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Expert
Advice for Testing First Grade Reading Skills
As As the parent of a first
grader, you most likely understand the importance of reading.
In fact, that is probably why you are visiting this site – to
increase your ability to help your child become a successful
reader. To provide your child with meaningful reading
instruction, however, it is necessary to first know the stage
of reading your child is in. For more information about the
stages of reading, click here (create hyperlink to stages of
reading article). This is where testing first grade reading
skills becomes a vital component of an at home reading
program.
Testing first grade reading skills is really not as difficult
at it may seem. The best way to do this is to use a reading
inventory. A reading inventory is a holistic measurement of
your child’s attitude towards reading and his ability to read.
Using
Interest Surveys When Testing First Grade Reading Skills
The When testing first grade
reading skills with a reading inventory, the first stage is to
take an interest survey. This is sometimes also called an
attitude survey. You probably think you know your child well,
but you might be surprised! Gaining a little insight into your
child’s interest can help you to better create a successful
reading program at home.
Some questions you should ask your child when testing first
grade reading skills include:
• Do you read often at school?
• What do you like about school, besides recess and lunch?
• Do you think you are a good reader or a not-so-good reader?
• What do you think makes a person a good reader?
• What makes a person a not-so-good reader?
• If you could pick any book in the world to read, what would
it be about?
• What was the last book you read at school?
• If you were helping someone learn to read, what would you do
to help him?
Because reading is so closely tied to writing, it is also
important to include questions about writing when testing
first grade reading skills with a reading inventory. These can
include:
• Do you like to write?
• What do you like to write about the most?
• What kind of writing do you do at school?
When testing first grade reading skills with an interest
survey, it is important to look at these questions as a way to
create an open conversation about reading with your child.
These questions will help you choose reading material your
child will enjoy. Furthermore, children often have a pretty
good idea of their own strengths and weaknesses. The questions
in an interest survey can help you gain valuable insight into
where your child needs help with reading.
Measuring
Reading Errors When Testing First Grade Reading Skills
The next step in testing first grade reading skills is to have
your child read a passage from a short story in order to
monitor his reading errors. As your child reads the story, pay
special attention to how many mistakes he makes in his
reading. You also need to monitor the types of mistakes he
makes. Mistakes in reading can include:
• Mispronunciation - your child mispronounces the word,
usually creating a word that isn’t a word at all
• Omission - your child skips the word altogether
• Insertion - your child adds a word, or words, that aren’t
really in the text
• Substitution - your child replaces a word with a different
word. Sometimes the replacement word makes sense with the
sentence, sometimes it doesn’t. This is important to note
because if the word your child uses makes sense, it shows an
understanding of the context.
• Self-correction - your child makes a mistake in reading, but
quickly corrects the mistake on his own.
• Repetition - your child repeats a word, or words, that are
in the passage.
• Parent assistance - your child asks you for help to read a
word, or you help her because she is “stuck.”
This reading inventory can give you a better idea of where
your child’s reading troubles lie. These “miscues,” as they
are called, should be marked on your own copy of the reading
passage. This way, you can take reading inventories in the
future and monitor your child’s reading progress.
Measuring
Comprehension When Testing First Grade Reading Skills
The Reading comprehension, which
is the ability to understand what is read, is a very important
component of learning to read. Reading comprehension is
different from listening comprehension in that reading
comprehension tests your child’s ability to understand what he
reads on his own. Listening comprehension, on the other hand,
is the ability to understand what was read to him by someone
else.
To test reading comprehension, ask your child questions about
what he has just read. Be sure to ask questions beyond simple
recall of facts. Your child should be able to infer and draw
conclusions, as well.
There are several in-depth reading inventories that can be
purchased. These can help you have a much clearer idea of your
child’s current reading level. One of these programs can be
purchased
here.
This is a computerized reading inventory.
Another, much simpler, reading inventory can be found at
this site. Here, your child can take a quickie
assessment, then access a list of books that are appropriate
for her to read at her level. Another free on-line reading
inventory that goes into more detail can be found here:
test4free.com/.
The next step after testing first
grade reading skills is to determine
which of the
stages of the reading process your child is in.
Understanding these stages of the reading process, and the
characteristics of each, will give you a greater insight into
how to help your child progress through the stages of the
reading process and become a strong, capable reader.
Testing first grade reading
skills can seem like a daunting task at first. But with the
right materials, it is not difficult to test and monitor your
child’s reading ability – and the pay off is well worth it.
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