QRI-5 Information and Reflection

 How could an informal reading inventory support you with providing instruction in your classroom?

Informal Reading Inventories (IRI) includes: graded passages, comprehension questions, retelling, and grade level word lists.  This allows the teacher to determine the instructional reading level of each student. 

An IRI helps the teacher determine what lexile level to print or assign reading passages to the students.   Research shows that students need to be pushed beyond their lexile levels and exposed to higher levels of reading - but not to overwhelm or cause the student to shut down.  I feel, as a teacher of struggling readers, the kids who read on lower levels are getting the grade level material in math, science, and social studies.  If language arts modifies the assignments for lexile level, it will encourage the students to read more since they are comprehending more.  I know some science and social studies articles are given to students on lower lexile levels but rarely are the completely individualized.  So, I feel like they are being challenged a good portion of the school day.  

What readability level do you think your students are receiving in your classroom? Should you make any adjustments?

Independent level:  The highest a child can read without assistance (98% accuracy or 90% comprehension).

Instructional level:  The highest level a child could benefit from instructional support.  The “sweet spot” of teaching a student something new (90% accuracy and at least 77 - 88% comprehension).  

Frustrational level:  Any level the student is frustrated, even with instructional support (90% or lower oral accuracy and 70% or lower comprehension).  

Miscue:  Something the student reads in the passage that isn’t there.

My students this year are in a range from non-reader to reading 2 grade levels below.  I am teaching sixth grade.  The range is exceptional.  

I have a non-reader whose Frustrational Reading Level is at kindergarten sight words level.  My second lowest reader is on a first grade level and this is her independent level.  Grade level material is definitely beyond frustrational level for these two students.

I have two more students whose independent levels are at 2nd-3rd grade and the rest of my group had an independent reading level of fourth grade.  The higher level group’s instructional level is sixth grade.  These kids have collaborative services for language arts.  The lower group has an inclusion class and a separate small group resource class.  

QUALITATIVE READING INVENTORY - 5 (QRI-5) INFORMATION & REFLECTION:

The QRI-5 is:

• Individually administered

• Informal Reading Inventory (IRI)

• Word identification and comprehension

Results can show:

• Approximate reading level

• How to group students for guided reading

• What books are appropriate for literary circles, reading workshops, and independent reading

• Information for designing and evaluating intervention instruction

• Student growth

Use of the passages can:

• Determine a student’s independent, instructional, or frustrational levels

• Independent:  The student can read successfully at this level without assistance.

• Instructional:  The student can read with assistance from a teacher.

• Frustrational:  The student is completely unable to read the material with adequate word identification or comprehension.   Just getting personal… but my son is in the first grade and his frustrational level is kindergarten sight words.  It’s a struggle.  At school, at home.  I work with struggling readers all day long and when I get home, I now have one there too.  My daughter was reading chapter books by the first grade.  It’s so hard as a mom not to compare the two kids.  At school - as a teacher - I don’t even think of comparing two kids.  Each child is unique I preach!  But then it gets personal.  

• Assess ability to read different types of texts and read in different modes: oral and silent

Measures of comprehension:

• Retelling - The student is asked to retell the passage after reading it.  We use DIBELS in the elementary ages.  I haven’t done it as frequently as a regular education teacher but I have done it enough to know that the “retell” on DIBELS is very subjective.  Maybe I would give the student a higher or lower score than another teacher.  I have never been in favor of the retell portion on DIBELS.  The QRI-5 says it is scored from a “map of important idea units contained in the passage.”  Narrative: setting/background, goal, events, and resolution.  Expository: main ideas and supporting details.  I feel like for it not to be subjective, there should be a rubric or something similar for each student and have every teacher use it.  

• Questions - The student is asked two types of questions: text-explicit questions and text-implicit (making inferences) questions.  Again, as long as there are questions and correct answers provided to all teachers, it is fair for students and I really like that they are asking both types of questions.  

• Look-backs - Grades 3-12 students can be asked to look back in the text to locate missing information or to correct erroneous answers.  Now this.  This is a skill that ALL STUDENTS should learn!  It’s everything to answering comprehension questions on daily assignments, class tests, and standardized tests.  

• Think-alouds - Grades 6-12 students can be asked to think aloud while reading.  What does that even mean?  It’s actually neat now that I have read about the QRI-5.  So, the student reads until getting to the word, “STOP” and then the examiner asks the student what he or she is thinking at that point.  A think-aloud scoring grid is provided to help examiners keep track of they type of comments made by the reader.  I LOVE this!

Source: Qualitative Reading Inventory - 5 by L. Leslie and J. Caldwell. 5th edition. Pearson Publishing (2001).

Information on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

 What is NAEP?  ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​For more than 50 years, information on what American students know and can do has been generated by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  It is the only ongoing effort to obtain comprehensive and dependable achievement data on a national basis in a uniform and scientific manner.  Commonly known as “The Nation's Report Card", NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/NAEP.aspx).

The following information is derived from Reading Framework for the 2026 National Assessment of Educational Progress, U.S. Department of Education. 

Chapter 2: The 2026 NAEP Reading Assessment - IMPORTANT FACTS

There are four key features involved in reading comprehension - contexts, readers, texts, and activities.  Reading comprehension is making meaning with text.  

*Contexts:  Contexts are shaped by how individuals interact with one another in classrooms, families, communities, and many other social and cultural experiences.  These contexts shape every aspect of reading comprehension.  Reading comprehension is needed in every, single academic setting!  I say this so many times to parents.  My struggling readers… they will need help and struggle not only in Language Arts and Reading, but also in Math, Science, and Social Studies!  

*Readers:  Readers’ motivations and purposes are impacted by their previous experiences.  They read to enjoy, to appreciate, to learn, or to gather information.  They read by themselves and with others; silently or orally; and lightly for a general impression or closely to prepare for a debate.  This is one of the MANY reasons why it is important to read to our kids at home… as soon as they are babies… start the habit of reading!  Make reading FUN!  These fun experiences impact their desire to read in the future!

*Texts:  Texts are generated by authors to communicate to readers.  They take on many forms: printed on paper, published in digital forms, images, videos, etc.  Texts are composed according to conventions tied to cultural traditions and social practices.  Texts also vary in terms of the people, points of view, and experiences that are or are not represented.  In my teaching career and as a parent of a struggling reader, I offer a variety of texts to my students and to my son.  We read novels and books in print.  We also used computer-generated reading programs.  At the school, I use Fast ForWord and Read Live with my students for digital content.  In the regular education classroom, they get NewsELA and other programs where we can set the reader’s lexile level.  At  home, my son works on ABC Mouse and watches books read aloud on YouTube with highlighted print.  There are so many options!

*Activities:  This includes all the actions readers take as they comprehend text and communicate and apply their understanding after reading by reading the actual lines, reading “between the lines” - drawing inferences, and reading “beyond the lines” - using what they know to fill in the gaps.  These activities are very, very important in learning to comprehend what students are reading.  What happens next?  What do you think will happen at the end of the story?  Defining words they don’t know the meaning of by inference.  

Updating the 2026 NAEP Reading Framework:

This one has been updated to reflect three research-based developments:  1) How students’ social and cultural experiences shape learning and development, including the learning and edevelopment of reading colmprehension; 2) How reading varies across disciplines; and 3) Regards the use of digital an dmultimodal texts.  

Why is it important to include various disciplinary texts in a reading assessment?  The importance of disciplinary reading in literature, science, and social studies to reflect the increased imkportance of disciplinary reading in schools, state standards, and large-scale reading comprehension assessments.  It involves engaging in tasks that yield new understanding, enabler problem-solving common to such contexts, and focus on historical and contemporary social issues.  Reading is the center of literary study and enjoyment.  Themes of human experience are everywhere in literature!  Nature and humanity.  Struggle and survival.  Love and friendship. Loss and betrayal.  Victory and defeat.  Mortality and meaningfulness.  Literature so often allows us opportunities to connect with cultures and experiences similar to or different from one’s own.  In relation to Science texts, learning about science in school involves the use of varied texts to describe, report, and report claims about the natural world - observation protocols, lab notes, experimental descriptions, journal articles, etc. Outside of schools, people often need science text knowledge to understand issues and solve problems.  In relation to Social Studies texts, learning about social studies in school provides an intellectual context for studying how humans have inteaacted with each other and with the environment over time.  People read a variety of texts to understand historical and contemporary issues and to solve community, national, and world problems.  

PURPOSES!  Purposes are a key component of the 2026 NAEP Reading Assessment.  There are two: broad and specific.  Broad covers reading to develop understanding and reading to solve a problem.  Specific means reading a text and given a specific goal.  

As initiated in 2017, the 2026 NAEP Reading Assessment will continue to be entirely based in a digital platform.

The purpose of the 2026 NAEP Reading Assessment is to measure students’ reading comprehension across a diverse range of test-takers.  It also employs principles of Universal Design of Assessments (UDA).  Universal Design Elements (UDEs) are design elements of the assessment environment intended to help all test takers access, organize, analyze, and express ideas when engaging in complex tasks, such as reading comprehension.  NAEP collects data to gain insight into contextual variables via questionnaires that are completed by students and school personnel.  

Why should we look at multiple pieces of information before diagnosing a reading problem?  There are multiple components to reading disorders.  So many different disorders, learning disabilities, syndromes, medical issues, non-medical issues, etc., that look similar.  The best thing we can do for our kids is to look at multiple pieces of information before offering a “diagnosis” or reason for the reading problem!  Get second, third, fourth opinions!  Get a medical professional involved if necessary!  Talk to the school’s psychiatrist, nurse, teachers!

Reading Comprehension (to me... the most important aspect of reading!!)

 Source:  Reading Rockets.

What makes a skilled reader?

Why is it that reading comes more easily to some children than others? What makes a skilled reader? Reading researchers have described skilled reading in different ways (Duke, Pearson, Strachan & Billman, 2009; Sedita, 2006; National Reading Panel, 2000), but there are abilities and behaviors that most skilled readers seem to have in common:

• A clear purpose for reading and an ability to monitor and adjust their reading to serve that purpose
• Word attack skills that allow them to accurately, and automatically decode words
• Vocabulary knowledge and oral language skills that help them understand the meaning of words and sentences
• Background knowledge, including content knowledge and literacy knowledge
• Thinking and verbal reasoning skills such as drawing inferences
• Strategies for constructing and revising meaning as they read, such as making predictions and asking questions about the text
• The motivation to read and apply what they learn

THIS!!!!!! 

Sequence and scaffold: We instinctively sequence and scaffold for our students when we plan instruction so that topics build on and reinforce one another. Taking time to review and reactivate content covered in previous lessons before introducing new information is another way to build from one lesson to the next.

Graphic Organizers are LIFE-SAVERS when teaching ..... especially special education or below grade level readers and writers!

Teaching Vocabulary.... LOVE THIS EXAMPLE!!!!!!!!!

 

VOCABULARY and its importance in READING...

Source:  A Closer Look at the Five Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction: A Review of

Scientifically Based Reading Research for Teachers (2004).  Copyright © 2004 Learning Point

Associates.

What Is Vocabulary and How Is it Important in Learning to Read?  The term vocabulary refers to words we need to know to communicate with others. There are four types of vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening and speaking vocabularies are sometimes referred to collectively as oral vocabulary.

Vocabulary also plays an important role in comprehension. 

INSTRUCTION of vocabulary:

Vocabulary should be taught directly even though a great deal of vocabulary is learned indirectly.

Effective vocabulary instruction includes teaching new words directly by providing explicit,

clearly written definitions and well-chosen examples and non-examples, as well as helping

students learn words indirectly by teaching word-learning strategies students can use to learn

words on their own.

My middle school students relate better to new vocabulary when it is introduced before a short story or novel and then readdressed as it is read.  I find that my students who are given just a random set of vocabulary lists to memorize... is just that... memorization.  They memorize it long enough to take a test and then never are able to relate it to their lives.  Yes, they need to HEAR new vocabulary on a DAILY BASIS but if they are not given the opportunity to associate the new words in "real life" situations, they don't remember it as well.  Former colleagues of mine used something called "Wordly Wise" and I believe that for advanced placement students (honors/ gifted), this is a wonderful program.  But, for the average student, and especially the special needs (below reading level) student, these words are just not "relatable."  

Selecting the Right Words to Teach

Part of teaching vocabulary is deciding which words will be introduced and taught directly.

Because it is not possible to spend time on all of the words children need to learn, teachers will

need to select which words are worth teaching directly. Here are the criteria (adapted from Graves,

Effective Reading Instruction? 28 Juel, & Graves, 1998) for narrowing the list of vocabulary words and

deciding which words to teach:

Identify the words students do not know. Preview what students will be asked to read and identify

words they probably will not know. Prior experience with a specific group of students enables

the teacher to predict which words they will find difficult.

Identify the more important words. From the list of words, they are not likely to know, identify

words that are critical to understanding the text. Words with multiple meanings may be

particularly difficult for children to learn, so extra attention should be given to words that have

more than one meaning.

Identify the words students may not be able to figure out on their own. Eliminate words they can

figure out through context or structural analysis. If the textbook uses the word in a way that

clearly states its meaning, it will probably not have to be taught directly. Likewise, if the word

contains word parts they know or its base or root word is obvious, then students should be

encouraged to learn its meaning by analyzing the word’s structure rather than through direct

teaching of the word.

Identify words students will encounter frequently. Determine how frequently the remaining words

appear outside the text. Those that appear more frequently outside the text to be read may

deserve an additional explanation to ensure that students will transfer their understanding of the

words to other texts and settings.

Sample Fluency Lesson Plan - Early Readers

 Sample Fluency Lesson Plan - Early Readers

Activities for Fluency! 

Fluency Awareness: Timed or not timed? A topic of discussion and debate!

Fluency Awareness Discussion.... join in!  I need your thoughts!!  I am not only a special education reading teacher and see struggling readers on a daily basis, but I have a 6-year-old son who is currently struggling to read.  It's personal.

https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101-course/modules/fluency/in-depth

Fluency develops gradually over time and with practice. Early in reading development, oral reading is slow and labored because students are just learning to "break the code" — to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.

Fluency will vary based on what kind of text is being read, how familiar the student is with the vocabulary, and how much practice they've had in reading aloud.

Automaticity refers only to accurate, speedy word recognition, not to reading passages or connected text with ease and good expression.

Fluency rate (speed) is less important than accuracy and ease of reading. When students are being timed, they may believe that speed is the goal. The fluency rate that we should measure is the speed at which the student is reading accurately and with reasonable expression. Sometimes that means slowing kids down in order to read the big and little words accurately!

YES to the above!!!!  I whole-heartedly believe this!  We are told to "find their fluency" or "make an IEP goal for fluency" - but they want it timed.   How many words correct per minute!?  Who cares!?  Who cares how fast they read?  I want them to read with accuracy with appropriate pauses, yes.  But I personally don't want to focus on how fast they can do it.  I want to know... they read it accurately, smoothly, and most of all... they can retell.  What did they read?  Did they comprehend it?  What's the point in timing a reading if when they are finished they are so focused on speed they have NO IDEA what they read?  What are your thoughts?  Agree?  Disagree?

Researchers have found several effective techniques related to repeated oral reading:

• Students read and reread a text a certain number of times or until a certain level of fluency is reached. Four re-readings are sufficient for most students.
• Oral reading practice is increased through the use of audio recordings, tutors, peer guidance, or other means.

How do I find my students’ fluency score?

One-minute reading: Total words read (minus) errors made = words correct per minute.

1. Select a 100-word passage from a grade-level text.
2. Have individual students read each passage aloud for exactly one minute.
3. Count the total number of words the student read for each passage.
4. Count the number of errors the student made on each passage.
5. Subtract the number of errors read per minute from the total number of words read per minute. The result is the average number of words correct per minute (WCPM).
6. Repeat the procedure several times during the year. Graphing students' WCPM throughout the year easily captures their reading growth.

How many words per minute should my students be reading? 

1. First grade: 60 words (read correctly by the end of the year)*  To give you an idea.... my son is in the first grade and granted it's the beginning of the year... but his average is 8 CWPM when timed.  He STRESSES when I hit the start arrow on my phone.  His body tenses up, he scoots to the edge of his seat.... it's heartbreaking. I don't want him to hate reading.  Oh... I am a READER.   I LOVE to read.  Fall weather.  Coffee.  Good book.  YES!  I want him to love it too!  He loves to be read to.... I don't want the timed fluency goals to be detrimental to his love of reading!
2. Second grade: 100 words (read correctly by the end of the year)*
3. Third grade: 112 words (read correctly by the end of the year)*

* 50th percentile

See the 2017 Fluency Norms Chart by Hasbrouck and Tindal for the complete set of scores. Learn more in the article, Understanding and Assessing Fluency.

Good fluency instruction:

• Provides children with opportunities to read and reread a range of stories and informational texts by reading on their own, partner reading, or choral reading.
• Introduces new or difficult words to children, and provides practice reading these words before they read on their own.
• Includes opportunities for children to hear a range of texts read fluently and with expression.
• Encourages periodically timing a child's oral reading and then recording information about the student's reading rate and accuracy, to help monitor the student's progress.

Activities to increase fluency

Student–adult reading

In student–adult reading, the student reads one-on-one with an adult. The adult can be you, a parent, a classroom aide, or a tutor. The adult reads the text first, providing the students with a model of fluent reading. Then the student reads the same passage to the adult with the adult providing assistance and encouragement. The student rereads the passage until the reading is quite fluent. This should take approximately three to four re-readings. Re-readings may occur across multiple instructional sessions or days.  I do this on a nightly basis with my son.

Choral reading

In choral, or unison, reading, students read along as a group with you (or another fluent adult reader). Of course, to do so, students must be able to see the same text that you are reading. They might follow along as you read from a big book, or they might read from their own copy of the book you are reading. For choral reading, choose a book that is not too long and that you think is at the independent reading level of most students. Patterned or predictable books are particularly useful for choral reading, because their repetitious style invites students to join in. Begin by reading the book aloud as you model fluent reading.  I do this in my special education sixth-grade resource (small group) reading class weekly.

Then reread the book and invite students to join in as they recognize the words you are reading. Continue rereading the book, encouraging students to read along as they are able. Students should read the book with you three to five times total (though not necessarily on the same day). At this time, students should be able to read the text independently.

You might also try a variation called Echo Reading, where you read a section of the text aloud and then invite the students to repeat the passage.  I do this with my son, Maverick, as well.

Audio-assisted reading

In audio-assisted reading, students read along in their books as they hear a fluent reader read the book on an audio recording. You'll need a book at a student's independent reading level and a tape recording of the book read by a fluent reader at about 80-100 words per minute. The recording should not have sound effects or music. For the first reading, the student should follow along with the recording, pointing to each word in her or his book as the reader reads it. Next, the student should try to read aloud along with the audio. Reading along with the audio should continue until the student is able to read the book independently, without the support of the recording.  Love this too!!  I do this with both my students and my kiddo :)

Partner reading

In partner reading, paired students take turns reading aloud to each other. For partner reading, more fluent readers can be paired with less fluent readers. The stronger reader reads a paragraph or page first, providing a model of fluent reading. Then the less fluent reader reads the same text aloud. The stronger student gives help with word recognition and provides feedback and encouragement to the less fluent partner. The less fluent partner rereads the passage until he or she can read it independently. Partner reading need not be done with a more and less fluent reader. In another form of partner reading, children who read at the same level are paired to reread a story that they have received instruction on during a teacher-guided part of the lesson. Two readers of equal ability can practice rereading after hearing the teacher read the passage.

Readers' theatre

In readers' theatre, students rehearse and perform a play for peers or others. They read from scripts that have been derived from books that are rich in dialogue. Students play characters who speak lines or a narrator who shares necessary background information. Costumes, props, and other aspects of performing a play do not necessarily have to be used. The point of readers' theatre is to provide children with a legitimate reason to reread text and to practice fluency. Readers' theatre also promotes cooperative interaction with peers and makes the reading task appealing.  When I taught high school, we did this and it was very helpful and the students liked the differentiated learning!

Several variants of reader’s theatre can also be useful. For example, in radio reading, children record their reading with sound effects, like an old-time radio show. In another variant, children perform a text for younger children. This variant can be especially useful for struggling readers. For example, a fourth-grade poor reader may still read much better than a typical first-grader and may be able to read books at that level quite fluently to a younger child. The ability to read well to a younger student provides an opportunity for the older child to “shine” and may be very motivating.