ELA TPE k

The candidate knows how to determine the skill level of students through the use of meaningful indicators of reading and language arts proficiency prior to instruction.

What is this?

I taught this lesson about determining reading level and preferences to 7th and 8th graders during my placement at PUC Elementary School. The students completed a This or That? questionnaire about their reading tastes and wrote brief reflections on books they had recently read. Then, I had them complete a 10-minute reading test to provide a rough indicator of their reading level. Following these activities, they compiled To-Read-Next lists or made book recommendations depending on their grade level.

Why did I choose it?

I chose this reading inventory lesson because it allowed me to get a basic idea of students reading level and capacity for written expression through an exercise that was easy for them. I used the reading test to figure out which students in the class were higher, lower, and on-level readers, and I used the short reflection about a recent book to get a beginning idea of their critical thinking capacity when expressing ideas about what they read. I used these two pieces of information when grouping students into book clubs for the rest of the unit.

What did I learn?

Planning, teaching, and assessing student work from this lesson taught me that it is possible to learn a lot about students through easy and engaging activities at the start of the school year. I was surprised by how well I could develop an understanding of each student's thinking based on only a paragraph or so of writing. It was not perfect, and my first impression turned out to be slightly off in a few cases, but for the most part, it was an accurate and meaningful indicator of each student's current level which I could use to personalize instruction.