Next Step in Guided Reading - Chapter 2

I'm totally a day late with this, and I truly apologize.  My son's birthday party is Saturday and yesterday I was running around like a mad woman trying to gather everything!  I spent 2 hours mulching the front yard and finished just minutes before a big storm hit.  Then our power was knocked out last night for a little bit due to the crazy storms.  Tis the season, right?  ;)

This week's host is Jennifer Tice at Rowdy in First Grade.  Be sure to stop by her blog to see her thoughts and grab a freebie!  :)

So Chapter 2!  What did you guys think?  This chapter talked about assessment, which is something we all HAVE to do.  A lot of what we do is district mandated, but I add in a few things of my own to give me a better picture of my students.

1.  What part of the reading caught your attention?  Maybe it's something you never thought about.  Maybe it's something that you've been trying to get a grip on.  Maybe it's something that you've never heard quite they way it was put.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was using dictation sentences to assess a child.  I have done every other assessment part that was suggested, but I have honestly not taken the time to use dictation sentences.  Maybe I'm the only one.  If that's the case, I am a little embarrassed, haha.  I definitely plan on doing this next school year.  I really see the importance of it and how it can tell you so much!  I also liked reading how to analyze their reading strategies.  

2.  How do you already incorporate this into your guided reading routine?  There's probably at least some part of the chapter that you're already doing!  Tell us about it!

The first couple weeks of school, all I do is assess!  It's annoying and frustrating at times, but I truly love it.  I love getting that picture of each child and learning about how they read.  I use SEVERAL assessments to help me determine how to group my students.  I use:

          -Reading Street Baseline Test

          -Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Leveling System

          -AIMSWeb

          -Fluency check

From this information, I compile a color-coded list to see how each student ranks and where they fall in their overall reading capabilities. 

3.  What is something new you want to try next school year?  How do you want to make your guided reading time better or what new things do you want to try?

I think this year I'm going to come up with some dictation sentences to add to the mix!  I might have to work on a new product.  ;)

4.  What are some resources that you ALREADY HAVE that you can use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

Fortunately, we already kind of have all of the items I listed above.  

5.  What are some NEW resources that you want to get or try to use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

I really need to find some fluency passages to use at the beginning of the year.  Our reading program doesn't have them, which I understand because they're still pretty young and don't have a lot of skills to be able to read a passage.  But I like seeing their progress and monitoring how they do.  I don't give a grade for them or anything, it's more just for my knowledge.  I've been pulling random passages from AIMSWeb and some other sources, but I just don't like them.  :)

What did you think about Chapter 2?  Were you able to reflect a little more on what you should be looking for from each assessment?  I know I did!  :)