{Step into my Room}: Beginning of the Year Assessment

Hi Blogger Friends! My instagram and blog lovin' feed have been filled with all your posts about B2S, since many of you are already starting school down south. Here in British Columbia, Canada, we don't start school until September 8th...but we did go all the way into June, so it's fair! I am starting to prepare for my 4th year as a Grade 1 teacher (ALREADY?!?!) and I was reflecting on what I needed to do in a more organized, less chaotic way. The first thing that popped into my mind were my Beginning of the Year Assessments. I have always done them, but normally it is on random papers with notes scribbled furiously and then easily misplaced when it comes time to use them. So, I hunkered down and created an assessment resource for myself. It is practical, and it will be so informative when it comes time to make groupings, and differentiate my instruction. So {Step into my Room} to see an in-depth look at how I assess my firsties!

Standards and core curriculum are so different across North America. There are still certain things that most Kinders have learned, and that we, as first grade teachers, hope our kiddos know when entering the first grade. Of course, we know this isn't always the case, and it is okay if some of them DON'T know these things. Learning is a process! But, in the crazy B2S puzzle we all try to piece together, assessment is crucial! Let's take a look at:

This little resource is chalk full of skill assessments that you can do in a short 5-10 min conference with your kiddos. Let me just talk for a minute about conferencing. Man, do I believe in this!! I love being able to have that one-on-one time with my students. It gives me a chance to ensure that I interact with them about their learning in an interactive way. I also just love chatting with them about their interests, or something great they did last week. It helps me build relationship with them. In my Beginning of the Year Quick Skill Assessments, I give you a few tips on how to put those "nervous" kiddos at ease. Now, I hear you, what are the other kiddos doing during this time? Well, I set-up things that I KNOW they can do independently like, math tubs, centers, simple art projects etc... Does it take time to set these independent work habits...absolutely. But, you can do it! Okay...included in this resource are assessment mats for:
- printing their name
- copying a simple sentence
- listening to oral directions (targets knowledge of shape, colour, quantity, size and position)
- letter sounds
- blending cvc words
- pre-primer sight words
- primer sight words
- number recognition 1-20
- addition and subtraction facts (using manipulatives)
Take a closer look at some of the assessment mats:

 

While your kiddos are going through each mat, really take time to listen to them. This is crucial. I created a teacher recording sheet that involves very little writing so that you can free yourself up to be engaged in what they are showing you. 

You know what the BEST part about this resource is? It's FREE until August 19th...Happy Back to School to you!! Simply click here to go directly to my TPT store to download it. I would love to connect with you, so please use those little buttons at the top of my blog to go to my Teacher Pay Teacher store, or follow me on Blog Lovin', Pinterest or Facebook. I would also LOVE to connect with you on Instagram (my fave form of social media), so search: melliebellie7. See you soon!

Super Reading Strategies {Freebie}

Summer is about half over for me up here in Beautiful British Columbia, but I know that some of my American friends are preparing to go Back to School. I wanted to share this resource that I made for my own group of firsties last year. I found that I needed some extra practice work to assess reading strategies. I wanted some generic worksheets that could be used for any book. I also wanted them to be simple and straightforward so that I could include them in centers, or simply have a block of time where my kids could be working independently so that I could assess small groups or simply do one of the ten million things on my to-do list. (Who has ever heard of a teacher getting work done during school hours?!?) The BEST thing about this little resource is that it is a FREEBIE!

 

Your kiddos will love putting their knowledge to the test so they can show you that they are SUPER readers! Here is what is included:

I have included 8 student worksheets that focus on various reading strategies.The reading strategies are prediction, connections, opinion, sequencing, story elements (setting, characters, problem, solution), and comparison (book vs. book, character vs. character and character vs. me). I often pull one of these worksheets out to pair it with a fun or thematic read-aloud. I also LOVE to see my students read their own book and then complete one of these worksheets! This resource is meant to be practice or assessment for your students. It is assumed that you will teach the concept of each strategy to your students already. I love to make "whole brain teaching" style chants that teach each skill. There are also some fantastic anchor charts on Pinterest that you can replicate in your own classroom. 

I know that worksheets are a dime a dozen, so I wanted to include some great teacher resources as well. There is a student log for your marks book. TIP: Just remember to write all your students names down first, THEN photocopy! (I've made that mistake more than one lol!) You can have one log for each strategy and then keep track of each practice worksheet your students do. I have also included the rating system I use:
1 = Beginning (The student needed a lot of guidance to complete the task, and they were not accurate in many of their attempts.)
2 = Emerging (They are showing growth, and they grasp the strategy. The student is accurate some of the time.)
3= Independent (The student has a firm understanding of the strategy. They are able to independently brainstorm and are accurate most of the time.)
4= Exceeding (The student can help others with ease. They are accurate and their ideas often show deeper thinking and understanding.)
This system really helps me at midnight when I am working on report cards and I am trying to remember what to comment on! Also included are awards that students can decorate and colour themselves, bookmarks, and lanyard inserts. The inserts fit perfectly in a 4" x 3" lanyard. The best thing is the look of pride and accomplishment that students get when their teacher "catches" them being a brilliant SUPER reader! I really hope that this freebie is useful to you. If you have some time, I would love to connect with you. Just click the links at the top of my blog and remember to follow me on Instagram: melliebellie7. Don't forget to leave lovely comments and ratings on Teachers Pay Teachers if you like this freebie, and stay tuned for more fun!