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Get a Clue!
Use these quick assessments to discover your next steps in writing instruction.
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Greetings!
The subject of our last e-mail was writing assessments for grades 2 and up. We didn't want to leave out the primary grades however; so, here are some easy-to-use assessments that can be done individually or in a group. We recommend you use these assessments at the end of every quarter or semester to plan next steps for instruction, give feedback to students and parents, as well as see growth along the way.
In the primary grades, some kids don't yet see the difference between letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs. It's also important to assess their understanding of the purpose of writing. You can start by asking your class:
- What is writing?
- Why do people write?
- What can you write?
- How did you learn to write?
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Assess Writing Vocabulary
For kindergarten, show a sentence within a paragraph. Ask the students to point to a letter, then point to a word, and then point to a paragraph. Kindergartners won't know all the answers right now, but this knowledge will come along as the year progresses.
For first grade, you can use an oral assessment where you show your students a sheet with four paragraphs and ask:
- How many paragraphs do you see on this page?
- How do you know?
Then show a single paragraph and ask:
- How many sentences are in this paragraph?
- How do you know?
Again, keep in mind that your students may not know all the answers at the beginning of the year. |
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Assess Students' Understanding of a Paragraph
For kindergarten, this assessment would be best done orally. Some questions you might ask are:
- What is a paragraph?
- Where do we see paragraphs?
- Can you show me a paragraph in this book (or on this sheet)?
For first graders, you can ask them to write a paragraph about what they did over the summer or what they hope to learn in first grade. Some kids may not know what is meant by "write a paragraph" so you may need to say: "Write about what you did this summer," or "Write about what you want to learn this year."
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Assess Planning
For Kindergarten you may want to do your first assessment in planning as a group activity, and observe which students are able to participate. Give kindergartners the topic of "Things I Like to Do on the Playground."
- Brainstorm ideas with the whole group.
- Draw on a white board or flip chart a planning page like the one below. (You may want to have several boxes since it's a group activity.)
- Ask students to draw a picture in the box and write next to the dot (also known as a "meatball"), the beginning sound, medial sounds, or ending sound, naming the picture. More advanced students may write a word or two.
- Finally, ask them to say the paragraph to you, with you giving them the topic sentence and repeating the topic sentence with a signal word for the conclusion.
You can use this same format throughout the year by providing an assessment sheet like the one above and having the students develop a plan individually. As the year progresses, you can add another box for three ideas.
First Grade
First grader assessment forms should have three 1s going down the left side (number notes), and a box beside each Number 1 to draw a picture. You will need to put a meatball to the right of the picture to name it.
Their assessment form could be similar to the kindergarten one in that they plan with a picture, write a word naming the picture, and then use the lines to write a sentence with a transition.
Your first graders should be able to plan this and say their paragraph to you, with you giving them the topic sentence and the conclusion. As the year progresses, they should be able to provide you with the conclusion, and later generate their own topic sentence after you have defined the type of topic sentence. By this time of year the first graders have definite ideas about what they like to eat for lunch at school, so this could be a good topic. Oral brainstorming should be done before the students start their plan.
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With explicit, systematic instruction using The Write Tools strategies throughout the year, you will see remarkable growth in your primary writers!
Sincerely,
The Write Tools, LLC |
| Give us your feedback! |
| Send us an email telling us how these assessments worked in your class. Be sure to include your name, school, grade level and address. If we use your comments in a future email, you'll receive a small prize. If you'd prefer to not have your name included on the email, tell us that, and we will create a clever pen name for you.
Send your feedback to:
training@thewritetools.net | |
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