Reader Summary

Reader: Alex White

Grade: 3
rd
Grade
Tutor: Sarah Cesarek
Date: 5/3/14

Quantitative Summary:
During one of the last tutoring sessions, I conducted two different reading assessments. I began
the assessment at the readers instructional level based on the previous assessments. This was a
level 21 text called The Wind and the Sun. The reader scored 96% accuracy with this text, which
is an easy/independent read. There were a total of 9 miscues and 5 self-corrections with a self-
correction rate of 1:2.8. The reader had a total of 67.2 WCPM.
The second assessment that was given to the reader was a text level 22. The book was Trees on
Our Planet. The reader scored at an instructional level with 95% accuracy. With this text, the
reader had a total of 10 miscues and 4 self-corrections with a self-correction rate of 1:3.5. The
WCPM was a total of 49.87.
Qualitative Summary:
As the student read, he had one insertion, one omission, a few substitutions, and appeals for a
few words. The student omitted the word very in the text, which still allowed for the story to
have meaning and structure. He was ignoring the visual cue in this example. Most of the miscues
in this assessment were ignoring visual cues. The meaning and structure were mostly always
present in his reading, except for a couple of miscues. For example, one error that ignored the
meaning of the text was when the reader read that wood can be made out of paper, but the text
said that wood can be made into paper. Alex had some self-corrections in this assessment.
Many of these self-corrections were made using visual cues. Since meaning and structure was
usually found in his reading and miscues, the visual cues are what allowed him to self-correct.
In this assessment, the student had good fluency with the level 21 text, but the fluency for level
22 was a little bit choppier. There was some evidence of the appropriate rate during the reading,
along with some evidence of appropriate phrasing. The reader had some pausing at punctuation,
which is a major accomplishment. During one point in the reading he read over a period and
placed and in place of the period. He recognized the visual error after he said this and self-
corrected the error. According to the observations and notes taken during the reading, there is
still little evidence of intonation and stress on certain words and phrases during the reading.
Overall, according to the fluency scale I would place the reader at 2.5 out of 4. I would place him
here because he has improved his rate, phrasing, and pausing a little bit, but his intonation and
stress still need to improve to reach the 3 out of 4.
When the student was asked to retell the stories, he was at an independent level for the level 21
text and at a frustration level for 22. When he was retelling many of the main points of the story
were present, but some of the details were left out and he needed some prompting to recall these
details. Some of the sequences of the events were in order, but not all of them were in the same
chronological order as the story.
Reader Summary:
The reader was motivated to read the stories with me today because I told him that if we had a
good session today then he could tell me about The Titanic and the book he was reading about it.
He was motivated through this compromise to read. This was the most motivated to read that I
have seen my student in all of the session we have had together. The reader also had much prior
knowledge of The Wind and the Sun text because he had read it before. He knew that there was
an argument in the book between the sun and the wind, but he did not remember what it was
about, so he read to find out. He enjoyed this book and comprehended it at a high level. Trees on
Our Planet was a little bit harder for the reader because he did not have as much background
knowledge about trees and what they are used for. He would have also needed some vocabulary
instruction with this text because he asked what a few of the words were and what they meant.
The reader responded very well to the texts and was very willing to cooperate today during the
assessments.
Comparison of the Pre- and Post-Assessment
There is evident progress for the reader from the pre-assessment to the post-assessment. I believe
the most evident progress seen is his fluency and attention to meaning and structure of the text.
There was also a greater motivation to read today, along with longer attention span to what the
lesson was today. I think it really boosted his confidence that he knew the book already. The
fluency may seem that is it worse than the pre-assessment because of the WCPM, but his rate
was very good for the text level and he paid close attention to punctuation, which he did not do
in his pre-assessment. I was also impressed with his level of comprehension of the texts. He was
able to tell me the main ideas of the texts and many of the details. He would not even attempt to
retell the story during the pre-assessment. Overall, I think that his confidence is improving in his
reading strategies and abilities, so his fluency and comprehension is improving as well. There is
also a much closer relationship between the reader and me, so he is comfortable with making
miscues and looking for help.
Goal/s for the reader:
My goal for Alex is to help him with his fluency, which will in turn assist his comprehension as
well. I would like for him to understand punctuation and be cognizant of how it affects his
reading rate and fluency. I want him to pause where there are periods and commas so that his
sentences do not all run together. This will benefit his fluency and comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text,
referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and
explain how they support the main idea.