Writing Assessment The purpose of a writing assessment is to gain insight into a students understanding of writing.

Writing assessments allow teachers to identify strengths and weakness in their students writing. This allows teachers to better inform individual writing instruction for all students. Looking at writing analytically, allows teachers to assess improvement in writing throughout the school year. Writing assessments give teachers the ability to look at what a student produces, as well as, the process by which the student produces. In order to complete this writing analysis, I used the Profile of Writing Knowledge and the Note-Taking Form for Observation Writing found in Kidwatching (Owocki & Goodman). For the interview portion of the assessment, I used the Childs Concepts of Writing Interview. In order to complete a thorough writing assessment, I observed the students writing from the start of the semester. During writers Workshop, I observed the students writing to look for understanding of elements such as: punctuation, grammar, orthography and phonology. I also asked the student to explain her writing, and share it with me during the workshops. Another important piece of the writing assessment is collecting writing samples. I was able to analyze writing samples from the beginning of the year, the middle of the year and the present. By looking at these writing samples, I was able to track improvements in writing over the course of the school year. The last part of the assessment is a student interview. The interview allowed me to gain insight into the students thoughts and feelings about writing.

The student I chose to work with for this assessment is a kindergarten student named Sreeja. All of my observations of Sreejas writing took place during writers workshop in her classroom. I was also able to look at some of Sreejas writing during choice time. During choice time, Sreeja enjoys writing letters to her friends and family. She also enjoys sharing her writing with her teachers. Sreejas writing interview took place at a small table outside of her classroom. Sreeja seemed very eager to answer all of my questions about writing. It is evident from analyzing Sreejas writing, that she has greatly improved her writing knowledge since September. Since September, Sreeja has used drawings to signify meaning and write about topics of her choice. In September Sreeja drew a story about her mothers birthday party. The story was three pages long and included very detailed pictures. After Sreeja drew her story, Mrs. Chiavaroli wrote whatever Sreeja said the pictures meant on the top of each page. Even before Sreeja knew how to write with words, she had an understanding of how to organize a story. Sreeja started by introducing the topic of the story Today is my moms birthday. Sreeja then proceeded to describe whom she saw and what she did at the birthday party, We also saw my cousin; I brought her a flower. This shows that Sreeja has a developed understanding of order of events in a story. Even though Sreeja was not using words, she was able to sequence the story from the start of the party to the end of the party. Sreejas drawings also show that she has a great understanding of the importance of detail in a story. Sreejas drawings depict the setting of her story, the characters in her story and the action in her story. From September to December there is a vast improvement in Sreejas writing. In just a few short months Sreeja learned to write with words as well as pictures. In

December, Sreeja wrote a letter to Santa that read, Ckristmes is my favret holeda santa you or the best. This letter demonstrates that Sreeja gained a lot of knowledge about writing in just three months. It is evident from this piece of writing that Sreeja has developing knowledge of orthography and phonology. Sreeja understands the difference between drawing and writing. She also sounds out unfamiliar words to create invented spelling in her writing. At this point, Sreeja had a well-developed understanding of print, punctuation spacing. Sreejas letters were well written and clearly read. She also included a period at the end of her full sentence. The final pieces of writing that I analyzed were How to books written at the end of March. Since December, Sreeja has continued to improve her writing. By reading these pieces of writing, it is evident that Sreeja had learned to write for longer periods of time and with more detail. Sreejas How to books are three to four pages long and include detailed illustrations. Sreeja is beginning to conventionally spell commonly used words such as: then, you, your and with. Sreeja also uses capitalization for names and places. Sreeja has also learned to revise her own work and publish her writing. In Sreejas interview she indicated that she knew how to write. When asked about who taught her to write, Sreeja said that her mother taught her everything. Sreeja thinks that it is possible to learn how to write on her own, but she is not sure how to learn. According to Sreeja, writing is easy because she just knows from her brain. Sreejas parents write American in their offices and her older brother writes in school. Sreeja writes because Writing is important! Everyone writes; except for old people. One thing that Sreeja can work on as a developing writer is collaborating with others. One thing Ive noticed about Sreeja is that she prefers to write on her own with

little help. Although independence is important during writers workshop, It is also important that Sreeja learns to discuss her writing with others and take suggestions from peers. One way I would help Sreeja to develop this skill is to incorporate partner work into writers workshop. For example, during a mini lesson I would use turn and talks to encourage students to talk about their work. For example, if I were teaching a mini lesson about adding detail, I would ask students to pair up and look for detail in each others writing. I might have one partner read their story and have the other point out some parts of the story where detail can be added. This type of activity encourages students like Sreeja to consider the suggestions of others in her writing process. While conducting the writing interview, I noticed that Sreeja was unclear about the purpose of writing. Sreeja sees herself as a writer and understands that other people write also. Sreeja doesnt seem to have a developed understanding of why people write and why writing is important. One way that I would improve Sreeja understanding of the importance of writing is by making writing meaningful in the classroom. For example, I might have the class write a letter to the principal about improving lunch choices in the cafeteria. Students can also write thank you notes to school staff or administration. Writing experiences like these teach students like Sreeja, that writing always has a purpose. Sometimes we write to persuade people or to inform them about important information. We might also write to give thanks to someone special or celebrate a special day. After doing this assessment it is clear that Sreeja is a remarkable little writer. I am amazed at how quickly Sreeja has learned to write and express her thoughts on paper. I

have learned that this assessment is so informative for teachers. This is defiantly an assessment that I will incorporate into my own classroom someday.