Grades

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Home : 2002 : January : 11

Grades
By Debbie

Hi all,
YEA...I just completed 2nd quarter grades!!! I wanted to give some input on what I did to arrive at them as that was a question that popped up. One of the evaluation tools my school chose to use is called the
Developmental Reading Assessment. It's published by Celebration Press and was written by Joetta Beaver (a wonderful teacher researcher). Essentially it's a set of leveled texts where the child reads and you take a running record, the child does a complete retelling, you ask several inferential meaning and affect questions and obtain the child's accuracy level and strategies used as a

reader as well as an idea of affect and motivation. It was written for K-3 readers, but the actual text levels span thru grade 5.
In addition to doing DRA's on my kids, I keep track of the strategies I'm noticing them using as they write in their readers response log-connections, questions, visualizing & inferring, synethesis, etc. in addition to the basics of story mapping, summary, etc.
I enter quotes and my observations on a form during literature conversations, I'm also keeping track of who's read and who's prepared for discussion.
I check their book lists (back of GR & W) to see the types of literature they're reading during Readers Workshop as well as taking anecdotal observation and quotes during individual reading conferences.
All of this gets somehow translated into
Plus-Outstanding; Check Plus-Above the average
Check-Average; Check Minus-Below the average
I cross check everything with the state standards to see that we've 'covered' everything. My report cards require a grade as well as a breakdown by standard as to how the child is doing. IE. Reading-strategies, comprehension, interpretation...
Hope this gives you some ideas, I'd love to hear from others who are trying to 'grade' a LAB. ;-D