First, I must share my appreciation for teachers who are willing to invite observers, college students, and volunteers into their classroom. Teachers in my district are dealing with the weather causing schools to be delayed or closed. They are also completing annual testing for ESOL students. The only way for me to finish my field hours each week is to have open minded and flexible teachers include me in their plans.
I was invited to conduct running records today with three English Language Learners. The 2nd grade girls (one from Saudi Arabia and the other two from Mexico) were enlisted to read a book their ESOL teacher picked out. As a former kindergarten teacher, I have conducted my fair share of running records, but never with students so new to English. Although their running record and miscue analysis was similar to what other students' assessments would look like, there was less definition within their pronunciation of words. They were consistently having difficulty with beginning and ending sounds.
They read the book Dinner for Maisy by Aimee Meacham as I made check marks for accurate reading and indicated whether they made a substitution, insertion, omission, repetition, self correction, reversal, or hesitation on miscues. If I had access to the book before my observation, I would have typed it out to save time during the assessment and help when marks or notes needed to be made.
This student used visual cues with the beginning and ending sounds to decide what the word might be. She did not hesitate over these words or realize they did not quite fit with the sentence structure or meaning of the text. There was no self corrections or repeat readings of these words.
Comprehension Check: Tell me about the story…
- This student made a well sequenced retelling of what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. She also included some good vocabulary from the book, such as how one character was "upset."
- This student is from Saudi Arabia and has a heavy accent which did effect her pronunciation of the words. However, I could still tell what she was saying. She was fluent with her rate and had 98% accuracy.
Teaching Strategies:
- Cross checking for students to know that the word makes sense with the context not just the picture or first or last letter in the word.
- Breaking words into chunks or parts
For the chart below, I have made the miscued words bold. The first word was what the student said and the word following it is the word from the text. If it is underlined, the student repeated the word or phrase.
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Page
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Text
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Errors
|
Self Correct
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2
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Maisy loved to eat. Every day at dinner, she ran to her
dish. She ate all her food and begin/begged
for more.
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1
|
|
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3
|
Every
day was the same. Until one day…
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|
|
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4
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Dana put her food in Maisy’s dish. Maisy just looked at
her food. She didn’t eat one bit/bite.
Eat your dinner, Dana said. But Maisy wouldn’t eat.
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1
|
|
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6
|
The
next day, Nate put out food for Maisy. Maisy looked at the food in her dish.
But she still wouldn’t eat.
|
|
|
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7
|
Eat your dinner, Maisy. Nate said. Maisy just sniffed
the food and walked away.
|
|
|
|
8
|
Nate
and Dana were upset. Why won’t Maisy eat? Nate asked. She must be sick, said
Dana. Don’t worry, said Dad. We’ll take Maisy to the vet.
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|
|
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10
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Maisy wagged her tail when she say Dr. Grant. What’s
the matter? Dr. Grant asked.
Maisy won’t eat, said Dana. And you know Maisy. She loves to eat!
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2
|
|
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11
|
Dr.
Grant checked Maisy. Maisy has gaining/gained
three pounds, said the doctor. She must be eating something!
|
2
|
|
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12
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They took Maisy home. At dinner, she still wouldn’t eat.
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|
|
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13
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Maybe
this food is too old. Dad said. There are some new bags of dog food in the basement.
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|
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14
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Nate and Dana went to get a new bag of dog food. Oh,
no! said Nate. Look at all the dog food that came out of the bags!
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|
|
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15
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Dana
smiled. I know who did it, she said. Me too, said Nate.
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16
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Maisy! Called Nate and Dana.
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|
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Comprehension Check:
- This student remembered the character names and actions, but did not go into great detail. After listening to her retell the story, I asked "What did the vet say
about Maisy?" and "How did the family feel about their dog?"
Teaching Strategies:
- I would review how to monitor meaning by thinking about the story as she reads. She should be making mental pictures on every page, but can certainly use the illustrations to guide her thinking as well.
- She said "begin" when "begged" was used in the text. These two words do not contain the same meaning although they start with the same three letters. A skill to be reviewed would be focusing on word endings.
This student also made fairly small visual errors that had a variety of impact on the text content and meaning. Her first mistake did not make sense as the word "and" does not look like "she" or relate to its meaning. Next, she repeated two words to double check her reading. Then she made some miscues based on missed visual cues as "when" and "then" are close in spelling and tell time. "What's" was shortened to "what."
Comprehension Check:
- She remembered the main events of the story, but did not include any of the character's emotions in her review.
Teaching Strategy and Skills:
- There will be a need to review beginning and ending sounds.
- The two times this student reread, the words said were correct the first time. She needs to learn how to recognize when the sentence does not sound right in order to self correct.
- Contractions could also be reviewed to ensure future success.
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Before I wrap up this post, I just wanted to include the YouTube video below Fountas & Pinnell Running Record. This is the type of running record sheets I normally have with me. I am very out of practice with the checkmarks and no words on the sheets. Overall, this activity showed me there are common miscues Foreign Language students make when reading. However based on these results, I do not believe they are significantly different than other students who struggle with reading. They have the same potential to learn and soak up information through mini lessons and activities.
References
Meacham, A. (2008). Dinner for Maisy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
