Reading Assessment & Intervention

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Reading Assessment & Intervention

Current mood: dorky

Done with study guide # 2, which is Reading Assessment & Intervention. Again, if it interests you, have at it, if not, just ignore! Time to start working on study guide # 3; Educational Psychology, which by far is the one I am most interested in!


Mid Term Test Questions
Assessment and Intervention Strategies


1. In your career as a teacher, you will have children in your class that have reading problems. How and what would you do to determine reading levels, strengths and weaknesses and appropriate teaching strategies for these children? Be specific in your answer.

It would be a good idea to start by either formally or informally getting information on the student’s interest and attitudes towards reading. After that you would need to find out at what level they are in reading. You could assess this in a variety of ways; having the child read placement sentences or passages, giving them the Dolch sight word list to read, or the Roswell-Chall diagnostic reading tests, among others. You may even need to start with emergent reader assessments if the student can’t read sentences or passages. After you have collected enough information about the student’s reading abilities, you would need to evaluate the results and determine what their strengths and weaknesses are. From there you would take that information and use it to find materials and resources that would help you address the weaknesses identified and utilize the strengths that the student already has. You would also need to provide plenty of reading practice, read to them each day, allow them to write each time and also make sure that they experience success each day in some way.



2. The notion of teaching and assessment working together was given in class to consider. Explain how this would work in your reading classroom.

In order to teach anything, not just reading, you need to know where the students are on that subject and what they already know. To find that out, you would have to assess the students. That assessment would then direct your teaching. It would tell you where to start and where to go next. Assessment is a tool, like a map, it points you in the direction that you need to go. This is true in reading and any other subject. However if you don’t know what the student’s reading skills are, or what they are struggling with, you won’t know what to teach them. To be an effective teacher, you must use assessment as a tool to formulate a plan.


3. Discuss the following: What are the Three P’s in the Diagnostic Teaching of Reading and how can this information impact classroom reading instruction?

The Three P’s are:

Purpose: which is to have instruction that not only helps the reader, but also improves performance and fluency.

Process: The process of teaching reading is;

1.Assessment
2.To formulate diagnostic hypothesis/Intervention strategies
3.To teach
4.Establish positive conditions for learning

Product: To enable the struggling reader to become a better reader.

This information can make a great impact on reading instruction because it gives focus to what you are teaching and why you are teaching it. It give you a plan to follow, and lets you know what you are trying to accomplish. Basically the Three P’s are a blueprint from which to base your reading instruction on. Without this direction, lesson plans might not be well suited to the students, which would result in wasted instruction time.


Reading Assessment and Intervention
Questions for the Final

1. Assessment and evaluation are important to the success of your reading program. List at least 5 ways you could use assessment in your reading classroom. Be specific as possible.

There are many types of assessment tools to use in a reading classroom. The very first way and form of assessment that I would use would be to gather information about the student’s interests and attitudes about reading. This can be done by informal discussions, attitude surveys, or questionnaires The second way that I would use assessment would be to find out where the students are in their reading level. This can easily be done by having the student read passages or stories out loud. I would use a miscue analysis to determine what level the child was at. Another way that I would use assessment would be to see what words we needed to learn for vocabulary or spelling words. This could be done by giving the students the Dolch sight word list to determine which ones are areas of weakness. It can also be done by having students read sections of books and list the words that they are unsure about. Yet another way that I would use assessment in my reading program would be as a formative assessment, to make sure they are making progress and that we don’t need to stop and focus on something specifically before moving on. This assessment could be given in a variety of ways through comprehension questions, or simple activities that would demonstrate that they had mastered the content. And last I would also use a summative assessment at the end of each unit to make sure that the students learned what they needed to during that unit. The results of this assessment would tell me if the unit was successful or not, and if we needed to spend more time on it or if we could move on. I would use all of these forms of assessment at my ‘road map’ for my class, it would tell me where I was going and it would provide direction for my teaching.

2. There are many things a teacher can do to develop interest and motivation in the reading program.
A. List at least 3 things you can do to impact the development of interest and motivation.
B. Describe the specific techniques you would use to implement the 3 things you listed in part A above.

A. There are so many different ways that teachers can spark interest and motivation for reading in the classroom. One thing that I would do is to use the student’s own interests in order to motivate them to read, and allow them some freedom in choosing their own reading materials. Another way I would spark interest is that I would use interesting and captivating books within my reading program instead of relying on basal readers. I would also pair up reading with other activities to reinforce ideas and comprehension, and to give students the chance to connect their reading with fun activities. I would also use thematic units and themed lessons that would help to make it more fun and exciting.

B. Not only would I give students the freedom to choose their own books from their own interests, but I would organize ‘book clubs’ within the class. I would have several books available to choose from, and allow students to sign up to be a part of a specific group with a specific book. Perhaps there could be 4-5 students in each group, and each group would have a different book. I would give the students time to meet in their book clubs to discuss the book and what they thought about it as they were reading it , and possibly have an activity related to the book to be done during the meeting. Also not only will I use literature in my reading program instead of basal readers, but I could allow students the chance to vote on books that they want us to read as a class, which gives them ownership and enhances motivation. There are so many different fun activities that can be used with reading instead of using workbooks and worksheets; making story maps, alternate endings, creating books, creating new book jackets, creating diaoramas, readers theater, reflective journals, letters to or from characters, the list could go on and on. The point is, that I would find fun and engaging ways to draw students into the books and stories. I want all of my students to enjoy reading and to be motivated to read on at least some level.

3. Many concepts were given for discussion and consideration this semester as it relates to Assessment and Intervention Practices in Reading. Think of one ‘big’ concept that has impacted your thinking and discuss how that concept will become part of your future teaching.

I think that the big concept I have latched onto this semester is that in order to learn to read and to learn to enjoy reading, you must read! In order to get kids to read, they need to be interested and motivated. I want to make sure that I provide my students with ample opportunities to read and engage in fun activities related to reading. I want to read to them out-loud each day, so they can experience reading as a listening activity as well. I want to give them the opportunity each and every day to write, because reading and writing go hand in hand. I want to make sure that I know where my students are in reading, so that I can make sure that they experience success in reading each and every day. All of these things were addressed this semester and I think that they are all so important to a students success in reading. You must use both the students strengths and weaknesses in order to come up with an appropriate reading program for them. If you don’t assess the student in some way, you won’t know what those strengths and weaknesses are. Students are not cookie cutter kids at all the same level and pace. Each student needs to be able to learn at their own rate, and to have instruction that is tailored to their strengths and weaknesses. Which is why assessment tools and practices are so important in the reading