Christiana Greene

Brief Background:
The basis for this assignment is to see if the child is an emergent or beginning reader. My student
is 6 years old and in kindergarten. He has a very hard time paying attention in class. It is clear
that he tries very hard to stay focused, but that he cannot sit still or stay focused no matter how
hard he tries. Our school mainly focuses on reading and writing but not so much on spelling. I
feel that my student is an early emergent reader who can quickly progress once he figures out
how to stay focused and engaged in class.

Phonemic Awareness Assessment:

Skill One: Alphabet Recognition- Uppercase Letters

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

CAHSVRPUTNEBMLGJXFZWIQ
KYOD

Score: 26/26

How this assessment given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took him
in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I showed him the list of uppercase
letters and told him that I was going to point to each letter and his job was to read out loud what
letter it was. I told him that if he did not know a letter that it was okay to skip to the next letter.

Results/What this means: My child was very comfortable recognizing the uppercase letters of
the alphabet. He was able to recognize each uppercase letter of the alphabet with no hesitation.
This means that he knows the uppercase letters of the alphabet.

Recommendations: Although my student was able to recognize each upper-case letter, I

recommend that the order of the letters is changed every time he is tested in the future. This will
help to test if he truly knows the letters or if he is used to them being in a certain order. I also
believe that he could benefit from flashcards with the uppercase letters on them. As each
flashcard is presented he can say what letter it is and if it is uppercase or lowercase.

Skill Two: Alphabet Recognition- Lowercase Letters

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

ondyhrplemtkjfgxwIxqcvasuba
g

Score: 26/28
Christiana Greene

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I showed him the list of lowercase
letters and told him that I was going to point to each letter and his job was to read out loud what
letter it was. I told him that if he did not know a letter that it was okay to skip to the next letter.

Results/What this means: Overall, my child seemed very comfortable with recognizing his
lowercase letters. He was able to recognize all lowercase letters aside from two. The two
lowercase letters that he struggled with were letters “q” and “g”. These letters look very similar,
which is why I understand why my child has confused these letters.

Recommendations: In the future I would teach my student little tricks to remind them that “q”
has a straight tail and that “g” has a curly tail. I would also create flashcards for my student. My
child is comfortable recognizing all of the uppercase letters of the alphabet, so I would create
flashcards that have the uppercase and lowercase letters on them. These flashcards will allow my
student to see which uppercase and lowercase letters go together and that “g” is the lowercase of
“G”. I would have a matching game with flashcards where the children can match the lowercase
letters with the uppercase letters. I also believe that he could benefit from flashcards with the
lowercase letters on them. As each flashcard is presented he can say what letter it is and if it is
uppercase or lowercase.

Skill Three: Letter Sound Identification

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

e l s r u p d o v b j n t c x z w k g q m a f i h y sh ch th wh

Score: 27/30

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I showed him the list of letters and
told him that I was going to point to each letter and his job was to read out loud what sound each
of the letters made. I told him that it was okay if he did not know all of the sounds and that he
could skip them if he did not know them.

Results/What this means: My child was able to identify 27 out of 30 letter sounds. He struggled
with the sound of q as well as the letter combination sounds of “th” and “wh”. I understand why
my student struggled with the sound that “q” makes. The same week that I gave this assessment,
my teacher was teaching the class the sound that “q” and “u” make together. When I gave my
student the assessment he gave me the sound of “qu” instead of “q”. My child also struggled with
the sounds that “th” and “wh” make.

Recommendations:
For the future, I recommend going over the letter sounds that are made by the individual letters
in combinations and then going over the sounds that the letters make together. For example, I
would go over the sound that “w” makes, then the sound that “h” makes and lastly, that sound
Christiana Greene

that “wh” makes. I would do this so that he child is able to understand the sound of each letter on
its own and the sound of the letter when it is placed next to a different letter.

Skill Four: Rhyme Recognition

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

1. hen, pen 6. hot, cot

2. we, did 7. fun, sun
3. sick, pick 8. jet, ham
4. nap, map 9. yell, tell
5. mom, mad 10. pig, got

Score: 10/10

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I showed him the list of words and
asked him to pay attention to the word pairs that I read to him. I asked him to repeat the words
that I read to him and to tell me if they rhyme or if they do not rhyme.

Results/What this means: My student was very comfortable with rhyme recognition. He was
able to read all of the words back to me as well as correctly identifying which pairs rhymed.

Recommendations: In the future, I recommend give the student pairs that have very similar
letters but do not rhyme such as “ball” and “bull”. This is a little bit more challenging than the
word pairs that were given in the assessment. However, because my student got all of rhyming
recognition pairs correct, I believe that it is time to challenge him more. I believe it will help the
student to focus on the individual letter sound that changed “ball” to “bull” and help him to
understand why the words to not rhyme. It is clear based on the results of this assessment that my
child is very familiar and comfortable with single letter sounds.

Skill Five: Onset Fluency- Isolate the Initial Phoneme

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

1. mad 5. dig 9. lamp

2. rock 6. fish 10. bike
3. pet 7. kite
4. hot 8. seal

Score: 10/10
Christiana Greene

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I showed him the list of words and
explained to him that I will read off each word on the list and that his job is to tell me what the
first sound of each word was. I told him that it was okay if he did not know that sound and that
he could always skip to the next sound.

Results/What this means: My student was able to comfortably tell me the first letter sound of
each word. He gave me the correct letter sound for every word. He also gave me the beginning
letter of each word. This leads me to the conclusion that my child understands letter sounds and
how they are used in a word.

Recommendations: In the future, I would focus on teaching my student words that start with
different letter combinations. Based on the previous assessments I can see that my student
struggles with the sounds that combine two letters. I would focus on teaching him the sounds that
come from “sh”, “ch”, “wh”, “qu”, “th” and other combinations. I believe my child would
benefit from flashcards that have combination sounds on them. As the flashcard is presented, my
student can say which sound is presented on the card.

Skill Six: Blending Compound Words and Syllables

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

1. foot…ball 5. sun…glasses 9. wig-gle

2. out…side - inside 6. win-dow 10. par-ty
3. bed…room 7. pur-ple
4. rain…bow 8. tar-get

Score: 9/10

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I explained to my student that I will
read him two words while pausing between the two. I told him that it is his job to tell me what
big word those two little words make together. I told him that it was okay if he did not know the
big word that he could always skip to the next words.

Results/What this means: My student was able to tell me 9 out of 10 of the compound words.
However, he did struggle when I said “out” and “side”. Instead of saying the word “outside” he
said the word “inside”. It seemed that he was trying to respond as fast as he could and said the
first word that came into his head. This lead me to the conclusion that my student is comfortable
with blending compound words and syllables, I believe he forgot what was being asked of him
and responded too quickly.
Christiana Greene

Recommendations: In the future, I would give my student flash cards with each individual word
on them and have him try to match the words to create the compound word. This will prevent my
child from creating his own words and to focus on the words that are given to him.

Skill Seven: Segmenting Words into Compound Words and Syllables

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

1. footprint 5. inside 9. coming

2. anyone 6. cloudy 10. table
3. bookmark 7. after
4. sunlight 8. turkey

Score: 10/10

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I explained to my student that I will
read him a word that is made up of two little words. Then, I will tell him that it is his job to tell
me what those two little words are. I told him that it was okay if he did not know the words and
that he could always skip to the next words.

Results/What this means: My child was able to tell me the two words that made up each
compound word. He was very confident and comfortable with this assessment. When I gave my
child this assessment, he tapped out the two words on the table. I can see that this student is
aware of syllables and how they work.

Recommendations: In the future, I recommend that my child does not tap out the words on the
table. He uses it now because he is still learning. I think there would be more accurate results
without him tapping out the words on the table.

Skill Eight: Identifying Final Sounds in Words

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

1. pick 5. had 9. robe

2. bus 6. come 10. move
3. feet 7. ten
4. jog 8. off

Score: 10/10

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I explained to my child that I would
be reading him different words and that his job is to tell me the last sound he heard in each of the
Christiana Greene

words. I told him that it was okay if he did not know that sound and that he could always skip to
the next word.

Results/What this means: My child received a 10 out of 10 for identifying final sounds in
words. This showed me that he is comfortable and understands letter sounds that come in the
beginning and end of each word.

Recommendations: I recommend that my student is challenged more in the future. He went

through these words very quickly with no hesitation. I think that in the future he should be
focusing on words that have a more difficult ending such as a “k”, “c”, or combination endings
such as “ch”, and “sh”.

Skill Nine: Locates a word on a printed page within text

__________ is a smart student in my class.

Score: My child was able to point to his name in the sentence but with hesitation

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I wrote his name on the blank line
at the beginning of the sentence. I asked for the student to point to his name in the sentence.
Then I read the sentence allowed to him. I told him that it was alright if he was unable to find his
name in the sentence.

Results/What this means: My student was able to point to his name in the sentence. However,
he did struggle to find his name when he first looked at it. I believe that it was initially difficult
for him to find his name because he is used to seeing his name written in his own handwriting.
When my student writes his letters, he often mirrors the letters by writing them backwards,
which is why it was initially difficult for him to find his name.

Recommendations: I recommend that the teacher focuses on activities that involve writing out
letters. My student struggled with identifying his own name because he mirrors his letters. He
would benefit from games and activities that focus on writing each individual letter the proper
way.

Skill Ten: Distinguish letters from numbers on a printed page by pointing

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

s5m26P3hb7

Score 10/10
Christiana Greene

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I told him that it was his job to tell
me whether the print I was pointing to be a letter or a number. I told him that it was okay if he
did not know that he was able to skip to the next letter or number.

Results/What this means: This means that my student is able to distinguish his letters from his
numbers very well.

Recommendations: I recommend that he is presented with more difficult letters and numbers
because he has gotten a score of 10/10. I think a matching game that shows to similar letters and
numbers would be beneficial. For example, if there is a “5” and an “s” in the game, the student
would have to match the two “5’s” together and the two “s’s” together.

Print Concepts:

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct

Demonstrates how to hold a book. yes

1. Distinguishes pictures from words by pointing when prompted yes

2. Locates on a printed page where to start reading with multiple lines of text yes

3. Demonstrates that the left page of a book is read before the right page of yes
the book

4. Track text with a finger on a printed page left to right no

5. Demonstrates that pages are turned one at a time in a sequence from front yes
to back

6. Points to individual words using one-to-one correspondence yes

7. Isolates words within a printed text no

8. Locates a word on a printed page within text (reads own name) yes

9. Distinguishes letters from numbers on a printed page by pointing yes

10. Listen to spoke sentences and state individual words in the sentence(s) yes

Red = Incorrect
Blue = Correct
Christiana Greene

How this assessment was given: I sat with my student on the carpet while we read a book
together. I did this on multiple occasions because my student had trouble focusing. I observed
the way that he was reading and recorded what I saw.

Results/What this means: This means that my student has a good concept of print. My student
was able to do all tasks aside from two. He struggled following his fingers on the right words, as
well as isolating a word on a printed text.

Recommendations: I recommend that when he is reading passages that he focuses on each

individual word and sound. I think that tapping out each sound in each word will really help him.
For example, he thought that “upon” was two words, which really confused him. I believe that if
he focuses on each word and each sound in the word that it will help hm to be able to point to
each word as he reads it.

Spelling:
1. fan 5. hope 9. stick
2. pet 6. wait 10. shine
3. rob 7. gum
4. dig 8. sled

Score: 5/10

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I told him that I was going to tell
him a word, then read him a sentence with that word in it. When I am done reading the sentence
it is his job to write the word that I said and try his best to spell it.

Results/What this means: My practicum school does not give spelling assessments until
kindergarten. They focus more on reading the words instead of writing them. When we do
writing activities in the classroom, my teacher does not correct their spelling. She lets them spell
the words however they hear it. I believe that he struggled with spelling these words because it is
something that is not focused on in the classroom. He sounded out the words as best as he could.

Recommendations: I recommend that the teacher focuses more on spelling in the classroom.
When the students are writing in their journals, the teacher could help them to correctly spell the
sight words that they are writing.

Writing:
Christiana Greene

Type of writing: Drawing Distinct from Writing

Results/What this means: Based on the “Evolution of Emergent Writing” chart, it says that my
child would be in the middle emergent state. However, after I asked my student what he had
written, he was not able to tell me, which makes me think he is an early emergent reader. My
teacher had the students write a sentence about Christmas. She wrote the word “Christmas” on
the board and let the students write the rest on their own. When looking at this writing sample,
the only word that you are able to make out is “Christmas”. I am also convinced that my student
is an early emergent reader because he has not moved passed level A on his running records. He
is in the same place that he has started on his running records.

Recommendations: I recommend have the child focus on what he is writing in comparison to

the picture he is drawing. It would help the student if he is writing captions to label his pictures.
It would make him more interested in writing and it will help him to practice writing sentences.

Story Retelling:

Story Element From Three Billy Goats What child said in

Setting and Characters
Story Problem
Gruff
Once upon a time, there lived
three billy goat brothers.
Their names were Little Billy,
Middle Billy, and Big Billy.
One day, they decided to
cross the bridge to eat the
assessment
The child said there were
three brothers, little, middle
and big
The child said how the three
billy goats crossed the bridge
Christiana Greene

sweet grass on the other side. to eat. Then he pointed to the

There was only one problem. mean troll and said that the
A mean troll lived under it. troll lived under the bridge
Episode 1 Little Billy tries to cross the The child said how Little
bridge and the troll tries to eat billy crosses the bridge and
him and he tells him to wait that the troll tried to eat little
for his bigger brother. The billy. He said the troll let little
troll lets him cross the bridge. billy across the bridge if he
waits for his bigger brother
Episode 2 Middle Billy tries to cross the The child says how Middle
bridge and the troll tries to eat billy tries to cross the bridge
him and he tells him to wait but the troll tried to eat him
for Big Billy. The troll lets also. He said the troll let
him cross the bridge. Middle billy across the bridge
if he waits for his bigger
brother
Episode 3 Big Billy tries to cross the The child says how Big billy
bridge but the troll tries to eat tries to cross the bridge but
him. Big Billy has a plan to the troll tried to eat him also.
butt the troll off the bridge. He said the troll let Big billy
across the bridge if he waits
for his bigger brother
Resolution Big Billy rams the troll so The child says that Big billy
hard that he is thrown off the runs into the troll so hard that
bridge and Big Billy crosses he falls off the bridge and the
the bridge to join his brothers. three billy brothers all got to
cross the bridge
Reactions of characters After that, the three brothers My child said he liked to play
crossed the bridge whenever outside in the grass.
they liked. And, my, the
sweet green grass was
delicious!

Rubric for Scoring Individual Story Elements:

Complete, detailed: 3 Partial: 2 Fragmentary: 1 Inaccurate: 0
Setting and Characters (How, where, who at beginning of story?) Score: __2___
Story Problem Score: __2__
Sequence of major events—episodes 1-3 Score: __2__
Resolution Score: __3__
Reaction of characters or ending Score: __2___

Total Score: _____

13-15—Strong retelling 9-12—Developing retelling 5-8—Early 0-4—Little story
language
Christiana Greene

Was the retelling assisted? Yes, I asked him a few questions to help him elaborate on his
answers

How this assessment was given: I asked my child to sit with me at a table in the hallway. I took
him in the hallway so that he can have a quiet place to focus. I told him that I was going to be
reading him the book titled, “Three Billy Goats Gruff” by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen. I told him
that after I read the story, that it was his job to tell me what had happened in the story. I read the
story to my child 2 times. The first time I read through it slowly. The second time I read through
it with more enthusiasm and tried to get him more engaged because I could see that he was
having trouble paying attention.

Results/What this means: This means that my child is developing story retelling skills. He was
able to retell most of the story. However, he wasn’t able to fully pay attention. I could see this
when he said that the troll let Big billy across the bridge if he waits for his bigger brother. He
was familiar with the sequence of the billy goats crossing the bridge but being stopped by the
troll. I think that my student would have strong retelling skills if he were able to pay more
attention to the story. He was very fidgety and would continuously look away.

Recommendations: I recommend that the student is read to multiple times because my student
struggles to pay attention. I think that it would be beneficial to the student if he was able to draw
pictures about the story after. This would keep him more engaged in the story and motivate him
to pay more attention.

The Diet for an Emergent Reader and Writer:

 Concept of Word: 20% of Instructional Time

 Concept of Print: 20% of Instructional Time
 Alphabet: 20% of Instructional Time
 Language Play/ Phonological Awareness: 20% of Instructional Time
 Writing: 20% of Instructional Time