1. I conducted two running records, one on a
student whose primary language is Spanish, and one that speaks French. The boy who speaks Spanish has been in the US
school system for two years and he is in an ELA-S classroom, receives ELA
services in addition to a small reading group.
The running records was from a program that he is in for tier two
intervention and it was a story he had read before, called Road Builders. Looking at
his overall score he scored 94% accuracy rate and satisfactory for key
understandings. Syntax, the organization of words in sentences: the
ordering of and relationship between the words and other structural elements in
phrases and sentences (Freeman, Freeman, 2004).
This student had a good syntax, he did not re-order the words and
primarily read in two-word phrases with some three-and four-word reading
phrases, reading was pretty smooth. The
words he missed were simple words and when I asked him to look at them again at
the end he was able to pronounce them. When
looking at meaning, at the end he was able to discuss what happened first,
second, and last, the book was about building a road. For visual cues, the book was in front of him
and he had read it before and I think this helped on a couple of words he
self-corrected, the naming of the machines, because he had the picture in front
of him. Strategies for this student
include keeping visuals available and to work on fluency by modeling.
2. The second student has been in the US for
at least five years, his parents speak French fluently at home, and he is an
ELA student but is in a general education classroom most of the day except for
a small reading group with other ELA students.
This student has great comprehension and the book we read was also one
he had seen before so I think the pictures were a great help to make meaning of
the story, Remya Jose’s Invention. The
story was about a girl from a different country that invents a nonelectrical
washing machine. He related because like
the girl in the story he has to do many of the same chores at home, and he
cares for his younger siblings. When it
came to syntax, he re-ordered some words around or substituted words, but it
didn’t take away from the meaning.
However, is overall fluency was in the 90% because of these mistakes. He speaks very quietly so some of the words I
had to point to again and he would same them correctly, this also effected the
time and because of the time limit he did not pass this running record. Strategies for him would to work on fluency
and using his finger to track so he doesn’t skip or reorder words. In addition I think with more practice his
confidence will improve and he will become a stronger reader.
Tracy,
ReplyDeleteYour suggested strategy of teaching fluency to second language learners will enhance their oral language proficiency, which according to the executive summary of the National Literacy Panel's report on Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners:
Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, is associated with English reading comprehension and writing skills for second language learners. The report by the National Literacy Panel which aspects of oral language proficiency should be emphasized and these are: (1) vocabulary knowledge, (2) listening comprehension, (3) syntactic skills, (4) and the ability to handle metalinguistic aspects of the language, such as providing definitions of words.
Evelyn
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think that tracking while reading is a strategy that student's don't utilize enough. I have used lots of different tools such as tracking strips, pencil eraser and even fun little witches fingers on popsicle sticks depending on the age of the students. Regardless of the tool, it can make a huge difference for a student. As adults, we often track with a pencil while reading, so I figure if it would be helpful for me it will probably be helpful for a student as well.
Kristina
Hey Kristina,
DeleteI agree with what you have said that tracking is not used enough by students. I teach kindergarten and I try to emphasize tracking to my students in our small groups. I also use tricks like yours by using Popsicle sticks, highlighter strips or flash lights. I like your idea of thinking what adults use or do. I think that modeling how you read in front of them might be beneficial.
Elizabeth
Tracy, I found the same with my students as you did with your French speaking student. Any (minor) errors didn't influence meaning and the students are in gen ed classrooms.
ReplyDelete- Jan