FLASHNERJOURNAL4

Maggie Flashner EDC 452 - Dr. Adamy 2/9/09

Towards the end of class, I was able to administer a spelling assessment to five of my students. This spelling test was a requirement for EDC 424 to help us learn about the different levels of spelling and would have no effect on my students’ grades. I made sure to let my students know that they would not be graded on this. The test consisted of 25 words which increased in difficulty. For example, the first word was ‘bed’ and the last word was ‘civilize’. The words were broken into five sets, and if a student missed three words in a set, then I was not to continue on to the next set. I gave my students the test at the back of the classroom away from their peers. First I would say the word out loud, then I would read it in a sentence, and then repeat the word. The words in the beginning of the test were words I’m positive my students have come across before. However toward the end of the test, some of the words my students probably didn’t understand the meaning of. Because the words were so difficult, I feel it really showed whether a student could sound out a word and use their prior knowledge to spell these words. Even though this spelling assessment was for my benefit, and not for my teacher’s, it is still a form of assessment. However it is not a form of authentic assessment if given the way mine was. Usually students get to to study words prior to a spelling test. This test was more of a pop-quiz. Also there is no real world connection. What is authentic about this test is that it provides useful information to help establish the spelling levels of the students. The data from the test was charted to determine what spelling skills the students are lacking.

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