at the determined instructional level. Assessment is an ongoing process so running records are taken every one to two weeks on each child. It is important to keep track of a student’s growth in order to obtain maximum reading potential.

Assessment drives instruction in guided reading groups

• Grouping students of similar reading abilities helps teachers plan instruction that best matches the students needs.

• The teacher analyzes the students’ running records and makes notes of errors. These errors determine the instruction.

• If the students have problems with fluency, they would participate in such activities as choral reading, reader’s theater, echo reading, and listening to themselves on tape.

• Errors in use of endings, such as –ing, would result in lessons working with words ending in –ing, such as word sorts, using magnetic letters to make words, and highlighting –ing words in text.

• Running records determine use of reading strategies. Instruction would include using reading strategies such as looking at the picture, self-correcting, rereading, looking for chunks in words, and matching voice to print. This is done through teacher modeling and practice.

Anecdotal Records

• The teacher observes and makes anecdotal records on each student, making sure the student builds on his reading strengths and practices using the strategies to become a good reader.

• Students are given feedback as they read to the teacher. The teacher points out something they did well to reinforce the use of appropriate strategies and also so the student will continue to use that strategy.

Using Anecdotal records to guide instruction

An anecdotal record may contain information such as fluency, rate of reading, expression, errors such as b/d confusion, omitting endings on words, or confusing similar words such as want/went, or of/for. These errors would be addressed during small group time or independent reading time.

Summative Assessment

• As a post-assessment, the teacher takes running records using benchmark kits such as Fountas and Pinnell, Rigby PM or a 100 word text selection. Like before, anecdotal notes are recorded and a new instructional reading level is determined. Optimally, when scores are compared between pre and post assessments, a student’s reading level has shown growth. In order for maximum reading growth to continue, the student would need to begin instruction at this level, which may result in the possibility of moving the student to a new reading group with other students who read on or about the same instructional level.