Return-Path: <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i2L73CI19382; Sun, 21 Mar 2004 02:03:12 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 02:03:12 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <F0A2E20726E77445BB749EA67AA8D4FB806F7C@aib-ex1.aiweb.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Heide Wrigley" <hwrigley@aiweb.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1185] where do you start folks reading X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 3334 Lines: 82 Andrea - what I usually do as part of an initial assessment is to provide a range of materials, including bills, lottery tickets, supermarket flyers, Avon catalogues, ads with text from magazines first person stories written by and for new readers, an easy short story and USA Today and then ask students to pick a few things that they would like to try to read together. If the learner picks a functional text I ask what it is and then ask questions about items and prices and slowly invite the person to try something a bit harder. (I learned about this idea first from Susan Lytle) If the person picks a prose piece we start reading it together and I see if she feels comfortable reading a bit of it aloud - and then we talk about it. If there's time, we talk about reading practices and interests. This approach gives me a sense of proficiency in sub skills such as decoding, reading interest, and some measure of comprehension. But most importantly it gives me a chance to get to know the person on a one-on-one basis This model (which we first used in the What Works ESL study and which I've subsequently used with immigrant elders in Chicago and with teenage struggling readers in Vancouver - for the most part Canadian born) could also be adapted to use in a classroom with small groups. There's a second approach I use in the Youth Literacy program. At midpoint we ask all kids to read a modified page of science text and we record the strategies that they use and the skills they have on a scale that has rubrics from "resistant" to "novice" to "low functional" to "high functional" to "expert" (around 10th grade in our case since most of the kids tested on the 4th to 6th grade level to start) - I'm not happy yet with the descriptors - so if any of you have any ideas, please share It is also a one-on-one assessment that we use with a student while the others are engaged in their daily 20 minutes of silent reading. And for silent reading, we have a large book case full of books at all levels including wordless books and graphic novels we ask the kids to pick up and spend time with for 20 minutes. It takes awhile but then they all start reading Well, I'll stop here Cheers Heide -----Original Message----- From: nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of AWilder106@aol.com Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 2:13 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1182] Re: Readability OKAAAYY...Thanks to those who have already responded, and thank you for tips on resources. On to the next. Supposedly most of you teach adults who can't read certain materials judged too hard for them to read aloud fluently. How do you decide where to start them reading? Start with TABE? Start with a newspaper? (8-12th grade "level") Is "grade level' a myth? I am currently reading Tom Sticht's "Reading for Working," to find out how he figured out literacy level job requirements. But my question is narrower, looking just at literacy level and how working teachers figure it out, what they take into account. Maybe they don't. This could be s seat-of-the pants kind of thing...but that seems too casual. Then what do you do? How do you choose materials? How much do you guess at instructional level? Whose authority do you go by? Curious in Cambridge, Andrea
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