Oral Language Assessment

The purpose of this assessment is to establish a thorough understanding of a childs level of literacy and language skills. Teachers can use this tool to assess a child and determine if an individual needs assistance in a certain area. In a third grade classroom, I observed Katie, who is 8 years old. The methodology that I used for this assessment what the worksheets found on page 110 and 111 of the Kidwatching book by Gretchen Owocki and Yetta Goodman. This helped me notice during the observation that the child was able to share stories, retell events, create imaginative worlds and enjoy language for its aesthetic value. The teachers classroom relies mainly on independent group assignments. Students bounce ideas off one another before asking the teacher for help. There are many different activities that the class participates in during the day. The teacher has her students share stories they have written to one another and give feedback. She helps students retell events when they read stories as a class. The students create imaginative worlds when they are writing their own stories as well as completing various assignments. Katie has an energetic personality. She is always willing to answer any question that is asked of her. She is always willing to participate and share ideas, which is evident in her writing. Although she may know they answer to a question, she has difficulty transferring her thoughts into words. Observing Katie was an interesting process. She enjoys talking and expressing her opinions. She has no problem speaking freely to others. The class was working on writing their own stories using their imagination. The story involved an animal of their choice as well as different scenes. When Katie walked into the classroom with her rough draft of the

story, she was very eager to share with everyone. When the class divided into partners, she wanted to read her story first. To go along with their story, the class had to create a scene and a character that they would use to present their final project. Katie created a scene including a whale with a wide head. When I asked her why she chose to do that, her response was I just wanted something different in my scene. Her story was about how a tiger shark turned into a regular tiger and was finally able to walk on land. Both her story and her scene showed me that she was able to use her imagination. The teacher had read a fable story to the class the previous day. She was introducing an activity but before she did she asked the class what the story was about. Katie thrillingly raised her hand and retold the story. She was capable of explaining what the story was about but could not recount specific details. The teacher then began explaining the activity. The students had to explain the purpose of their fable. They had to do so without summarizing the story. They also had to create a bumper sticker describing the moral of their fable. Katie was able to use her imagination to create a bumper sticker for her car drawing. These findings would be helpful to inform future instruction in the classroom. Katie is always willing to share stories along with retelling events that happened. It is interesting to see where her imagination will take her through each assignment she completes. She continually enjoys writing and talking about her stories. Katie can use some assistance with formulating her thought process. She is always eager to answer a question but sometimes cannot verbalize what she is thinking, She might want to write down her thoughts first before raising her hand after hearing a question. Overall, Katie has done well in the oral language assessment but there is always room for improvement.

Lesson Plan
Subject/Topic: Writing/Expository Writing Rationale: The student should be able to identify the main idea of a text and elaborate on details as well as relate them to the main idea. Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. Objective: The student will be able to identify the main idea of a text and elaborate on details as well as relate them to the main idea. Materials: Worksheets Procedures Engagement/Anticipatory Set: Ask the student what she knows about writing a good paragraph. See what different parts she is already familiar with. Mentor teach and model: Provide an informational paragraph for the student that should be read aloud with the teacher. Work with the student to complete the worksheet. Guided Practice: Identify with the teacher what the main idea is as well as the supporting details that are provided. Independent Application: Give the student her own paragraph and provide her with a graphic organizer. Once the student finishes reading, flip the paper over so it can no longer be used as a reference. This will help the student to rely on her memory for the information. Have the student identify the main idea and three supporting details (not completed sentences). Closure: Using the information she has found, have the student explain how the details relate to the main idea her own words. Assessment: The student will be assessed on how she differentiates between a main idea and a supporting idea. Differentiation: If the student has trouble recalling the information from the paragraph once the paper is flipped over, allow her to refer back to the paragraph. If you did this multiple times throughout the year, slowly the student will become more comfortable with recalling information and not having to rely on the paper.