WRITING

ASSESSMENT & TEACHING RESPONSES

SPELLING & GRAPHOPHONICS
1. Overview
Words spelled correctly:____104______ Total words:___126________ Percentage
correct:_____82%________
Interesting/unusual/difficult words attempted:
ilind- Island
wight- white
2. What does this writer already know about graphophonics? (Strengths!)

What approximations (almost there, on/off, near-misses) of conventions (e.g., letter/sound

knowledge, word families, diagraphs, suffixes, prefixes, etc.) are present?
The student is a very good speller. Her errors were either near misses, spelled just like they
sound, or spelled based on how similar words looks, or how the word looks just slightly off. The
student knows what the words look like.
Her near miss words were spelled:
fiend- friend
dollers- dollars
bruther- brother

Are the spelling strategies mostly based on how words sound or how words look?
The students spelling strategies are mostly based on sound however she did spell some words
based on how they look.

Analyze at least three words from the writing sample to support your thinking:

The student spelled the world island based on sound. She spelled the word ilind because the s in
island is silent and the a sounds like an I the way we pronounce the word.
The student spelled the word when win. The student spelled the word based on how it sounds
because the h in when is silent and the e easily sounds like an I when we say the word aloud.
The student spelled the word white wight because she is familiar with other words where the ight
makes the ite sound. This could include words like right, fight or sight which she may be familiar with.


PUNCTUATION & SYNTAX
3. What does this writer already know about syntax? (Strengths!)

What approximations of conventions (e.g., spacing, capitalization, punctuation, word usage,

etc.) are present?
The student uses full sentences with capitals and periods. The student titled her work What I
Want. Her title works well with the content of her list. The student numbered her list of what
she wants.
The student spelled the word maid as made. Although made is correct spelling it is the wrong
form of the word for the sentence. The student was familiar with this word and that is why she
spelled maid, made.

Which conventions would be most helpful to make this writing more readable?
The student needs to improve her spacing in-between words. The student needs to make
slightly larger spaces so that the writing is more readable. The student wrote 2 sentences that
are unreadable because the student doesnt provide space in-between words.

4. If needed, which spelling methods and punctuation methods would you use with this writer? Why?

Spelling methods:
My students words that are misspelled, and spelled based on how they sound are largely
words that are not spelled phonetically in the English language. These words include: island,
house, friend and when.

Punctuation methods:
In a morning message or interactive writing passage we could focus on spaces in-between
words. Students could be required to place their fingers in-between words when writing
sentences, or editing a sentence that needs larger spaces in-between words.
Otherwise, the writer uses punctuation accurately.

MEANING & SEMANTICS
5. What do you as a reader need in this piece of writing to better understand the writers ideas?

What already works well in getting the writers ideas across or meeting the writers purpose in
this piece of writing? (e.g., Engaging language, detailed information, clear organization--
Strengths!)


The students writing is very organized and follows a common theme. The student created a list
that is numbered and titled. The students list is titled What I Want and she provides a clear
list of things she wants written in complete sentences. The student gives good detailed
information about what she wants. She could have simply created a list of single word wants,
but instead she wrote 20 complete numbered sentences describing her wants.

What is almost there could you focus the childs attention on to make the meaning clearer or
the purpose stronger?
I would encourage the student to communicate her list into a different genre. Although she
wrote in complete sentences, a list limits the detail she could provide. I would encourage her to
write about her wants in a paragraph, story, letter, or poem so that she could also write about
why she wants the items on her list and what she would do if she had them.

6. Recall books you know. Which type of text(s) would make good mentors for this student?

The reason you would use a particular type of book; how it would help this writer?
I would choose childrens books or poems about wants characters have. Three childrens books
that come to mind are:
The Pigeon Wants A Puppy- Mo Willems
Hug Me- Simona Ciraolo
I Wanna Iguana- Karen Kaufman Orloff (Writes letter to Mom about wants)
I would choose childrens books or poems because my second grade student really enjoys
pictures. I believe the images in these books would interest her. Furthermore, these texts or
other childrens texts about wants and dreams would provide examples of different genres on
the same topic my student wrote about.

How you would use this type of text(s) to develop stronger writing from this student?
I would show the writer different genres of writing about the same topic my writer wrote about:
wants. I would encourage the writer to communicate the same ideas she wrote in her list into a
different genre of writing such as a story, poem or letter like in the examples Ive shown her. I
believe these texts would help my student become a stronger writer by elaborating and adding
more detail to the ideas she generated in her list by communicating them in a different way,
which requires elaboration.

Reading & Writing Goals

Student will practice communicating her writing ideas in a different genre besides list making.
1.

2.W.3.3 Develop topics for friendly letters, stories, poems, and other narrative purposes that
o Include a beginning.
o Use temporal words to signal event order (e.g., first of all).


Provide details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings.
Provide an ending.
Student will practice going back and to the end of the word or self-correcting when she incorrectly reads
word endings.
o
o

2.RF.5
Orally read grade-level appropriate or higher texts smoothly and accurately, with expression that
connotes comprehension at the independent level.