Emergent/Beginner Assessment JMU Student: Meghan Dalton

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.Picture and Name Task (for Pre-K)

Have him/her draw a picture on a blank sheet of paper and write her/his name at the bottom. Have
the child tell you about the picture and you write down on another piece of paper what he/she tells
you about the picture.
Comments:

I was very impressed by the students creativity in the picture she drew. She spent a lot of time
working on it and colored very neatly and carefully. She was excited to be coloring and seemed to
really enjoy making her picture! When I asked her what she drew, she said it was a little girl walking
into the rainbow to get paint for the colors for the tree and the sunset. I thought this was very creative
and a unique way of describing what she had drawn.

2.Concepts About Print Task (for Pre-K)

If the child is a preschooler and you know is not reading on their own yet, complete this task with a
level C or D book or another simple book. Begin by telling the child that you are going to read him/her
a book and he/she is going to help you. As you hand the child the book to look at, ask the following
questions and then begin reading as you ask more of the questions.
__x__ Show me the front of the book
__x__ Show me the back of the book
__x__ Show me the title of the story (then read the title to the child)
__x__ Show me where we would begin reading the story
__x__ As you finish reading a page, show me a picture
__x__ After reading another page, show me a letter
__x__ Show me a word
__x__ Show me the first letter in a word
__x__ Show me the last letter in a word
__x__ Show me how I would read this page (directionality)
_____ Show me an upper-case letter
__x__ Point to a period, what is this?
TOTAL 11/12
Comments:
What is a period? Like a polka dot, when you reach polka dot you are done.Overall, I was very
impressed with the students results on this activity. She seemed very familiar with the parts of the
book!

3.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. __x__ 3. __x__ 4. _____
5. __x__ 6. __x__ 7. _____ 8. _____
9. __x__
TOTAL 6/9
Comments: I know rhyming has been worked on in class, but this was one of the areas that she could
work on. This is a topic theyre still mastering in the class, so I think with a little more practice, she
will be where she needs to be!

4. 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:
N/A

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 t u c y
b i v d j e q r z h w TOTAL 22/26
Comments: Overall, the student did pretty well with this task. She got about 85% of the letters correct.
The ones she messed up on are as follows:
l-instead of l, she said b
i-instead of i, she said j
q-instead of q, she said z
w-instead of w, she said y

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 26/26
Comments: I was so proud of the student with this activity! She got all of the letters correctly, some
were uppercase and some were lowercase. Additionally, she wrote reversals for J and Z, which isnt
bad at all! I was very impressed!

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 T O J A H K Sh V I P
Z L C Th U E D Y G N Ch TOTAL 20/26
Comments: The student did a pretty good job with this activity, but could definitely use a little help
and work with letter-sound production! The ones she got incorrect are as follows:
W-instead of the sound for w, she said the sound for y
Sh-instead of the sound for Sh, she said the sound for x
Th-instead of the sound for Th, she said the sound for t and then the sound for h
E-instead of the sound for e, she said the sound for i (short)
G-said g as in girl
Ch-instead of the sound for Ch, she said sssk

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

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. __x__ 2. __x__ 3. __x__ 4. __x__
5. __x__ 6. __x__ 7. __x__ 8. _____
TOTAL 7/8
Comments: The student seemed to have a pretty good grasp on this! She messed up on one, but I
think it was a careless mistake because she was ready to be finished!

6.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: The student wasnt able to correctly spell any words. Because she cant yet read, she also
cannot write. She is able to identify beginning sounds and what sounds letters make, but unable to put
sounds and letters together to form words. When using the Primary Spelling Inventory Feature Guide,
I would categorize the student as being in between middle and late emergent. She is able to write
letters and sometimes gets the correct beginning sounds, but often it seems that she is writing random
letters!
7.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 (said the) ride today busy
he (said the) over grass stood
red (said de) look something fall
his (said es) 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
us could hide low
at may year forest
by water ten rivers
Total 0/20 Total N/A/20 Total N/A/20 Total N/A/20

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

Comments: The student isnt able to read yet, so instead of reading the words, she just wanted to say
each of the letters. When I encouraged her to sound them out, she would make the sounds and say a
completely different word.
8.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 19/24 + Word ID 4/8 =23/32

Comments: The student did an okay job on this task. However, she doesnt read so I know that most
of her reciting the poem was just from memory. Also, when she was asked to point out words, I think
most of what she was doing was just guessing!
 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 8.
 Summary

I really enjoyed conducting this literacy assessment on my case study student for this semester! I
have been in the classroom for several weeks now, so I have come to know the students pretty well,
but havent gotten a chance to see any sort of assessment. This really gave me the opportunity to see
where my student was at during the current time and see how she had grown from the beginning of
the year, when she didnt know basically any of this! I have never gotten to administer an assessment
like this and it taught me a lot. I feel like I have such a better idea of how to do these things now and I
feel so much more prepared than I did before this assignment.

I was so impressed by so many things that the student did well during the assessment! As
mentioned in my comments above, I was thoroughly pleased with the students picture she created
and the description she gave. In addition to this task, I have also noticed that she does a wonderful job
of coloring neatly and putting her time and effort into things. She seems to really enjoy creative
activities and things like art and dancing! Additionally, I thought she did an amazing job at writing
her letters! There are several students in the class who cant write their letters. Since she is one of the
lower students academically, I wasnt expecting her to do as well as she did, but she really surprised
me! She was able to correctly produce EVERY letter which I was so proud of! Additionally, she one
reversed two of them, which is pretty common for students at this age! Another thing she did really
well with was identifying the different parts of a book and how to read it. She seemed very familiar
with the terms and did an excellent job even though she isnt able to read on her own yet!

Something that is absent from the students understanding is reading and writing entire words.
She understands individual sounds and letters, but putting them together seems like a foreign idea
and frustrating task for her. I think she just needs practice and one on one help with reading and
writing and she will definitely be able to learn!

I would definitely say that the student is an emergent reader. She can identify the sounds that
most letters make which is the first step to being able to read. Additionally, she understands the
direction in which you read and how you read a book, so that is also a good step! Additionally, she is
able to sound things out with guidance, so I think she just needs more help! I think one of the things
that was hard with the assessment is that she wasnt really able to get any help from me or anyone else
because it was an assessment. With adequate and appropriate assistance, I think she would be able to
start reading in no time!

Obviously I am not an expert, but as far as what the next steps should be for the student, I do
have a few ideas! First of all, I would practice having her read sight words. I would give her a few
words each week and work with her independently, in small groups, and in whole group. I would also
have her take them home and work on them with her parents. I would try to incorporate some fun
activities into learning the sight words like matching games! Additionally, I would have her practice
writing the sight words next to corresponding pictures for the word. I would also start having her read
small books that contain small words and sight words! (like BOB books) I think having her read these
and take them home to practice consistently would really be helpful for her! I also think it is
important to start from the beginning, because I feel like a lot of the activities my teacher currently
does are way over the students heads and they need to be able to master the basics first!
 I really enjoyed this assessment and I loved learning more about students at this age and where
they should be in their literacy development. It was a lot of fun to do all of these things with my case
study student and I think we both benefited from it!