Leveling Students

Leveling students according to reading instruction is a topic that I knew has been debated upon for years. After reading and researching about leveling students, my thinking about this topic has been both affirmed and changed. It has been affirmed because I agree with the following statement, "Why would anyone stop a child from reading a book he really wanted to read just because it was not at his level?" (Glasswell & Ford, 2011, p. 208). In my own classroom library, I have books that are leveled; however, I do allow a child to read books outside their level if it's for their own personal pleasure. For Daily 5, they have to choose a book that's "just right" for them. They annotate and use a Thinkmark Bookmark for this activity. For leisure and down time reading, I will allow them to look in the other bins that are not in their level. I believe this gives them the opportunity to explore books that might look interesting to them or books that they will enjoy. 

My views have been changed because the article Let's Start Leveling About Leveling, puts an emphasis that leveling is okay only if it is used correctly. There are five key principles to remember about leveling:
1. Leveling takes a complex idea and makes it too simple.
2. Leveling takes a simple idea and makes it too complex.
3. Reading levels are not the same as reading needs.
4. Progress does not equal proficiency.
5. Readers have rights (as well as levels). 

These five principles make recommendations and suggest considerations when leveling. Besides using the appropriate level, other considerations teachers should consider are reader interest, vocabulary, or background knowledge. An interesting quote to support this claim is, "Research has demonstrated that children can have less than successful interactions with at-level texts and sometimes more successful interactions with more difficult texts" (Glasswell & Ford, p. 210). Being flexible with what kind of book a child needs is important in your reading instruction. When I did my instruction for my guided reading groups, I followed the level that my groups were tested in. I really didn't take into consideration their background knowledge, vocabulary, or interest. 

 

The way I will approach leveling students and texts in my class going forward is choosing texts that will be challenging and high interest for all my students no matter what level they are at. I want all my students to experience grade-level text and the opportunities that they could explore. When I think about my literacy instruction it has to be done across the board, not just during my guided reading groups. With that being said, I will consider the level of texts throughout content areas and other aspects of my reading instruction. We also do one author study for the year and I will make sure to choose an author that writes for multiple levels. Knowing that the amount of time reading is more important than leveling, I will make sure that I meet with my emerging readers more often throughout the week than just once. All of these components can make a big difference when it comes to literacy instruction and not worrying strictly about leveling. 



 

Literacy Assessments

Assessments I have learned so far in this class that I will be applying to my own teaching are the Qualitative Reading Inventory, the Names Test, and Words Their Way spelling inventory. Besides the several other assessments that I learned about in this course, I feel like these three will be the most beneficial in my third grade classroom. These three assessments will be useful to me because each assess components of literacy including comprehension, fluency, phonics, and spelling patterns.

The Qualitative Reading Inventory will be an assessment that I will use to identify which reading level my students are at which is a very important piece to my guided reading groups. Besides fluency it is also important to know which level a student is at for comprehension. Assessing comprehension was an area that I did not do as much of or as often, so I am very excited about this informal inventory. Some specific resources that are useful are from Reading Rockets which explains what a qualitative reading inventory is and gives materials to use for testing. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/informal-reading-inventory-qualitative-reading-inventory

A great book for the Qualitative Reading Inventory is Qualitative Reading Inventory-5 by Lauren Leslie and JoAnne Schudt Caldwell.

The Names Test is a test that will identify decoding skills in a student such as initial consonants, initial consonant blends, controlled vowels, long and short vowels, and final consonants. I currently don’t use a test that assesses these components of literacy so it will be very helpful to me. I envision using this test for my emerging readers and then taking the data and making a specific plan for our reading groups. This was an area that I struggled with last year and didn’t have many resources to assess phonics so I am very excited to use this assessment! A link to an example of the Names Test and what it is: http://www.academia.edu/5348510/Names_Test_Quick_Assessment_of_Decoding_Ability_The_Names_Test_Names_Test

Words Their Way spelling inventory is another assessment that will very useful to my literacy instruction. This past year I had a group of students who struggled with spelling patterns and I did my best to help them, but truly didn’t have an assessment like this to identify specific patterns. I was also unaware that there were spelling stages including emergent, letter name-alphabetic, within word pattern, and syllables and affixes. These stages will help me with my spelling instruction and give me direction as to where my students need help. There is a great book called, Words Their Way, which gives great resources for word studies, phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction.  Here is an example of a Words Their Way spelling inventory.