The in class experience we had analyzing running records for Amani , Lizabeth, Wendy, and Juan was very valuable. I have conducted running records and fluency assessments several times, but appreciated the value of conducting one with colleagues and classmates. We were able to identify miscues and analyze them for instructional purposes.
All of the students had errors that reflected their first language. Juan was able to read the majority of the words accurately and only struggled with specific content words such as firehouse, officers, and hospital. With some basic vocabulary instruction Juan would be able to correct those errors. Amani's running record looked very different from Juan. He missed almost all of the content words. Juan may have been able to use context clues and illustrations to figure out most of the content words, but Amani missed nearly all of them suggesting that he needs instruction in reading strategies and more background knowledge building. He relied very heavily on visual phonics clues rather than syntax and meaning.
Wendy was a reader who used meaning clues to figure out new words. Most of the words she missed were words with inflectional endings like -ed and -s. Often Wendy would correct her mistakes due to the syntax within the sentence. For Wendy inflectional endings would be a next step in her instructional needs. The passage seemed too difficult for Lizabeth. She struggled throughout the passage and did not correct errors as she read. Lizabeth would probably have a had a difficult time retelling and recalling details from the story because many of her errors did not add meaning to the text. Lizabeth needs phonics instruction, specifically in decoding multi-syllabic words.
