Modified Running Records for Young Adolescents

Coding for Meaning, Syntax, and Visual Miscues

Developed by Marie Clay from the early reading studies she conducted in the 1960’s

A way for teachers to quickly and easily assess their students' reading behaviors “on the run”

Simplification of miscue analysis done at 3rd grade and above

Uses only the first 100-150 words in a passage (or the whole thing if it’s less)

Background

A record of reading behaviors – a “snapshot”

Specific type of shorthand, or codes, record detailed information during the reading◦ Codes are “standardized…consistent across settings

and among teachers”

This running record, “provides the teacher with a playback of an entire oral reading episode, including the smallest details on the reader’s attitude, demeanor, accuracy, an understanding ” (p. 10)

What are Running Records?(Shea, M. 2000. Taking running records. New York: Scholastic)

Assessment tool Document progressProvide insights into the child’s reading

strategiesPlan for future instructionFind appropriate reading level of studentTo guide reading instruction

Purposes

Important Reminders

Running Records are normally used with early, younger readers

Use with older, struggling readers to observe reading patterns

Use different assessments to observe reading behavior/patterns.

Identifying Text Levels

The information gained about the student's reading and comprehension from the Running Record enables a teacher to find Easy, Instructional and Hard levels of text for each student.

97-100% Accuracy: Easy92-96% Accuracy: InstructionalBelow 91% Accuracy: Hard

Analyzing Errors

Is the student trying to make sense of what is being read? (semantic cues ... meaning …M) Does it make sense?

Is knowledge of language patterns being used? (syntactic cues ... structure ... S) Does that sound right?

Is knowledge of letters and their associated sounds being used? (graphophonic cues ... visual … V) Does that look similar?

Good Retelling/Recall

Effective readers' retellings are:well organized, with evidence of selection

and organization of relevant detailtypically contain the main points and/or

essence of the original text are often characterized by paraphrases

which capture the original meanings with different vocabulary

(Cambourne 1988)

Less effective readers

Less able readers' retellings:are usually lists of unconnected items or

events from the original text lack coherence and focussound like an incomprehensible maze of

disconnected discourse display little evidence of effective paraphraseshow unsuccessful rote memorisation of the

precise words and phrases used in the original text