How Do I Monitor My Students' Progress?

In order to monitor your students' progress you should be completing Running Records. A running record is a method of assessing reading that can be done quickly and frequently. It is an individually conducted formative assessment, which is ongoing and curriculum based. It provides a graphic representation of a student's oral reading, identifying patterns of effective and ineffective strategy use.


In order to calculate a record you need to divide the total number of words the child read correctly by the total number of words they read (we count the following miscues as errors:  substitutions, reversals, mispronunciations, omissions, long pauses, insertions)

#Correct     (divided by)    #Total words

There are three levels of difficulty for kids when reading books:

Easy........Independent......95%-l00% accuracy
Medium....Instructional.......90-94% accuracy
Hard.........Frustrational......below 90%

How Should I Group My Students?

Guided Reading groups are assigned a color and students are called to meet with the teacher during literacy stations or centers. Students are grouped based on similar levels of development. The texts used in the lessons are matched to each group's unique needs. You should be meeting with each group based on their needs as well (refer to tables below).

What is Guided Reading?

Teaching kids how to read is a priority in schools. How can we accomplish this goal when our classes are made of such diverse levels? This poses as a challenge for most teachers. Guided Reading groups allows teachers to tailor their instruction to meet the needs of their individual students' specific reading needs. Guided Reading is an approach used by teachers to meet the vast instructional needs of all students in the classroom. In small groups, teachers teach a selected book and reading strategies they can apply to all books. Students are grouped in homogenous groups based on reading levels. The end goal is that students are confident, proficient readers who love to read.