Revised 7/22/2012 1

Reading by Third Grade: Key Characteristics of Proficient Readers

Designed for Tulsa Reads Collaborative

(Draft 3-21-12, revised 3-27-12, 3-28-12, 3-29-12, 4-20-12, 4-26-12, 5-24-12, 7-22-12)

Introduction

“Reading is an active and complex process that involves understanding written text; developing and interpreting

meaning; and using meaning as appropriate to type of text, purpose, and situation.” (2009 NAEP Framework)

Proficiency in this complex process is difficult to measure and should not be measured in a single assessment

(e.g., the third grade state reading test). The Tulsa Reads Collaborative recommends development of individual

ongoing student portfolios (pre-kindergarten-third grade) documenting evidence of these key characteristics of

proficient reading. Evidence can be gathered throughout the school year as well as through summer programs

and can be drawn from observations, small group instruction, a variety of assessments, and student work

samples.

Proficient readers demonstrate these key characteristics:

o Fluency: Reading fluently (easily) with speed, accuracy and expression. “Fluency is important in the development of higher-order literacy proficiencies.” Fluency enables

readers “to think about ideas, emotions, and images found in the text.” (Allington 2006)

o Self-Correction: Employing a full-range of self-monitoring and correcting strategies. “When anything becomes confusing to a reader and they stop to figure out "What message is the author

trying to convey?" they are self-correcting. Sometimes it is obvious and the reader rereads the last word

they’ve read in the proper way and moves on. Sometimes, they need to go back a ways to see what the

message is.” (Dr. Marie Clay, Reading Recovery Council of North America)

o Comprehension: Utilizing a full-range of metacognitive (thinking) strategies. “These strategies form the core of a very effective comprehension curriculum:” making connections

between the new and the known, building and activating background knowledge, generating questions

before, during, and after reading to go deeper into the text, determining important information,

combining background knowledge with information from the text to predict, conclude, make judgments,

interpret, creating mental images, and synthesizing meaning by combining understanding with

knowledge from other texts and sources. (Keene and Zimmermann 2007)

o A Range of Reading: Reading “widely and wildly” (DeGoede 2010). Reading broadly in print and non-print texts (both literature and informational) helps students build an

understanding of texts, of themselves, of the many dimensions of human experience, and of the cultures

of the United States and the world. (IRA/NCTE Standards for English Language Arts)

o An Expansive Vocabulary: Utilizing expanding vocabulary skills and knowledge in context. “…Learning about words in school can be the beginning of students’ lifelong fascination with words.

Vocabulary instruction that inspires such fascination needs to be robust: vigorous, strong, and powerful

in effect. It also needs to be interactive and motivating.” (Beck, McKeown, and Kucan, 2002)

o Communication Capabilities: Engaging in discussions, conversations, presentations, and writing about reading.

Discussing and/or using writing are “way(s) to compose meaning …generate as well as respond to

questions…and listen and respond to divergent ideas and different voices.” (Calkins 2001)

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Characteristics and Standards for Proficient Reading

Fluency: Reading fluently (easily) with speed, accuracy and expression.

o Read with sufficient accuracy (using context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and

understanding, rereading as necessary) and fluency (appropriate rate and expression) to support

comprehension in on-level texts, which includes literature and informational texts.

o Use phonics and word analysis skills to decode words i.e., meaning of common prefixes/

derivational suffixes, common Latin suffixes, multi-syllable words, irregularly-spelled words.

(Common Core Reading Standards Foundational Skills)

Self-Correction: Employing a full-range of self-monitoring and correcting strategies.

o Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

(Common Core Reading Standards Foundational Skills)

o Apply a variety of word analysis strategies to determine word- and sentence-level meanings e.g.,

decoding, re-reading, using context clues

o Apply strategies for monitoring and revising thinking to achieve text-level meanings. (Keene and

Zimmerman 2007)

Comprehension: Utilizing a full-range of metacognitive (thinking) strategies.

o Ask questions -seek out information, solve problems, extend understanding

o Visualize -create sensory images from the text

o Make connections -think about what you already know, connect the new to the known

o Determine importance -learn and remember important information from the text

o Summarize – paraphrase important information

o Infer -draw conclusions, predict, integrate background knowledge with clues in the text

o Synthesize -create meaning, analyze and evaluate information, change thinking based on the text

A Range of Reading: Reading “widely and wildly” in print and non-print texts.

o Read and comprehend literature (stories, dramas, poetry) and informational texts (history/social

studies, science, technical) independently and proficiently. (Common Core Reading Standards)

An Expansive Vocabulary: Utilizing expanding vocabulary skills and knowledge in context

o Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and subject-

specific (mathematics, art, world language, history, etc.) vocabulary and phrases. (Common Core

State Standards)

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o Interpret vocabulary and phrases as they are used in a text by determining meanings of words,

distinguishing literal from non-literal, identifying real-life connections between words and their

uses, discriminating shades of meaning among related words. (Common Core State Standards)

o In writing and speaking, choose vocabulary and phrases for effect. (Common Core State

Standards)

Communication Capabilities: Engaging in discussions, conversations, presentations and writing about

reading

o Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners, building on

others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and asking and answering questions about

information with appropriate elaboration and detail. (Common Core State Standards)

o Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant

descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace. (Common Core State Standards)

o Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading or listening.

(Common Core State Standards)

o Read literature (stories, dramas, poetry) and use writing and/or speaking:

 Recount stories and determine their central message, theme, or moral and be able to

explain how they are conveyed through key details in the text

 Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems, using terms like chapter, scene, stanza.

 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters

 Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by

words in the story (mood, aspects of character, setting)

 Compare and contrast themes, settings, and plots of stories

o Read informational texts and use writing and/or speaking:

 Ask and answer questions, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

 Determine the main idea and key details from the text, explaining how the details support

the main idea.

 Describe relationships between historical events, scientific ideas, or steps in a process,

using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

 Use text features and search tools to locate information

 Distinguish personal point of view from that of the author of a text

 Use information gained from illustrations to deepen understanding of the text

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 Compare and contrast important points and key details presented in two texts on the same

topic

o Use a research-based writing process (planning, revising, and editing):

 Write opinion pieces on topics and texts, supporting a point of view with reasons

 Write informative/explanatory texts, to examine a topic and convey ideas and

information clearly

 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective

technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

 Conduct short and extended research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

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