Phonological Awareness Assessment

Phonological Awareness Assessment

Description

The video “Phonological awareness assessment for ED361 DAR #1” assesses Donovan, a student in the middle of the year in kindergarten. Donovan is a student with special learning disabilities. His frontal lobe suture fused before birth, a condition that impairs brain development if not managed at the early stage to enable mutual development of the brain and the skull. The craniosynostosis diagnosis was corrected when he was ten months old through a skull constructive surgery. Donovan also undergoes speech therapy due to delays in his articulation. His parents show great concern for his letter and sound reversal nature, especially b/d and p/q, not to mention his handwriting. His family health history is evident in a number of health issues, including autism, ADHD, and Dyslexia.

The teacher used a student scoring sheet to assess Donovan’s ability to practice and incorporate learned concepts in different phonological awareness activities. The assessment tool was administered at the beginning of the lesson. The teacher introduced different concepts, including segmenting sentences, words, syllables, and phonemes, blending syllables, onset-rime, and phonemes, and identifying rhyming words (Ford, 2022). After introducing each activity and giving an example to illustrate what is expected, the teacher asks Donovan questions related to that specific concept while she awards him one point for each correct response. The assessment tool was used in reference to kindergarten scope and sequence. The scope refers to the teaching content, while sequence refers to the order of teaching the content. The scope and sequence help the teacher accomplish the lesson objective by planning effectively for all learning materials to support children’s learning. The assessment tool informs the teacher in their address of the areas of the lesson and guides the teacher to stick to the sequence of the activities.

Analysis

Donovan scored an average standard for the overall assessment score. In Section II on phonemes, he performed slightly lower compared to Section I on words in sentences/syllables/onset-rime. In both sections, there were five assessment elements. In each activity, the teacher asked five questions. In the first section, Donovan scored all points in segmenting sentences into words and blending onset-rime. In the other three elements, he scored four points out of five in each activity. In segmenting syllables, Donovan was not in a position to segment all the syllables in the word “helicopter.” He was also not able to blend syllables into the word “calculator.” Also, he missed the point in the activity on recognizing rhyming words, where he kept his thumb up in the last pair, meaning they are rhyming, yet they are not. He should have kept the thumb down. The total score in the first section was 22 out of 25, which is a good performance.

In the second section, the last assessment element was the most poorly scored, with three points out of five. Donovan did not segment phonemes in the words “grab” and “stop” correctly. He scored all the points in the activity on isolating the phonemes in the beginning sound. However, Donovan missed a point in each of the remaining activities. He did not identify the phoneme of the ending sound in the word “wish,” missed the point in identifying a word with the same phoneme in the beginning to the word “six,” and failed to blend the phonemes that led to the word “flat.” Donovan scored 20 points out of 25 in Section II. The total score for the assessment was 42 out of 50, which is a good performance.

Reflection

Donovan scored fairly according to the assessment tool score. However, minimal errors can be addressed by incorporating different instruction-based strategies in the classrooms to improve the student’s ability to respond to all questions. The teacher should pronounce sounds in words correctly to help the student identify all phonemes in a specific word, which reduces the errors committed in segmenting and blending syllables and phonemes. Also, proper pronunciation of sounds will assist the student in identifying rhyming words properly to avoid minor errors committed for not acknowledging the best pronunciation.

The teacher can also incorporate the strategy of repeating an item when the student seems confused in internalizing what she has said. Mentioning an item several times makes the student more acquainted with the items, which increases their ability to respond with the correct answer for the asked question. Further, the teacher can observe the pacing of their teaching to create an effective learning atmosphere. A good pace makes learning more effective, while a moderate pace is the most suitable for kindergarten students since it helps the student maintain class focus and attentiveness, prevents boredom, and supports a smooth learning environment. The teacher should provide feedback on time by helping students recognize an area where they have made a mistake and giving them the correct responses (Kilpatrick, 2012). Also, the teacher should encourage a recognition and rewarding culture. Students enjoy a learning environment where their hard work is appreciated. Simple appreciation, such as saying “well done,” motivates students to keep learning.

References

Ford, R. (2022, December 29). Phonological awareness assessment for ED361 DAR #1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FQli7EtaWU

Kilpatrick, D. A. (2012). Phonological segmentation assessment is not enough: A comparison of three phonological awareness tests with first and second graders. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 27(2), 150-165.

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Before beginning this assignment, you should have read the information presented on the page: Closing evidence about learning to read.

In order for you to be a highly effective reading teacher, you need to familiarize yourself with the screeners and assessments used to identify reading disabilities.

Click this Mississippi Department of Education Universal Screener and Diagnostic Assessment linkLinks to an external site.to browse the important information and resources for MS educators.

Browse and read the information on the MDE site about the “Mississippi K-3 Assessment Support System,” the “Literacy-Based Promotion Act” (LBPA), the “Universal Screener and Diagnostic Assessment,” the “K-Readiness Assessment,” & the “3rd Grade MAAP ELA Assessment.”

This MDE K-3 Companion GuideLinks to an external site.is especially important to review and save to your Early Literacy I Google Drive (for later use in this course and future classrooms).

It is important for teacher candidates to become familiar with the screeners that are approved for use in MS schools.  The Mississippi Department of Education, in collaboration with the Mississippi Reading Panel, has established an approved list of reading screeners to be used by local school districts in grades K-3.  This does not mean that a school doesn’t use some other type of screener (i.e. DIBELS).  Districts may use other screeners in addition to this list as long as MDE approves it.

After reviewing the above screeners to determine the reading abilities of your students, you may have learners who are in need of interventions.  Go back to the MDE’s page of “Professional Development and Resources for Teachers” or click this direct link to MDE’s Professional Development & Resources for TeachersLinks to an external site..  On the far right of this page, you will see a blue column with two sections: “Services” & “Links.”  Under “Links,” click “Intervention Services” to make yourself aware of the Three-Tier Instructional Model.

Steps for preparing to complete this assignment – 

In the past, this course required pre-service candidates to administer a phonological awareness assessment to a child.  This semester will be different. Instead, you will be given a blank phonological awareness screener with a video of me administering this assessment to a child. You will use your blank screener/assessment tool to record the student’s responses and make your own teacher notes. Within this phonological awareness assessment DAR assignment, you will complete the “D” section to describe the type of assessment tool used. Then, you will A=analyze the results. Last, you will R=reflect on the data, including a brief explanation of your future instruction plans (based on the assessment information).

In addition to writing a DAR, you will also submit a picture(s) of the completed screener/assessment (in ONE FILE and as a PDF FORMAT).

Again, these Assessment DAR assignments consist of two main components that must be turned in: 1. a well-thought-out DAR and 2. images of the completed assessment (with student’s responses and teacher’s notes).

It is important you follow the given Assessment DAR format Download Assessment DAR formatspecifically and review the Assessment DAR rubric Download Assessment DAR rubricof how your work will be graded.  Your DAR will be written in paragraph format with three sections (the description, analysis, and reflection). You will include references and citations that must follow APA, 7th edition format. Make sure you address all of the points listed in the format guidelines and within this assignment page. 

Also, simply stating the student “did great and does not need an intervention” is not a substantive reflection.  Some type of layout of future plans of instruction must be included.  A student’s learning should always progress, and a professional teacher should always reflect on how to grow that child within the daily tier 1 level of instruction.  You will then interpret the results to use for planning a phonological awareness/phonemic awareness lesson later for that student.

Steps for completing this assignment – 

OPTION 1 > If you are intending to be an Early Childhood Development future educator (NOT Elementary Education), you will:

• • Print the following Phonological Awareness Screener AssessmentDownload Phonological Awareness Screener Assessment with the student scoring sheet. You will use the assessment to follow along during the video of assessing one sample student. Then, you will use the student screener sheet to record the student’s responses and your additional teacher notes while watching the video below.
    • https://youtu.be/2FQli7EtaWULinks to an external site.
    • This sample student is Donovan, and he is in Kindergarten (Winter/Middle of Year). He does have a diagnosis of craniosynostosis (frontal lobe) that was corrected with skull reconstructive surgery at ten months old. Basically, his frontal lobe suture fused before birth, and this would impair brain development if not broken and corrected with movable wires to allow the skull to grow as the brain develops. He also receives speech therapy for articulation delays. His parent also has concerns about his handwriting (he is left-handed) and letter & sound reversals for b/d and p/q. He has a family history of autism (cousin), ADHD (father and grandfather), and Dyslexia (father and grandfather).

OPTION 2 > If you intend to be an Elementary Education future educator (NOT staying in the Early Childhood Development track), you will:

• • • Print the following Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST)Download Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST)and use it to record the student’s responses (and your additional teacher notes) for another sample student. Then, you will use this screening form to analyze and reflect later for planning future instruction. To complete your screening form, you will watch the video below.
      • https://youtu.be/dXVCF6u-AVMLinks to an external site.
      • This sample student is Henry, and he is in the 2nd grade (Winter/Middle of Year). He does not have a current diagnosis. He received a prior diagnosis (at three years old) of “Mild Provisional Autism,” but that was reversed to “No Autism” at four years old. He has a family history of craniosynostosis-frontal lobe (brother), autism (cousin), ADHD (father and grandfather), and Dyslexia (father and grandfather).

EITHER OPTION – ALL CANDIDATES >

• • • • This Phonological Awareness Assessment DAR #1 assignment will give you information to analyze and use in your decision-making and planning for your upcoming lesson plan that will incorporate an activity and instruction for a phonological awareness skill (that the student scored lowest).
      • Also, within this Assessment DAR #1 assignment, you will still select state ELA standards for phonological awareness development on the sample student’s current grade level.
      • Follow the given Assessment DAR formatDownload Assessment DAR formatspecifically and review the Assessment DAR rubric Download Assessment DAR rubricof how your work will be graded.  Again, your DAR will be written in paragraph format with three sections (the description, analysis, and reflection). You will include references and citations that must follow APA, 7th edition format. Make sure you address all of the points listed in the format guidelines and within this assignment page.
      • Submit both the written DAR and the scoring sheet(s) (with student’s responses and teacher’s notes) for this Phonological Awareness Assessment assignment.