Student Talk
Reading Observation Checklist
Other Uses of Running Records 

Student Talk
After the reading, talk to the student about some of the things she or he did during the reading. Reinforce and praise certain behavior with comments and questions that focus on specific behaviors. For example, after the student reads the text, you might focus on a self-correction and ask, "How did you know it was people and not persons?" 

Reading Observation Checklist
In addition to the things revealed by the running record and retelling, there are other behaviors you should be identifying. The behaviors to look for will vary with the reading level. They include the following:  

• Does the student have mastery of directionality, one-to-one correspondence, return sweep, and so forth?
• Did the errors made by the student make sense or sound right?
• Did the student attempt to self-correct?
• Did the student use the meaning, structure, and visual cues to identify words and get meaning from the text? Did she or he use them in an integrated way, or did she or he rely heavily on one particular source of information?
• Did the student make an attempt to read a word before asking for your help?
• How was the student's fluency? Did she or he just word-call?
• Did the student seem to recognize phrases?
• Were there many pauses? Were the pauses lengthy?
• How was the student's expression or intonation? 

Other Uses of Running Records
You can use a blank running record form to perform a running record assessment on a non-benchmark book, or if you want to assess a reader's accuracy for the entire text of a book. The running record form that accompanies each benchmark book only tests the first 100 to 150 words of the text. You can do a guided reading assessment by taking a running record using a book that you believe is close to the student's developmental level. 

Assessing students' reading progress is key to moving them along at the proper developmental rate. The combination of information gained from analyzing a running record, qualitative analysis, and a student's retelling will help you select the appropriate book level for a student's reading instruction and/or practice. Remember, it does the reader little good to be placed at a reading level that is too difficult. Running records will help you match students with the appropriate level of reading materials