Debra da Silva

SID #18252191

EDU5TEC Running Record Analysis

1. Introduction
The running record analysed is of a Year 2 student, in a multi-age class (Prep/Year
1/Year 2) at a small rural school in Queensland. The student identified is part of a
Queensland Government targeted Great Reading program, which is similar to the
widely known Reading Recovery program in other states, where students receive 30
minutes of individual reading instruction, and includes elements of spelling and writing.
The record reflects the second reading of the book, at Level 22 of the PM Benchmark
series. There are no picture cues in the book as it was a text-based reading.
2. Analysis of the running record
What did the student do well?

The accuracy rate was 96.12%, with a self-correction ratio of 1:1.6. The accuracy rate
indicates that the text is at the easy reading level, the self-correction rate is good1. The
student often tried to sound out the words of which he was unsure, focusing on the
beginning sounds as a cue.
The student demonstrated a good level of fluency (41 words per minute) and has shown
improvement over time. While this is not a formal measure of the running record process,
it is useful to have some indication of how the student is reading in terms of pace,
expression, phrasing and punctuation. The student pointing to the words as he reads to
keep his place on the page helps this.
What strategies did the student use to decode the text?

The key strategies that the student is using to decode the text are syntax and visual. The
majority of the errors made by the student were visual using similar word sounds and
letters (e.g., launches vs. launched, line 4; lucky vs. luckily, line 18). The student,
understanding that this doesnt look right then self-corrects, often re-reading the section
of the text again to check for understanding.
The other key strategies used to decode the text is meaning cues (does it make sense?).
For example, in line 14 the student self-corrected waited to wanted. In line 8 where
the student substituted the word nearly for nylon but did not self-correct, the student
did not repeat the sentence, indicating that he had not realised the error in meaning.

The running record document that was taken has the tick marks for correct words removed to aid analysing
the errors and self-corrections. Typically this would not be done, but for the purposes of legibility for this
task.

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SID #18252191

What strategies would I implement to develop this students reading skills?

Reflecting on the work of Vygotsky (1987), children often show us what they are
beginning to know how to do, and as such the teaching strategies should be designed to
progress these forwards.
Reinforce syntax cues

While the student uses meaning and visual cues consistently, the student is not using
meaning cues. To better reflect the self-correction rate a key teaching strategy would be
to encourage the student to better monitor and crosscheck with a closer look at the syntax
cues. Errors where the student has successfully done this (e.g., launches vs. launched, line
4) should be praised and discussed, and the student encouraged to use those strategies in
other places in the text.
Focus on punctuation and expression

Another key teaching strategy is to focus on fluency and punctuation to reduce errors.
While the student demonstrates a good pace of reading (41 words per minute), this masks
the errors made (e.g., in lines 10, 14 and 22) where the student made several errors in
succession and was self-correcting through repeating the sentence. By slowing down and
focussing on expression and punctuation, the student might not be tempted to rush the
words and stumble several times. By taking longer to stop at full stops, the student will
have more time to develop comprehension of the narrative, and ensure that the sentence
has complete meaning before moving on. This would also improve the students
confidence as it is clear (through self-correction) that the student is able to decode the
word with some thought. This could be a key focus of small group reading where I model
the fluency and punctuation for the student.
Focus on comprehension

Looking beyond the use of cues to the reading behaviours, the student needs to focus on
comprehending the overall message of the text in his mind, and using this to work out
meanings. Taking opportunities in small group teaching to encourage the student to
discuss the text with peers and helping others understand the bigger picture is a key
strategy. This would also involve the use of before/during/after questioning to help the
student focus on the message. This will help the student to build up a broader schema so
that the text makes sense contextually beyond the written text.
3. Conclusion
With an accuracy rate of 96.12% the student is ready to move up to Level 23. It is
important that such a change does not hinder the students confidence, and so the new
text should be discussed scaffolded to build up an understanding of the overall narrative
before attempting to read. It is also important that the good problem solving skills that the
student has developed are further encouraged. It is important with teaching literacy that
we teach strategies that can be used for life rather than strategies to get all the words right
at this time.
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4. References
Brady, S., & Moats, L. (1997). Informed Instruction for Reading Success: Foundations for
Teacher Preparation. A Position Paper of the International Dyslexia Association.
Clay, M. M. (1985). The early detection of reading difficulties.
Clay, M. M., & Cazden, C. B. (1999). A Vygotskian interpretation of reading recovery.
Lev Vygotsky: Critical assessments, 3, 354-370.
Gersten, R., Baker, S. K., Haager, D., & Graves, A. W. (2005). Exploring The Role of
Teacher Quality in Predicting Reading Outcomes for First-Grade English Learners
An Observational Study. Remedial and Special Education, 26(4), 197-206.
Iversen, S., & Tunmer, W. E. (1993). Phonological processing skills and the Reading
Recovery Program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(1), 112.
Kamps, D. M., Leonard, B., Potucek, J., & Garrison-Harrell, L. (1995). Cooperative
learning groups in reading: An integration strategy for students with autism and
general classroom peers. Behavioral Disorders, 89-109.
Morrow, L. M., Tracey, D. H., Woo, D. G., & Pressley, M. (1999). Characteristics of
exemplary first-grade literacy instruction. The Reading Teacher, 462-476.
Pinnell, G. S., Fried, M. D., & Estice, R. M. (1990). Reading Recovery: Learning how to
make a difference. The Reading Teacher, 282-295.
Rupley, W. H., Blair, T. R., & Nichols, W. D. (2009). Effective reading instruction for
struggling readers: The role of direct/explicit teaching. Reading & Writing
Quarterly, 25(2-3), 125-138.
Schreiber, L. M., & Valle, B. E. (2013). Social Constructivist Teaching Strategies in the
Small Group Classroom. Small Group Research, 44(4), 395-411.
doi:10.1177/1046496413488422
Vygotsky, L. (1987). Zone of proximal development. Mind in society: The development of
higher psychological processes, 5291.
Wasik, B. A., & Slavin, R. E. (1993). Preventing early reading failure with one-to-one
tutoring: A review of five programs. Reading research quarterly, 179-200.
(Brady & Moats, 1997; Clay, 1985; Clay & Cazden, 1999; Gersten, Baker, Haager, & Graves, 2005; Iversen & Tunmer, 1993; Kamps, Leonard, Potucek, & Garrison-Harrell, 1995; Morrow, Tracey, Woo, & Pressley, 1999; Pinnell,
Fried, & Estice, 1990; Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 2009; Schreiber & Valle, 2013; Wasik & Slavin, 1993)

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Appendix Australian Curriculum Links

Year 2 Level Description
Literary texts that support and extend Year 2 students as independent readers involve sequences of
events that span several pages and present unusual happenings within a framework of familiar
experiences. Informative texts present new content about topics of interest and topics being studied
in other areas of the curriculum. These texts include language features such as varied sentence
structures, some unfamiliar vocabulary, a significant number of high-frequency sight words and words
that need to be decoded phonically, and a range of punctuation conventions, as well as illustrations
and diagrams that support and extend the printed text.

Year 2 Achievement Standard

Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)

They read texts that contain varied sentence structures, some unfamiliar vocabulary, a significant
number of high-frequency sight words and images that provide extra information. They monitor
meaning and self-correct using knowledge of phonics, syntax, punctuation, semantics and context.
They use knowledge of a wide variety of letter-sound relationships to read words of one or more
syllables with fluency. They identify literal and implied meaning, main ideas and supporting detail.
Students make connections between texts by comparing content. They listen for particular purposes.
They listen for and manipulate sound combinations and rhythmic sound patterns.

Domain

Descriptor

Language

Orally manipulate more complex sounds in spoken words through knowledge of

blending and segmenting sounds, phoneme deletion and substitution in combination
with use of letters in reading and writing (ACELA1474)
Use knowledge of letter patterns and morphemes to read and write high-frequency
words and words whose spelling is not predictable from their sounds (ACELA1823)
Use most letter-sound matches including vowel digraphs, less common long vowel
patterns, letter clusters and silent letters when reading and writing words of one or
more syllable (ACELA1824)
Understand that a sound can be represented by various letter combinations
(ACELA1825)

Literacy

Identify the audience of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts (ACELY1668)

Read less predictable texts with phrasing and fluency by combining contextual,
semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge using text processing strategies, for
example monitoring meaning, predicting, rereading and self-correcting (ACELY1669)
Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to
analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual
features and print and multimodal text structures (ACELY1670)