Literacy Assessment of Primary (Gr.3) and Intermediate Students (Gr.

6)
Utilizing PM Benchmark and NLPS Reading Assessment Tools

Simin Rupa
Fall 2018
EDTE 500 FN01
Contents
Primary Student- Grade 3

Overview & Data Analysis: Imaginary Words ………………………………………. Pg.2

Data Analysis: Sight Words & Reading Record ……………………………………. Pg. 3
Developing Further: Strengths, Stretches and Future Development …………... Pg.5
Data Source:
Foreword Comments & Imaginary Words ………………………………………….... Pg.6
Grade 3,2,1 Sight Words ………………………………………………………………… Pg.7
Running Records: Level 14 & 12 ………………………………………………………. Pg.9

Intermediate Student- Grade 6

Overview & Data Analysis: Part 1 & 2 ……………………………………………….... Pg.10

Data Analysis: Part 3&4 and Overview……………..………………………...……….. Pg.11
Data Source:
Part 1: Predicting/Text Features & Literal Comprehension……………………….... Pg.13
Part 2: Main Ideas Graphic Organizer ………………………………………………….. Pg.14
Part 3: Connections and Inferencing …………………………………………………… Pg.15

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Overview: (See Figure 1.1)
For the purpose of this evaluation the students identify and name will be altered to Georgia.
Georgia, a happy, shy but enthusiastic grade 3 student showed hesitancy from the beginning.
Removing them from the classroom, I was already informed that this student was on a
monitoring list as there was exterior concern about Georgia’s reading as well as
comprehension. In our pre-reading conversation we touched on his personal reading habits and
self perception of reading. They expressed they had a deep desire to become a ‘better’ reader,
but they know they are not there yet. When asked what a ‘better’ reader would be, they drew an
example to their older sibling, who quite often is the only person reading to Georgia outside of
school. Georgia has an internal focus on learning new words, especially ‘big’ words as well as
becoming a faster reader. They enjoy reading, but finds most of the novels around their age to
be either too boring and not of interests or have to many words outside of their visual
vocabulary. Reading is not a focus outside of school for this student, whilst they try to read
alone, they tend to ‘give up’ rather quickly an as a result prefers being read to. When the
conversation turned to interest and what novels were of interest, the students demeanor shifted.
Excitement filled the student as they recounted stories of ‘The Raventale’ books, and drew
personal connections to being First Nations as well as similar hobbies such as hunting. Using
this conversation surrounding outdoors and hunting, I was able to deepen our relationship which
allowed to take more time with assessment and begin to see the students comprehension
without text.

Data Analysis:
Imaginary Words Analysis (See Figure 1.2)

Previous to beginning the assessment Georgia had shown unease as they read the first word,
and did not recognize it. Upon seeing this, I added they were not real words, and they had no
meaning or specific pronunciation so it is their choice to pronounce how they like.
Beginning Consonant: 16/16
Student began the word with confidence and correct sound to letter representation.
Short Vowels: 7/10
AS moved toward vowels, Georgia became unsure of pronunciation and would either repeat the
word or extend the vowel. Example: CAG became a long A noise, and similar with the O in
NOK. Once they had managed the first few words and their confidence grew, the elongated
vowels ceased. However, the I in DIJ was mispronounced s and O, and connection to ‘Dodge
Ball’ was noted.
Final Consonants: 7/ 8
All sounds matched their letter representation except for J, which was inturn pronounced as a
G.
Consonant Digraphs: 6/6
Confidence was shown with the ‘h’ ending digraphs, and had recognition that ‘sh’ sounded like
the word fish. When Georgia noticed ‘ng’ there was a moment of silence before pronunciation.
Consonant Blends: 3/7

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This section was a struggle for Georgia as the words were similar to possible real vocabulary
and each word Georgia spent a few second previous to pronouncing it either drawing their own
conclusions such as MP beign TIME or SL/NK being SLACK. The student tended to read the
beginning of the word and fill in the rest with recognized words previously.
Complex Vowels Patterns: 6.5/11
Upon reaching this section Georgia notified me that these words were hard and too big, once I
reassured them that these were not real words the student began. As seen below, the vowel
sounds of A and E were often interchanged. Having the vowel sounds as errors some other
words such as LARP became LARRRP, or FIBE became FIDE. This also highlighted that this
student flipped B and D quite often and would not self correct or perhaps even recognize the
area.

Sight Words (See Figure 1.2, 1.3, 1.4)

Within the first viewing of the Grade 3 Sight Words list, the student noted that they could not
recognize the majority of the words, with allowed time to point and attempt the ones the student
recognize only two sight words were brought forth. Quickly moved on to Grade 2 Sight Words.
Georgia was able to recognize and pronounce fluently 12 out of 25 Sight Words, once they were
allowed to pick the words out of the list on their own. The words that do not have a mark beside
them were not attempted even with light encouragement. The words that were attempted and
mispronounced such as ONLY were written as note of how ti was pronounced. To continue the
assessment to place the student in the right level we attempted teh Grade 1 Sight Words, in
hopes of also ending the assessment on a positive experience. The student was able to
correctly pronounce 22 words correctly with some self correction. The data once more supports
the issue with vowels and their pronunciation surrounding A and E.

Reading Record Analysis (See Figures 1.5 & 1.6)

Georgia was initially assessed to be at Level 14 from the previous year. Below is the running
record for the level 14 novel. Whilst part way through I suggested either I can read to finish the
book ro we can switch to another novel, Georgia wanted to finish the novel with my aid and then
do another novel. For specific analysiation please review ‘Level 14: Little Hen, Mouse and
Rabbit’. During the reading it was clear which words Georgia had seen previously wtnh novels
ro life experience, such as the animals or common words. In all there are 16 Errors and 8 Self
Correction. The majority of the Errors are meaning and visual, and the self correction either
occured right after the word was incorrect or they did not occur. At times the student would re-
read the phrase to clarify what was occurring, especially if the sentence was broken due to
formatting with in the novel. Noted on the sheet is the student attempting to breakdown new or
unfamiliar words by anonciating and isolating parts of the word. Whilst they were able to
deconstruct the word, they did not take the time to put it together after to make it smooth. The
post reading conference however, offered a different perspective. Georgia had a strong
understanding of what had happened in the story, and was able to offer sufficient detail as well
as chronological timeline of the event. I also added extra questions to see the depth of the
comprehension, and the student offered personal connections to how his mother conducts the

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house and he found humour in the novel. Whilst the fluency and record highlighted the low
ability of the students reading and oral pronunciation the comprehension was deep.
Upon finishing the Level 14 story, even with the comprehension demonstrated, I felt like the
vocabulary and the level was too high for his reading to genuinely get better or to have been
analysing at a fair level. We read through a Level 12: Buying A New House. With 8 Errors and 5
Self Corrections this running record fit more within Georgia's’ zone of development in terms of
fluency and vocabulary. Self corrections were quickly noticed as the story did not flow, many of
the errors were in instances where the student would read the beginning of the word and fill in
what they thought was appropriate, or they revolved around vowel recognition. However, whilst
fluency and accuracy increased the comprehension was lacking. As a result of their ‘disinterest’
with the novel, they were unable to recount significant detail or make their own connections.
When asked which novel was better for them, they chose the level 14 novel, whilst
acknowledging it was too hard to read on their own the other story was too boring.

NLPS Coding Master Rubric See Figures 1.2-1.6

GRADE THREE

SKILL TOTAL Not Yet Within Meets (Minimal Fully

(Target Instruction) Level) Meets/Exceeds
RED (Informally (Extend as
Monitor) Appropriate)
YELLOW NO COLOUR

Decoding

▪ Beginning Sounds 16 0-12 12-14 15-16

▪ Short Vowels 10 0-6 7-8 9-10

▪ Final Consonants 8 0-3 4-6 7-8

▪ Consonant 6 0-1 2-4 5-6

Digraphs

▪ Consonants Blends 7 0-2 3-5 6-7

▪ Complex Vowels 11 0-8 7-9 10-11

▪ Total 58 0-32 33-51 52-58

Word Recognition

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▪ Grade 1 38 0-20 20-23 24-25

▪ Grade 2 List 25 0-20 20-23 24-25

▪ Grade 3 List 25 0-9 10-19 20-25

▪ Total 88 0-59 60-78 79-88

Comprehension / Fluency

▪ Book Level Level 12 ; Level 14

▪ Fluency Enter Level (Beginning, Developing, Applying, Extending)

▪ Inferring Enter Level (Beginning, Developing, Applying, Extending)

▪ Literal Enter Level (Beginning, Developing, Applying, Extending)

Comprehension

▪ Making Enter Level (Beginning, Developing, Applying, Extending)

Connections

Learning/ Teaching Plan

Strengths:
● Comprehension from the story by supplementing with images and the words that are
recognized
● The desire to develop and become a fluent reader
● When confident and can recognize the words has good fluency and accuracy
● Has the ability to infer and make Connections to Self
● Expression and tone
Stretches:
● Vowel pronunciation and reverse of B/D
● Dedication to developing a large vocabulary
● Develop his own confidence as well as the ability to recognize when self correction is
necessary
Next Steps/Strategies:
● Developing mental self-correction voice
○ Lesson 3.4 Does That Sound Like A Book?
■ Focuses on ‘Does that sound right’. Encouraging the student to read
aloud and focus on the text in front of them.
● Searching for more novels that hold their interests
○ Lesson 2.19 Finding Reading Territories

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■ Help expand their specific focus of ‘Raven Tales’ to the core elements
that engage the student as well as develop their fluency and accuracy.
● Focussing on building larger vocabulary
○ Lesson 3.3 Use A Word You Know
■ Helps to develop and recognize patterns within new words and phrases to
guide independent understanding
○ Lesson 3.21 Look For Vowels That Go Together
■ Recognizing vowel patterns and their sounds. Specific focus on A and E
vowels.

Data Source

Figure 1.1: Overall Comments

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Figure 1.2: Imaginary Words
& Sounds

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Figure 1.3: Grade 3 Sight Words
FIgure 1.5: Level 14 Running Record

Figure 1.4: Grade 1 and 2 Sight Words

8
9
Figure 1.6: Level 12 Running Record

Intermediate Assessment- Grade 6

10
Overview:
My student, Newt - name changed for purpose of confidentiality-, is Autistic, as well as having
extremely low written output skills. Whilst the student loved reading, and was at a high level of
comprehension, their comprehension was low. Quite often, they enjoyed reading alone at home,
and adventure or sci-fi stories are their main genres. Whilst reading alone is preferred,
occasionally their parent would to them if they are too tired at night. They had a large passion in
music, as bass guitar was their main hobby. They were learning exteriorly how to read music.
Their main struggle with reading was holding interests as well as communicating they opinions
around the reading. My student was not as vocal and did not share more into their reading
habits. They had physical excitement in regards to reading, but hesitance as to having an
assessment done.

Data Analysis:
NLPS Reading Screener-Grade 6
Upon beginning the assessment, the student was instructed to read the passage, and
immediately began reading silently to themselves. Within a few minutes the student had
completed the reading and was ready to begin the assessment.
Part 1: Text Features/ Prediction (See Figure 2.1)
Upon reading the question to Newt, there was hesitancy as to what it was asking. After
rephrasing the question in regards to what helped tell the student what they would be reading.
They quickly offered up the title, and the first photo which had a bird cleaning [Link]
prediction was more direct and was based off of what was already read.
Part 2: Literal Comprehension (See Figure 2.1)
This student was confident during the conversation of what they had read, offering up answers
such as eating and drinking quickly, with some exterior development such as starving to death.
They quickly used their finger to give the answer in regards to the second question. When
asked to say it in their own words, they repeated the sentence from the novel back to me. With
some prompting they were able to retell the answer in their own words. As a teacher I asked
some exterior questions to assess literal comprehension that focussed on identifying sources of
information, such as asking where they found the word Nylon and where was the care center
located.
Part 3: Main Idea Graphic Organizer (See Figure 2.2)
This section required careful prompting as well as returning to this section multiple times from
either there rest of the assessment of re-reading the passage. They immediately identified ‘Birds
with Damaged Beaks’ as their main idea and then there was a prolonged silence. With some
questions such as ‘What did you read about’ and ‘What page are you talking about; we gathered
the remaining information. The first buble to be completed was the ‘Prosthetic Beaks’, whilst as
a scribe I had to extend their thinking into sentences the information written down is their own
words and their own value. All the information written were almost direct excerpts from the
reading. Secondly the idea of ‘What happens if they don’t have a beak’ came to fruition. This
came up after the student was asked to look through the other completed pages, and felt that a
broken beak was a key concept. As seen in they were only able to produce two supporting
details and felt confident leaving it empty. Once more we see the literal copied sentence of
‘They can’t eat, drink, preen or defend itself’, this phrase was written identically within the

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reading and was a major focus for my student, which may be linked to their designation. Lastly,
the student struggles to find a third subtopic and chose ‘Eagles’ since the main photos were
about eagles. Their supporting details were photos and lines that mentioned the word or
addressed the animal, once more the third detail was left blank.
Part 4: Making Connections (See Figure 2.3)

The connection made was abstract and required quite some time for the student to fully
explain the link between the two. The focus was how the student had once broken something as
ell and that they had been in pain. The memory was triggered by the image of the map which
showed Parksville and surrounding islands such as Lasqueti Island where they had injured
themselves. They could only explain the similarities between their connection and that within the
novel. The student noted that they did not feel very connected to the story as it was not
interesting to them.
Part 5: Inferencing (See Figure 2.3)
The student referred back to the first page highlighting the scentene ‘drinks, east and hurts
itself’ as well as gesturing toward the picture and spent quite a few seconds debating what the
appropriate word would be. They felt sure that it had to do with taking care of themselves since
it was in the same sentences as other self care attributes and assumed it meant showering or
cleaning itself. Once more they noted that their actions may cause it break, but in a vague way.
When guided to be more specific the same focus sentence came out once more.

Overall Analysis:
This student had high literacy skills, and was able to read the article to themselves in a timely
manner. They were able to recognize text features and identify what the article would be
discussing. They maintained a focus on Eagles and their use of beaks whilst having difficulty
extending the knowledge. They had great trouble developing their own thoughts as well
organizing them and finding extensions.

Learning/Teaching Plan:
Strengths:
● Strong solo reader
● Ability to repeat information with accuracy
● Focuses on key sentences
Stretches:
● Interpreting and Decoding information
● Maintain interests
● Drawing Connections and Meaning
Next Steps:
● Broadening and Focus on Key Details
○ Lesson 5.12 Angled Summaries for Highlighting Deeper Ideas in Plot
■ Helps to broaden and bring focus to Big Ideas and their supporting plot
points.
● Discovering connections and developing meaningful relevance
○ Lesson 7.16 Stories Teach Us About Life Issues

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■ Interpreting the information we read an developing critical questions to
help relate it to the current world.
● Organizing and extracting information
○ Lesson 8.3 Topics/Subtopics/Details
■ A simple box format graphic organizer strategy to analyze paragraphs
and from there articles to appropriate categories.

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Data Source

Figure 2.1: Predicting and Literal

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Figure 2.2: Main Ideas Graphic Organizer

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Figure 2.3: Connections and Inferencing

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