Literacy Assessments

1
Literacy Assessments

• Guiding our Teaching

2
Observe Childrens Responses

• For competencies and confusions
• for strengths and weaknesses
• for the processes and strategies used
• for evidence of what the child already understands

3
The Reading Process

• Involves messages expressed in language
• Involves knowing about the conventions used to
  print language
• Involves visual patterns -clusters of
  words/syllables/blends/letters
• The flow of language does not always make the
  breaks between words clear and children may have
  trouble breaking messages into words

4
Literacy Assessments

• Running Records
• Letter ID
• Concepts about Print - CAP
• Word Tests
• Writing
• Dictation

5
Text Difficulty Text Type

• Easy text (95-100 correct)
• Instructional Text (90-94 correct)
• Hard/Frustration Text (80-89 correct)

6
Learning to Take A Running Record

• Record everything the child says and does as he
  tries to read the book (tape recorder)
• Know the conventions/abbreviations
• Use ticks for each correct response
• Make a record of each child reading his three
  little books or selections.
• A sample reading of 100-200 words required

7
Analyzing Running Records

• Use conventions for scoring records
• Check directional movement
• Calculate the error rate
• Learn from childs error behavior
• Does the child use meaning, structure, visual
  information, word memory???
• How about cross-checking strategies?
• Self checking?

8
Letter Identification

• Administration
• introduce task, point to each letter, ask
  questions, move to other letters
• Scoring the record
• Mark A for alphabetical response, S for sound or
  W for word beginning similarly - record
  everything child says-including incorrect
• Interpretation of scores

9
Concepts about Print (CAP)

• Use Sand or Stones Book
• Follow directions exactly
• Measures knowledge about front of book, print
  tells a story, letters, clusters of letters are
  called words, first letters and last letters,
  spaces, punctuation marks, upper and lower case
  letters

10
Word Tests

• Administration - Read one list of words
• Use of test - will tell which children are
  accumulating a reading vocabulary
• Scoring - stanine scores
• Interpretation - can be used for grouping
  children for skill teaching or to measure if
  progressive changes are occurring in skills

11
Writing

• Ask children to write all the words they know -
  can give them suggestions
• Record Language level, message quality, and
  directional principles
• Interpreting the observation
• Connecting the progress between reading and
  writing - visual differences in print

12
Dictation Task

• Ask children to record a dictated sentence
• Choose from five sentences
• Read slowly while child writes
• Record Score the writing
• Retesting - important for recording changes over
  time

13
Summarizing the Observation Survey Results

• Book reading - Instructional Level?
• Analysis of strategies used by the child
• Useful strategies on text, with words, and with
  letters
• Write up the survey summary
• Read example - p. 77
• USE THE RESULTS IN TEACHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!