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 Department
of Language EducationPracticum in Language X425/L525 Dr. Hope Elkins, Ph.D. |
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Purpose Learners who fail in reading often fail in other areas of their lives. Thus, praise for each academic gain is essential to success in remedial instruction if deep-seated insecurities are to be overcome. Progress charts can be helpful in this regard for they offer the teacher a practical way of commending and recording learner achievement so the learner will be stimulated to continued effort.
Rationale A progress chart not only shows in a concrete way what the learner is accomplishing, but Is a means of recognizing that what the learner thinks is important and respected. In addition, charts provide the teacher a ready and ongoing account of how the learner is doing.
Intended Audience Progress charts can be adapted to the age and interests of any learner.
Strategy Description Charts can be attractively devised to show number of pages, stories, or books read; number of new words, word families, or phonic elements learned; comprehension accuracy; development in reading rate; or decrease in number of errors made in oral reading. Generally each goal you and the learner agree on should be recorded on a separate sheet -- though the examples below are possible exceptions. It is not unusual for learners to pursue three or four goals at a time. Usually when a goal is reached a new one should be established.
Making Progress Charts - With young learners stick-on (or drawn) colored stars, bunnies, dogs, cats (or other animals), pine trees, flowers, (or suitable flora) can be used. A rubber stamp that says GOOD! can be effective. Older learners, of course, require more sophisticated rewards. Frequently, rather than using teacher-made charts, it is instructive to let the learners make their own. Although their charts may sometimes seem crude compared to those made by the teacher, often the natural, uninhibited creativity of learners will produce charts of unique charm. And such efforts will mean more to the learner than, perhaps, the less personal teacher-made charts. The improvement increments shown on the chart should be small enough to allow progress to be recorded at frequent intervals. Also, it is better to have learners compete against their own records than against those of other learners. If a group is fairly homogenous, however, a chart that compares the progress of all the learners can sometimes be used to foster motivation (See Harris and Sipay, 1985, pp. 332-333.) Skill development will be more readily achieved if the reading material and charts relate to specific learner interests. Perhaps a learner has an avid interest in car racing. The learner's progress, using reading material on this subject, could be shown on a chart containing a race track, with proper markings, around which three for four stick-on paper-made cars (each representing a particular skill, for example) could be moved. If the Indianapolis 500 races are about to occur, cut from newspapers or magazines, laminate on pieces of poster board, and properly shape, pictures of the racing stare or their cars that can be used as progress indicators. When the project is finished, the learner might like to have the chart to post in his room at home.
Classroom Adaptation Progress charts can be used with a single learner, a small group, or an entire class. The following examples show how charts for individual learners can be adapted to various situations. 1. If a child likes dogs -- and most do, draw on stiff paper and cut out the head and tail portions of a dachshund and stick them together on a chart that has room in which to grow (the stick-ons must be movable). The inside of a file folder containing the child's name could also be used. Then, say, for each book the child reads, a stick-on segment stating the author's name, book title, and date read can be added to the dog's body. Children love to watch the dog get longer and longer! In addition, segments might be added each time the child convinces a peer to read one of the books. The size of the segments should vary according to the significance of the achievement. Such a chart could be used in competitions between two groups in a class. With the charts posted for all to see, the members of each group would work together to make their dog grow longer and faster than the dog in the other group. The teacher should be careful, however, that the competition does not discourage those children in special need of encouragement. This strategy would also work using worms or trains.
2. Launching a space-age theme might be an attractive idea for some learners. If interested, ask a learner to draw his/her perception of the earth on the inside of a file folder which you circle and mark off in quarters as shown below. Place at the starting point (top) a paper or cardboard stick-on space shuttle made by the learner. Then when the child reads a book, move the shuttle to the next quarter point and record on the "Space Log" (see below) the date read, book title, and (as an astronaut might do) any observations the learner may have about the book: "It's a little scary;" "The dog saves the man's life;" "The story sounds like my family." The number of orbits the shuttle makes could be tallied at the bottom of the page. This type of chart could be used by class groups to record how well a predetermined number of books expected to be read in a specified period of time is progressing. Those completing the task might be made honorary space shuttle passengers by having their self-drawn pictures (head only) and name tags placed on a space-suited body in a large shuttle mounted somewhere in the room. Also, such space-shuttle memorabilia as postcards, posters, or badges (obtainable from NASA in Orlando, Florida or Houston, Texas) could be offered as rewards.
3. Seasonal charts (building a snowman, putting blossoms on a tree, scoring a tennis game, placing pumpkins in a field) can be effective. A chart for games, football for example, might be designed in this way: Post on a wall a large piece of green fabric (a remnant, perhaps) or paper in the shape of a football field. Let the learners decide if they want to be a player, coach, referee, cheerleader, or spectator. After this have the learners construct these characters, each holding a score card covered with clear contact paper, and place them at the top of the chart as shown. As each learner reads a book, points would be added to the score card and the book titles attached below. The points -- 2 for a safety, 3 for a field goal, and 6 for a touchdown -- could be based on, a. The learner's reading ability with compensation provided
- An additional point could be allowed if the reader convinces a peer to read the book. Use a grease pencil that can be erased with a paper towel to keep a running score. The book titles, written on a card shaped like a football, should include author's name and the date the reading of the book was completed. As an option, learners could keep reading records on their own play-by-play or game-plan folder if they wish.
Comments: disted@indiana.edu Copyright 1998, The Trustees of Indiana University
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