Vn98.1 Miriam’s New Reader 9/24/77-10/3/77

9/24 Since I was uncertain how much Miriam’s reading skill had developed
over the summer (focused as much of it was on reading Peanuts and Pogo
cartoons), I could not easily judge what would best test Miriam’s capacity.
We discussed the problem. Miriam characterized the book used in
Miriam at 6, a reader for the first half of second grade, as being
“easy-bezy.” “Was it so back in April?” I inquired. Miriam answered
that the book was pretty hard for her to read earlier. We agreed the
solution to my problem was for her to select the book for her final
reading evaluation. When we went to Hammett’s supply store, Miriam
checked out the fifth and sixth grade readers, declaring them too hard;
examining the third and fourth grade readers, she selected More Roads
to Follow
(a third year spring semester book) as having a level of
difficulty comparable to the book we used in April. Back at Logo, our
experiment of the day was a reading evaluation. Her judgment was proved
correct: she was able to read the book but exhibited some difficulty.

9/25 Miriam has been praising her new “Dick and Jane” book to Robby.
She explained that not only have Dick and Jane been left out (a great
advance in Robby’s eyes), but that it also contained a chapter from the
Pooh stories with much prettier illustrations than their paper-back
versions. Miriam asked if she might take her book to school. I agreed
it was a good idea, since Ms. Fieman wanted to know where should she
start Miriam.

10/3 Miriam has been reading More Roads to Follow quite regularly.
This evening she recommended to my attention “The Gingham Dog and the
Calico Cat”, remarking on its absurd good humor of the fight ending
with each eating up the other.

Relevance
Miriam’s continuing reading of her evaluation book confirms her
original judgment in selecting it and my conclusion that it represents the
right level of challenge to her skill. Without tutelage, her reading
level has advanced a year in the six months since the beginning of the
project.

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