My school, also a small private school, just began using leveled assessment tools based on the F&P levels. I am a literacy specialist for the lower school, grades k-4. What we have found is that the level book assessments are only useful for struggling readers - that once students reach about a level R, the levels are less critical. Many of our students reach level R by 3rd grade, and almost all reach it by the beginning of 4th grade. "How to Eat Fried Worms" and "Indian in the Cupboard" are examples of level R books. We also do not go strictly by leveled books. Instead, we teach the students what Just Right reading feels like, how it is not too hard, nor too easy. It's amazing how quickly the kids pick up on this vocabulary!
Our entire leveled library is leveled using F&P, so we also considered using their benchmark assessment. Instead, we use the assessment tools from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP). The levels align with F&P, and the assessment passages are online and can be downloaded for free. So far, we've found this to be a good alternative. We use DIBELS as a fluency measure, then cross-check it with the TCRWP assessments to check for comprehension. However, as always, sitting down with the student one-on-one and reading with them, asking questions, etc gives the most and best information. We consider assessment measures as one "snapshot" of each child, NOT the entire picture! Any child that shows weakness in DIBELS, TCRWP and individual conferences is then one we watch closely. I cannot imagine using leveled reading assessments beyond 4th grade. Perhaps using this type of assessment for students new to the school, especially in the admission process, would be useful. Your LS is smart to use it, but it should be less of a tool for MS, if used at all. Andrea -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Pete and Cindy Farnum Sent: Sun 2/24/2008 11:13 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [LIT] Fountas and Pinnell (cross-post) Hi everyone! Haven't posted in a while as my daughter (9 months now -- can you believe it?) has been keeping me busy! I'm just now trying to get caught up with everyone's posts. In addition, I would like to get your opinions about the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment II program. Read below. My school, in search for a placement and reading program, recently sent me to a training on Fountas and Pinnell's Benchmark Assessment II. After attending the session, I'm really questioning how appropriate it is for the general population in our middle school. It seems like a GREAT program for elementary school, but I'm trying to figure out how I am going use their 30 minutes assessments for my 80 kids and not take months to do it. I see each of my sections for a total of 4:10 minutes a week as their Language Arts teacher! We're a smaller private school without a reading specialist. I know that there are better programs out there that won't take such an incredible amount of time away from my classroom instruction. Another hesitation I have is how this program fits with my students. Over half of my students are high performing/excellent readers. On average, each of my classes has maybe 2-3 students performing/reading below grade level.The component which makes this program stand out from others is its fluency/oral reading component (which honestly is much like a running record); the writing and comprehension components don't seem better than other programs I've used at other schools. Since very few of my students struggle with fluency, I'm trying to figure out if this program really is the best for us. Is there anyone on this group familiar with or using F&P? If so, what are your thoughts? Besides STAR reading, do any of you recommend any computerized assessment programs? The elementary school has jumped right in to this program, and it's really up to me to weigh its benefits for my students and decide whether we will use it in 6th grade (and eventually the rest of middle school). Unfortunately, I have to make the decision rather quickly. My initial reaction is that this program might just be best for our struggling students as a form of remediation/intervention rather than all the sixth graders, but I would much rather hear more from others who have used the program before making any final judgments. Thanks so much for your help and thoughts... Cindy in CA _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
_______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
