Let Me Tell You A Story...

This board is a standards-based "reading" board "Getting the Meaning". It states:
We expect kindergarten students to read "emergently" - that is "reread" a favorite story, re-creating the words of the text with fluent intonation and phrasing and showing through verbal statements or occasional pointing that they understand that the print on the the page controls what is said."

After hearing the book Goldilocks and the Three Bears several times, three children at different emergent reading levels were invited to retell the story during a reading conference. The children retold the story into a tape player and it was transcribed. The bulletin board features the same part of the story retold three different ways by these three children.

How does it start? After children have heard a story several times, they are tested on what is called a "Sulzby Level." This Sulzby Level can range from a score from one to eleven. When a child reaches a level of seven to eleven, the reading is governed by print. They are ready for conventional reading and he/she is tested on a Level A via a "running record".

How about the scores from one to six? If a child scores a 1 or 2 the story is not formed and the reading is governed by the pictures. For instance, "Look at her eating the food." A score of 3 or 4 is the story is formed, reading is governed by pictures and reading sounds like oral language. The child will use dialogic story telling (uses dialogue without the"he said" or "she said." For example, "I'm going to sit in this chair." Finally, a score of 5, 6, or 7 is the story is formed, reading is governed by the pictures, and it sounds like story language. For instance, "Goldilocks said, "This chair is much too soft."

What were the bulletin board results? The first piece on the bulletin board scored a 1. During his retelling the story was not formed and pictures were labeled, "She did that one and it just doesn't definitely feel good."

The second piece scored a 3. He used dialogic story telling in his retelling - "Goldilocks saw porridge. She gobbled the little one up."

The third piece scored a 7. He started with story language, "Once upon a time..." and his retelling sounded like he was reading the story. He was given a running record and is now reading on a Level B... now that feels juuuust right!!