Reading Conversations: Retrospective Miscue Analysis with Struggling Readers, Grades 4-12

By Rita A. Moore and Carol Gilles

Book Overview

Miscue analysis may be the single best tool for assessing readers' difficulties. With Reading Conversations , you can take this tool to a new level, moving beyond diagnosis and into developmental strategies that involve not only teacher-student explorations of how students make meaning with texts, but also peer-led discussions. In retrospective miscue analysis (RMA) you work directly with students, engaging them in conversations about their reading miscues. RMA sessions achieve three important goals: helping you understand what readers are thinking as they read making readers more aware of their actions and thoughts during reading investing your students in the process of improving their own reading by building on their strengths. Then as your readers better understand their own strengths and weaknesses, they can take on increasing responsibility by discussing their processes with peers through collaborative retrospective miscue analysis (CRMA). Grounded in scientific research, Reading Conversations includes chapters on using RMA and CRMA at the elementary, middle, and high-school levels, reproducible self- and teacher-assessment forms, and testimonials and vignettes from teachers who have successfully adopted RMA and CRMA in their classrooms. Put the strategies in Reading Conversations into practice, implement RMA in your reading instruction, and get to know students' abilities better than ever before. Then use CRMA to further invest students in their learning and watch as your struggling readers develop the skills and confidence they need to enjoy a lifetime of reading.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325007209
• ISBN13: 9780325007205
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 7.5" x 9.2"
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 12

Customer Reviews

A Vital Stance on Reading that was Missing From my Classroom

Because of this book, my high school readers are teaching each other reading strategies that work for them. Here's what I heard Ben tell his fellow students on Friday as they questioned him about this miscues: 1. I was aware that I made that miscue as I made it, but I decided not to correct myself because what I said didn't change the meaning of the text, and I didn't want to interrupt the flow of what I was arleady doing so well. 2. I was trying to correct the author's wording because I don't talk like this. I did correct it quickly, but it still doesn't sound the way I talk. 3. My eyes were ahead of my mouth on this miscue. I noticed that I mixed up words that were actually three lines apart from each other. I had no idea I was moving my eyes around the text that quickly. It's an interesting miscue--but I caught it and corrected it quickly because it changed the meaning of what I thought the author was making. 4. I simply didn't know that "rendezvous" was spelled like that. Yikes! Who thought of this spelling? Once I heard the word from the teacher, I recognized it. After discussing his miscues, Ben went on to re-tell what he had just read. The listening students noted that he was able to recall all of the main ideas and supporting details but had trouble with unaided inference. Still, they concluded, he had read like an expert, and they turned in their analysis. This is scene plays itself out weekly in my "struggling" readers' classroom. The once dependent students--and that was10 weeks ago--have grown into comprehending, critical, thoughtful readers (at their reading levels). The students who aren't ready for collaborative miscue analysis , do a private session with me (see Ruth Davenport's book, "Over-the -Shoulder Miscue Analysis"), but more than 75% of the class loves the attention and the focus of CRMA. It's been an amazing process for me and for my students. In the time of NCLB, thank you for a remarkable, authentic answer to teaching reading. It's perfect for the many ranges of readers I've taught from dependent to expert, from elementary to community college.