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Jennifer's experience with Vanessa exemplifies the importance of a balanced literacy approach, like the one implemented in District 54. Although running records were being taken on Vanessa prior to Jennifer's engagement, her disconnect with comprehension may have been identified sooner had she been engaging in literacy practices with other teachers (such as through rotation of Guided Reading groups or a model resembling District 54's Reading Acceleration).

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Not only did Jennifer's scaffolding allow her to implement meaningful instruction pertinent to Vanessa's individual needs, but Vanessa's responses allowed Jennifer to narrow her planning scope - ultimately serving to help Jennifer be the most effective teacher she could possibly be for Vanessa. This aspect of Jennifer's story serves as a great reflection on the importance of ensuring our work in the classroom is meaningful and purposeful for both student and teacher. Assessment truly drives instruction, and instruction drives student success.

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Jennifer's experience with Vanessa serves as a critical reminder of the importance fluency and comprehension simultaneously play to allow the reader to experience the text in a meaningful, engaging way. While Vanessa demonstrated great strength in her fluency, her challenges in comprehension were critical to identify as such would inhibit other areas of her growth - as learning becomes so text dependent as students progress in school. Jennifer's scaffolding technique of selecting texts with corresponding comprehension questions to gauge Vanessa's comprehension level also serve as an excellent reminder that a running record (or any other form of assessment) is not necessarily the be-all-end-all to determining what our students need. The uniqueness of Jennifer's approach was an excellent example of serving the student's individual needs to ensure her growth and success.

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Jennifer describes a time she scaffolded for a student very purposefully. Many times, students will tell me a book is "too easy," but then cannot answer comprehension questions. As Jennifer explains, just because they can read a passage fluently or comprehend a small section at a certain level, it does not mean they can comprehend an entire text at that level. I liked the way Jennifer targeted specific skill the student need to work on gradually increased the level they were reading to practice that skill.

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The reflection Jennifer posted about Vanessa helped me feel better about my reading instruction. Sometimes it is frustrating when you observe a student do well in class, but then receive a low score on a test. Jennifer says this may the case for many students and teachers. Students are not limited to one level. There are several factors that can determine whether a student will comprehend. I think a good time to target comprehension strategies with individual students is during guided reading. During this time, a teacher can challenge students and gradually increase the reading level.

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Jennifer described a situation where a student showed comprehension on a running record, but when she was tested she did not answer correctly. I have experienced this with students. During guided reading, it seems like they have mastered a skill, but on the common assessment they did not show a similar performance. Jennifer explains that the level students can read are based on multiple variables, so it explains why their performance in guided reading might be different than their performance on a test.

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I will continue to structure my goal areas for my students based on the skills that are difficult for them to complete independently. As Jennifer said, the student she worked with had a few areas in which she was not yet independent in- these became her goals. I will also make a better effort to allow my students to know what their goal(s) are! It is very powerful for students to know the skills are they practicing, so they can think about these skills during all activities (even outside of reading) and ask for help when they need it (because they know this is an area they benefit from support in!)

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I will continue to structure my goal areas for my students based on the skills that are difficult for them to complete independently. As Jennifer said, the student she worked with had a few areas in which she was not yet independent in- these became her goals. I will also make a better effort to allow my students to know what their goal(s) are! It is very powerful for students to know the skills are they practicing, so they can think about these skills during all activities (even outside of reading) and ask for help when they need it (because they know this is an area they benefit from support in!)

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I liked that Jennifer reminded us that we should not limit our students to just one level of reading level (or “listening level” in my case). It is important that our students are provided with levels of material in which they can feel successful. However, it is also important to sometimes “challenge” our students in order to promote a higher level of thinking, or thinking in a different way. When given these “challenge” levels of materials, the students that are provided with proper scaffolds will still feel successful but also learn that these skills that they are comfortable using at the lower level of material, are also used during more challenging levels.

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I liked that Jennifer reminded us that we should not limit our students to just one level of reading level (or “listening level” in my case). It is important that our students are provided with levels of material in which they can feel successful. However, it is also important to sometimes “challenge” our students in order to promote a higher level of thinking, or thinking in a different way. When given these “challenge” levels of materials, the students that are provided with proper scaffolds will still feel successful but also learn that these skills that they are comfortable using at the lower level of material, are also used during more challenging levels.

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Jennifer reminded me of the importance of text comprehension. As an SLP I do not directly work on reading comprehension, however, I do practice lots of comprehension after hearing a story. I appreciated the reminder that in order for the student to have a strong comprehension of text, the student must be successful at utilizing their memory, sequencing skills, and synthesizing story elements, all at the same time! These students also need to be able to use these skills over longer duration- while reading a passage that may take a few days. 

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Jennifer reminded me of the importance of text comprehension. As an SLP I do not directly work on reading comprehension, however, I do practice lots of comprehension after hearing a story. I appreciated the reminder that in order for the student to have a strong comprehension of text, the student must be successful at utilizing their memory, sequencing skills, and synthesizing story elements, all at the same time! These students also need to be able to use these skills over longer duration- while reading a passage that may take a few days. 

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Matching books to readers can be very difficult, especially with reluctant readers who are low level. I do enjoy the challenge of finding a book for that type of reader and I also enjoy when that reader starts to enjoy reading.

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I liked Jennifer's line of "One single assessment doesn't give us the entire picture." We need to make sure that we have several data points to help figure out students' needs. One test shouldn't be a determining factor in where students are placed. I know I can be guilty of that with MAP testing (that's how I organize my groups). In the past few years, I would use more than just MAP to determine my groups. I found this to be helpful in assessing students' abilities.

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The discrepancy between short and long texts was something that really stuck with me. It's pretty remarkable how much of an impact that is for students at the junior high level. In talking with the high school in previous years, one thing they mentioned is that the kids have no stamina while reading. It makes sense that students are struggling with those two texts.

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I want to continue to focus on using more data points to help get a full picture of each student. When my team talks about levels and moving kids to different groups, we truly do reflect on them as a whole child and not just one single running record. I think it is so important to have multiple data points to reflect back on. I also want to make sure I am implementing a variety of texts at different lengths to best prepare my students

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Text leveling can vary amongst different books and lengths. Being able to be responsive to our students and their needs are key. We need to be able to provide our students with a variety of formats and text lengths to ensure they truly are comprehending what they are reading. I think it is important that we expose our students to longer texts so they can practice the synthesizing skills as well as retaining the information to check for deeper comprehension.

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When we are looking at one data point, such as a running record from an excerpt, we can't expect to get a whole view of the child's comprehension/teaching points. Like Serravallo mentioned, by giving a child a longer text or book, we can see how well a student really does comprehend. There are discrepancies often times between running record texts vs grade level books. When students are reading longer books/articles they have to interpret lots of different events. Which is similar to state testing. Often times, we provide our students with short texts, which is not giving the students the ability to be exposed to higher level questioning and stamina to read it and comprehend what was going on. It was crazy to see the difference in levels Vanessa had between the short text vs a longer chapter book. We need to make sure we are using multiple data points to assess our students and see what strategies they need put in place.

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I listened to Jennifer's section on engagement with our readers.  These two podcast go hand and hand.  Making sure that we have our students reading all different lengths and types of text and showing/teaching them how to work with each of the text.  I look forward to using multiple types of text to engage and teach my students.  

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I listened to Jennifer's section on engagement with our readers.  These two podcast go hand and hand.  Making sure that we have our students reading all different lengths and types of text and showing/teaching them how to work with each of the text.  I look forward to using multiple types of text to engage and teach my students.  

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I look forward to using Jennifer's suggestions when using chapter books with my students during Acceleration and or Guided Reading.  I think about how we use shorter text for just about everything that we do and how our students are expected to read whole text in high school and college.   Are we getting them ready by always giving them the shorter text or sections?  It is a balancing act that we need to make sure we continue to look at and improve.  

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I look forward to using Jennifer's suggestions when using chapter books with my students during Acceleration and or Guided Reading.  I think about how we use shorter text for just about everything that we do and how our students are expected to read whole text in high school and college.   Are we getting them ready by always giving them the shorter text or sections?  It is a balancing act that we need to make sure we continue to look at and improve.  

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I am excited to implement more chapter books during my guided reading and literacy acceleration block! I think this will allow me to get to know my students as readers even more.

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I really enjoyed listening to this podcast.  I made me think of a few students that I had in the past and maybe even a few that I currently will be working with.  This really made me think about the text that are also being placed in front of the readers I have.  How important it is to expose students to different lengths and types of text.  

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I really enjoyed listening to this podcast.  I made me think of a few students that I had in the past and maybe even a few that I currently will be working with.  This really made me think about the text that are also being placed in front of the readers I have.  How important it is to expose students to different lengths and types of text.  

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I like when Jennifer explained that one single assessment does not give us everything we need about a child's reading level. Anecdotal notes are important to take when conferencing with students in guided reading. When giving students a running record, we are living out view of what readers are able to do. I want to start giving my students chapter books during guided reading, to see where they are really at.

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I really enjoyed listening to this podcast. It made me think of a student I had this year and last. She is able to demonstrate fluency, accuracy, and comprehension when completing a level R running record- but with the benchmark texts, she struggles comprehending a level R. I had to take a step back with her and now she is reading a P/Q.

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I am excited to utilize the various assessments available to best support my students. One level or genre does not necessarily give all of the data about one specific reader..

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I am so happy to listen to Jennifer's explanation of this learner along with her description of going forward as an educator.  This makes me think of several students over the years and how they can show their understanding through a variety of assessments.

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I often evaluate how much I, as an educator, am missing with the data from my students' tests vs what they show throughout various assessments.  I enjoyed listening to this perspective about different data points and understanding a child as a whole.

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I appreciated the process Serravallo walked through with Vanessa, and how comprehension is fluid, not fixed. She described a child who truly didn't fit her level because readers are not just a level label, as Yaris also pointed out! We need to look at our students as whole, developing readers.

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We can give all the "right" tests/assessments/running records, but we have to truly look at our students as a whole individual and not just one data point. We know if there are students still struggling, like Vanessa was, beyond what an assessment may tell us, and it is our job to use multiple resources to support them to get to the root of the problem. Beyond the assessments, I think Seravallo's last point was the most important- "Responsive instruction is crucial to developing readers."

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Students like Vanessa can truly mystify us as teachers, when they pass our formal running records but we know there are underlying issues we just can't put our finger on. While our F&P running records are full texts, unlike the ones Serravallo's example student had read, I thought of some of my own former students during running records. This specifically makes me think of those students who we ask questions to during an informal, when they've only read a portion, and they seem to pass with flying colors, but then a formal RR shows gaps in their thinking.

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I this this podcast was important because it helped to reshape how I select texts to work with for my various reading instruction. I think that this podcast, as all the others I have listened to so far for this course, gets at the idea that teachers need to be looking at who the students are in front of them and realize that their needs, abilities are fluid. In addition, it helped to remind me that it is our job as teachers to meet them where they are and help take them to the next level.  When working with my students that have been struggling, for several years, I have a new plan in place, and new ideas to consider with my team when we are creating action steps for them during the RTI process.

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I this this podcast was important because it helped to reshape how I select texts to work with for my various reading instruction. I think that this podcast, as all the others I have listened to so far for this course, gets at the idea that teachers need to be looking at who the students are in front of them and realize that their needs, abilities are fluid. In addition, it helped to remind me that it is our job as teachers to meet them where they are and help take them to the next level.  When working with my students that have been struggling, for several years, I have a new plan in place, and new ideas to consider with my team when we are creating action steps for them during the RTI process.

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Listening to this podcast helped to validate some of the experiences that I have had in my classroom. There have been times when a student is able to read a text at a specific level, but then when we switch units and genres(informational to literature, or vice versa) they dropped a level or too. It helped me to hear that there are many reasons why that may be happening. I now will also monitor how long a text is when using it with a student because it can affect their ability to respond to the text with solid comprehension. 

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Listening to this podcast helped to validate some of the experiences that I have had in my classroom. There have been times when a student is able to read a text at a specific level, but then when we switch units and genres(informational to literature, or vice versa) they dropped a level or too. It helped me to hear that there are many reasons why that may be happening. I now will also monitor how long a text is when using it with a student because it can affect their ability to respond to the text with solid comprehension. 

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My biggest take away is that, as much as we wish there was one "perfect test" that would allow teachers to know exactly where a student is right away, but there isn't. One of my other biggest take aways is that the length of a text can interfere with a student's comprehension. As the podcast mentions, we use short passages often in our classrooms in order to facilitate conversations and practice opportunities to assess our students, but we have to be mindful of the idea that comprehension is fluid, and the a level that a student can read and comprehend proficiently at has many variables. 

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My biggest take away is that, as much as we wish there was one "perfect test" that would allow teachers to know exactly where a student is right away, but there isn't. One of my other biggest take aways is that the length of a text can interfere with a student's comprehension. As the podcast mentions, we use short passages often in our classrooms in order to facilitate conversations and practice opportunities to assess our students, but we have to be mindful of the idea that comprehension is fluid, and the a level that a student can read and comprehend proficiently at has many variables. 

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I want my students to make meaning of their reading. I have the youngest students, so I want to instill good comprehension strategies in them as they begin reading. I am going to focus most on making the movie in their head. I know that often the books they read have pictures included, but I am going to get creative in encouraging them to use their imagination and not be tied to the illustration.

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I was very encouraged and motivated to get to know my students even more as readers. There is so much to reading and so many skills that go into comprehension. From last weeks podcast I heard, "why read when you are not making meaning". I want all my students to make meaning and enjoy reading. I am excited to used some of her strategies with my students. I was most encouraged by the happy ending, where Vanessa was able to reach the ability to make a movie in her mind. That is what I hope for all my students.

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I was encouraged to hear that one assessment doesn't give the whole picture of the students. I work with some of the readers that struggle the most and often teachers are discouraged by lack of progress on one of their assessments. I often focus in my PLC discussions about these students on the progress they are making in others ways. Maybe one assessment isn't showing the growth, but they are making growth in other areas of reading. I also really liked the process she used to support her student that was struggling, to help her make progress in the areas she was struggling the most.

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I will look at my reading groups and be sure to look at all types of data to insure groups are accurate . I also will continue to push comprehension while allowing students centered discussions.

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I love the "make a movie in your mind" quote. I think my kinders will be able to push themselves to picture the books we read. I cannot wait to use that line!

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I love the "make a movie in your mind" quote. I think my kinders will be able to push themselves to picture the books we read. I cannot wait to use that line!

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-Michelle Reyes

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I loved Serravallo's 6 point to helping struggling readers and I cannot wait to implement them in my classroom! Also, I plan to reflect of all types of data when determining what each readers next to progress at their speed.

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When I meet with my students and reflect on my data, I will remember to take into account the length of text. I will make sure to always check in on their comprehension based on the type of text we read. 

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When I meet with my students and reflect on my data, I will remember to take into account the length of text. I will make sure to always check in on their comprehension based on the type of text we read. 

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-Michelle Reyes

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It was interesting to see how comprehension could vary based on text length. It was interesting to see how the teacher used various methods to try to pinpoint the student's need. 

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It was interesting to see how comprehension could vary based on text length. It was interesting to see how the teacher used various methods to try to pinpoint the student's need. 

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-Michelle Reyes

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I know there is not a specific assessment that will accurately allow teachers to know a student's reading ability without informal, formal, and other types of assessments.

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Now that I have listened to this podcast, I will be looking at my reading groups a bit differently. Instead of just grouping students who scored at the same F and P level on the assessment, I will be looking at the more detailed assessment skills and where each child excelled and struggled. I may group students at slightly different F and P levels that have in common a comprehension strategy with which they struggle. In this way, I will be able to provide more focused instruction on the actual skills in need.

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Now that I have listened to this podcast, I will be looking at my reading groups a bit differently. Instead of just grouping students who scored at the same F and P level on the assessment, I will be looking at the more detailed assessment skills and where each child excelled and struggled. I may group students at slightly different F and P levels that have in common a comprehension strategy with which they struggle. In this way, I will be able to provide more focused instruction on the actual skills in need.

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After listening to this podcast, I feel it is very important to not view a child by their F and P score only but to gather more detailed information about the particular comprehension skills that the child excels in and struggles with. I like how the presenter shared the follow up teacher that was done with Vanessa once they got a broad picture of her skill level to help her grow. The use of small groups and conferences to focus on the specific skills lacking is important. However, I would have loved for the podcast to go into more detail about what that teaching looked like.

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After listening to this podcast, I feel it is very important to not view a child by their F and P score only but to gather more detailed information about the particular comprehension skills that the child excels in and struggles with. I like how the presenter shared the follow up teacher that was done with Vanessa once they got a broad picture of her skill level to help her grow. The use of small groups and conferences to focus on the specific skills lacking is important. However, I would have loved for the podcast to go into more detail about what that teaching looked like.

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My take-away from this podcast is that there is no one literacy assessment that can accurately and fully depict a student's reading abilities. Instead, we must use multiple types of assessments that focus on different variables, such as varied skills and varied lengths of texts. This is important as a teacher because in education, there is so much emphasis on data. Data can be interpreted in varied ways and it is up to us to ensure that the data we collect is all encompassing.

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My take-away from this podcast is that there is no one literacy assessment that can accurately and fully depict a student's reading abilities. Instead, we must use multiple types of assessments that focus on different variables, such as varied skills and varied lengths of texts. This is important as a teacher because in education, there is so much emphasis on data. Data can be interpreted in varied ways and it is up to us to ensure that the data we collect is all encompassing.

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After listening to this podcast, as I move forward with instruction, I will keep the ideas Serravallo shared in mind. I think the idea that comprehension is not fixed, but fluid and that text levels are not perfect were key points. We like to use F and P levels to group students, but sometimes that grouping might not be appropriate, based on what students need. I will be sure to consider different ways we can group students, in order to be responsive to their literacy needs.

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Serravallo discussed the ideas of grouping students on more than just their F and P levels, and to consider specific areas they need support, in relation to comprehension. I think it can be challenging to consider all of these different aspects for all students in a classroom. It can be overwhelming to consider all of the different ways to groups students, to teach strategies, and to find time to conference, in order to check progress. I think this is possible, if we are intentional with the way we group students in guided reading and acceleration blocks. As Serravallo discussed at the end of her podcast her “key ideas,” I thought her idea about being “responsive is key” was critical. We need to be sure we are checking-in with students and ensuring they are receiving the correct support, and if they are ready for a new goal area, we need to be flexible and make those adjustments in our instruction.

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I think Serravallo brought up some great points in this podcast. I like how she talked about how comprehension and reading levels are fluid and can change depending on a variety of factors. She brought up the idea that using the running record is a great start, but often we need to work with the student to continue gathering information on his/her abilities while reading a variety of texts, to get a strong understanding of what the student needs. Serravallo talked about after gathering data on the student, it was important to then set goals, provide strategies, and continuously conference and make adjustments to instruction to support the student. I think this is a great approach to help students grow in the areas they need it most.

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I definitely see this when we get to our novel unit.  This is good to know going in so guided groups can be changed to best suite their level for longer texts. I look at their interest but this would be a good "assessment" before the unit to see where their comprehension is. I believe this would increase the quality of their work as well.
"Make a movie in your mind". I love this idea because we use this with our students. It really does help them while reading those longer text. I've also included pictures of characters during out novel unit to help them keep track.

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Open ended prompts allowed the teacher to see if the student grasped the concepts and had comprehension. I do believe this is a higher level skill that has to grow. Students can't just jump into these types and answer fully at their grade level.
Students have to track the plot over a whole book rather than a short passage. This needs to be strong at their level and then built upon. They said generally their students were 2 levels lower in longer texts. We need to remember that comprehension is not fixed and we should adapt their reading to help them grow by the end.

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Running records are a good starting point but shouldn't be the only form of assessing a student.
Whole book assessments are a good addition to the other fluency tests. This allows students to show their strength or weaknesses in comprehension because of the length. The teacher then saw that the student struggled so they then went backwards in level to find where she was at. Students don't stay at one level for all types of text so knowing our students is important.

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I want to try and start including some of these ideas while I'm meeting with the students who are a "puzzle".  I want to dive into finding out why the students aren't growing.  I think she offered some great suggestions that could be used in many classrooms. 

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I want to try and start including some of these ideas while I'm meeting with the students who are a "puzzle".  I want to dive into finding out why the students aren't growing.  I think she offered some great suggestions that could be used in many classrooms. 

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Each time I hear her, I'm more intrigued with her style.  She definitely presented a great idea through this podcast about what was going on with this 4th grade student.  Hearing her discuss all the different ways she tried to narrow down and find what was wrong was amazing. I loved the sticky note idea periodically throughout the books and the responses to really see if learning was taking place. I really like how she said there was some balance that was needed in order to help students grow in their reading.  Finally, I really liked how she discussed the 6 points to fixing this struggling reader.  

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Each time I hear her, I'm more intrigued with her style.  She definitely presented a great idea through this podcast about what was going on with this 4th grade student.  Hearing her discuss all the different ways she tried to narrow down and find what was wrong was amazing. I loved the sticky note idea periodically throughout the books and the responses to really see if learning was taking place. I really like how she said there was some balance that was needed in order to help students grow in their reading.  Finally, I really liked how she discussed the 6 points to fixing this struggling reader.  

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After listening to this podcast, I was a little shocked.  I didn't realize how our running records could possibly be only one tool. I realize now that using this tool along with other areas of assessments are great ways to really dig into kids strengths and weaknesses.  

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After listening to this podcast, I was a little shocked.  I didn't realize how our running records could possibly be only one tool. I realize now that using this tool along with other areas of assessments are great ways to really dig into kids strengths and weaknesses.  

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Right now our students go to the LRC every other week and meet in small groups to discuss the novels they are reading.  I think it would be interesting to see if that could be tracked somehow (anecdotal notes) to see how they are comprehending a longer text.

We we novels in guided reading twice a year but I would be hesitant to do a longer assessment on those because the pacing is teacher driven and there is a lot of group discussion. I think it would be more beneficial to see how the students are responding to the books that the choose independently so they can be guided in the right direction for their own comprehension.

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This was another way to look at our students from a different lens. We often practice skills with shorter texts (guided, shared, and assessments). I'm wondering if any of my students have had the same issue as the girl mentioned. How should we be assessing them with longer texts? I never really thought about the "one size doesn't fit all" when it comes to text length until the first podcast by Serravallo. It's definitely something to keep a pulse on as we move forward.

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It was eye opening that the teachers were able to catch this issue that was happening with the one student. Obviously, it is something that could easily be overlooked because of the way we assess students. I think the fact that this girl had been held back due to the state tests was a big red flag for them so they were really looking at it under a microscope.