Assessment

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 * __ASSESSMENT

 **Writing** According to Hill (2006) when children begin to write, it is their first attempts at combining speaking, reading and writing, and discovering how they all areas relate to one another. In the beginning stages of writing, there are three main things to be looking for to assess, which are ideas, written language (letters, words and spacing), and text conventions (placement and direction of the writing). These three areas of assessment are marked from 1-6 depending on how developed the child is in each set of criteria. There is a more involved set of marking for writing that has passed the simple statement stage and is now more complex. There are four areas to assess, which are ideas, organization, language and mechanics (spelling, punctuation, paragraphing and evidence of editing). These areas are marked out of five, with 1 equating 'never', and 5 meaning 'always'. The interpretation of the marking goes as follows:  Below 10: use emergent writing score sheet 10-12: fair 13-16: showing good progress 17-20: showing excellent development **Reading** Reading assessment is performed in a one on one situation, with the teacher marking a running sheet as the student reads aloud. This allows the teacher to have a writen record of the childs progress, including words they have difficulty reading, self correction, and problem solving techniques.

** Comprehension ** Teachers can assess the students’ comprehension by using a range of activities that alow them to explore parts of the text. The activities may be in question and answer form, character profiles, timelines of key events, writing blurbs and alternate endings, drawings or drama. These activities have a range of comprehension depth, as some require literal recall from the text, in between the lines interpretation, or inferential personal judgment.