Drawing on research-informed principles for primary-grade vocabulary instruction, the authors developed a series of engaging vocabulary units for a first-grade class. The units, focused on the explicit teaching of target words and the efficient highlighting of larger sets of semantically related words, involved five complementary elements: reading…

Describes four inventories in summary form to allow the reader to identify the ones that might best suit the assessment purposes and needs. (MG)

Offers a procedure for keeping a record of the quality and quantity of student responses (both group and individual) to K-W-L informal assessment. (SR)

Offers an overview of the steps taken by Orange County Public Schools in Florida to move to a portfolio approach to literacy assessment. (MG)

Describes using book diaries as a way for students to respond in writing to their reading as they practice the comprehension strategies learned in class; also describes using the diaries as an informal means of assessing students' learning and communicating regularly with parents. (MG)

Presents a method, based on the language experience approach, for informal diagnosis of young children's awareness of the technical aspects of print. (FL)

Describes an informal assessment procedure that uses think alouds (readers' verbal self-reports about their thinking processes) to obtain information about how they attempt to construct meaning from text. (MG)

Presents five reading activities including "Reading Buddies" (Joyce Kemp); "Documenting Reading and Writing Growth in the Primary Grades Using Informal Methods of Evaluation" (Clifford J. Kramer); "Problem Solving Our Way through Writers' Workshop" (Ann Walker Christensen); "Real Audiences for Real Writing"…

Examines the utility of informal reading inventories (IRI) and acknowledges four limitations of the research. Indicates that no validity-enhancing measures were implemented in conjunction with the three IRIs analyzed. Suggests that IRI vocabulary questions do not appear to be useful. (MG)