Mesmer and Mesmer on RTI and testing

While reading Mesmer on RTI, I can see that students are given a variety of tests from grades K-3. These universal literacy practices can be tied to federal funding and assess the student at least initially on speed, word identification, and phoneme awareness. Using this testing and running records, the teacher can begins to get an idea of the students' accuracy. "If the benchmark score does not meet the grade-level minimum, then additional diagnostics are administered and collected."(Mesmer, p. 284) Response to Intervention is a great way to get special education students the help they need while the assessments are being administered, instead of "admiring the student's reading problem-discussing the problem, and collecting data on it months before they can do anything about it " (Mesmer, p. 289) as in the current discrepancy model. I can see two points of worry here. First, is what about ELL students who may even after exiting ELL not perform well on standardized testing, are we pushing them into special education when they need the syntax and word meaning backgrounds to increase their comprehension? Also, I worry about the lack of acceptable testing for reading comprehension and too much reliance on standardized testing with too little time for informal assessments. Routman says that "we need to make sure we are documenting student's progress at the classroom and school level. We must balance formal assessments with informal assessments." (Routman, p. 111) It is a fine balance to have to walk between the meeting the needs of our students and assessing them as the state, fed and districts tell us to. RTI provides another way to help our students sooner than later, and that is probably a good thing.

Here is the link to Kristen's blog at http://kristen-bringonthebooks.blogspot.com/.
I found Kristen's questions on how RTI can help older students in middle school and high school to be thought provoking.

Tovani on Strategies to help reluctant readers

Reading Cris Tovani this week in I read it, but I don't get it; I have a better understanding of what is happening inside the heads of reluctant readers. I can also see that simply asking students to re-read isn't too helpful to them. Just like sounding out the word is only one of many strategies to teach word identification; re-reading is only one of many strategies to help students develop their reading comprehension. Tovani tells of her own experience with her fifth grade teacher, " We were doing fractions, and I was struggling to learn how to find common denominators. After many incorrect attempts, I asked for help. My teacher knelt down beside my desk and through clenched teeth said, " Think harder! Thinking harder about something that I didn't understand was a strategy that I couldn't sink my teeth into, and neither can my students"(Tovani, p.50) If our students aren't comprehending what they are reading they need alternate methods of how to understand better. As teachers, it is our responsibility to demonstrate and model how we read for comprehension and guide our students until they can begin to comprehend more fully and independently. By teaching our students how to make predictions, connect text to your real life and retell, we are helping make connections for students to read with better meaning.

Reading for Comprehension

When my children were in school, reading was measured by dibels testing and Read Naturally. It was mostly about word per minute and timed tests. AR testing and AR books were a tool used to increase student's comprehension; but AR to me seemed to push kids to read and pass the test. It didn't have much to do with reading for enjoyment or a "just right" book. It certainly didn't seem to be centered on comprehension at all, especially in the primary grades. "Good readers are aware of their understanding or lack of it and always do whatever is necessary to make sense of what they are reading. You can't start teaching comprehension in grade 3. You start teaching it the day kids enter preschool or kindergarten."(Routman, p.118)

Routman asks teachers to remember their own comprehension strategies. When reading Routman for this week, I review all the headings and read all the captions and boxes. I try to get an idea of what the main idea is before reading the chapter. I like to read the introduction paragraphs and concluding paragraphs. This helps me as I read the chapter for retention. I also need to hold the book or paper and use a highlighter to mark important passages in the text. This way I can retain more of what I have read and can refer back to the reading and recapture the main idea. "Our students are more likely to increase their reading comprehension when we show them how we understand a text and model a variety of strategies ( such as asking questions,predicting, summarizing and clarifying)." (Routman, p. 122) I have not shared any of this with my students, but after reading Routman, I can see how modeling this for them as my strategy would have more meaning for them.

In my placement I have taught predicting when reading a read aloud book with my class. I will have planned out stopping places throughout the story where I can stop and ask my students what they think will happen next? It is a great way to check for their understanding of what I have just read and to get them interested in what is coming next. In reading non fiction for social studies or reading time, we monitor and clarify, did we understand what just happened in the past few paragraphs? Should re-read these passages for words that might help to convey meaning?

What I don't understand is if comprehension is so important, why are we still using dibels and reading words per minute as assessments for reading? These assessments certainly aren't telling teachers the whole story of what we need to know about a student's ability to comprehend what they read, not just read the words.

Informal Reading Conferences

On Thursday when I meet with my 5th grade buddy, she will read from her self- selected book. I will then get a chance to perform an informal reading conference with my buddy. In reading Routman second grade teacher Robin Woods says, " I love the personal structure of a reading conference, since I get to talk with the children about what they have chosen to read. I get to discover how students select books, their reading interests, where they understand text and how and why they don't." (p.101) I have only met with my buddy one time. She read me her writing on a class camp experience. She told me some of the books that she is reading, but I have yet to see her reading. I do know that she is a very good writer. She uses well chosen words and paints a picture by using good descriptive words and phrases. I also know that she is a very good speller and did well on the spelling inventory. So well in fact, that she needs to go to the intermediate level spelling inventory. I believe that this is an indication that she is most likely a good reader too. I am not certain that I will know if she has chosen a "just right" book for her level of reading, especially if the book that she chooses is not familiar to me. Routman says to "flip through the pages and chapter titles, and try to get the gist of the story. When a student knows what's going on, his retelling is full of details, his language makes sense and has a flow, he has an obvious sense of what the books is about and his pleasure is evident."(p.103) As I plan my conference with my reading buddy, I will ask her to bring me a book that she thinks is "just right" for her. I'll ask why she chose the book and what the book is about so far. Then we will read several pages silently together. I will be looking for how fast she reads the pages, and I will be looking for words that might difficult for her. After we finish the pages, I will ask her what she remembers about what we just read. We can then talk about her strengths and set goals to work on for the next week. Some of the goals could be predicting, decoding and understanding difficult words in the text. Also, she could set a goal for when she thinks she will complete the book. By conferencing with students in this way, teachers can monitor their students' progress and set goals that foster high expectations for reading in their classrooms. I believe more importantly that students will have a clearer sense of their own expectations for books that they choose to read and their ability to comprehend what they are reading. I look forward to seeing my buddy this week!

Routman on Class Libraries and the Love of Reading

In reading Routman Chapters 1-3, I was struck by the idea that one way to bond with your students is to turn over some of the classroom set up to them. Just a few short months ago this would have seemed a little bit crazy to me. I looked at classrooms that were neat and done by teachers in awe. It was so nice, so organized, so neat. As I have worked in two placements and observed many classrooms over the past few months; I have found that classrooms can be organized and students can have a say. Routman tells the story of Jane Jones, a third grade teacher, " Allowing the children to reorganize our classroom library turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of the year. In fact, the hardest thing I had to do during the whole process was give up my adult preconception that i was the only one who could organize the library in a meaningful way. Through this experience my library truly became ours." (pg.17)

At my main placement, my master teacher lets the students organize the library. I was spending time the other day with my students while putting books away. They like that this is their job, and they discuss if they want to change things or keep it the same. All the students love to read in independent reading time and get books out of the library. They each have a basket of "just right" books at their desks. They do feel ownership of their classroom and their library. I have some preset images of how I would like to organize the library, but in the end, it would rob my students of their sense of purpose and engagement.

Routman speaks of sharing your reading life with your students in Chapter 3. I can see how this would be a great way to bond with your students and model a love of books. I have been in the same book club for the past ten years. We have read well over 100 books. I always have my book club books on my reading stand, my "just right" books, non-fiction books and books for teaching. I read newspapers, blogs, cookbooks, art books and gardening books. Routman says that " My reading life is a huge part of who I am, both as a literate person who is always seeking to learn more and a pleasure-seeking person who reads for fun, relaxation, and diversion. Reading is integral to my well-being. I deliberately use my influence as a teacher and role model to foster a love of reading."(pg. 23) I feel this is true for me also. I can see that by sharing your love of reading with your students, what you are currently reading and what you will read next; you share your life with them. I love the idea of a classroom book club and keeping a reading record of what we have all read so far. I also have enjoyed reading aloud to my students. I believe this is yet another way to share your joy of a favorite books with your students. I look forward to sharing the love of reading with my students this spring.

Look at Diane's blog Life is Good for more on classroom libraries.