KatieK+Journal+2

Katelyn Kelly Assessment Journal # 2 February 16, 2009 EDC 452

I was able to view a pre-test assessment in the content of spelling. This was done with the whole class and was being administered by the teacher. The students would try to spell the word correctly that was being said by the teacher. The teacher would read the word, give a sentence using the word, and then say the word again. The students would sound out the word to try to hear the sounds the letters were making and write it down. This is third grade, so the words are sometimes tricky and are getting at a certain rule that is contained within the words. Each student was administered how many words to spell at the beginning of the school year. If the student was a strong speller, they would spell out 25 spelling words. For moderate spellers, they spell out 20 spelling words. For lower speller, they would do 15 words. The pre-test is given on a Monday morning. Throughout the week, the students work with the spelling words and have homework with the words each night. An example of spelling homework is to make up sentences using each spelling word. Another example would be to write the word five times each. The point to having the students use the word is so they will remember how to spell it and not just memorize it. It is said that a student needs to see a word twenty times to remember it. The more times the students used the word the greater chance of spelling the word correctly in the future. The students study for their formal spelling test that is given on Friday. When the pre-test is finished being administered, as a class the words are correctly together. The students receive no grades for their pre-test. The formal spelling test is graded. The teacher starts by going back to the first word and then asks for a volunteer to spell the word. When the student is reading what they wrote, the teacher is writing the word on the board. If the word is correctly spelt, the teacher tells the class that this is how the word should be spelt. The students wrote the test in pencil, so they correct in pen. If the word the student spelt was incorrect the teacher asks for another student’s help to spell the word correctly. I think that correcting the pre-test as a whole class is beneficial. The students get to see what they didn’t know how to spell and then they correct the word themselves. When I walked around the class, the high spellers seem to only get two or three incorrect, the moderate spellers seem to get about three to five incorrect, and then the low spellers seem to get anywhere from three to seven incorrect. The students who do not get any words incorrect do not have to take the spelling test on that Friday. Every student still completes the homework on spelling, even if they got one hundred percent on the pre-test. The student’s results tell the student how much they need to study the new spelling words. If the teacher keeps noticing poor spelling behaviors, maybe she could make a referral. Spelling and reading do go hand and hand, good speller are good readers! I remember doing spelling pre-test when I was in elementary school. I think that spelling tests are always useful for a student’s vocabulary. As mention before, if a student knows how to spell well then the chances are great for that student being able to be a good reader. Spelling comes before reading and the students need to hear the sound of the letters, as well as knowing about spelling rules, in order to move on to more complex material. Pre-test are relax by not grading the student’s work. I would give pre-test in my classroom. In my other education class, I learned that the class should not be given all the same words because each student is at a different level for spelling. What this teacher did by splitting up the number of words each student has to spell does not make it impossible for that student. The teacher realizes that they need to become masters at the first then move on. Also, I learned about in the beginning of the school year to test the students to see where their level of spelling is. As a teacher it is important to have the students on their level to move ahead in the future. Spelling pre-test is a pre-assessment task that prepares students for the spelling assessment later in the week.
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Section 2