Free Printable: Running Record with 100s Grid

Hey Friends! Since I mentioned I am using this 100s grid for all of my running records each year, I'd thought I'd share it here. Take it, use it, share it, change it.

WOW this simple, stripped-down grid saves me a lot of time. Instead of taking the time to calculate a percentage for a student's reading accuracy (which you have to do when a child reads more/less than 100 words), I can use this sheet quickly to find an accuracy rate sans calculator. Brilliant time saver! This is especially important when you do 5-8 of these running records per day or when you're a busy teacher (hint: that's you!).

I use this exactly as I would a blank running record sheet. Don't know what a running record is? See my other post about running records here.

I also do miscue analysis on each of my running records, but I do this on the computer only, not by hand. I want to easily share the information about the student's reading with their classroom teacher. I can post the template I use for that soon.

Running Records with 100 grid


 Notes on this template:

• I don't print out page two, but I use these comprehension prompts, to have consistency.
• The boxes at the bottom of page one are a space for me to write notes about what the student is doing well (+) and what the students didn't do well (-), and needs more instruction on. I titled the boxes based off of what I tend to work with kids on- comprehension, fluency/accuracy, and the student's use (or lack thereof) of reading strategies.
• I record the student % accuracy and circle if this is their independent, instructional, or frustrational level. For me, 97-100% is independent, 90-96% is instructional, and 89% or below is frustrational.
• I have a space at the top for instructional focus. I like to give the student a focus before the begin reading- I use Running Records to coach/instruct my students, and not just to assess them. 
• I keep all my running records in a fat binder. I start a new binder at the beginning or each year. The running records are ordered alphabetically by students' first names.
• Before I put the running records in the binder I analyze the miscues on a different template (using Microsoft's OneNote). I send an email to their classroom teacher with this analysis, so they can also use the information to also guide their instruction. 

 Be well! Read on! Teach on!

Something Old, New, Borrowed and Rescued

We're closing in on the end of first quarter, can you believe it!!?? This is my 4th year as a reading specialist, and I think I am hitting a groove with the students and with planning. Here are some things that are happening this year...

OLD

•  I have continued weekly read alouds with my intervention students. I began this last year. Research confirms time and time again the importance of reading aloud to students to build vocabulary, background knowledge, and to increase fluency. I also find that reading books aloud has increased my students motivation to read (really and truly). For most of my groups we're focusing the read alouds this year on non-fiction: animals from around the world. For my 4th-5th grade students the read alouds will focus on California history- they will all be fiction, as we will be discussing universal themes.
• Intervention programs: I am teaching SIPPS and Seeing Stars to 1st and 2nd grade students that need sight word and phonics support. Both of these intervention programs have their merits; I recommend them. I'm also reading a Read 180 class to a group of 4th and 5th grade students. Many of the students have already completed the RBooks (reading anthology of sorts) last year, but we are using the software and the Read 180's leveled books for independent reading. I'm using leveled books and thematic articles with them in small group.
• I have posted a vocabulary word wall for each group. Like last year, I have a small pocket chart for each group with the words we're learning. The charts are hung right next to our reading table.

NEW

• Teaching reading to first graders (and K soon)! I have a couple of 1st grade sweeties I see three days a week. I have to tell you, this experience is stretching me. But two books have saved me: The Next Steps in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson and Beverly Tyner's Small-Group Reading Instruction.
• RtI (Response to Intervention) weekly team meetings. It has been great to be a part of this dynamic team this year. I feel like we are finally starting to address students and teacher's needs proactively.
• Lesson Planning. For the first time as a reading specialist I have had to submit lesson plans weekly. Even though it is time consuming, this has been really good for my teaching.
• Students are borrowing books weekly. I reorganized my library with 4 levels for my intervention students (acorns, walking acorns, oak trees, oak trees with roots). Every Thursday the students use the IPICK system to pick 5-10 new books to bring home for the week. Our school library isn't leveled, many of my students can't find a lot of books at their reading level in their classrooms, and I want to make sure my students are reading books at their level at home. I hope it helps! They  all seem to really enjoy getting new books weekly.
• Daily Mantra. Me: Are you ready to Read? Students in unison: Yes, we're ready to Read. We start small group with short call and response. It gets the kids focused after transition to my room and lets them know it's "go" time. They look forward to this now.

BORROWED 

• Running Records with a 100s grid. Wow, does this save time!! A colleague sent me her template, and I am in love. I think not having to count the words a student reads save me 10 minutes a day! That's 50 saved minutes a week. If you want this grid, I'd be more than happy to pass it along.
• Theme posters from Beth Newingham's Third Grade Class. See link. Love these posters. I aim to discuss theme throughout the year with my Read 180 class.

RESCUED

• My new room! I moved from something that may have reminded you of Rapunzel's turret (a square cement room above the gym) to another odd room off the stage. The newer room is still cement and an unwelcoming peach color- but I love my new home.  I have redecorated and it has become quite a calming space. They kids often comment how much they like my room now. Good, because I like it too! It has a couple couches, and that's always a plus!

Phew! That's a lot to chew on. As for me, I am excited the direction this year is taking, and here's hoping that my instructional decisions will positively impacts students' learning.

Be well! Read on!

A (More) Holistic Running Record

For RtI, we asked our teachers to do a current running record on students to find their reading levels. A Running Record is a quick and easy assessment of your students' reading level using any ol' sheet of paper. The process can be a bit intimidating at first. Many teachers learn how to do a running record in their teaching credential program, however it takes practice to learn how to do a running record well.

One of the issues with a running record is that you can do a running record, but it is usually used to assess a students' miscues (errors made). However, running records do not strategically take into account students' comprehension ability.

We ran into problems when we asked our teachers to do running records on their students. Our school has 95% English Language Learners (ELL students). Theoretically, listening to a student's oral reading habits can tell you if they are a good reader. And for most populations, fluency ability is the best predictor of a student's reading ability- comprehension included. But for ELL students this is not the case.

A running record can tell you how well a student can decode and read words. But often a student with a developing sense of the English language can decode words will either less or more skill than his/her comprehension ability. For example, I can decode Spanish, but I probably could only catch a general gist of what I read in Spanish, because I have a poor vocabulary base in Spanish. And this is true of many of our ELL students with English. I also have several students that have poor decoding ability (students with little sense of phonics/word parts in English), and these students can decode poorly, but they can comprehend well.

Ahhh! There are myriad factors in teaching reading well, eh?

All that to say....I've found this Running Record that includes comprehension and fluency rubrics. So if you're one of those teachers with an ELL student (50%+ of our state!), try using these rubrics. Perhaps this will help you assess your students more accurately. You should be able to download this pdf file. Enjoy!


Running Record Template

Read on!