Basic Reading Assessments {Free and Editable}

Over the summer, I redesigned my reading inventories that I use for pinpointing reading difficulties and tracking progress throughout the year. I am happy to share them with you. They will be fully editable by you. That way you can tailor them to your specific intervention program or requirements. WARNING: Don't worry if the file looks all "wonky" in Dropbox. It will look correct when you open the file in PowerPoint.

If you missed my math post, you can read it {HERE}.

These assessments will cover the main areas where kids encounter reading difficulties: phonological awareness, phonics, sight word knowledge, and fluency. I keep track of all of this data on a cover sheet that you can grab and edit {HERE}.

First, I give a phonological awareness inventory. This one is a blend of several that I have used over the years. It has been an invaluable tool to me. I have never had a child score low on this inventory who didn't have significant issues with phonological awareness. Each word/question equals one point out of 50. You can download your own copy {HERE}.

Next, we do a quick sight word inventory. The student receives a flip book of sight words so that they are not overwhelmed by too many words at one time. I used the Dolch list, but you can edit this to use Fry's list. List 1 = preprimer, List 2 = primer, etc. I don't use a score sheet. I just keep count of errors with my fingers. When I reach five, we stop at the end of that page. If they make no errors, I record the date of mastery on their cover sheet. You can get your editable copy of the flip book {HERE}. After you download/edit, just print, cut, and bind them.

Then, I give a phonics inventory. It starts off with letter identification and goes all the way to multisyllabic words. Each section has its own page in the flip book so you can stop whenever the student has reached a point of frustration or excessive errors. During our first session, I try to do letter id through real long vowel words. The flip book pages look like the one below. It always amazes me how you can separate the sight readers from the kids who can truly decode by comparing their ability to read real v. nonsense words with the same sound patterns. You can download the student book {HERE}.

As the child reads each page, I either mark out correct responses or circle incorrect responses. They are less anxious when they hear you making a mark for everything they read. I use this inventory to pinpoint specific phonics deficits. Then, I use it to pre/post assess each skill as I teach it. You can download/edit the 3 page score sheet {HERE}. 

Lastly, we do a one minute fluency read using a passage from DIBELS. You can get the student text and the assessor's sheet for free {HERE}. 

Many thanks to Kimberly Geswein and A Perfect Blend for their amazing fonts! 

I hope that these will be helpful to you! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or comment below. :)

Basic Math Assessment {Free & Editable}

Over the summer, I designed a quick math assessment to use for both baseline data and progress monitoring of my Title I math students. I needed it to have a few key components.
1. I needed it to involve NO reading.
2. I needed it to give me a quick picture of strengths and weaknesses with BASIC math skills.
3. I needed it to align to 2nd grade standards and our curriculum.
4. I needed it to be quick and also portable.
5. I needed it to grow in complexity throughout the year.

I came up with a spiral bound flip book and some recording sheets that met all of my needs. I hope that you will find these to be user friendly. If you need to tweak a few things, I am also making these editable with PowerPoint.

I printed, laminated, cut, and bound all of the student pages to make a flip book. It has been my experience that students are far less anxious about testing when they can hold something in their hands.

For tasks A - L, students should (at a MINIMUM)  be able to do the red tasks. If they could, I went on to the blue. If they did the blue correctly, we attempted the green ones.
Here's a brief picture walk through each task in the flip book.

Task A: red: count from 1 to 20, blue: count from 84 to 112, green: count from 285 to 310.
Task B: Tell how many hundreds, tens, and ones make each number.

Task C: red: count by fives, blue: count by tens, green: count by tens using 3 digit numbers
Task D: Each set involves: reading the number, telling h/t/o, and expanded form.

Task E: For each number, tell one more/one less, ten more/ten less
Task F: Basic addition facts

Task G: Two digit addition (with one regrouping problem)
Task H: Three digit addition (with regrouping one time)

Task I: Basic subtraction facts
Task J: Two digit subtraction with no regrouping

Task K: Three digit subtraction (with regrouping one time)
Task L: Odd/Even (MUST explain their reasoning)

Task M: time to the hour, half hour, and five minutes
Task N: counting coins (dimes/pennies, larger total, total over $1)

Task O: Counting bills and coins
Task P: Students will interpret the graph to answer 4 questions.

Task Q: Name fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4)
Task R: Name each plane shape.

I used the following forms to record student responses. I keep my paper hidden from the students so that they cannot see what I am writing. I give checks for correct responses and write down what they said for incorrect responses. They seem to be less nervous when you make marks for every response. Recording their incorrect responses gives me powerful data about their errors, too. Here's a quick demo student packet.

Let's take a quick peek at the data on "Amy Smith".

 Page 1: Amy's overall score was 18. I set the bar at 27 in the fall. So, she would definitely benefit from math interventions. She had difficulty with rote counting over 109.

 Page 2: Amy needs help with expanded form and 10 more/10 less than a given number.

 Page 3: Note the F and N I wrote in on the addition section. Amy relied on either her fingers or a number line on the wall to solve these problems. She needs help with automaticity. She clearly needs help with subtraction. She added. Then, she added incorrectly. Then, she saw no change at all.

 Page 4: Odd/Even: Amy probably guessed even. She couldn't give a rationale for her answer. She inverted the hour and minute hands on time to the hour. She couldn't count dimes and pennies.

Page 5: Amy has some basic data analysis skills. She is on the verge of combining two items, but really struggled with finding a difference. Fractions were a foreign concept. She needs a little brush up work on her plane shapes.
Lastly, I added a "notes" section where I can record anything that I need to remember to mention to her teacher or bring up in our next RTI meeting.

Benchmarks: As I said earlier, I expect a minimum score of 27 in the fall. I increase it to 50 in the winter. I expect the full 70 points in the spring.

If you think that this editable flip book and scoring sheets would be helpful to you, please download the student flip book {HERE} and grab the teacher's scoring sheets {HERE}. Don't worry if the files look "WONKY" in Dropbox. They should look perfect when you open them in PowerPoint. :)

I have also fully revamped by reading assessments. I hope to share those later this week. If I can answer any questions you have, please comment below or email me. Thanks!!

Fun with Place Value

Place Value comes in at a close second to subtraction with regrouping on the concepts that are the most difficult to teach to my RTI population. Often, these sweeties need a more concrete/visual/kinesthetic approach to math. So, here are a few of our favorite activities from our place value unit. I hope you find something useful for your classroom!

1. I really needed to make the value of the numbers more visual. Of course, we started out with base ten blocks and the usual stuff, but I wanted a way for them to really "see" and understand numbers in their expanded form. Before we started this, the students were reading numbers like 873 as 8-7-3 NOT eight hundred seventy-three. When they wrote that number in expanded form, they may have written 8+7+3 = 873. So, I whipped up these expanded form cards. We spent a lot of time building and deconstructing numbers. I just printed out this set on 3 different colors of copy paper. This made a HUGE difference with my students. You can grab this set for free {HERE}. 

2. Once we were rockin' and rollin' with reading numbers, understanding basic place value, and modeling numbers in different ways, we did some REAL rockin' and rollin'. We played Place Value Musical Chairs. Each student picked a numeral. We started out with 4 kids and 3 chairs. We cranked up some Christmas music and the game began. When I cut the music off, they had to sit in an empty chair representing the hundreds, tens, and ones of a number and hold up their digit card. The kid who was "out" got to choose if they wanted to ask or answer questions about the number that the other students had created. If they chose to ask, they had to come up with questions to ask the rest of the class about number. If they chose to answer, the group posed questions to them about the number. It was a BIG success! Everyone was involved and engaged! 

3. Once we had a handle on Place Value Musical Chairs, we expanded the game to include 7 kids. When the music ended, 6 kids would create two 3 digit numbers. The kid who was "out" had to compare the numbers and use his/her body to create the >, <, or = symbols. 

4. Last, we played Roll and Compare Place Value by The Primary Techie. The game uses a sound signal for students to roll a die. We used some giant foam dice. Then, the spinner lands on a place to record the number they rolled. They build two 3 digit numbers. Finally, they compare the numbers they have created. This is a great assessment and WAY more fun than a plain worksheet! You can find it on TPT {HERE}. 

These are just a few of my favorite things that are VERY inexpensive or even FREE for teaching place value. I hope you found something useful! 

Number Reversals

Oh my goodness, if I had a nickel for every time a parent has said to me, "He/she still writes some letters and numbers backwards. Does he/she have dyslexia?", I could apply for early retirement! Written letter and number reversals have absolutely nothing to do with dyslexia! So, why do some kids persist in making these reversals?

1. It could be a fine motor skill issue.

2. It could be immaturity or even a later birthday. These skills are often developmental.

3. My personal theory is that practice does not make perfect. Practice can make permanent. Children are learning to write at a very early stage of development now. Handwriting instruction has been terribly neglected since other skills have taken priority over it. Some children have written their letters/numbers backwards for so long that it has become a habit to do so. 

So, what can we do? As an RTI teacher, I see a lot of students with issues like this. My assistant and I have had a great deal of success with a few simple strategies. 

MAKE IT TACTILE!

Try placing salt in the bottom of an empty pencil box or travel soap container. Let them form the letter/number with their fingertip in the salt.

Let them rub a fingertip across fine sandpaper.

Write it in the air. Use your finger as an "air pencil".

Shine it on the wall with laser finger pointers.

Line the kids up. Let them form the letter/number on the back of the kiddo in front of them.

Tickle write it! (My kids LOVE this one!) They use their own finger to form the letter/number on the wrist/forearm area of their other arm.

MAKE IT VISUAL!

I implemented a new resource this year, and absolutely LOVE it! We used this resource on my SMARTboard during our reading warm up time before small groups begin. I purchased this animated PowerPoint from The Primary Techie. Here is a video of her explaining several cool ways to use this program. You can purchase your own copy of this product {HERE}. 

MINIMIZE PENCIL LIFTS!

We noticed that many students who were struggling with b/d and number reversals were writing in a way that had multiple pencil lifts. For example, rather than making a b with one continuous motion, they were writing a "stick" and then adding a "ball". They often forgot the order of those elements. We showed them how to flow write a b and a d. The motion feels completely different. MOST of their errors DISAPPEARED! 

DIRECTIONALITY MATTERS!

Now, that we have addressed their letter reversal issues, we are about to tackle number reversals. I searched high and low on the Teachers Pay Teachers site for number formation products. I found so many that were cute or had great poems. However, if the poem for teaching how to write a 3 says, "Go around the tree and go around again to make a 3!", they can follow those steps and still do it backwards! I needed something that specifically taught directionality. 

Then, I remembered that when I taught first grade nearly 20 years ago, we sang a song about each number. The song didn't teach directionality though, so I tweaked it meet my needs. Each number has specific directions sung to the tune of "HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH". We are going to project the pdf onto my SMARTboard and use our tactile strategies from there. We will also use laser pointers, our fingertips, or the SMARTboard pens to trace and write our numbers as tickets to our small group tables. Here is a sample page from this free resource. 

If you would like to check out this free strategy, grab your copy {HERE}. What strategies work for you? I would love to hear from you!

Documenting Small Group Observations with Ease

As a Title I/RTI teacher, one of my main responsibilities is progress monitoring. Keeping up with all of that data can be overwhelming. In fact, sometimes little things that are just as important go undocumented. This year, one of my goals is to implement a system for documenting observations during small groups. 

Too many times, I have left a meeting about a student, and thought, "Crud muffins! I forgot to ask his mom to remember to send his eyeglasses each day!" or "I forgot to mention that Kaitlyn may have sensory needs. She's been chewing on pencils or buttons." The main reasons I forget are that:

1. I was too busy just sharing the data and the more minor issues get swept under the rug.

2. I didn't write it down when it happened. 

It is my goal this year to write down one observation on each student one time a week. I think that is attainable. If it works out, I will have 4 - 6 observations to contribute at the next RTI meeting on that child. Now, I am not planning to write down full out anecdotal records. I am not required to write those, and I will keep those of you who are in my thoughts and prayers. :)   I am just planning to jot down one quick thought about one student at the end of each session. 

Ideas for documentation:

-child specific improvements

-child specific struggles

-behavior issues

-changes in social behavior

-possible side effects from meds

-anything that the counselor/psychologist/classroom teacher/parent may need to know

Here is a quick demo that I whipped up. There is a space for writing in the names of the students in your small group. The weekly dates for the 2016-2017 school year are already filled in. All you have to do is jot down your notes. 

I made a full color and a b/w edition. If this would be useful to you, click {HERE} to download your copy. 

6 Steps to Creating and Scheduling Your R.T.I. Groups

When I was first assigned to teach 2nd Grade R.T.I., I was given free reign over my schedule. I literally sat and stared at a table filled with the master schedule, class rosters, and papers covered in scribbled out thoughts for more time than I would care to admit. How could I possibly make this all work? I would plan one schedule and then find a conflict with a lunch time, or too many tier 2 students, or the two classes combined would be over my limit. I wanted to pull my hair out! At the end of the day, I threw it all in a tote bag and took it home. That night, a system was born that has worked for me ever since! I know that your program will not be identical to mine, but maybe one or two of these ideas can save you two handfuls of hair! :) 

Before you get started, you MUST be sure that you fully understand your program's requirements. Are their max numbers of students who can served at one time? Are there minimum time requirements for reading and/or math? Are students seen daily? For me, I see my students daily in one hour blocks of time. Originally, I split it 30/30. Then, I decided to devote more time to reading. So, I have a 40 minute block for reading and a 20 minute block for math.

I will not lie to you. This step will take a while to get right, but it is the most important part of your planning. Remember you are setting up how your room will run for the next 180 days. Make sure you can live with it. 

I started by giving myself a planning time first thing in the morning. My students are not at school, settled in, and ready for services until 8:30 anyway. So, I blocked that out for planning and set up. Next, I started making one hour blocks. I made sure to pad them with 5 minute transitions wherever I could. After all, I do need to go to the restroom or answer an email here and there. I filled up every possible minute with instructional time other than that. Take a look at this schedule from last year as an example. I pull from 2 classrooms at a time for one hour. There is only one exception. One group comes for reading, leaves for lunch, and returns for math. 

I identify my current roster and potential students in three ways.

1. The first grade RTI teacher keeps all of the data on her students in an Excel file. At the end of her school year, she emails the file to me. I can easily see who is currently served in RTI and also who exited or withdrew from school at some point during the school year. 
2. I attend all of first grade's end of the year RTI meetings. This gives me a chance to listen to the information shared on each child. I also use this opportunity to ask each first grade teacher for the names of students who are NOT currently in RTI, but they have concerns about. Maybe there was not a slot available or they are concerned about the dreaded "summer slide". I keep a list of the names given to me by the classroom teachers.
3. Our administration is very empowering. They give all of the RTI teachers administrative access to data. So, I can log in and evaluate MAP data, STAR data, AR records, and more. I look for students who are not being served, but could potentially need services based on low data. 

Our administration also releases class rosters to us before they are given to classroom teachers. I use my 3 lists (current RTI, exited RTI, teacher concern/low data) to add this vital information to each roster. I created this roster for Mrs. Sample's class to give you an idea of how it looks to the classroom teacher. We can easily see which children are already qualified for services. Exited children need to be monitored carefully as they may need to return to RTI. The "monitor for need" category helps because teachers know who to watch out. My team has been wonderful about contacting me and saying, "Yes, I agree with the first grade teacher's concern. Opal Buloni is struggling in second grade. I am sending you her current data. Can we see about adding her to tier 2?"

I use each roster when I create this schedule template. I list the teachers in alphabetical order. Next to their name, I put their # of current tier 2 kids/# of current tier 3 kids/# of exited + monitor kids. This figure is vital! My aide and I are not allowed to serve more than 14 students at one time. I also don't like to have more than 7 at each tier level either. Last, I create a column for each session block.

My next step makes my head spin a little, but again it is necessary work. I take the master schedule for the school which includes each teacher's specials time, lunch time, and recess time and begin right clicking and filling the space with gray to shade out times when that class is unavailable for RTI services. 

For example, on the chart below, Mrs. Frizzle's class had a busy afternoon. They had specials from 11:20 - 11:50 which knocked them out of my 10:40 - 11:40 and 11:40 - 12:20 sessions. They had lunch from 12:50 - 1:15 followed by recess from 1:15 - 1:30. Therefore, they could only attend RTI from 8:30 - 9:30 or 9:35 - 10:35.  

Once all of the conflicts are eliminated, I start looking for pairs of teachers who are free at the same time while keeping a close watch on my student totals. I start with the MUST HAVE slots. Look at the purple and green sections for an example. The purple teacher was the ONLY one available during those blocks. So, she automatically took that slot. There were only three classes available during the last slot. Falker and Snape took the green slots because the other choice could have put me over my limit if a new student enrolled who needed services. Planning the other three was easier. I examined the numbers and whenever possible I asked the teachers for their personal preference. 

When I get the schedule to this point, I am ready to type it up and share it with administration and my team. I usually given them their time slot and roster at the same time. 

Well, I hope this has been useful. I pray it's not as clear as mud. If you have any questions, I would be happy to help! Also, if you have suggestions for making it easier, I would love to hear them! 

Subtraction Fact Fluency Freebie

How do you keep track of your students' fact fluency? In my 2nd grade intervention classroom, progress monitoring fluency for my math students is a major goal. So, I decided to make it fun.. like a journey..or a quest! For our addition facts, we journey through Oz as we learn each set of facts.  You can read more about that adventure and grab the program freebie in this previous post. The kids enjoyed it so much that I decided to add in a Peter Pan/Neverland theme for subtraction!

I hang up a jumbo pocket chart to hold the character cards and student name pieces. The students' names are written on die cut yellow stars. When they have achieved their goal, it gives the effect of a pictograph of names. You can see a glimpse of the set up (without the names) in this photo from an Instagram post last year. 

As soon as we introduce subtraction, I reveal the first character goal and post the character card and goal on the pocket chart. I tell the kiddos that if they meet the goal that they will earn the character and a matching treat. The character cards look like this:

All week long (and longer if needed to achieve their goal), we practice our math facts. I like to use the free subtraction fact sheets found {HERE} at www.math-drills.com. Scroll down to number 8 and select horizontally arranged subtraction questions. Then, print off an entire sheet of individual fact practice. Copy the sheet for your students, and then cut them into 4 days worth of practice strips. Easy Peasy Mac-n-Cheesy!

I set different goals for students. Often my tier 3 students are just working on getting correct differences while my tier 2 students may be more focused on correct differences in a given amount of time. If their goal is achieved, they receive the treat for their character and a little certificate in a Ziploc baggie. They take them home to share their accomplishment with their families. It is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to celebrate their work and communicate their progress to their parents. 

As you can see, I updated the font! :)

You can grab the whole program as a freebie {HERE} in this Dropbox link! 

I hope you will find these helpful! :)