Marking a Running Record
Digital
Running Records
on Raz-Plus
With our online running record tool, Raz-Plus or Raz-Kids members can:
- Assign a Benchmark Book from Levels aa-J
- Assign a Benchmark Passage from Levels aa-Z2
- Listen to students' recordings from reading aloud a book or passage
- Score all student recordings using an online running-record tool
- Listen to students' recordings of retellings
- Score retellings using an online rubric
- See quiz questions missed and a report on which comprehension skills to support or re-teach with each student
- Reward students' progress through awarding stars to spend in the RAZ Rocket
- Track your students' progress over time
Several terms are used when marking a running record form. You should become familiar with these terms by reviewing the explanations below.
- Errors (E) — Errors are tallied during the reading whenever a child does any of the following:
Substitutes another word for a word in the text
Omits a word
Inserts a word
Has to be told a word
Mispronounces a word (not a result of dialect; creates a nonword) - Self-correction (SC) — Self-correction occurs when a child realizes her or his error and corrects it. When a child makes a self-correction, the previous substition is not scored as an error.
- Phonics — The reader uses phonics to decode the words being read. Phonics skills vary by age, grade, and instruction. Younger readers may not have experience with long vowels and may read all words with a short vowel sound. This should be noted so the teacher knows this child is ready for long vowel phonics lessons.
- Morphology — Morphemes are the smallest units of words that have meaning and cannot be divided further. The most common mophemes are root words and affixes. A reader may use their knowledge of a word root and affixes to determine the pronunciation and meaning of the word read.
- Guessing — Some readers use this skill when they are attempting to read very quickly or if they have developed a habit of skimming as they read. For instance, if the word is ran but the reader says ‘runned’, this would indicate the reader is not attending to the graphemes in the word but rather trying to make sense as they read. Or, the reader does not know the word and rather than attempt to decode makes a guess.
Two-Step Process
Step 1
Mark the text on the running record form as the student reads from the Benchmark Passage or Benchmark Book. Before taking your first running record, become familiar with the symbols used to mark a running record form. These symbols are found in Table 1. Also review the Sample Running Record to see how a completed form looks. It also is a good idea to take a few practice running records by role-playing with a fellow teacher as she/he plays the role of a developing reader, intentionally making errors for you to record.Once the student has read all the text on the running record form and you have recorded their reading behavior, you can complete Step 2.
Step 2
Use the boxes to the right of the lines of text to gather information. Start with the first line, marking the number of errors in the "E" column. Then, tally the number of self-corrections in the "SC" column. When you've completed your review, total the number of errors and self-corrections at the bottom of the columns. Use the Scoring and Analyzing a Running Record page for information on how to calculate the error, accuracy, and self-correction rates.
Sample Running Record
