Reading: Assess it like you drove it
By Tim Foley, Communication Arts
Why this analogy?
Think about it like the dashboard in a car. It indicates certain things--speed, amount of gas, if something needs specific attention like the oil or the engine. We constantly check this information--when we start moving, when we are cruising, and especially when this information tells us something’s wrong.
Assessing reading is similar in nature. A talented reader is able to demonstrate mastery of certain skills that are connected to and build on each other. Optimally, students transfer these skills to the reading of different texts. We are constantly assessing to determine which skills students specifically need help with at any given point in time--do they simply need more gas, or does the engine need work? It could be one or the other or both, depending on what the text is.
What does it mean to assess it like you drove it?
Asking the students questions about their reading. The trick is to ask the right types of questions--to use the right diagnostic tool--and consider how those questions relate to the level of difficulty of the text. In general, the questions fall into two categories: literal and inferential. Within these categories is a continuum of difficulty. If we are able pinpoint where a student’s comprehension is breaking down, we are able to employ strategies (often, other questions) to help them more effectively.
How do I do this?
Here’s a simple set of questions literacy teachers refer to frequently when asking students about a text, or parts of a text (thanks to Kelly Gallagher and Sheridan Blau):
What does it say? What does it mean? What does it matter? The final question is what students need to use to check their understandings: How do I know that? Simple, but not necessarily easy, depending on the student and the text.
The how will appear in many different formats--read-aloud, think-alouds, class discussions, annotations, reading inventories, response journals, really, the possibilities are numerous. What we note is at which level the student begins to falter and focus the interventions there. In the case of a Dickens novel, or the Declaration of Independence, students may struggle with the What does it say? question. Sometimes it’s difficult to put gas in A Tale of Two Cities.
The ultimate goal is for students to recognize for themselves where their comprehension is breaking down and work to help themselves. In the end, students need to know for themselves whether to check the gas or the engine first, what to do in either case, and what to do if it’s something different, like a flat tire, or if they find themselves driving something else altogether, such as a school bus.
Think about it like the dashboard in a car. It indicates certain things--speed, amount of gas, if something needs specific attention like the oil or the engine. We constantly check this information--when we start moving, when we are cruising, and especially when this information tells us something’s wrong.
Assessing reading is similar in nature. A talented reader is able to demonstrate mastery of certain skills that are connected to and build on each other. Optimally, students transfer these skills to the reading of different texts. We are constantly assessing to determine which skills students specifically need help with at any given point in time--do they simply need more gas, or does the engine need work? It could be one or the other or both, depending on what the text is.
What does it mean to assess it like you drove it?
Asking the students questions about their reading. The trick is to ask the right types of questions--to use the right diagnostic tool--and consider how those questions relate to the level of difficulty of the text. In general, the questions fall into two categories: literal and inferential. Within these categories is a continuum of difficulty. If we are able pinpoint where a student’s comprehension is breaking down, we are able to employ strategies (often, other questions) to help them more effectively.
How do I do this?
Here’s a simple set of questions literacy teachers refer to frequently when asking students about a text, or parts of a text (thanks to Kelly Gallagher and Sheridan Blau):
What does it say? What does it mean? What does it matter? The final question is what students need to use to check their understandings: How do I know that? Simple, but not necessarily easy, depending on the student and the text.
The how will appear in many different formats--read-aloud, think-alouds, class discussions, annotations, reading inventories, response journals, really, the possibilities are numerous. What we note is at which level the student begins to falter and focus the interventions there. In the case of a Dickens novel, or the Declaration of Independence, students may struggle with the What does it say? question. Sometimes it’s difficult to put gas in A Tale of Two Cities.
The ultimate goal is for students to recognize for themselves where their comprehension is breaking down and work to help themselves. In the end, students need to know for themselves whether to check the gas or the engine first, what to do in either case, and what to do if it’s something different, like a flat tire, or if they find themselves driving something else altogether, such as a school bus.