Applying Reading A-Z
Ellen Myers
English Language Fellow
ellenmye@gmail.com
Agenda
(1) What Learning A-Z Provides / Does Not Provide
(2) Dimensions of English Reading Instruction & the
importance of Differentiated Instruction
(3) Example steps of how to implement the trial
(4) How to take a Running Record to determine reading
proficiency
(5) Explore how to assign leveled readers on RAZ-Kids
Learning A-Z
Doesn’t Provide
•
•
•
•
A complete program for language instruction.
A bilingual interface
Mandarin messaging
A step-by-step guide how to “correctly”
implement this resource in your EFL context.
• A step-by-step guide how to evaluate and
progress monitor learning.
• Time
Learning A-Z
Provides
• Developmentally Appropriate Leveled Resources to help teachers
Differentiate Instruction
– Teachers : Reading A-Z & Vocabulary A-Z
– Students : RAZ Kids
• A CHOICE:
Researched based online materials that are constantly updated
– Lessons/worksheets for
each book
– Complete phonics program
– High-frequency word books
– Poetry resources
– Fluency passages
– Reader’s theater
scripts
– Alphabet resource
– Assessments
Dimensions of Reading Instruction
Building Understanding
Fluency
(1) Rate
(2) prosody
Comprehension
Vocabulary
Bottom-Up
Processing
Top-Down
Processing
Building a Foundation
Alphabetic
Knowledge
Phonological
Awareness
High
Frequency
Words
Systematic
Phonics
“…it is unreasonable to expect that all children
in a typical classroom will need the same level of
instruction in any one of these skill areas.”
– Klein (2000; p.2)
Building a Foundation
1.
Alphabetic Knowledge
– Teaching naming, recognition, and formation of 26 uppercase &
lowercase symbols


2.
Incorporate writing/printing is powerful for letter recognition
Using letter/key word/picture displays
Phonological Awareness
– Address the sounds of a language (NOT symbols that represent them)
– Awareness of sound at the word, rhyme, syllable, and phoneme levels
Phoneme Skill
Definition
Isolation
recognizing individual sounds in a word
Identity
recognize the same sound in different/multiple words
Categorization
Identifying with a different beginning/ending sound from a group of
3 or 4 words
Blending
listen to phoneme (individual sound) sequence
Segmentation
physically breaking words into phonemes
Manipulation
adding/deleting phonemes to create new words
Building a Foundation
3. High Frequency Words:
–
Words that are not easily sounded out or decoded and
cannot be taught with pictures, but mastering a
repertoire accelerates fluent and meaningful reading.
EX: I, the, a, which, their, would
– Associate these words with other known words through
multiple exposures within meaningful context.
4. Phonics:
–
–
–
Associating/representing phonemes (sounds) with
graphemes (letters)
Explicit and systematic phonic instruction is essential to
English reading, but it should not be the only form of
instruction in a language program.
Phonic instruction should be direct, focused, and brief.
Building Understanding
1. Fluency
–
–
–
Reading rate - appropriate pacing (Automaticity)
Accuracy
Reading expression - intonation (Prosody)
2. Vocabulary
–
Overemphasis on word instruction in isolation can
actually work against students’ development as skilled
readers.
3. Comprehension
–
Comprehension is best taught, practiced, and enhanced
when children encounter reading materials at their
developmental or instructional level.
What do EFL Students Need Most
from Reading?
• Scaffolded Reading Repetition
– Allows them to deepen their mental traces (Logan, 1997)
– Allows them to establish prosody: identify appropriate
phrasing, and determine meaning.
• Variety of texts
– Seeing words in multiple contexts WITH DEVELOPMENTAL
SUPPORT improves recognition
– Provide opportunities to expand conceptual knowledge as
well as orthographic knowledge
– Shifts focus to higher level skills
– Matthew Effect (Stanovich, 1986): readers who read
widely have more accurate and automatic word
recognition and more extensive vocabulary.
– Autonomy
How do I Implement a Learning A-Z
Trial into our School?
1. Know what students you will use for the trial.
2. Know the dates, times, & location for the trial.
3. Know the reading proficiency level of each
student.
4. Have a 1~2 day lesson with students on how to
use RAZ Kids. Provide a step-by-step guide in
Mandarin.
5. Assign books on Raz Kids.
6. Continually Progress Monitor Students
1/2- What Students do I use for the
Trial?
• 1 classroom/license is for 36 students
– One Junior High Class
– One 5th grade class
– Mix 5th and 6th grade
• Mixed proficiency levels
• Times:
–
–
–
–
–
Morning before school
Afternoon Break
After school
Remedial Instruction
During English Class
3- How do I Know the Reading
Proficiency of Each Student?
• Benchmark Book Running Record – 2 at every level.
• Benchmark Passage Running Record – 4 at every level.
• Benchmark Book Quick Comprehension Test
– Only if student scores an accuracy rate above 90%
• Benchmark Passage Quick Comprehension Test
• Quick Comprehension Retelling
Other Assessments offered by Reading A-Z
Alphabet Assessments
Phonological Awareness Assessments
Phonics Assessment
Fluency Assessment
High Frequency Word Assessments
Taking a Running Record
Marking a Running Record
• Errors (E) — Errors are tallied during the reading whenever a child does
any of the following:
Substitutes another word for a word in the text
Omits a word
Inserts a word
Has to be told a word
• Self-correction (SC) — Self-correction occurs when a child realizes her or
his error and corrects it. When a child makes a self-correction, the
previous substitution is not scored as an error.
• Meaning (M) — Meaning is part of the cueing system in which the child
takes her or his cue to make sense of text by thinking about the story
background, information from pictures, or the meaning of a sentence.
These cues assist in the reading of a word or phrase.
• Structure (S) — -Structure refers to the structure of language and is often
referred to as syntax. Implicit knowledge of structure helps the reader
know if what she or he reads sounds correct.
• Visual (V) — Visual information is related to the look of the letters in a
word and the word itself. A reader uses visual information when she or he
studies the beginning sound, word length, familiar word chunks, and so
forth.
Marking a Running Record
Let’s Try
You will listen 4 different students in a 5th grade
class.
(1) Take a Running Record
(2) Mark your running record
(3) Total the number of E and S-C
(4) Get with a partner and compare
Scoring a Running Record
•
Error Rate
Error rate is expressed as a ratio and is calculated by using the following formula:
Total words / Total errors = Error rate
Example:
99 / 8 = 12.38, or 12 rounded to nearest whole number
The ratio is expressed as 1:12.
This means that for each error made, the student read approximately 12 words correctly.
•
Accuracy Rate
Accuracy rate is expressed as a percentage. You can calculate the accuracy rate using the
following formula:
(Total words read - Total errors) / Total words read x 100 = Accuracy rate
Example:
(99 - 8) / 99 x 100 = Accuracy rate
91/99 x 100 = Accuracy rate
.919 x 100 = 91.9%, or 92% rounded to the nearest whole number
Independent
Easy enough for
independent reading
95% -100%
Instructional
Instructional level for use
in leveled reading session
90% - 94%
Frustrational
Too difficult and will
frustrate the reader
89% and below
Scoring a Running Record
• Self-Correction Rate
Self-correction rate is expressed as a ratio and is calculated by
using the following formula:
(Number of errors + Number of self corrections) / Number of self
corrections = Self-correction rate
Example:
(8 + 3) / 3 = Self-correction rate
11 / 3 = 3.666, or 4 rounded to the nearest whole number
The self-correction rate is expressed as 1:4. This means that the
student corrects approximately 1 out of every 4 errors.
If a student is self-correcting at a rate of 1:4 or less, this
indicates that she/he is self-monitoring her/his reading.
How do I Give Running Records to
Each Student?
• How?
– Online with RAZ Kids
– Individually pull students aside
– With the help of others (whole English
department staff, principal, English ability parents)
4/5: How do I Use and Teach Students
how to use RAZ Kids?
Let’s Practice
If at anytime you are having
problems…
ellenmye@gmail.com – Ellen Myers
chfrede@gmail.com – Frede Chen
Resources
Klein, A. (2000). White paper: providing
differentiated reading instruction to meet the individual
needs of students. Retrieved December 12, 2012 from
http://www.readingaz.com/updates/reading_az_white_paper.pdf
Logan, G.D. (1997). Automaticity and reading:
Perspectives from the instance theory of automatization.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 13(2), 123-146.
Stanovich, K.E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading:
Some consequences of individual differences in the
acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4),
360-407.