As an educator, you will discover that students’ reading abilities vary widely. A running record is a great tool for you to use to help you determine students’ reading levels. This assignment will give you the opportunity to exhibit your reading assessment skills.

Complete Parts 1–3 below.

Part 1 – Informal Observation
Observe a first-, second-, and third-grade student engaged in reading a self-selected text. As you observe, determine the students’ reading levels and which student you will conduct a formal observation and running record with.

Part 2 – Formal Observation and Running Record
Select one of the students you observed to conduct a formal observation and running record using a 100- to 200-word, leveled reading passage.

Choose an appropriate grade or reading level passage for the student you selected. You may choose from the following passages and running record scoring sheets from Raz-Plus, or you may use another passage with instructor approval.

• Early Emergent reader or K-grade level
• It Is a Birthday Party (passage)
• It Is a Birthday Party (running record scoring sheet)
• Emergent reader or 1st-grade level
• Colors (passage)
• Colors (running record scoring sheet)
• Early fluent reader or 2nd-grade level
• The Scared Bear (passage)
• The Scared Bear (running record scoring sheet)
• Fluent reader or 3rd-grade level
• The Ranch Helpers (passage)
• The Ranch Helpers (running record scoring sheet)​​​​​​​
• Note: If you choose not to use one of the options above and prefer to use a different reading passage, be sure to get approval from your instructor. You may also use the blank Running Record Scoring Sheet provided in the last page of the Running Record Instructions and Scoring Sheet.

  Use the Running Record Instructions and Scoring Sheet as a guide while you conduct the running record.

  Part 3 – Reflection
  Prepare a 350- to 700-word paper comparing your informal observation experience with your formal observation and running record experience. Your paper should include answers to the following questions:

• Did your observation of the student engaged in reading a self-selected text align with the running record results? Why or why not? Explain.
• Based on the picture walk or title of the passage, what did the reader predict about the story? How accurate were the reader’s predictions?
• What was the student’s error rate, accuracy rate, and self-correction rate? What do those results mean?
• Based on the types of errors or self-corrections made (M, S, V), what did you learn about the reader?
• Based on the reader’s retelling and comprehension responses, how well did the reader understand what he or she was reading?
• What do you conclude about the reader’s reading level, word attack skills, and reading behaviors from the running record? Be specific.
• Format your paper according to APA guidelines.