O'Malley/Valdez ch. 5

Ch. 5 Reading Assessment
This information sounds like I can use it with my kindergarteners. I love the format these author’s used for this chapter. I feel like I can begin now to gather data, sources, and information.
I taught the reading class for ESL-8th grade levels at a Job Corps., back in the late nineties for a bout a year and a half. Within that time, I was sent to a couple of conferences/ workshops focusing on ELLs which I remember as being more politically focused than educationally focused, or else I just felt defensive (and didn’t know it then) about my own language loss, and/or the Native Americans’ whose land the job corp. is in. But still, within my classroom the 16-24 year olds worked hard and were all working toward bettering their lives. The curriculum was already laid out, as far as what books and tests needed to be completed in each level to work their way out of TABEing out (Test of Adult Basic Education) of reading after level 8. I remember that the tests for each assignment was taken on a computer program similar to the accelerated reader tests we use today. In this way the students got immediate feedback on their results. This system seemed to work well for the Native English speakers, whereas the others were hesitant to take the tests. I would do guided reading or reading conferences with each of these hesitant students before he/she took the assignment test, which seemed to work in an informal way.
Ok- the chapter was ….
p.95, it sounded like they were describing something like a Place Based Education model and Funds of Knowledge when they said: “Reading skills, therefore, should be taught in the context of reading and writing activities that build on students’ prior knowledge.”
On the same page the section What Works In Reading Instruction sounded like I’d need to have 4 blocks/ sections of reading a day in these ways- time, direct comprehension strategy instruction, collaboration, and reading responses. Right now I have 2 reading groups that focus on 1-letter names, sounds, sight words, writing, worksheets for word matching; 2- rhyming, word length, word work and manipulation, sentence forms, genres, and reading comprehension strategies, from our adopted curriculum. Thirty minutes a day in each group is spent, so I still need two more groups- I guess in the afternoons when I’m alone with the students if I teach them how to collaborate and respond to reading. But the afternoons are spent on math and science. So, it would have to be collaboration and responses on the content areas.
They mention that we should have a philosophy of assessment, and I think in our other class we had to mention something about this- before we had this class. I’d like relook at that sometime.
I want to begin these rubrics with the question- what do good readers do? I’ve asked this before of my students and I ended up giving them the vocabulary/words. Now, I’ll try it again- for this purpose. I believe I will use the examples provided in this chapter for the peer assessment stuff when I eventually get to it.
The information on the literature discussion groups was good to know, which I thought I already did especially after being in Joan’s class this past summer. The suggestion they gave about having weaker readers listen to a tape of the reading… to participate in the literature discussion groups. I skimmed over the stuff about the cloze tests, although I’m sure there’s a reason for having the students become familiar with those, if looked at in a different perspective - which can be done in small groups and orally, right?
I remember when we were required to use running records, and were trained on how to administer and record them, but we didn’t get trained on how to use the data the way it is described in this chapter. I liked the information on the anecdotal records section that I’ll most likely use sooner than later.
Then finally, the information on having a bilingual or language classroom teacher made me wonder if it violates any regulations for our LEP students.