In the Midst of Assessments

There are moments when I feel like a rock star of reading. This week is one of those times – it’s reading assessment time! As I walk down the halls, I’m asked by students, “Are you going to read with me today?” This week we have been doing reading and writing assessments. While you may think of assessments as the dreaded test or pop quiz, your child usually comes away from assessments with a very different experience. Here’s how it goes…

When we read with your child, we are determining the characteristics and level of book they can read by themselves. Usually we offer a few books that your child can choose from to read and they select which book they want to read. The books are ones that they have not read before so the assessment provides a perfect time to see just what strategies your child knows and uses while reading. At the end of the reading session, the teachers share what they noticed that your child can do while reading. This is important because by sharing this information with your child, they know what they can do as a reader and come away from the reading assessment with a positive experience.

In writing, each child is giving a writing prompt where they write a story. In the classroom, the teacher introduces the prompt and your child works on their story independently. The teacher may talk about things they know about writing a story before they begin writing, then your child uses their experiences an imagination to create a story and tell it in writing (or drawing in some cases). Each writing piece is scored on a rubric and this information helps the teacher know what your child can do in writing and what they need to learn next to grow.

Once the teachers determine what your child knows, they can prepare what the next steps are to help them become a better reader and writer. You can find the results of the assessment when you look at your child’s language arts portfolio. Each assessment is saved in his or her language arts portfolio so that your child can reflect on their growth over the year(s) and parents and teachers can talk about your child’s work and share information with the reading records and piece of writing in front of them. It is wonderful to be able to look at your child’s growth over time with the portfolios. It’s like a time capsule of your child’s learning.

One, part two

Last week, our school celebrated International Literacy Day with a school-wide reading of the book One by Kathryn Otoshi. All of the ‘It only take ONE to…’ statements that students have written are now on display and make a proud statement of friendship, cooperation, and reach out to others in our community as they walk around our school. The colorful sentence strips attract your attention and they are being read!

I watched a class line up in the hall getting ready for lunch and heard a hum of whispered readings of the quotes. The display happens to be in an area where two hallways converge so there is a lot of foot traffic… and reading. Some of the students take a moment to spot their own quote and then began looking for friends or siblings quote but settled in to read statements nodding their head in agreement with what was written. Here are a few more quotes:

It just takes ONE to help other people when they fall.
It just takes ONE to make someone else happy.
It just takes ONE to turn a bully into a friend.
It just takes ONE to turn around the world.

Teachers have taken the opportunity to bring in other books to read aloud or a collection of books that echo a similar message. For example, Carol McCloud’s book, Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?, is a book that has extended the conversation around friendship and helping others.

If you are interested in looking for books to read with your child, I recommend the web site Kids Lit. The site offers book reviews on books from toddlers to teens as well as reading and writing information. I like the way the site is set up because you can locate books by genre, recommended book levels, authors, award winners and more. Check it out! Chances are good that you’ll find a book that is the ONE.