Elizabeth Watson
27 October 2014
Running Record: Kindergarten
Purpose: A running record is done to paint a picture of a child’s reading. Doing a running
record shows a child’s sight word vocabulary as well as show how fluently a child can read.
This also is important because it helps to determine if a book is on a child’s independent,
instructional, or frustrational reading level.
K.1 The student will demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.
a) Listen to a variety of literary forms, including stories and poems.
b) Participate in a variety of oral language activities including choral and echo speaking and
recitation of short poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated word order patterns.
c) Participate in oral generation of language experience narratives.
d) Participate in creative dramatics.
e) Use complete sentences that include subject, verb, and object.
K.5 The student will understand how print is organized and read.
a) Hold print materials in the correct position.
b) Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.
c) Distinguish between print and pictures.
d) Follow words from left to right and from top to bottom on a printed page.
e) Match voice with print (concept of word).
Objective: The student will be able to read a text of their choosing with 90-97% accuracy and
demonstrate comprehension of the text through predicting.
Procedure:
Introduction: I will begin this lesson by choosing a student. There are no ELL currently enrolled
at Baker Elementary, so I have to pick a student in my class. I will have them choose a book out
of the book box on their table that have been their independent reading books for the past three
weeks as there is no common text being incorporated in the class yet. I will then explain to the
student that I will be marking on a piece of paper while they read and that it is not a grade, I am
just making notes to understand where they are as a reader. After I explain this, I will have the
student read me the title of the book and tell me what they think the story will be about.
Development: As the student reads me the story, I will make marks on a blank sheet of paper
instead of the 100’s chart because I will be using a kindergartener. For each correct word, I will
make a check. For an incorrect word, I will write the word given above the correct word. For
each omission, I will leave the top part blank and put the omitted word below. For an added
word, I will leave the bottom part blank and write the word added above the line. If the child
self-corrects, I will still note the initial error in the correct way, but I will also place a check to
note that this should be counted correct when calculating accuracy. If a child repeats a word or
phrase, I will place a squiggly line under it. If words are reversed, I will draw a squiggly line
through both to note the reversal.
Summary: To close the lesson, I will ask the student if the book was what they initially
predicted it to be about based on the title. I will then ask them what their favorite page of the
book was and why (as kindergarten books do not have much of a plot). I will then review the
most common error with the student. In this case, it is using incorrect pictorial cues to decipher
unknown words. I will review what the words actually mean with the student.
Materials: Book of students choosing (from commonly read texts), sheet of paper instead of
hundreds box for kindergarten, miscue analysis, pencil
Evaluation Part A: By looking at the results from the running record, you can calculate the
student’s Word Recognition in Context accuracy. You can determine comprehension by seeing
if a student makes a reasonable prediction about the story. For younger children using simpler
books you can have them tell you what their favorite page of the book is and why.
Evaluation Part B: The student I did the running record on did not meet the objective of reading
with 90-97% accuracy. She got 75.5% accuracy, which is at a frustrational reading level. Her
most common error was with her vocabulary background. Some words she did not know and the
pictures provided many possibilities for options. She did try sounding words out which was a
good step, but if she did not know where to start, she got the word completely wrong or omitted
it completely.
This student used meaning cues 7% of the time, structural cues 30.7% of the time, and visual
cues 23% of the time. She self-corrected 15.4% of the time.
I think that I did a good job helping the student with words when she was stuck and pointed out
the pictures for help when it would be necessary. I could have chosen a book myself that would
have been easier for this particular student. Letting her self-select, she chose a more difficult
book. I think that she would have been much more successful with an easier book.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I would definitely choose the book and spend more time
going through the book in the beginning. While I went over the picture and had her make
predictions, I did not spend time on each page. It may have been helpful to review the book
before doing a cold read in a kindergarten class.