This document discusses formative assessments and strategies for monitoring student learning and progress in literacy. It recommends considering Response to Intervention (RTI) and using baseline assessments like the Modified Burke Reading Interview to evaluate student knowledge and skills. Quick assessments are described, like using a 100-word passage to determine a student's independent reading level. Additionally, the document discusses using Power Writing and the Content Reading Inventory to assess writing and content area literacy.
2. Overview
•Final Notes on Multigenre Writing:
• Please complete the self assessment document attached to this module when you have submitted your essay and email it to
me.
• To add to your thinking about teaching with multiple texts and having students compose multigenre texts, please consider
another perspective on teaching with multiple texts (i.e., using much more than the required textbook): reading widely and
Kelly Gallagher’s “Article of the Week” activity.
•Formative Assessments:
Consider the following techniques for monitoring students’ learning and progress in literacy:
First, I want you to think about Response to Intervention (RTI) (see the chart on slide three) and the importance of progress
monitoring and early intervention strategies.
Second, I want you to think about gathering baseline data about student performance. What do students already know? What
literacy skills do they have? The Modified Burke Reading Interview is also a good tool to begin with when you want
information about student knowledge of reading strategies.
Third, I want you to have a quick tool you can use for determining a student’s ability to read text independently in a classroom
setting (i.e., Independent Reading Level Assessment on slide four).
Fourth, I want you to have a quick writing assessment you can use in any content area class (i.e., Power Writing).
Fifth, I want you to think about analyzing students’ ability to use content area literacy strategies with specific content area texts
(i.e., Bean, Readence & Baldwin’s 2008 Content Reading Inventory)
3. Article of the Week
“To help my students’ prior knowledge, I assign them an ‘Article
of the Week’ every Monday morning. By the end of the school
year I want them to have read 35-40 articles about what is going
on in the world…. if my students are to become literate, they
must broaden their reading experiences into real-world text.”
--Kelly Gallagher
http://kellygallagher.org/resources/articles.html
5. Quick Assessment of Student
Independent Reading Level
(1) Take a 100 word passage from a text you want students to read in your class.
(2) Ask students to read it silently and underline words they do not know.
(3) Collect the papers and calculate student’s independent reading ability with
this text based on the following formula:
(Five or Fewer Words Underlined) 95-100% Independent
(Ten or Fewer Words Underlined) 90-95% Instructional
(Ten or more Words Underlined) -90% Frustration
There are many times teachers need to place students in text that is not at
their independent reading level. It is critical to give students support and
strategies to read this type of text (e.g., the close reading method).
6. Power Writing
Power Writing consists of three one minute writing sessions with
prompts developed by the teacher. Students are instructed to write
as much as they can as well as they can over a specific prompt for one
minute, read their writing and circle the errors, and continue this
process two more times. At the end of the three writings, you may
ask students to count the words in each writing or you can do this
later.
Analyze the student’s writing fluency, accuracy with writing, and
their awareness of their accuracy with writing. Track their progress
with this process over time.
7. Power Writing
Power Writing consists of three one minute writing sessions with
prompts developed by the teacher. Students are instructed to write
as much as they can as well as they can over a specific prompt for one
minute, read their writing and circle the errors, and continue this
process two more times. At the end of the three writings, you may
ask students to count the words in each writing or you can do this
later.
Analyze the student’s writing fluency, accuracy with writing, and
their awareness of their accuracy with writing. Track their progress
with this process over time.
