Purpose: The goal of this assessment is to understand where on the reading spectrum your child falls and what entry point they are in our program. Essentially, we want to hear the student read. This is the first step in our assessment process, but one of the key indicators of where on the reading spectrum they are.
Instructions: Tattum Reading Survey
A. Video her/him horizontally, from the front, at a desk, so we can see his face as he reads the paper.
Have your child find the number 1 on the print out Tattum Reading Survey.
Ask her/him, "can you read that first word?" If he gets it (or gets close), praise him/her and ask him/her to read the next word (#2). Repeat across the first row.
If he struggles or doesn't get a word, give her/him praise and ask s/he can read the next one.
B. After reading the first row of words, have him/her read the sentence under the first row. It is ok if s/he doesn't understand what it means. If s/he does, that is great.
C. Continue on row by row. First reading the words in the row and then the sentences. Go until s/he flames out or struggles to read words in the row.
Don’t force it. If they give up, that is ok.
Stop where they break down. Keep going if they can/want to.
Remember, this should be a no tears exercise so if s/he gets frustrated stop administering the assessment.
Purpose: We want to understand how well they have mastered the phonics code. This simple assessments lets us know if they have mastered the sounds of the letters, which is the foundation of all reading.
Materials needed: Tattum Board Letter Sounds for Assessment BoardInstructions
Have the student point to the row of letters starting with the number 1.
"Starting with the letter /b/ say the SOUND of each of the letters in the row.
Make sure the student is saying the
sound (
not the letter names) of each of the letters. If the student is struggling, you can point to the letter "b" and ask her/him, “What sound does that make?” Ask them to continue on through the row of letters.
Have them try to read the letters and letter combinations in each of the remaining rows as best they can until they can no longer do it.
Purpose: most students who have not mastered the foundational phonics are unable to apply the spelling rules to these words. They are tricky letter/sound combination that help add another clue to where they fall in the reading spectrum.
Materials needed: Spelling Words
If your child was able to read beyond word #5 (buzz) on the Tattum Reading Survey, dictate the spelling words and have your child write them on on piece of paper. Note: If the student could not read the top row of words on the Tattum Reading Survey, skip the spelling dictation.
Record the student writing the spelling words. When they are done, take a picture of words they wrote. Send the image along with the rest of the assessments.
Dictate the spelling words.
Be sure to enunciate clearly.
1. Batch
2. Fudge
3. Running
4. Maker
5. Useless
6. Laugh
