How do you tell students they are reading WAY below grade level while being realistic, but also not making them feel bad? I teach reading intervention for 6th and 7th grade and most of the students were surprised they were in my class. With the F&P Benchmark Assessments, they're all about levels R-S. When they took a pretty accurate computer test with a lot of inferencing and vocab, many scored at the 2nd-3rd grade reading level. Many of them think they don't need my class, and think it's wrong they're in my class. I share with them their scores honestly (privately too) but I also don't want them to think its "over" and ruin their self-esteem because they're reading at a third grade reading level in 7th grade. I explain to them that reading is something that can always improve with practice and just because it's low now, it doesnt always mean it will be low. is there a good way to explain to them without making them feel bad? It's like they never knew they weren't comprehending and still don't believe it. I don't dwell on this at all as a class and just work to move forward and motivate them; I want them to feel like they're in a regular class. I think they feel bad they're in my class and may be are secretly embarrassed and that's why some try to act out. Being distracting and pretending I'm too cool to do any thinking is better than showing my class I can't read well. They all like to say they don't need my class.
I always tell students that I am looking for improvement, and that anyone can improve no matter what level they start at. I really stress being just as proud of those that improve their grades (even if it's from a 16% to a 25%) as I am those that get A's. On tests I tell them the big goal that all 3rd graders are working on is to get to 80%, so they know they're below, but can still be proud when they improve. Call me crazy, but I feel really accomplished when a kid in my class says, "Yes!!! I got a 58!" because that's way better than last time. I think in the test score mania age of only celebrating "proficient" it's hard to foster that kind of attitude in kids.
I think the direct approach works best. I am always very blunt and open about students' ability (one of the reasons I prefer teaching older kids). I teach 6th & 7th grade Social Studies and few students are actually performing on grade-level when it comes to read and writing - most are at least 2 grade levels behind. Since this is par the course for my district, many kids don't realize how far behind they are and thus, I feel they need to be told. Most students feel like because they are being passed along every year, things must be good. In class, I constantly state that decoding/fluency is an elementary task, everyone should be able to read by 6th grade and thus I'm not impressed by how well they can read. I'm impressed by their ability to accurately comprehend the text, make connections, make inferences and/or draw conclusions. I often ask studets to read something out loud and then explain it in front of the class to demonstrate the difference between fluency and comprehension. I tell them at the MS level, teachers are looking for and evaluating based on comprehension skills. I also explain that if they are not comprehending what they are reading, then they are probably not performing on grade level and their main goal should be to work on that.
I love this. Waterfall, can you tell me how you keep an active eye on improvement? I don't have a very good mind for memorizing numbers and especially not for 190 kids, but I would like to celebrate improvement as much as I would success. Naturally, when someone aces a test, I (and probably anyone else) would be like "awesome!", but it's not so clear if they've moved up from a 30 to a 58 unless they bring it up. This won't happen with some of the shy ones though.
I have some kids with really bad dyslexia and reading issues. Whenever we're writing something down I just calmly remind them "remember to check your spelling!" or "remember to go slow, spelling is something you need to concentrate on". I just love that my really low readers still volunteer to read out loud in class. And that the rest of the class is patient enough to let them stumble through an entire paragraph!!
Peregrin, You find a system that works for you. I have a list of which kids are low in which areas. I have a TA who works with those kids. When the TA comes back & says Child X did great on the activitiy, I cross the child off of that list. I also keep lists that are just test scores. I can quickly see who has made improvements.
I'm always honest with my kids about their levels, but try to infuse positives in there. Last year I had an 11th grader test at 3rd grade level. Before talking to him I pulled his score from the year before and showed he scored as a basic reader (below any grade level) before, and that that was huge progress. Also, is it possible to parse out what sections they did well in and where they struggled? I give my kids a diagnostic test at the beginning of the year and go over it with them. So I can tell they kid they scored a 48% overall (and I always tell them the top score in the class since it's usually only high 50s at best so they know competitively they're not far off and don't feel like the dumb kid). Then I can point out they had a 0 in Authors Purpose and Main Idea, but got a 100 in synthesizing information with is a higher level of thinking and processing. So they know they need to work on understanding the intent of the author, but they feel really smart in other areas. Going over it by category I feel gives the kids something tangible to target and can build their confidence by showing them their strengths as well.
My kids are younger so they don't understand as much. We try to make it more about moving and improving their levels rather than how far behind they actually are. But we do also have to have the grade benchmarks posted in our room so hypothetically they could easily figure out how far behind they are, but I don't think they really think about it because they're so young/low. (One of my students is in 3rd grade and a level D his sister is in 1st grade and a level H. He told me this the other day but it was obvious he had no clue that she's a higher reader than he is.) I did the other day try to explain to the class overall that we need to work on improving our reading levels because the state tests will be on a 3rd grade reading level and if that's not your level it will be really hard to understand everything on the test. But I didn't talk about specific levels or anything like that, just trying to show them how important it is to be consistently reading at home.
Two things: The structure of using CAFE this year really helped me with tracking kids individually. I really recommend the book if you can get it. It's an easy weekend read, and you can be up and running with a simple binder on Monday. Anyway, my binder had individual notes and goals for each kid related to comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary. Kids know what category their goals fall under and I am able to sit with them and show their improvement daily or weekly. Also, this is kind of hippy-drippy, but I really like how it turned out: We made a Pride Wall that says "Who inspires you? Who do you inspire?" I had kids bring in pictures of people who would help them work hard....either people who believed in them or people they want to emulate. Many brought in parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. I put each in one of those cheap Target frames and hung them up together. Some of them have speech bubbles saying "Work hard!" or "You can do it!" Any time somebody gets frustrated I can point to the wall and say "Do it for them!" Like someone posted previously, it's all about improvement. I believe in being honest but emphasizing growth.
When I'm entering grades online, I quickly check the students' last test grade. If the new one is higher, I put a little up arrrow next to their grade on the test. I don't know if older grades would like this, but before I pass back tests I read aloud the names of kids who have either gotten an A or improved their grade from last time (without saying the actual grade of course, just the name, and I don't even make a distinction between who actually got an A and who improved) and we all clap for them. The kids love it. Upper grades might prefer a more private conversation.