Since I do not have my own classroom right now, I have to rely on my generous cooperating teachers. However, for this assignment I was unable to actually perform the running records. The following is a summary of what a running record is and how to perform one.

To begin the process of giving a running record to students the teacher must begin by selecting the appropriate level to test the student. This level should be about one level above the student’s independent reading level. The teacher should make sure he/she has the “transcript” of the text being read by the student. This is a copy of the story being read with room for recording miscues and attempts. The teacher will record the student’s miscues in two different ways, by making the transcript and by audio recording.

The important miscue markings include:

Substitution: when a substitution is made the teacher writes the miscues directly over the text.

·       If the substitution is not a real word the teacher writes a dollar sign ($) and the word said over the text.

·       If the substitution is over many words the teacher should bracket over the words and write what was said over that.

Omission: recorded by circling the word left out

Partial omission: circle the part skipped

Transposition: When words are reversed in order the teacher should use a sidewise “s” like a lasso around transposed words.

Repetition or regression: Phrases or words that are repeated. The teacher should underline the repeated word and attach a circled “r” to the end of the line. If the repetition happens multiple times, underline again.

Insertion: When a student adds one or more words, use a caret to denote the words added.

Correction: a miscue that is corrected is marked with a circled “c” and underline what was corrected.

Unsuccessful correction: underline the word with the letters “uc” circled next to the word with an arrow above pointing to the list of words attempted.

Pausing and intonation: If the student pauses between words, the letter “p” should be placed between the words along with the number of seconds paused.

Intonation: If the student reads words correctly but skips punctuation causing intonation changes, the teacher should circle what was skipped.

Checking comprehension: First the teacher should ask the student to retell the story in his/her own words. Second, the teacher should ask the student guided questions about the text, marking all answers.

Analyzing Running Record: 

·       The teacher should check the miscues for graphic similarities.

·       Check the syntactic and semantic cues asking these three questions

o   Does this sound syntactically correct?

o   Is this sentence semantically correct?

o   Did the students reading of the sentence change it’s meaning?

After the reading comprehension and miscues have been analyzed, record all information gathered and convert into a percentage.