Ch.5 Randall No Can Handle

Have you done a running record and had to write down a long text word and a long attempt or miscue then had to quickly scan the child's reading to catch up to there place? If you have, this must frustrate you like it has me. I thought you shouldn't interrupt the student, but from what I understand it is okay to tap the student on the shoulder to pause for a moment.This type of "silly" information was cleared up for me in this chapter. There were so many questions I had before reading chapter five like how is running records really going to help us understand what children are using as reading strategies and why do I keep hearing "just right book".

After looking at the Notations to Record Children's Oral Reading, I began to realize that these notations are the same mistakes that the children I'm working with either make or have made while reading. It was interesting to see because all this time I've been wondering why we used these notations and it' s because they are common amongst children rather than a bunch of useless information. By knowing which things to look for and that there shouldn't be a curve ball thrown at us, we should already know what to expect during a running record. Put these into practice and finding a "just right book" will be no problem.

The "just right book" isn't something I've been puzzling over because I agree that our students are better off with a just right book instead of a hard one. However, I didn't know what to do with the child once he/she has reached that point and when will they use their just right book. Helping our students reach the level of a book that suits them has now created meaning for me. As teachers, we can't afford to let our students sit in their desk and not have any understanding about creating meaning in text, looking for structure, and how to use visuals as an aid to help read through text. If this is established , only then will the student be able to read independently in his/her "just right book".