MISCUE ANALYSIS

WHAT IS A MISCUE?

A miscue is any unexpected calling of a word or section of text. A miscue “says” something other than the exact printed text.

Miscue analysis is an assessment that helps a teacher identify the cueing systems used by a reader — the strategies a reader uses to make sense of a text. Instead of focusing on errors, miscue analysis focuses on what the student is doing right, so that he or she can learn to build on existing reading strategies.

The study of readers' miscues provides insights into how they integrate the language cueing systems during the reading process in order to construct meaning. 

It is an analytical procedure for assessing student’s reading comprehension based on samples of oral reading.

To whom should teachers use miscue analysis?

Students eligible for this procedure are independent readers.

Most studies conducted using miscue analysis use readers in third grade or higher.

But there is no formula to tell exactly when a student is ready to engage in this assessment or intervention.

Some Experts suggests that a student is ready to participate when he or she can read unfamiliar material without teacher support.

Certainly miscues may happen at an earlier stage, but without the foundational knowledge of reading, miscue analysis does not provide window into the choices a student is making while reading.

Preparing for miscue analysis

Selecting the text Select a complete text that the student

has not previously read. Choose a text that is approximately one level above what the independent reading level has been determined to be. 

 A complete selection should be used and should contain at least 500 words.

It could either be a text that has been downloaded from a reputable site from the internet

Passages or written accounts from a textbook

Any valid reading material so long as the teacher evaluated and is knowledgeable with the reading material’s contents

Preparing the typescript

The teacher needs a copy of what the student is reading. However, the copy the teacher has will also be used for recording miscues, so the format will look a little different from the authentic piece held by the student. 

number the sentences add double or triple spacing It is also helpful if the side margins are large 

Recording the session

The miscue analysis session is recorded in two ways. First, the teacher marks miscues onto the typescript as a written record.

Second, an audio recorder is used to document the student’s reading. The recording can be listened to after the session with the reader has ended. The teacher should attempt, though, to record as many miscues as possible during the live reading to capture authenticity. Certain nuances of reading such as brief pausing or even pronunciations may not be as clear on tape as they would be in person.

Once the typescript is prepared and the tape recorder is rolling, you are ready to begin the miscue analysis. once the typescript has been prepared and the tape recorder is rolling.

It is important to note that if a student reads the texts as he or she would speak, this is not a miscue. In other words, if what the student has read aloud is parallel to his or her dialect, this does not mean the child is not comprehending the text. If a student normally pronounces the word “breakfast” as “breaksfist,” you would not record this pronunciation as a miscue for the child’s reading.

Let’s Begin!

Substitution When a substitution is made, the miscue

is written directly over the text that has produced an unexpected response.

Text:“Good morning, class,” said Mr. Simpson.Child read aloud:“Good morning, class,” sighed Mr. Simpson.

SUBSTITUTION OF A NON-WORD

Sometimes a reader may substitute a non-word for the expected text. In this case, a dollar sign is written above the text as well as the response of the reader.

Text:“I hope you are all feeling energetic today,” he added.Child read aloud:“I hope you are all feeling endrinate today,” he added.

SUBSTITUTION FOR MULTIPLE WORDS

A substitution of one word in place of several words may occur. This is denoted with a bracket over the words omitted, with the substitution written over the bracket.

Text:The students appeared to be prepared for their journey.Child read aloud:The students appeared ready for their journey.

 

Omission Omissions are recorded by circling neglected

words.Text:All of the students replied, “Good morning, Mr. Simpson.”Child read aloud:All the students replied, “Good morning, Mr. Simpson.” 

PARTIAL OMISSION At times, readers make a partial

omission. The part of the word that has been omitted is then circled. You may decide instead to mark this behavior as a substitution, writing the part of the word supplied over the printed text.

Text:“Should we get our hiking shoes on?” one student asked excitedly.Child read aloud:“Should we get our hike shoes on?” one student asked excited.

 

Transposition When words are reversed in order

during a reading, the miscue is recorded by making what looks like a sideways S to lasso the transposed words.

Text:“Let’s race up the mountain!” shouted Daniela.Child read aloud:“Let’s race up the mountain!” Daniela shouted. 

Repetition or regression Repetitions are referred to

as regressions in miscue analysis. Phrases or words which are repeated by the student are noted by underlining the repeated portion. A circled R denotes the point of regression origin. One underline is used for each regression. If a student rereads a section of text twice more than expected, that section would be marked by underlining twice on the typescript.

SINGLE REGRESSIONText:It was the day of the big field trip to Ripley Park.Child read aloud:It was the day, it was the day of the big field trip to Ripley Park.

MULTIPLE REGRESSIONText:It was the day of the big field trip to Ripley Park.Child read aloud:It was the day, it was the day…it was the day of the big field trip to Ripley Park.

 

Insertion When a student adds one or more words to the

text, an insertion is denoted with a caret.Text:All fifth graders were invited to participate.Child read aloud:All of the fifth graders were invited to participate.

 

Correction

A miscue followed by a correction is marked by circling the letter C for correction and underlining text that was re-read correctly.

Text:A school bus would transport the hiking equipment as well as the students.Child read aloud:A school bus would transportation, transport the hiking equipment as well as the students.

 

UNSUCCESSFUL CORRECTION A student may make one or more

attempts at reading a word or group of words. This is marked with the letters UC in a circle for “unsuccessful correction.” Underlining is used to show which words were attempted. It is easiest to show how many attempts were made and exactly what the reader has said, by making an arrow extending above the attempted text, pointing to the margin. In the space of the margin, you can then list the attempts.

Text:The plan was to hike to the summit of Mount Gray.Child read aloud:The plan was to hike to the sum, summons, something of Mount Gray.

Pausing and intonation

Miscue analysis also offers the opportunity to capture the reading behaviors of pausing and of unexpected intonation.

PAUSING If a student pauses mid-reading, the

typescript should be marked with the letter P above the place in the text where the hesitation occurred. The tail of the P should extent into the typed sentence.

Text:Next, we would inflate our rafts.Child read aloud:Next, we would [pause for about 10 seconds before continuing to read] inflate our rafts.

INTONATION

When a student reads the text as printed but employs an intonation that is unexpected, the typescript is marked by circling the punctuation that was neglected. In this example, the student reads two sentences as a single run-on.

Text:The whole class will navigate the river. On each raft is a compass.Child read aloud:The whole class will navigate the river on each raft is a compass. 

Checking comprehension

Many assessments for students’ comprehension contain questions to be answered by the student.

Miscue analysis makes retelling the

performance of comprehension.

When a student completes a reading, the teacher should facilitate both an unaided and aided retelling of the story.

Just as miscue analysis is a window to the student’s conceptions about reading as a process, retelling is a window to what meaning the student has made of the text.

Unaided retelling

The teacher praises the reader and asks the student to tell the story in his/her own words.

Aided retelling The teacher asks questions of the

student by building on the events supplied in the unaided retelling.

For example, a student, unaided, mentioned Jack trading his cow for some beans, but did not tell the reaction of his mother to this transaction while retelling “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

In an aided retelling, the teacher might say,

“You mentioned Jack trading his cow for some beans. What did his mother think of that?” The teacher would not, however, ask,

“What happened after Jack’s mother scolded him for trading the cow for beans?”

This is an acceptable aided prompt if the student answered the first phrasing of the question by saying that Jack’s mother was mad about the trade and scolded him.

Analyzing the miscues

Miscue analysis is more concerned with the types or levels of miscues made rather than the actual quantity of miscues. After the reading session has ended and the student has completed a retelling of the story, the miscues that have been recorded on the typescript need to be analyzed or categorized.

Graphic similarity When analyzing graphic similarity, the

teacher is gaining insight on a student’s use of the graphophonic system. The teacher may see high, some, or no graphic similarity between the word as spoken and as printed.

HIGH GRAPHIC SIMILARITY If a student’s response “looks like” at

least two of those three parts, then the word is considered to be of high graphic similarity.

For example, if the word printed in the text read, “imagination,” looking at the word in three parts might look like “imag-in-ation.” If the student response was “inauguration,” the response could be broken into thirds as “inaug-ur-ation.”

Text:The project encouraged the use of imagination.Child read aloud:The project encouraged the use of inauguration. 

SOME GRAPHIC SIMILARITY A miscue would be considered

having some graphic similarity if one of the three parts a word is broken into is visually similar to the text printed word when broken into thirds.

The typescript would be marked with an encircled letter “s” near the teacher-written substitution. If the text read “descriptor,” the word could possibly be broken into the three parts of “de-scrip-tor.” If a student response to that word was “inscription,” the response could be divided into these three parts, “in-scrip-tion.”

Text:All academic records for the school were listed under the descriptor, “confidential.”Child read aloud:All academic records for the school were listed under the inscription, “confidential.” 

NO GRAPHIC SIMILARITY A miscue is of no graphic similarity when

the text-printed word and the reader’s pronunciation of the word do not have any common letters or number of letters.2For example, if the text read, “parachute” and the student response was “film,” the miscue would be marked with an encircled “N” for “no graphic similarity.”

Text:The parachute did not seem to be working.Child read aloud:The film did not seem to be working. 

Syntactic and semantic cues

Does this sound syntactically correct? 

(Does it sound like a sentence the reader might produce in his/her dialect of the language in which the text appears?) If the answer to this question is yes, a “Y” is coded for the sentence in either the left or right margin. If the answer is no, an “N” is coded in the margin.

Is the sentence semantically correct?

(Does what the student has read make sense?) If the answer is yes, code a “Y” in the margin. If the answer is no, code an “N” in the margin. (If the sentence as read was not syntactically correct, than it cannot be semantically correct — if the answer to the first question was no, the answer to the second question must be no, as well.)

Did the student’s reading of this sentence change its meaning?

Code a “Y” for “yes, a major change occurred in meaning,” a “P” for “partial change in meaning,” and “N” for “no change in meaning.”(This question is only asked if the answer to the first two questions was yes. If you answered “no” to either of those questions, skip the third.)

Text:The project encouraged the use of imagination.Child read aloud: 

Now, the three questions concerning cuing systems are asked and coded. Was the sentence syntactically correct

as the student read it? Yes. “Inauguration” can be used as a noun in place of “imagination.” This is syntactically correct.

Was the sentence semantically correct? No. This does not make much sense.

Since the answer to question 2 was “no,” I will simply record a dash for the third question.

Here are the examples of miscues with some and no graphic similarity, marked with answers to the three questions about cuing systems.

  

Summarizing the session

After the reading, comprehension check, and miscue analysis, all of the information gathered should be recorded. This single-page report will help identify patterns in use by the reader. The totals for graphic similarity, semantic and syntactic usage should be recorded and converted to percentages to be the most telling of student reading behavior. General comments about the reading session should also be listed on this form.

Sources:

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/readassess/1103

Wilde, Sandra, Miscue analysis made easy: Building on student strengths (Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 2000), 25