EDUC 302 Candidate Name: Informal Reading Inventory INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT: Read this story

EDUC 302

Candidate Name:

Informal Reading Inventory

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT: Read this story to find out about a harbor seal pup that has a special problem.

In the sea, a harbor seal pup learns to catch and eat fish by watching its mother. By the time it is weaned, at the age of four or five weeks, it is able to feed on its own.

Without a mother, and living temporarily in captivity, Pearson had to be taught what a fish was and how to swallow it. Eventually, he would have to learn to catch one himself.

Holly started his training with a small herring—an oily fish which is a favorite with seals. Gently, she opened his mouth and slipped the fish in headfirst. Harbor seals have sharp teeth for catching fish but no teeth for grinding and chewing. They swallow their food whole.

But Pearson didn’t seem to understand what he was supposed to do. He bit down on the fish and then spit it out. Holly tried again. This time, Pearson got the idea. He swallowed the herring in one

gulp and looked eagerly for more.

Within a week, he was being hand-fed a pound of fish a day in addition to his formula. This new diet made him friskier than ever.

He chased the other pups in the outside pen. He plunged into the small wading pool and rolled in the shallow water, splashing both seals and people.

Source: Pearson, A Harbor Seal Pup by Susan Meyers (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980), pp. 15–16.

[Note: Do not count as a miscue mispronunciation of the name Pearson. You may pronounce this name for the student if needed.]

Miscues ______

Word Recognition % _______

Comprehension Questions

____main idea

What is this story about? (teaching a harbor seal pup to catch and eat fish; teaching Pearson to catch and eat fish)

____detail

How does a harbor seal pup learn to catch and eat fish in the sea? (by watching its mother)

____vocabulary

What does the word “temporarily” mean? (for a short time; not permanently)

____vocabulary

What does the word “captivity” mean? (the condition of being held as a prisoner or captive; confinement; a condition in which a person or animal is not free)

____cause and effect/inference

What caused Pearson to need to be taught what a fish was and how to swallow it? (He didn’t have a mother to show him.)

____inference

What is an oily fish that seals like? (herring)

____cause and effect/inference

What causes harbor seals to swallow their food whole? (They have no teeth for grinding and chewing.)

____sequence

Name in order the two things that Pearson did the first time Holly put a fish in his mouth. (bit down on the fish and then spit it out)

____inference

How fast did Pearson learn how to eat a fish? (He learned on the second try.)

____detail

What made Pearson get friskier? (his new diet of fish and formula; his new diet)

Comprehension % – _______

WPM = _______

SOURCE: From Betty D. Roe, Informal Reading Inventory, 8E. © 2011 Wadsworth, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions.