This week I had the opportunity to assess two ELL students. One student’s first language was Spanish and the other student's first language was Chinese. Even though both students were fluent in English I noticed some patterns when analyzing their running records, which need attention. The Spanish-speaking student had lots of visual miscues involving incorrect use of vowel sounds. He would say, “come” for “came,” and “wint” for “went.” This tells me that this child needs more phonics instruction with the vowel sounds. Having difficulty with vowel sounds is an error that many first grade readers all struggle with, so I did not think this was an error that had much to do with his first language. To help him enhance his phonemic awareness I would have him write the word on a white board, run his finger underneath the word, and read the word a loud. Then, I would have him read the word in the sentence so he would gain meaning in text. I would also prompt him before reading and tell him that he has an important job. That job is to read the word and look at all of its’ parts, especially the vowels. Telling him this would prompt him to focus his attention on reading through the word very carefully. Another miscue I noticed him making was that he pronounced the double ‘l” sound in the word “called” like the “y” sound in the word “yellow.” This was an error that reflected his knowledge of his first language because the double “l” sound does sound like the “y” sound in Spanish. To guide his instruction I would use several pictures paired up with words that have the double “l” sound and together I would explicitly teach him what sound the double “l” sound makes in English. I would also select texts that include the double “l” sound. While he was reading, I’d confer with him and listen for his ability to pronounce them correctly. Together we would make a plan on how he could remember how to pronounce words that include the double “l.”
The second student I observed was a more fluent reader and her first language was Chinese. Her miscues included inflectional endings. She would often leave them out. For example, she would say, “puddle” instead of “puddles,” I noticed that she also had a lot of meaning and visual miscues. I found this interesting because she did a good job of crosschecking, had great comprehension, and read with 91% accuracy. I think a lot of the words she missed were not in her vocabulary. Just like many 1st grade readers, some words are not in their vocabulary and they do not have enough background knowledge to understand some of the words they read. To assist this student and enhance her vocabulary I would make sure that the books I read with her had rich book introductions. Words that I would think were not in her vocabulary I would tell her those words and ask her if she could tell me what the word meant. As we came to the unknown words in text, I would explain the meaning, and show her a visual so she could associate meaning with the word she was trying to read. Allowing her to talk about what these unknown words meant and associate them with a picture might increase her background knowledge and help her obtain a more rich vocabulary.
The articles I read this week allowed me to reflect on my own teaching and stress the importance of analyzing running records to help guide instruction. One article focused on giving ELL students texts that were culturally relevant and explained that students who are able to read texts at an independent or instructional level most likely were given a text that was culturally relevant and included vocabulary that was already in his or her vocabulary. The other article I read spoke about “following” a child and how teachers “follow” a child by using a running record to observe a child’s learning, determine next steps, and provide instruction based on the child’s needs. Furthermore, the article discussed the importance of teachers looking for patterns while analyzing the running record to inform teaching. This article allowed me to reflect on how purposeful I am when assessing students. It also reminded me just how important continuous assessment is with each and every one of my students.
Ebe, A. E. (2010). Culturally Relevant Texts and Reading Assessment for English Language Learners. Reading Horizons, 50(3), 193-210. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Estice, R., & Reading Recovery Council of North America, C. H. (1997). Using Patterns of Responding to "Follow the Child."Running Record, 9(2), 1,6-7,12-13. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
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