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Emergent/Beginner Assessment JMU Student Cathy York

READ 366 Childs Grade Level Kindergarten

Because students in READ 366 are assessing children in Preschool, Kindergarten, and First grade,
this assessment is a combination of tasks that can be used across the grade levels. Not all tasks will be
completed for all students, however part of the tasks will be completed for each child assessed. This
assessment is made up of tasks from Words Their Way (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston,
2012) and tasks from PALS Quick Checks (Invernizzi, Sullivan, Meier, Swank, 2004).

If a task is begun and the child is missing all of the correct answers for the first 3-5 questions, stop
that task.

1.Rhyme (From Words Their Way) (for pre-K, K, and 1)

Show the child the sheet with rhyming words and cover everything but the line you are working with
at the time. Use the first one with the star as the model and you show the two rhyming words. Have
child find the two words that rhyme on each line.
1. __x__ 2. ____ 3. __x__ 4. ____
5. ____ 6. ____ 7. ____ 8. ____
9. ____
TOTAL 7/9
Comments:

2. Alphabetics (From Words Their Way) (for pre-K and K)

Letter Identification
1. If in Pre-K, the upper-case task may be more appropriate for the student if he/she knows some of
the alphabet. From the large letter sheet, point to each letter and have the child identify the letters.
Mark through any letters the child says incorrectly and write what the child says beside the letter.
M P S O X N A F G K L T U C Y
B I V D J E Q R Z H W TOTAL ____/26
Comments:

If in Kindergarten, use the lower-case letters only for letter identification. From the large letter sheet,
point to each letter and have the child identify the letters. Mark through any letters the child says
incorrectly and write what the child says beside the letter.
m p s o x n a f g k l (i) t u c y
b I (t) v (capital y) d (b) j e q r z (s) h w
TOTAL 21/26
Comments:
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Letter Production (for Pre-K and K)Call out the sequence of letters as above. Ask the student to
write the letters. Accept either upper or lowercase letters. Reversals are scored as correct, but noted.
m p s o x n a f g k l t u c y
b i v d j e q r z h w TOTAL 5/8
Comments:
Made it through the highlighted letters and then began to draw
Also did not attempt n

Letter-Sound Production (for Pre-K and K)From Letter-Sound Production sheet point to each letter
or combination of and have child tell the sound the letters make. Mark through any sound the child
says incorrectly and write what the child says beside the letter.
B S R F W (d) T O J A H (e) K Sh V I P
Z L C (s) Th U E D Y (v) G N Ch (m)
TOTAL 19/26
Comments:
Did not know the double letter sounds: I dont know tell me
Tried to do the ch

3.Beginning Sounds (From Words Their Way) (for K)

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Follow the directions at the top of the sheet and have the child point to the word that begins with the
same sound as the one in the first box. Use the first one as an example.
1. ___ 2. __x_ 3. ____ 4. ____
5. ____ 6. __x__ 7. __x__ 8. _x__
TOTAL 4/8
Comments:
Often times my student will just say words because he wants to

4.Spelling (From Words Their Way) (for K and 1)

The 26 words are ordered by difficulty. Call out enough words so that you have at least five or six
misspelled words to analyze. On a numbered sheet of paper call out the words listed in the Primary
Spelling Inventory in your Words Their Way text on page 315. Then use the Primary Spelling
Inventory Feature Guide to analyze their words on page 316.

Comments:
I could not get my student to do this
He is defiant when he does not want to do something and this was one of those times

5.Words in Isolation Task (From PALS Quick Check) (for K and 1)

Begin with the word lists (larger words on other sheet) by showing the child one word at a time. Put a
line through any unknown words, write substitution beside words, and put a checkmark for any
immediate self-corrections. Child should read quickly, without hesitation to get credit for knowing
word.

Preprimer Primer First Second

but ride today busy
he over grass stood
red look something fall
his swim move silver
all into shake herself
with find laugh bone
I new surprise wife
dog window better round
my saw smile wave
up two color appeared
sad will about which
to after someday almost
green need while dress
me this store wonderful
for make bed between
is fish coat party
down now paint breakfast
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us could hide low
at may year forest
by water ten rivers
Total _____/20 Total _____/20 Total _____/20 Total _____/20

Go to the next list if 15 or more correct (provided by instructor, if needed).

Comments:
I began to go down the list in the primer and with each word my student said I dont know and when
I made it to the fifth word he began to get antsy and walked away.

6.Concept of Word Teddy Bear (From PALS Quick Check) (for children in K & 1 with fewer
than 10 words on the preprimer list)

Directions:
1) Introduce poem by showing the pictures and saying the poem to the child, then having child repeat
until memorized
2) Once the child has memorized the poem, introduce the words and model touching each word as
you read.
3)Then ask child to touch each word as he/she says the poem.
4)Finally see if the child can identify the bolded words in the poem (ex. Can you show me the word
bear? Can you show me the word around?)

Score the pointing below

-0 points no left-to-right directionality
-1 point points generally from left to right but not consistently use word,
syllable, letter, etc.
-2 points points to a different letter each time a different word is said
-3 points points rhythmically to stress beats or syllables
-4 points points to words but gets off track on two-syllable words
-5 points gets off track on two-syllable words but self corrects immediately
-6 points points to each word correctly as it is said

Pointing Word ID
Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2
Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the light. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2
Teddy bear, teddy bear, say goodnight. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2

Pointing 0/24 + Word ID 4/8 =4/32

Comments:
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Took a few tries to get the student to cooperate. He was able to say the poem with me after I repeated
it a few times, but he did not want to say it himself. He identified some words but sometimes they
werent the bold word.

Literacy Assessments & Student Summary

20 points

Once youve administered the assessments to your student, making sure to use a pseudonym, type at
least a one-page singe-spaced 12-point font summary of the students literacy development as you
would present it to colleagues or the students parents. Use these questions to guide you:

What does the student do correctly-at an independent or easy level?

What does the student use but confuse-an instructional level at which instruction
is most helpful?
What is absent from the students understanding-a frustration level in which
spelling concepts are too difficult?
Is the student an emergent or beginning reader? How do you know?
What are the next steps?

You will upload 2 documents via Canvas assignments: 1) assessment documents 2) your student
summary on or before November 11.
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