Introducing the Text

Sample introduction: “I am going to ask you to read a story aloud to me. Read it as best you can. I can’t help you; so if you come to a word you don’t know, just try your best. I’m going to take some notes while you’re reading so I can remember what you say.” Allow the student to take a “picture walk” through the text. There is no time limit for this. The student may want to tell you a story based on the illustrations and this is allowed.

Teacher may continue with: “The story you are going to read is called ______________. (Supply the title). It is about __________________________.” (Supply one line plot summary provided.)

This is a time to also let the student know that they will be retelling the story to you from beginning to end. They will have a chance to re read the story silently before they begin the retell.

During the Assessment

・ Start the timing as soon as the child begins to read.

・ An accurate note of minutes and seconds must be made when the reading stops.

・ Once the oral reading is over, the student should take the book and read it again silently. This gives them another opportunity to check themselves on comprehension before the retelling. During this time the teacher should mark the score for phrasing based on the rubric on the Student Information Sheet.

・ Once the student has finished reading the book or portion silently, the teacher may prompt the retelling with “Think back to the beginning, and tell me the story. Tell me everything you remember about it.” If the retelling seems incomplete, the teacher should prompt with, “Tell me more.” This prompt should be used only once. Or start the first section of the student booklet.

・ When the student finishes the retelling, the teacher should score that skill before seeing another student based on the rubric on the Student Information Sheet.

After the Assessment

・ Add up all the scores for accuracy, fluency rate, phrasing and retelling will indicate the strength or weakness of the student at that level.

・ Analyze the Data ? In performance-based assessments, it is important to move beyond just the score and look at what strategies and or skills the student used effectively, used ineffectively or neglected. Certain questions can be explored.

- Did the error make sense?

- Did the student use meaning when the error was made?

- Noticed an error and reread

- Attempted self-correction

- Used picture clues to attempt words

- Read something sensible, even if it didn’t match letter sounds of the correct word

- Skips word or reads ahead

- Inserted extra words which supported the meaning

- Are there any visual similarities between the error and the actual text?

- Did the student look through the word for known parts or endings?

- Substituted a word that started with the same sound as the correct word.

- Appears to “sound out the word”

- Covers ending or prefix

- Gets beginning or ending sounds correct although the word is wrong

- Made a sound for each letter in the word

- What does the student do at difficulty? Stop? Reread? Appeal for help?

・ Plan Teaching ? With this type of assessment, it can become an integral part of the teacher’s ongoing instruction, providing them with strategies to understand students’ early reading performance. This assessment also helps the teacher identify and document change over time.