Read 399 Spring 2014 Freedson Guidelines for Child Assessment Assignment The basic goal of this assignment is to give you some experience assessing a child s reading interests attitudes and actual reading abilities To do this you are asked to conduct a Reading Interest Interview and an Informal Reading Conference with a kindergarten through 2nd grade student The procedures to conduct this assessment are as follows First interview the child to learn about the child s reading interests and practices Use the Interest Interview Guide posted on Blackboard Take detailed notes writing down some of the child s responses word for word when you can Then conduct an Informal Reading Conference See Child Assessment Documents on Bb using the documents we review in class Download and print the following documents that you will need A Framework for an Informal reading Conference this gives you the basic procedures to follow in order to assess the child o Informal Reading Conference this is a record sheet a place for you to record the child s responses and your observations during the conference o Questions to Probe for Student Understanding These are questions you will ask to get more detailed information about the child s reading comprehension or in the case of a pre reading kindergarten child their listening comprehension o One of the following 2 checklists If your child can read independently even at a very basic level even if at a very beginning level use the Sight Word Decoding and Spelling Behaviors Checklist This checklist gives you some specific decoding and fluency skills to look for as the child reads NOTE DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE PORTIONS OF THIS CHECKLIST DEVOTED TO SPELLING AND WRITING I have crossed these out since they are not needed OR With children who are not yet reading independently this should include some kindergarteners use the Emergent Literacy Behaviors Checklist Note to respond to checklist items related to Alphabet Knowledge you will need to administer the Letter Names and Sounds test on p 265 of your Smith and Read text You do NOT need to do this test with children who already read independently unless they are JUST beginning to read and still struggling to decode simple words o Follow the Framework for the Informal Reading Conference To conduct the conference start by asking the student to choose a book that he or she can read well preferably one that he she is not very familiar with e g has not read before You may wish to bring along a few books from which your child can choose You will discuss his her motivations for choosing that particular book how they rate the book Read 399 Spring 2014 Freedson in terms of difficulty and ask them to explain what is happening in the book so far if they have already begun to read it or if it was read aloud to them You will then have them read a few pages of the book in your presence silently or aloud you may wish to let the child decide You want to assess their decoding fluency vocabulary and comprehension You will need to read along so you can ask appropriate questions including questions about difficult words in terms of both decoding and meaning vocabulary characters setting plot etc Note If you are reading aloud to a child who is not yet able to read independently it is imperative that you choose a book the child has NOT heard before You want to assess his her comprehension of a NEW and unfamiliar text Best to bring 3 books with you that YOU are familiar with and let the child choose one To assess the student s reading comprehension use the Questions to Probe for Student Understanding for either fiction OR non fiction Do not have the child read you the entire book but just a few pages of it unless is is a very short book Use the Skills Checklists to guide you as you listen to the child s oral reading Please note that if and only if your student is a kindergartener who does not yet read independently you should have them select a book that you read aloud TO them and assess their listening comprehension rather than their reading comprehension You can use the Questions to Probe for Understanding to assess the child s listening comprehension So in sum you will be using the following For Kindergarten Children WHO ARE NOT YET READING ON THEIR OWN 1 Student interest interview 2 Informal Reading Conference procedures with Questions to Probe for Understanding to assess listening comprehension you read the book aloud to the child 3 Emergent Literacy Behaviors Checklist 4 Letter Names and Sounds test p 265 of textbook For 1st 3rd grade children AND KINDERGARTEN READERS 1 Student interest interview 2 Informal Reading Conference procedures with Questions to Probe for Understanding 3 Decoding and fluency skills checklist no spelling or writing skills Three important things to remember Read 399 Spring 2014 Freedson 1 While students are reading aloud make note of any words that are misread or pose difficulty for the child Write down the word as it is in the text and the word as the student pronounces it since this will give you clues as to any decoding difficulties the child may have Also if there are difficult or unusual vocabulary words Tier 2 and Tier 3 words ask the child if they know what these words mean or can figure out the meaning from the context after they read Try to notice any other issues that arise in the student s reading e g subvocalizing rereading skipping over certain sections etc Be sure to listen to assess the student s reading fluency 2 When you get to the portion of the conference where you are discussing what the student has just read use the comprehension questions to probe for student understanding depending on whether the text is fiction or non fiction You will need to include discussion of students responses to these questions in your write up in some detail For example you won t just want to say in your report The student seemed to understand the problem in the story You will want to give the evidence based on your conversation with the child about the book 3 For 1st 2nd and 3rd graders be sure to include discussion of students mastery of the skills on the Decoding Fluency checklists in your memo Be specific and give detailed evidence to support your claims For example if you see the student having difficulty with consonant blends give examples of the words with consonant blends that they had trouble reading If the student lack fluency or does not attend to punctuation explain with examples For kindergartens non