Which item is a common category of miscue when analyzing oral reading?

• A. Punctuation misreads.
• B. Rereading the same line.
• C. Substituting a word for another.
• D. Skipping lines.

Answer: (C)

When analyzing oral reading, the main thing being observed is how readers make sense of the text as they decode aloud. Substituting a word for another is a common miscue because readers often rely on meaning and sentence structure to predict what comes next. If a word fits the sentence’s sense, a reader might say it instead of the printed word, showing they’re testing possibilities based on context rather than strictly decoding letter-by-letter. This pattern appears frequently across readers and passages, and it reveals how a reader’s grasp of the story or sentence helps guide their reading, even if the exact printed word isn’t produced. Other behaviors like rereading a line, skipping lines, or reading punctuation as words are real miscue types, but they describe more specific errors. The substitution category captures the typical, broad way readers use context to anticipate text during oral reading.