Assessment Assignment

Read 620
Emily Pleasants
Longwood University
19 September 2016

Class Overview

My third grade class is composed of 18 students. These students encompass a variety of

word feature levels. The lowest level demonstrated in the class is Late Letter Name-Alphabetic.

These students have continuing difficulty with digraphs. The highest level demonstrated within

the class is near mastery of the derivational relations stage. There are also students firmly in the

Within Word and Syllables and Affixes stage. I would have loved to group my students into

about 6 different groups, but for a sense of practicality I have separated them into 4 groups of

similar ability. Below I have described the groups and provided justifications as to why each

group was created the way they were.

Instructional Group 1

The first group is composed of 4 students: Caleb, Trevor B., Sam, and Steven. Caleb and

Trevor B. are both technically late Letter Name spellers, but are using but confusing digraphs.

They have mastered consonants and short vowels, but are still fostering some confusion with

digraphs. After they master this feature, they are comfortable with blends, so they can move on

to the level at which the other students in this group are operating on. I would recommend

working with Caleb and Trevor B. during an intervention time to work on digraphs before

putting them in this group full time to ensure that they are ready for the middle within word tasks

that the other students will be completing. Sam and Steven are in need of in-depth instruction on

long vowels. They would not be hurt by a review of digraphs if intervention time is not available
for Caleb and Trevor H., but it is unnecessary because Sam and Steven have mastered that skill

as well as blends. Both Sam and Steven scored only 2 out of 5 on the long vowel feature, so they

are considered using but confusing this feature. They do not have a very large knowledge of the

skill, but this can be honed in relatively quickly. Caleb is also already using but confusing long

vowels, but the concept will be much newer to Trevor B. The only student that shows any

significant word pattern knowledge beyond long vowels is Steven; he scored 4/7 on the other

features category.

Based on the students word knowledge assessments, I would anticipate that Caleb and

Trevor B.s reading stage would be between Primer and First grade which are late beginning and

early transitional. I would place Sam and Steven slightly higher at Second grade reading level

which is in the middle transitional stage. Overall, I would place this groups reading ability at

about first grade. Because this group is so far behind grade level, I would utilize a moderate

speed. Part of me wants to go slow because I want to ensure mastery of each skill, but the other

part of me knows that there is not enough time in the school year to focus on letter-name skills

but get students reading and spelling on a third grade level. I feel that this group, especially

Caleb and Trevor H. will need intervention time to ensure that they reach their end-of-the-year

goals. Addition word work time will be beneficial to all of the students in this group.

The sort that I would use for this group is:

Short/Long a
hat Name Have
Jack Date What
Ask Race
Slap Plane
Fast Cape
 Lamp Page
flag same
I chose this short versus long a sort because all of the students in this group need work with long

vowels. I think that this sort will help the students draw a comparison between short and long

vowels. Having the oddball section will introduce them to words that dont follow the rules if

they havent already encountered this. The words also encompass some blends which all students

have mastered, so the words are accessible. This would only be appropriate for Trevor B. and

Caleb after they have had instruction to sure up their knowledge of digraphs.

For English Learners I would be sure to incorporate a large number of pictures and

visuals in each lesson. These visuals would allow the students to make connections to real-life

objects which will make more of a concrete understanding. I would also incorporate a great deal

of group work into the lessons so that the students could converse with one another and begin to

truly understand the meaning behind the features at their own level rather than me just speaking

to them from my level of knowledge. Another aspect that I would adapt for English Learners is

the use of cognates in lessons. I would use words that are similar in both languages to draw

connections as well.

Instructional Group 2

The second group consists of 5 students: Anna, Kaylee, Lexi, Molly, and Bridget. Anna,

Bridget, Molly, and Kaylee have mastered all features up until other vowels, which they are

using but confusing. They then show some limited knowledge of the following feature, Inflected

Endings, as well. Lexi has already mastered the Other Vowels feature and need more instruction

with inflected endings. While most of these students are technically in late within word and Lexi

is in early syllable and affixes, it still made more sense to me to group them together than with
their spelling stage counterparts. Lexi did not receive a perfect score on the Other Vowels

feature, so it will be good for her to review that skill as well. It may seem strange that I decided

to keep Lexi down in this group, but push Brian up to the next group even though they both

technically scored within the early syllables and affixes stage. I chose to do this because Lexi

scored lower on the features following inflected endings, so I feel that she would benefit from

the review before moving on to more difficult concepts. All of the students in this group show

some feature knowledge through the end of syllables and affixes, but all of these features need to

be reinforced and explicitly taught.

I would expect these students to be relatively close to one another with their reading

abilities. I would expect Anna, Kaylee, Bridget, and Molly to be reading at a second grade

reading level within the late transitional stage. I would expect Lexi to be closer to a third grade

level, entering early intermediate reading abilities. For this group, I would probably move at a

faster pace with my instruction. These students are still behind grade level, but, in my opinion,

could more easily get there. Once they reached grade level, I may slow the instruction to make

sure that the more difficult concepts are taught thoroughly (not that the other concepts wouldnt

be thoroughly taught). I do not think that this group direly needs intervention time, but they

would definitely benefit from it, so I wouldnt turn it down.

The sort that I would begin these students with is as follows:

r-influenced vowels
 car her for

shark first short

farm bird corn

hard burn horn

card word torn

yard jerk

march dirt

I chose this r-controlled sort because it had a combination of vowels sounds and all of the

students in this group have had some interaction with the Other Vowels feature. R-controlled are

typically one of the first abstract vowel types taught, so I thought that using a review of these

first would be a good review for some and a confidence builder for all. This sort is rich because it

is completed by sound rather than letters, so it requires students to actively participate and

interact with the sounds. This will also show me which of my students have completed sorts like

this and which have gotten by with matching letters (which is hopefully none of them!).

Instructional Group 3

The third group that I have created is going to consist of 5 students: Brian, Dana, Ben,

Natalie, and Lindsay. These students encompass a wider range of word knowledge than the other

groups, but I feel that they belong together. Brian is the lowest scoring student in the group,

landing in the early syllables and affixes stage. However, he shows a good deal of knowledge

about the following features (syllable juncture and unaccented final syllables), so I think he

would benefit from being pushed to the next level. Lindsay is next on the continuum and she

scored in the middle syllables and affixes stage. She, too, demonstrates a good deal of knowledge

of the following feature (unaccented final syllables). Natalie and Dana are both using but
confusing unaccented final syllables. However, Brian and Lindsay actually scored higher than

Natalie and Dana on this feature even though Natalie and Dana have mastered the previous

features. The last student I have included in this group is Ben. While his farther using but

confusing feature was in derivational relations, he did not show complete mastery of any of the

three preceding feature within syllables and affixes. For this reason, I think that he would benefit

more from reviewing these skills than being put in a group with students that are being pushed

beyond elementary school skills.

Based on their spelling stages, I would expect these students to be in a variety of places

where reading stage is concerned. I would anticipate that Brian would be reading on about a third

grade reading level in the early intermediate stage. I would expect that Lindsay would be reading

on a fourth grade reading level in the middle intermediate stage. I would anticipate that Natalie

and Dana are reading on a fifth grade reading level in the intermediate stage and that Ben would

be closer to a sixth grade reading level entering the advanced stage. The pace I would teach this

group at would be moderate. They are on or above grade level, so they do not need to worry

about catching up, but they still have features that could get them to the advanced level. I do not

feel that these students would need intervention.

The word sort that I would introduce to this group would be:

VCCV at Juncture (same/different)

Button Market

Sunny Garden

Yellow Signal

Happy Member
 Happen Basket

Sitting Center

fellow plastic

I chose this sort because it is at the beginning of the syllable juncture instruction. Since Brian is

not quite there yet, he may need extra instruction before reaching this point, but he did

demonstrate a firm knowledge of this feature so he may be fine. I also chose this sort because it

would be a needed review for the students in the group that are already using but confusing

features in the syllable and affixes stage.

Instructional Group 4

The students in this group (Miguel, Edwin, Callie, and Trevor B.) are all in the

derivational relations stage of word study. Callie is technically the lowest in the group,

demonstrating some knowledge of the Harder Suffixes feature, but not mastery. I have chosen to

place her in this group because she shows knowledge of both categories within derivational

relations. Since she has a base knowledge to work off of, I think that pushing her to reach the

others will be beneficial for her. Trevor H. and Edwin are both using but confusing bases or

roots. They have not completely mastered harder suffixes, but do show a firm knowledge of

them. Miguel is an outlier. While I would like to give all four of these students the Upper

Spelling Inventory, I would especially like to further test Miguel. He did not demonstrate that he

was using but confusing any features. However, the Upper Spelling Inventory may shed some

more light on these results. He did not complete master each section with perfect scores, so I

believe that he would still benefit from the instruction of this group. If the Upper Spelling

Inventory showed that he needed to be pushed farther, then I would separate him out and

complete a more advanced word study lesson with him individually.

 Based on their feature knowledge, these students are all above level readers. Callie is

most likely reading on a seventh grade reading level, and the others are most likely at eighth or

above. For this group, I would my instructional pace would be much slower. These students are

already above grade level, so I want to create tasks and sorts that challenge their thinking. Since

these will be difficult, they may take longer. We are not in a rush to catch them up to grade level

or their peers, so we can take time to thoroughly investigate word features. The only pull-out

resources these students may need would be for talented and gifted, not intervention.

The word sort that I would begin this group with is:

e-Drop + -ion

te + -ion ce + -ion se + -ion

educate - education Induce induction Expulse expulsion

Congratulate-congratulation Introduce introduction Convulse-convulsion

Create-creation Produce production Repulse - repulsion

Decorate-decoration Deduce deduction

Generate-generation Reproduce - reproduction

I chose this word sort because it is a suffix sort that requires higher level thinking. The students

in the derivational relations stage demonstrate knowledge of harder suffixes, but the review of

these is necessary to fully master the skill. This is a hard concept to learn, so I want to ensure

students are comfortable with it before moving on.

I would foster this advanced group by pushing their knowledge of how the language

really works. I would include research and more linguistic elements into lessons. Semantics is

extremely important when entering the derivational relations stage, so I would ensure that
students understood the meaning of the word parts as well as how they work together. I would

have them find examples of how authors are exemplifying what we are studying in other texts as

well as have students create nonsense words that follow our patterns and features.