EDUC 681 Emergent Literacy PK-3

EDUC 681  Emergent Literacy PK-3

Reflection and Artifact

My artifact for EDUC 640 Emergent Literacy PK-3 is a running record along with my analysis of the student’s strengths and weaknesses. The recording, scoring, and analyzing of the running record demonstrates the knowledge that I gained about early literacy and how children learn to read.  This is knowledge that will be used for the rest of my career as I best tailor lessons to meet student needs.

Running Record Analysis

The student read Stuck in the ditch (L. 9) with 91% accuracy and a self-correction rate of 1:10.  This child is mainly using meaning and structural cues to decode unknown words.  He self-corrected one time when the story did not match the picture.  This shows that he is beginning to monitor for meaning by cross-checking the story with the picture cues.  He is also willing to try at difficulty.  When he got to the word stayed, he made a couple of attempts before appealing to the teacher.   The child seems to have a grasp on many sight words but could still use reinforcement of others (can and walk).  The child’s biggest weakness is suffixes.  He read shouts for shouted, looks for looked, and Dig for Digger. 

Based on the analysis of the running record, I set a couple of goals for this child.  First, he would benefit from reviewing word wall words in order to increase his rate of recall and accuracy. He also needs to work on strategies for reading through words all the way to the end.  In conjunction with reading through words, he should focus on rereading sentences when they don’t sound right or look right.  Practicing these strategies will help this child use visual cues along with meaning and structure.

Professional Growth

            During my emergent literacy course, I learned the importance of using a running record in order to get a close look at a student’s reading behavior. The running record allowed me to notice what a child could do.  It showed if a child had a pattern of strengths or weaknesses.  It also allowed me to analyze what a child does at difficulty and showed if he was monitoring his own reading.  By analyzing the data provided on the running record, I was able to set specific goals for each student in order to meet his specific needs. 

            There were many goals that I set based on the data from running records.  For some children, the running record showed that they were independent at that reading level and were ready for instruction at a more difficult level.  For others, the running records showed that fluency was an issue. For those children, I may have worked on sight words or on echo reading depending on the specific fluency goals.  Still others needed practice with comprehension skills.  For those students, I may have introduced a graphic organizer or shared more information and vocabulary before reading.

            In addition to goal setting, I found running records to be helpful tools when conferencing with parents.  The running records gave parents concrete examples of their child’s reading behaviors.  This had a positive impact on student growth because the parents reinforced the same reading goals and behaviors that the child was working on at school.

Student Growth

            The knowledge that I gained from my emergent literacy class had a powerful impact on my students.  By using running records with all of my students, I am able to understand them as readers which allows me to arrange guided reading groups and strategy groups based on needs. Therefore, the children receive instruction based on what they already can do and on what they need to do next in order to improve as readers.    The home-school connection has also increased student growth because students are getting reinforcement of reading skills at home.

Connection to Standards

Standard #1:  The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.  One of the goals for this standard is for the teacher to understand how students’ conceptual frameworks and their misconceptions about an area of knowledge can influence their learning.  I met this standard by using running records to analyze student reading.  When I closely looked at student reading, I was able to identify which strategies were effective for the student and which areas were weak.  I set goals based on weaknesses and on any misconception the student may have had about reading.  This positively influenced student learning because it gave the student a variety of reading strategies to choose from at difficulty.

Standard #2:  The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.  A big part of this standard is for teachers to use students’ strengths as a basis for growth, and their weaknesses as an opportunity to learn.  This disposition is apparent every time I complete a running record and set goals for a student.  I am always noticing what the child can do along with areas of weakness.  I begin with the strengths and build my lessons so that the child will use what they know in order to acquire new strategies and information.

Standard #8:  The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner.  I met this standard by frequently using running records to assess student growth and reading behavior.  I used the data gained to set goals for that student.  In addition to being thoughtful about the reading goals, I am careful about the language that I use when reading with children.  I choose words and phrases that increase the child’s confidence as a reader.  I always begin by pointing out to the child what he can do before providing instruction in area that was difficult.