Running Record

            When I initially asked the teacher I have been observing if there were any struggling readers in the class that I could observe, she scanned the room and explained to me that no student in the class was drastically behind their grade level in reading. She decided that I should pair myself with Terence because he is on the lower scale of the readers in the class. As Terence began to read Math Test Mix-up, I was surprised to see how well he was progressing through the book. After all, the book was an H level reading book meaning that it was appropriate for grades 1-2. When the teacher returned to check on Terence and me, she mentioned that his issue was more with comprehension than the actual reading of the book.

            Based on what the teacher had just told me, I asked Terence a very broad question about what the main idea of the story was. He quickly responded that the story was about two students who did not receive their tests and had to take it again. I then decided to ask Terence more detailed questions about why the students did not receive their tests and whose tests was whose at the beginning of the story. Terence began answering these questions, but then stopped. He thought some more and said that he did not think the story answered these questions. As I skimmed through the story again, I realized that Terence was correct in that the story did not directly answer either of those questions, though there were strongly inferred answers. Terence was not picking up on the hints that the author was dropping through the dialogue of the characters.

            This experience with Terence made me realize that a student who appears to be a good reader on the outside may be lacking adequate comprehension skills. Thus, I centered my idea for a follow-up lesson on the idea of how to make inferences based on hints the author is giving. In the future, when reading with or to students, I will take time to stop and note interesting phrases or words that the author used to convey an idea. I hope that this technique will provide students with a good model to follow when they are reading independently and need to glean information out of a text. Overall, the running record was a beneficial learning experience for me that I will be able to use when I transition into student teaching and eventually professional teaching. Just as students should be encouraged to look beyond the surface level of a text, I learned to look beyond the surface level when analyzing a student’s reading fluency. 

Candidate’s Name: Damien Beckinger

Grade Level: 2

Title of the lesson: Inference

Length of the lesson: 20 minutes

Central focus Develop reading strategies that help students better understand why events happened the way they did in a story.

Knowledge of students Student understands that sometimes the author gives the reader hints about what is happening or may happen in the story.

Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Support literacy development through language (academic language) Analyze and interpret meaning behind dialogue spoken by characters in the story.

Learning objectives Will understand the definition of “inference”. Will learn how to make inferences about events happening in a story.

Formal and informal assessment Formal Assessment: Student assessed on comprehension strategy by answering questions central to the plot of the book as an exit ticket.

Instructional procedure: Student introduced to the word “inference” and the refreshed on the concept of finding hints left by the author to help decipher a text. Student reads the story out loud with guidance by the teacher. On specific pages, the teacher stops the reading to ask the student if any inferences can be made about the plot of the story. Student is given an exit ticket with 2-3 questions that are central to the plot of the story. Accommodations and modifications: ELLs/struggling readers: Visual and technology Struggling Readers: If a reader is struggling with the text, the teacher can read the text in place of the student as the central focus on this lesson is comprehension, not overall fluency.

Instructional resources and materials -Book