given it much thought

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Home : 2005 : May : 15

given it much thought
By Cheryl

Mrs. G.,
I teach fourth (finishing my 5th year), and I've given this a lot of thought. Looking back into the book for details is a reading skill and too many kids don't know how to do it. I let our kids look back and
reference the page number on their test. Surprisingly to me, my low kids still couldn't do this. So what I decided to do in the middle of this year was to post the page number on those student's test. I felt like I was giving away the answers but it did make an improvement in their grades. These low kids don't know how to find details in the text and they need a lot more practice.

This decision was based on much discussion with a reading teacher who helped design the formal state assessments. I haven't seen them yet because they'll be introduced next Fall. She told me that page numbers are referenced in those exams.

So to summarize why I allow page numbers, it gives kids a lot of practice doing two things:
1. skimming and scanning for the better readers
2. finding details

Next year I'll start including the page number on basal tests from the beginning of the year, but I want to wean them away as soon as I can.