Teacher Placement Steps - Renaissance...
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Fluent Reader ® Teacher Placement Steps Name: ______________________________ ' 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc. 1. Estimate your students independent reading level. Choose one of these levels: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, or 7.0. For example, choose 2.0 if the student is reading at about the level of a second grader at the beginning of the year. Print from the software two copies of the placement passage from the level that matches your estimate of the students independent reading level, one copy for you and one for the student. 2. Time the student reading aloud for one minute. As the student reads, circle his errors. Errors are : These are NOT errors : Mispronunciations Repetitions Out-of-sequence words Self-corrections Substitutions Insertions Words you supply 3. Count the total number of words the student read and write it below. Subtract the number of errors to determine the total words read correctly. Total words read: ______________ Minus number of errors: ______________ Total words read correctly: ______________ 4. Confirm your estimate of the students independent reading level by figuring out the students accuracy percentage. Do this by dividing the total words read correctly by the total words read. If this percentage is about 95 or higher, the student is probably reading at his independent level. If the student has an accuracy percentage lower than 95, have him try reading a passage at a lower level. The goal is to place the student at a level that provides both challenge and success. Its better to place a student at too low a level, ensuring his success, than too high a level, which will be frustrating and lower his motivation. If the student is reading at level 2.5 or lower and you want to reinforce specific phonics patterns as he uses Fluent Reader, you may want to place him in one of the phonics levels. 5. Set the students goal at 30 words above the total words read correctly. For example, if the student read 40 words correctly, his goal for the level is 70 words per minute. Note that if students are reading at sequenced levels 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 and are reading quickly and accurately, their goal may exceed the number of words in the passage. If this happens, move the student to the next higher level.
Transcript of Teacher Placement Steps - Renaissance...
Fluent Reader® Teacher Placement Steps
Name: ______________________________
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
1. Estimate your student�s independent reading level. Choose one of these levels: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, or 7.0. For example, choose 2.0 if the student is reading at about the level of a second grader at the beginning of the year. Print from the software two copies of the placement passage from the level that matches your estimate of the student�s independent reading level, one copy for you and one for the student.
2. Time the student reading aloud for one minute. As the student reads, circle his errors.
Errors are: These are NOT errors: Mispronunciations Repetitions Out-of-sequence words Self-corrections Substitutions Insertions Words you supply
3. Count the total number of words the student read and write it below. Subtract the number of errors to determine the total words read correctly.
Total words read: ______________ Minus number of errors: ______________ Total words read correctly: ______________
4. Confirm your estimate of the student�s independent reading level by figuring out the student�s accuracy percentage. Do this by dividing the total words read correctly by the total words read. If this percentage is about 95 or higher, the student is probably reading at his independent level. If the student has an accuracy percentage lower than 95, have him try reading a passage at a lower level.
The goal is to place the student at a level that provides both challenge and success. It�s better to place a student at too low a level, ensuring his success, than too high a level, which will be frustrating and lower his motivation. If the student is reading at level 2.5 or lower and you want to reinforce specific phonics patterns as he uses Fluent Reader, you may want to place him in one of the phonics levels.
5. Set the student�s goal at 30 words above the total words read correctly. For example, if the student read 40 words correctly, his goal for the level is 70 words per minute.
Note that if students are reading at sequenced levels 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 and are reading quickly and accurately, their goal may exceed the number of words in the passage. If this happens, move the student to the next higher level.
Fluent Reader®
1.0 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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A Walk in the Rain ForestSelection adapted from A Walk in the Rain Forest, by Rebecca Johnson. AR Quiz #47355
The rain forest is full of life. It is warm and wet. Treesand plants grow everywhere. They are very green.Animals hide in the leaves. The bright sun is hot. The airfeels sticky. The water looks muddy. The rain forest hasmany sounds. Bugs buzz and hum. A monkey sits on abranch. It is howling.
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Fluent Reader®
1.5 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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Round and Round the Money GoesSelection adapted from Round and Round the Money Goes, by Melvin/Gilda Berger. AR Quiz #31028
Long ago there was no money. People grew or madewhat they needed. Then things changed. People neededother things. So they traded. But trading wasn't easy. What if afarmer wanted a coat? What if a weaver wanted a cow? Acow is worth more than a coat. Then someone had an idea. What about trading forshells? After that, people paid for the things they wantedwith shells.
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Fluent Reader®
2.0 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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SpidersSelection adapted from Spiders (The New Creepy Crawly Collection), by Enid Fisher. AR Quiz #12304
Life is hard for spiders. Brooms sweep away their homes.Careless feet stomp them. Scared people smack them. But housespiders are usually harmless. In fact, they are very useful. Theycatch bugs. This is one reason not to kill spiders. Instead, spiders can betrapped. This is easy to do. If you see one, slide a piece of paperunder it. Then, quickly cover it with a drinking glass. Carry itoutside to let it go. It won't bother you anymore.
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Fluent Reader®
2.5 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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Ella Fitzgerald shifted from foot to foot. It was time to go onstage for the first time ever. She wondered what she was doingthere. She was not a performer. She was only sixteen years old.Ella and her girlfriends all wanted to get on stage for amateurnight. They drew straws, and she won. She peeked out at the people staring at the stage. Her namewas called. She was supposed to dance. Her legs turned to water,and she couldn't move. The curtain opened. Frozen, she began tosing.
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Ella FitzgeraldSelection adapted from Ella Fitzgerald, by Bud Kliment. AR Quiz #8308
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Fluent Reader®
3.0 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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BicyclesSelection adapted from Bicycles, by Beth Stevens. AR Quiz #2202
The first bicycles were made of wood, and they were heavy. Thesebicycles didn't have tires filled with air. The seats weren't soft either. The idea for bicycles started in France in the 1700s. A man watchedchildren ride wooden horses. He thought adults should have something toride too. So he built a big wooden horse on wheels. While sitting on thehorse, he had to push with his feet. It had no pedals, and he couldn't steerit. He couldn't even stop! In time, handlebars were added to make thefront wheel turn. People thought bicycles were wonderful.
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Fluent Reader®
3.5 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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Bizarre BirdsSelection adapted from Bizarre Birds, by Doug Wechsler. AR Quiz #30310
The kakapo is a rare bird of New Zealand. In 1999, only fifty werestill alive. It is a strange creature. This heavy bird barely leaves the ground. It can glide only a shortway. It sleeps during the day. At night, it digs a hole in the ground andsits in it. The bird balloons itself up. Then it bellows calls across theforest. Sometimes, it calls out a thousand times an hour. Like many other flightless birds, the kakapo has suffered frompredators brought to its homeland by people. Cats and rats can walk rightinto the ground nests to eat its eggs or young.
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Fluent Reader®
4.0 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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The Red SeaSelection adapted from The Red Sea, by Leighton Taylor. AR Quiz #26513
Imagine a sea filled with bright fish. It is surrounded by desert sandsand mountains. Camels spot the land, and ancient temples dot the shore.What you've imagined actually exists today. It is the Red Sea. Sometimes the Red Sea's waters are blue like most oceans, but at othertimes, the waters look reddish. That's because tiny red sea plants bloomthere in great numbers. The red color gave the sea its name. Thousands of years ago, humans lived on its shores. They sailed andfished its waters. It became a center of trade. Today nations such as Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia touch its banks.It remains a seaway for the world.
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Fluent Reader®
4.5 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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From Smoke Signals to EmailSelection adapted from From Smoke Signals to Email, by Shirley Jordan. AR Quiz #2411
Native Americans had many ways of announcing important events andtelling ideas. Sometimes, they sent runners from village to village. Other times,they used the sun's rays. Using mirrors made of shiny mica, they talkedwith flashes of light. At other times, they used hand signals. Hunters used sign language tokeep from scaring away animals. Sign language was helpful whendifferent tribes met. Every tribe understood hand signs for peace or help. Fire was also used for messages. Sometimes men stood high on a hillholding up torches. One torch might send the message "enemy coming."Two or more might mean something else. One of their favorite ways to send messages was by smoke signals.
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Fluent Reader®
5.0 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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Up, Up, and AwaySelection adapted from Hot Air Ballooning, by Christie Costanzo. AR Quiz #4594
The sun had just risen over the distant mountains. A purple, pink, andyellow hot air balloon, waiting to fly, rested in a grassy meadow. Thewicker basket was held by five members of the ground crew. With a twist of the valve on the propane burner, the pilot sent a blast offire up into the balloon. Instantly, the noise from the burner roared. Afterthe flames heated the air trapped in the balloon, the giant bag of hot airstrained upward. "Hands off!" the pilot ordered. The ground crew released the balloonand stepped back. Slowly, soundlessly, the balloon lifted skyward. Soonthe houses below looked like game-board pieces. "We are higher than the birds!" a passenger exclaimed. They keptclimbing higher.
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Fluent Reader®
5.5 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. HelensSelection adapted from Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens, by Patricia Lauber.
AR Quiz #6745
The volcano Mount St. Helens was built by eruptions over thousandsof years. In each eruption, hot rock inside the earth forced its way to thesurface. The rock, called magma, was so hot that it was melted, and gaseswere trapped inside it. When such rock reaches the surface, it is calledlava. The lava flowed out of the volcano, cooled, and hardened. In time thelava built a mountain with a crater at its top. Over the years St. Helensgrew to a height of almost ten thousand feet. Its peak was often hidden byclouds. For many years the volcano slept, but on March 20, 1980, the volcanowas shaken by a strong earthquake. The quake was a sign of movementinside St. Helens. It was a sign that the waking volcano would soon eruptagain.
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Fluent Reader®
6.0 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
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Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest StormsSelection adapted from Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms, by Patricia Lauber. AR Quiz #18253
The storm was born in the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Noone saw or tracked it. In 1938 weather satellites did not exist, and no shipcame upon the young storm. Unseen, it began a long journey. Winds shoved the storm westward across the Atlantic. As it traveled,the storm absorbed warm, moist air. It grew into a huge mass of darkclouds. Within the clouds, lightning crackled, thunder crashed, and sheetsof rain fell. The powerful storm whirled toward North America. By thetime it drew near, it was a full-strength hurricane, carrying winds of atleast 75 miles an hour. First word of the storm came by radio after a Brazilian freighter metthe hurricane winds and heavy seas. In Florida, scientists began fittingreports together, learning that a monster hurricane was bearing down onthem. Unless it changed course, it would strike Miami.
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Fluent Reader®
7.0 Sequenced Level Placement Passage
© 2004 by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
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Stinky and Stringy: Stem & Bulb VegetablesSelection adapted from Stinky and Stringy: Stem & Bulb Vegetables, by Meredith Hughes. AR Quiz #4456
Onions have been tugged out of the ground for centuries. Long beforepeople knew how to grow grains and to raise animals for food, peoplecould find wild onions. The onions' strong smell led people to them.They were fairly close to the surface, so they were easy to gather. Over three thousand years ago, the Sumerians mentioned food in theirwritings. Onions were noted as a favorite seasoning. A record keepernoted that the governor used the fields around the temple for plantingonions. Egyptian wall paintings as far back as 2700 B.C., show onions atbanquets. Onions were also found among mummies and were used aspart of the embalming process. Tomb-building workers were eatingonions, too. Markings on pyramids tell how many onions workers ate.Starting in about 2600 B.C. sailors took onions on board for lengthy seavoyages, because the vegetable was known to prevent a disease calledscurvy. The onion remains popular today.
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