Word Study Assessment

The purpose of this assessment is to assess the students spelling ability to find out his or her strengths and weaknesses. This assessment is not to test the students memorization skills. It is designed to recognize what prior knowledge the student knows about spelling words. The purpose is to also understand what specific areas a certain student may have difficulty comprehending. In the third grade classroom, I observed Natalie, who is a bright and smart individual. She is an excellent student and is very excited to participate in class. Natalie was assessed using the Elementary Spelling Inventory Packet. She knew the every day words like bed, drive, shower, and chewed. She seems to excel in knowing the constants; initial and final, as well as the short and long vowels. Natalie was able to spell the words bed, train, bright, place, and float correctly. During the assessment, she did not hesitate when asked to spell these words. Even when asked more challenging words that consisted of digraphs, blends, and inflected endings, for the most part Natalie did not have any trouble with those particular words. For example, she spelled shopping, serving, and marched. She did have difficulty spelling the word carries. Beside that specific word, she did well with those words. Natalie struggled with words that included suffixes and bases or roots. She tried spelling the harder words but would get a few letters incorrect. When it came to spelling the last word on the list, she did not know how to spell the word opposition. I would use these finding to inform instruction by doing various activities to practices spelling words it certain areas. Although Natalie may have done an excellent job when spelling the easier words, this doesnt mean that we should stop practicing those

words. When doing an activity, mix in the hard words with the easier ones. This way the student will development confidence in spelling instead of thinking they do not know how to spell anything. An activity that may be helpful is to have word study groups. Give students a list of words that they may be struggling with. Have other students help them create ways to learn how to spell the certain words. Sometimes hearing a peer explain how to spell or do something may makes sense better than if a teacher presented them with the information. It is important for students to be able to expand their vocabulary. Teachers need to be able to know a students strengths and weaknesses in students vocabulary skills. This helps students know what the student excels in and what they need help in. The word study assessment is a great tool to find out which area a student is struggle in. This can be used throughout the year to see how the student is progressing.

Lesson Plan
Subject/Topic: Writing/Spelling Rationale: The student should be able to decode words and be able to identify the similarities between each decoding concept. The student should be able to make different words plural using the right endings Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Objective: The student will be able to decode words and be able to identify the similarities between each decoding concept. The student will be able to make different words plural using the right endings Materials: List of spelling words Procedures Engagement/Anticipatory Set: Ask the student what they already know about plural words. See if she knows the different ways to make words plurals

Mentor teach and model: Provide an example of a word that you may have to do more than just add an s at the end. Guided Practice: Help the student understand why you cant just add an s for that word Independent Application: Give the student a list of words that she has to put into categories. The categories are the different ways that you can make words plural. Have the student sort out the words on a piece of paper by making a chart. This will help her see the words that have a similar ending are made plural the same way. Closure: Using the words that were provided, ask the student to spell these words without looking at her chart. Ask the student some words that may not be on the paper to see if she understood the concept. Assessment: The student will be assessed on how well she understand the different ways to make a word plural.