Formative Assessment. The foundation of our day. Sorry it’s been so long…I’ve been busy with Back to School. We have been “making our lists and checking them twice.”
Heehee. I’m not Santa…but we’ve been trying to make sure we know all about our kinders and can give them what they need.
Our first formative assessment is a little different from the typical “Draw a Man.”
Formative Assessment: I am Austin.
The first week of school we introduce I, am, and a for word wall words. We do this with our first assessment in mind. After a read aloud about names (see books ideas on Adventures in Literacy Land), we ask the students to complete the word wall word sentence: “I am …” Once everyone has said their “I am…” sentence, they are asked to go back to their table.
Each student is given a white piece of paper, a blue square with “I” in the middle, and a yellow square with “am” in the middle.
Students are directed to complete this assessment.
Teacher: Find the square on the white paper with a circle in the middle. Use your glue stick to make 2 circles on the circle in the square. Now, find the blue square with the word “I” on it. Put it on the glue circle.
Now, find the square on the white paper with a “x” in the middle. Use your glue stick to make 2 x’s on the x in the square. Now, find the yellow swaure with the word “am” on it. Put it on the glue x.
Next, write your name on the line. You may use a model if you need it.
Finally, draw a picture of your self. Include details.
The assessment is just about the word wall words and their name. It’s also about locating shapes, recognizing shapes, gluing procedures, and fine motor skills.
Karina did a nice job writing her name.
She will need penmanship lessons for the letters “a”, “r” and “n.”
She understood the need to keep the letters on the line so she extended the last letter “a” to reach all the way to the bottom.
The teacher provided a guided illustration, showing her students how to make a circle for the head, a rectangle for the body, and adding arms and legs.
Her illustration is nicely detailed. She also included 5 fingers on each hand and eyelashes. Coincidentally, she knows 48/52 letters and shows emergent reading skills.
Tyler had some difficulty. He glued the word “am” upside down, even though the teacher was providing a sample using the document camera.
He also had difficulty writing his name. He started his name correctly with a capital T.
He added a “l” and an “e.” He attempted his last name, but the “w” was upside down.
He made the “w” a second time, but it was still upside down. He followed the guided illustration by adding a circle, rectangle, arms and legs. He didn’t add all 5 fingers.
He did attempt to draw a hat on his head. Likewise, Tyler knew 8 letters on his Kindergarten screening: c, e, l, o, t, w, x, and z. He does not consistently recognize the letters “y” and “r” in his name.
This formative assessment is placed in their writing folder for the year.
We will pull them out two more times. I can’t wait to see their growth in January and in May. I’m sure we’ll be amazed!
If you would like the First Formative Assessment, click the link.