Blog
August 4, 2020
It will soon be time to test students as they re-enter school either in person or virtually. Many teachers and parents are worried about the covid slide. Testing is more important than ever so we can know where we need to begin teaching with each student. A child should be taught at a level just slightly above his or her independent reading level. This is called the zone of proximal development. Teaching skills the child already knows is a waste of time. Teaching skills too far above the child’s reading level results in a lot of frustration and not much success.
Sometimes when I tell a parent that their child is reading below grade level, the parent will reply that the child is able to read just fine at home. I think this discrepancy is due to a misunderstanding of what an independent reading level is. When a teacher says a child is at a certain level (ex. Level 12 on Development Reading Assessment), she means the child can read that level by themselves with no help. For a child to be considered an independent reader, he must be able to read 98% + of the words in the text automatically.
Independent reading is like riding a bike with the training wheels off. No adult is next to the child. The child is riding down the road. If the child needs training wheels or an adult to run next to him or her and to catch them, that is not independent reading.
Teachers test students for three stages of reading. A text that is too hard is a frustration stage. That is like needing training wheel. We do not want children reading at a frustration level. I tell parents that if the text is that hard, read it to them. The next stage is the instructional level. This is where the training wheels are off, but the child needs a parent nearby to catch him. The child is reading about 94% of the words correctly. He needs help reading the other six percent. This is the zone of proximal development.
Teaching at the instructional level usually continues to third grade. At third grade, children should be independent readers. At this point, the child is no longer learning to read. He is reading to learn. He will need help only when on a “steep hill.” This may be when reading a science article with difficult vocabulary for instance.
Parents need to understand these stages of reading at various level so they can help their children. It is very important to know the independent and instructional levels for each child so we know where to begin with the child. If we are always running next to the child, he will never be able to “ride” on his own.