Reading Assessment

Reading Assessment, Ch. 5, O’Malley & Pierce

What I got out of the chapter is that reading for English language learners should include: large quantity of reading, time in class for reading, appropriate materials that encourage students to read, teaching reading strategies, materials & reading strategies matched to student level of interest and language. Reading should also be holistic not skill based, it should tap into students’ prior knowledge and experience, focus on comprehension while teaching reading skills, and allow time for collaboration among students. Discussing reading materials allows students to develop language skills.

There is another book that I’m reading (and I wish I had read it before school began) called Talking, Drawing, Writing Lessons For Our Youngest Writers, by Martha Horn & Mary Ellen Giacobbe. It is about a group of teachers who teach writing to kindergarten students by beginning with storytelling. From storytelling students move onto drawing, and by drawing they learn to draw their stories in detail (drawing to the reader). The teachers say that the more students are detailed in their storytelling, the more detailed they are in their drawing. And the more detailed they are in their drawing the more writing they produce when they learn to form words. This makes sense because as little kids are telling their stories they are practicing their language skills, which transfers to their drawing don’t you think?

I noticed as I’m concentrating on comprehension how hard it is to get across questions (who, what, where, when) to second language learners. The simplest question students can answer is what is this and who is this, but most still don’t get, “who/what is in the book”. I’m starting to wonder if we failed the previous kindergarten students by not teaching them to answer those questions. Before I used to notice 1st and 2nd grade students answer “I’m fine” when I would ask, “what are you doing?”