Informal Reading Inventories IRIs (The Who, What, Why, & How of Them)

Informal Reading Inventories IRI consist of: Text passages that correspond in difficulty to literature and textbook materials at grade levels from primer through secondary school Sets of questions for each passage that test reader’s comprehension and recall after reading Supplementary tests: phonics, cloze, spelling

Informal Reading Inventories Advantages: Offer complete set of word lists, passages and questions Multiple forms at each grade level: assess oral and silent reading

Informal Reading Inventories Disadvantages: IRI material from basal series may have been read by student Quality of passages used

Informal Reading Inventories Choosing IRI: Literary quality of reading passages Clarity and relevance of questions Balance of question types (literal to higher order) Convenient format Complete instructions; including examples Balanced use of narrative and expository text Means of assessing reader’s prior knowledge of topics before passages read for assessment

Supplementing Informal Assessments Metacomprehension Strategies: Use of appropriate strategies to help them understand and remember what they read MSI: Metacomprehension Strategy Index Think-alouds Help with student’s comprehension by thinking aloud; thinking processes Word recognition and Phonics Tests: Nonsense words decoded Names Test