If you want to learn how to assess and interpret young children's oral reading, this book is your teacher. Johnston's writing is so refreshing and so explicit, you'll think he is by your side coaching you to success.
Susan Pasquarella
Roger Williams University

Here is a practical guide for teachers learning how to take running records of children's oral reading. If you know how to take running records, you can sit down next to a child who is reading and with only a blank sheet of paper and a pen you can make a record of the child's reading strategies. These records can be used to show growth, reveal problems, and provide a place for instructional conversations with children or colleagues.

Invented by Marie M. Clay, running records are unquestionably the most practical reading assessment technique for primary school teachers. This book and tape provide the most efficient way to learn how to use them. Peter H. Johnston walks you step by step through both recording and analysis as you listen to carefully selected examples of children's reading on the accompanying tape. This process of "ear-tuning" will change the way you listen to children read--and the way you respond to their reading.