Week 5

Assignment#1 Use p.106 examiner’s word list to calculate Mary’s level in word identification.

Mary is reading at an independent level one.  She missed two of the words but was not easily frustrated with those two words.  She uses the appropriate skills to help identify words.

Assignment#2 Use p.107 examiner’s word list to calculate Mary’s level in word identification.

With word list 2 Mary is at instructional level.  That is, she read 85% of the words (17 out of 20) without any errors.  The three words she made errors with she confused the ending of the words.  Level 2is the right passage to assess Mary’s reading with because it is where she displayed a little bit of a struggle. 

Assignment#3 Use p.107 examiner’s word list to calculate Mary’s level in word identification.

At Level 3 word list Mary became frustrated and it was clear that this level was not appropriate for her.  She did not completely give up but it was clear that she was struggling with most words and even skipping through them.  It is appropriate to begin assessing Mary’s reading at Level 2.

Assignment#4 Use examiner’s scoring sheet (pp.223-225) to calculate the scores and to determine Mary’s strengths and needs

Mary’s prior knowledge was minimal but she was able to recall details from the text after reading.  She is at an instructional level with this text.  I think it is an appropriate text for Mary.  Her accuracy rate was 97% and her error rate was 33.  The self-correction rate was 2.  She struggled with sounding out some words and required minimal assistance from the teacher while reading.  Her fluency is average.  After completing the reading Mary was able to describe main ideas and some details from the text (but not all).  Her responses to questions were not very detailed and there was a limited understanding of the text.  Mary is able to sound out words and do not take extended pauses when reading.  It sounds as though she is making sense of what she is reading and not just focusing on what the next word in a sentence is.  A weakness is confusing words and adding endings to words.  

Week 4

Assignment 3
Here's the link to my PowerPoint!


Assignment 1

RTI is implemented in schools to insure that all students receive the appropriate instruction and that all of their learning needs are met.  In one of the videos it was discussed how teacher collaboration is used to insure no child slips between the cracks.  Children at risk are monitored continuously and teachers meet to discuss these children.  Reading specialists look for possible interventions to help any students struggling.

RTI is structured like a pyramid; there are 3 tiers.  The largest (bottom level of the pyramid) tier is Tier 1.  All teachers teach all students at this level using high quality instruction.  No child is left out of Tier 1.  At this level all students receive differentiated instruction by a general education teacher.  Instruction at this level meets the needs of 80 to 85% of students. 

If children are not successful in Tier 1 instruction teachers intervene to determine if the child requires Tier 2 instruction.  Tier 2 is more intensive as it builds on Tier 1 instruction and offers more systematic instruction.  This type of instruction can take place in a small group within the general classroom.  Tier 2 is offered to the remaining 15% of students that were not successful with Tier 1.  It is important to stress how students receiving Tier 2 instruction are also participating in Tier 1 instruction.  Tier 2 is that supplemental support these students need.

If students are still not being successful with Tier 2 learning, parents and teacher can be involved to possibly refer the child for evaluation for special education services.  Tier 3 learning is provided by special education teachers or intervention specialists.  Interventions are delivered to individual students and small groups.  Tier 3 is the most intensive intervention and supplements both Tier 1 and Tier 2 learning.  Some students can receive these interventions without being labeled special education students.   Tier 3 interventions are provided to about 5% of students.

The structure of RTI is what contributes to its success with students.  This sort of building upon learning and supplementing learning to meet individual needs of students insures that all students are receiving the appropriate intervention in order to be successful.

Week 3

Assignment #2

Providing opportunities for creative writing, reading lengthy and complex texts and encourage research in order to develop productivity skills, implementing cross-disciplinary topics are all ways to appropriately develop the skills required by the standards.  Assessing these skills comes in when we observe student performance during group tasks, review the presentations and proposals they create, and their writing skills.

The 4th grade example of students recording their conversation to identify points of view was pretty impressive.  I had not observed or experienced this type of learning.  It seems to require a higher level of self-awareness and listening to and making sense of what others say.  It is like a new level of listening.  The use of persuasive proposals is also something very interesting and I would think beyond grade level!  As a middle school teacher I am often out of touch with the elementary classroom, especially with the emergence of Common Core.  The skills students are developing and practicing in the classrooms contribute to fostering an awareness of others and the ability to be successful members of society.

Assignment #3

• What is QRI5?  QRI5 is an informal reading inventory that includes word lists and passages that assess the reading and listening abilities of students.  

• What is the purpose of using QRI5? The purpose of the informal reading inventory is to gather information used to gauge students' reading levels, group students, and choose appropriate reading assignments for students.

• Have you seen similar assessment activities like QRI5? What are they? Running records have a similar purpose; assessing students' reading ability and words that students struggle with and even to decide the appropriate reading level for individual students.

• What is your impression of QRI5? I think this type of assessment really covers all of the bases as far as assessing students' reading ability.  Having students retell, answer questions, look-backs, and think aloud while reading are all useful strategies that help assess students' comprehension of a given text.  I also think assessing students' abilities with different type of texts is important in order to fully gauge students strengths and weaknesses.