Session 5: What to Measure – Informal Reading Inventories

What to Measure

Informal Reading Inventories

  • Informal Reading Inventories (IRI)
  • Using an IRI to Determine Reading Levels
  • Example Administration Using the Qualitative Reading Inventory 7th Edition
  • Scoring an IRI

 

Materials

 

Define Session Goals

  • Explain what an IRI assesses.
  • Explain how to determine a student’s reading level using an IRI.
  • Define independent, instructional and frustration reading levels.
  • Explain the purpose of an IRI word list.
  • Analyze data from an IRI.
  • Interpret data from an IRI.

 

Define an Informal Reading Inventory IRI (slides 4-9)

  • Ask if anyone has administered an IRI (raise hands).
  • Review slides 4-9.
    • Stress the importance of learning the manual as all IRIs are slightly different (slide 4).
    • Explain to start with a word list that will result in success (approximately 2 grade levels behind – slide 5.
    • Introduce the Qualitative Reading Inventory 7th edition as you review tips (slide 6).
    • Explain reading levels (slide 7).
    • Review the purpose of word lists (slide 8).
    • Show video on administering an IRI.
    • Walk through the flow chart on slide 9.
  • Ask participants to reflect on their IRI experiences with a neighbor.
  • Discuss as a group how participants have used IRIs in the past.

 

IRI Practice Data (slides 10-22)

 

Word List Data (slides 10-12)

 

  • Handout the IRI Practice Data Packet.
  • Review directions for word list administration (slide 10-11).
    • Refer participants to their sample Word List Data in their IRI Practice Data packet.
    • Inform participants the student is in the 2nd grade.
    • In groups of 2-3 ask to discuss what they notice about word list errors.
    • Discuss as a whole group.
      • Identifying first sound, many identified are not automatically identified in later grade lists.

 

Introduce Reading Passages (slides 13-14)

  • Review passages on an IRI (slides 13-14).
    • Ask why we would want to assess silent reading comprehension, oral reading comprehension and listening comprehension?
    • Review video on scoring an IRI.
    • Ask if there are questions.

 

Miscue Practice (slides 15-17)

  • Review miscues directions from the Qualitative Reading Inventory (slide 15 & 16) included in their packet.
  • Role-play miscue practice
    • Ask participants to read the passage in their packets in pairs.
    • Role play with one person as the child and the other as the teacher.
    • Remind the participant reading (role playing the child) to make errors.
    • Remind the participant role playing as teacher to mark errors.
    • Ask participants to switch roles.
    • After each person has read, ask them to calculate scores and put them in the box located on the page with the passage in their packet (slide 17).
    • Ask them to rate the prosody using the rubric on the page of the passage in the packet (slide 17).
  • In the whole group, ask how they felt scoring the passage
  • Discuss the importance of practice scoring miscues and the need to know your students
    • Explain that students who have dialect or articulation differences should not be penalized if errors are consistent indicating a pattern in speech production

 

Example Passage: Interpreting Ailyn’s IRI Data (slides 18-22)

  • Ailyn is in the 2nd grade. In groups of 2-3, ask participants to review all of Ailyn’s data.
  • Review the questions in the packet.
    1. What do these scores suggest about Ailyn’s reading level?
      • Discuss miscues.
      • Responses to comprehension questions.
    2. What would you do next?
    3. What are important instructional targets for Ailyn?
  • Discuss the usefulness of this information.
  • Discuss the comprehensiveness of an IRI.
  • Discuss whether the IRI measures skills consistent with the Simple View of Reading.
  • Discuss any additional information needed to make instructional decisions for Ailyn.
    • Additional information on decoding (e.g., nonsense word measure).

 

Review Culminating Project

  • Review the culminating project guidelines as they pertain to IRIs.
  • Ask participants what IRI they have access to.
  • Ask them to administer the assessment prior to the next session and complete the summary table with the information gathered from the IRI.
  • Ask them to bring the table to the next session with any questions about interpretations.