Parents of students in grade kindergarten through 2nd grade always wish to know how well their child is doing as a reader, so they ask what Reading Running Record Level is my child? They also want to know what level their child should be at during different times of the year. Here is the answer to the second question.

On-Standard Levels for Running Records

By grade and trimester:

From: CNUSD Reader by Nine Committee, 2015

Parents can find out their child's Reading Running Record Level by asking their child's teacher.

CUES: MEANING, STRUCTURAL, VISUAL

The teacher or person giving the Running Records assessment listens to the child read. They listen to everything the child says while reading. This includes the student's use of meaning cues, structural cues, and visual cues when attempting to read new words. Here is an explanation of each.

MEANING CUES:
Does the child's attempt make sense considering the story background, information from the
picture, and meaning in the sentence?

Example:

One day, the farmer was feeding the pig. {A picture of a farmer with pigs is shown.}

(The student reads farmer as family)

STRUCTURAL CUES:
Does the child's attempt sound right considering the structure and syntax of the English language?

Example:

Oh no! She's eating the cake! {A picture of a dog eating a cake is shown.}

(The student reads eating as licking)

VISUAL CUES:
Does the child's attempt visually resemble in any way the word in the text?

Example:

Some of the kids wanted new swings. {A picture of kids on swings is shown.}

(The student reads swings as slides)

COMPREHENSION: RETELLING RUBRIC

After the student reads the text, the teacher asks the student specified question(s) in order to determine how much the child remembered about the passage. There are students who can read many words perfectly but do not know what the content of what they read was. Therefore, it is critically important that a child's comprehension (retelling) ability be checked. Here is the rubric.

Level 1

* Needs significant prompting and specific assistance in retelling

* Restates very few main ideas/facts/events: does not include text details

* No elaboration and/or text-to-self connections are made

* Incorrect sequence of events presented

* Oral language skills show limited control of conversations (e.g. correct verb tense, complete sentences,
correct pronoun use, etc.)

* No use of specialized text vocabulary or phrases

Level 2

* Needs some prompting or "tell me more" in retelling

* Restates some main ideas/facts/events: limited text details included

* Attempts elaboration and/or text-to-self connections: attempts are often unrelated or limited

* A few events are correctly sequenced

* Oral language skills show some basic control of conversations

* Some use of specialized text vocabulary or phrases

Level 3

* Needs very little prompting in retelling

* Restates most main ideas/facts/events: includes some text details

* Includes some elaboration of text and/or makes personal or text-to-text connections:

* Sequence of events is generally accurate

* Oral language skills show a general control of conversations

* Regularly uses specialized text vocabulary or phrases; use is appropriate for restating purposes

Level 4

* Does not require prompting in retelling

* Restates all main ideas/facts/events: includes many text details with specific text language

* Includes several elaborations and/or inferences; makes text-to-self and/or text-to-text connections

* Sequence of events is precise

* Oral language skills show mastery of conversations (e.g. correct verb tense, complete sentences, correct pronoun use,
etc.)

* Effective use specialized text vocabulary or phrases; use enhances restating

Parent Help

Parents can help their child by reading to him or her. When the parent reads to the child, the book or material should be about two grade levels above the student's grade. (Example: A 1st grade child should be read 3rd grade books.) Hearing the parent read the words and seeing them in print helps to develop the child's vocabulary.

A child reading to a parent should read material that is just below their RRL in order to allow the child to read it smoothly, building fluency and confidence.

Developing good readers is our goal. Reading is the key to learning. Parents and the staff team working together is best for our students.