Reading is a lot more than just reading words. When I analyze a student's reading (formally or informally), there are 4 different components that I am looking at.
1. Accuracyreading words. For the text level to be at their Instructional reading level (the level they can be taught at), the student must read 90-94% of the words correctly at levels A-K and 95-97% of the words correctly at levels L-Z. If the child has higher accuracy it may be considered their Independent reading level (they can read it on their own). If their accuracy rating is below that range it is their frustration level, meaning it is too hard at this time.
2. Self-correction rate- If a reader makes a mistake, do they notice and do they fix it? We all make mistakes when reading, but good readers self-correct their mistakes. The goal is for children to self-correct, so without prompting, at least 1 out of every 3 errors made. Students should be monitoring their reading and asking themselves: Did that sound right? Did that look right? If not go back and try it again.
3. Fluencyrate. Did they sound smooth? Did they attend to punctuation? Did they use expression and intonation appropriately? We use the Fountas & Pinnell Fluency rubric to determine fluency rate. Students should score a 2-3 on the rubric at their instructional reading level.
4. Comprehension - The students should show understanding of the text including important information, key understandings, main ideas. Students are asked to think within the text (literal interpretation), beyond the text (deeper understanding), and about the text (text structure). If you can read all the words but don't understand the story then it is too hard or needs more work.