Phoneme Matching (Beginning sounds)
Directions: Ask the student to listen to a word, ask the student to listen to the beginning sound of each word in the sequence, and then ask the student to say which words have the same beginning and what the beginning sound is.
Model: Listen to these words carefully, “fun, keep, king”; tell me which two have the same beginning. What is the beginning sound of the word?
Assessment: Ask the student to listen carefully to the three words that you will say, then ask the student to orally say what two words have the same beginning, then ask the student to say the sound of the beginning of the two words.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is for students to match beginning sounds of words.
My experience: My experience in this assessment has been positive; some students are able to begin to realize what letters sound the same. For example: K in king is like C in Cat.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with hearing beginning sounds of words; this could be because of a speech and language problem and would need further assessment.
Isolating Final Sounds
Directions: Tell the student that you will be saying some words. Ask the student to listen carefully to the ending of the words, and then ask the student to tell what sound they hear at the end of each word.
Model: Say the word “top”, the sound at the end of top is /p/.
Assessment: Ask the student to say one word at a time, and then ask the student to say the sound at the end of each word. Have the same list of words in front of you to check if the student comprehends.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to understand if students are able to isolate final sounds in words that they are familiar with.
My experience: My experience with students isolating final sounds is fairly positive, students are able to recognize final sounds in words that they are familiar with.
Blind spots: Some problems that students have with isolating sounds are that sometimes students isolate whole endings such as “ing”.
Phoneme Matching (Final sounds)
Directions: Ask the student to listen to a word, ask the student to listen to the ending sound of each word in the sequence, and then ask the student to say which words have the same endings and what the ending sound is.
Model: Listen to these words carefully, “fun, bun, king”, tell me which two have the same ending. What is the ending sound of the word?
Assessment: Ask the student to listen carefully to the three words that you will say, then ask the student to orally say what two words have the same ending, then ask the student to say the sound of the ending of the two words.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is for students to match final sounds of words.
My experience: My experience in this assessment is that I have worked with students who are much more efficient at matching final sounds as well as final letter endings of words.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with hearing ending sounds of words; this could be because of a speech and language problem and would need further assessment.
Phoneme Blending
Directions: Explain to the student that you are going to say each sound of the letters in a word, Then ask the student to tell you the word that they think the word is, but explain that they must say it fast.
Model: If I say /w/ /i/ /g/, the word is wig. (Have a list of words you would assess)
Assessment: Ask the student to listen carefully of each word that you say, then ask the student to say the word at a “normal”/”fast” pace. Have the words in a checklist and mark each word the student gets correct.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to determine whether students are able to recognize words phonetically, and are able to regurgitate each word back at a normal pace.
My experience: My experiences with this assessment is that students are able to recognize words when said phonetically, some students struggle with the pace changes that occur when listening during the assessment.
Blind spots: Some students are unable to recognize real words when said slowly and with each sound said individually.
Segmenting Sentences
Directions: Ask the student to listen carefully to different sentences, and then ask the student to give the number of words in the sentence.
Model: How many words are in this sentence? “I fed my cat”.
Assessment: Ask the student to explain number of words in this sentence. The correct response would be four. (For the above example)
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is the ability to recognize how many words are in a sentence. Students should be able to segment sentences as well.
My experience: My experience with this assessment is that students are able to recognize the number of words.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with segmenting sentences, and cannot comprehend numbers with words and may become confused with numbers of words with numbers of letters.
Alphabet Letter Recognition
Directions: Create a quick chart with both upper case and lower case letters of the alphabet, and then ask the student to name each of the letters of the alphabet.
Model: “A” is the letter a.
Assessment: This assessment should be done individually, and you can use your classroom alphabet poster to check for comprehension of alphabet letter recognition in both upper case and lower case.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to recognize the letters of the alphabet in both upper case and lower case.
My experience: In my experience some students are able to recognize letter recognition at the beginning of their school career.
Blind spots: Some students are not familiar with the letters in the alphabet, only by recognition of the alphabet song.
Alphabet Sound Recognition
Directions: Create a quick chart with the letters of the alphabet, and then ask the student to listen as you say the sounds of the alphabet. Explain to the student that you will be saying a letter in the alphabet and they must say the sound of the letter.
Model: The name is “a” the sound is /a/.
Assessment: This assessment should be done individually, and you can use your classroom alphabet poster to check for comprehension of alphabet letter sound recognition.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to recognize the sounds of the letters of the alphabet.
My experience: In my experience some students are able to recognize sound/letter recognition at the beginning of their school career.
Blind spots: Some students are not familiar with the letters in the alphabet, only by recognition of the alphabet song, and are unable to say the sounds.
Syllable Blending/Segmentation
Directions: Ask the student to listen while you say different syllables of words. Tell the student that after each word they will say what the word is as a whole.
Model: When I say the word “pen…cil”, that word is pencil. Then give the student more examples of words.
Assessment: This assessment can be used in conjunction with sight word reviews. Teachers may use checklists to have the words at your fingertips.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to recognize if students are able to blend and segment syllables in a word.
My experience: My experience with this assessment is that students are able to segment syllables, and blend the same syllables back together.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with segmenting some syllables, and tend to segment words by sounds of letters rather than syllables.
Recognizing Rhymes
Directions: Tell the student that you will be saying two words: (Map and Cap), then ask the student if the two words sound alike, explain that when two words sound alike that it is called a rhyme.
Model: Give the student different examples of words that Rhyme (the directions can vary based on age, for example: same endings versus just sounds).
Assessment: Have a list of two words that rhyme (or do not rhyme), then ask the student to put a “thumbs up” for something that rhymes, and a “thumbs down” for words that do not rhyme.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to determine whether or not a student is able to recognize rhyming words based on sounds or on word endings.
My experience: Some students are able to recognize if words rhyme by their endings, although some students are not able to recognize by sight, but by sounds, this is why this assessment works nicely with students of different ages and levels of learning.
Blind spots: A student may not recognize words chosen; teachers may use nonsense words that may confuse the student.
Isolating Beginning Sounds (Phonemes)
Directions: Tell the student that you will be saying some words. Then ask the student to listen carefully to the beginning sound of the word. Next ask the student to tell you the first sound of the word.
Model: Give the student different examples (words they are familiar with), For example: match, /m/ is the first sound in match.
Assessment: Ask the student to say each word that you say and give the student time after each word to say what the first sound is in each word.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to determine if a student is able to isolate the beginning sounds of a word.
My experience: Some students are able to recognize and isolate beginning sounds of words, although most students will forget and say the letter rather than the sound.
Blind spots: Students may not be familiar with certain sounds that letters are supposed to make, some students with speech or hearing difficulties may struggle with this assessment.
Directions: Ask the student to listen to a word, ask the student to listen to the beginning sound of each word in the sequence, and then ask the student to say which words have the same beginning and what the beginning sound is.
Model: Listen to these words carefully, “fun, keep, king”; tell me which two have the same beginning. What is the beginning sound of the word?
Assessment: Ask the student to listen carefully to the three words that you will say, then ask the student to orally say what two words have the same beginning, then ask the student to say the sound of the beginning of the two words.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is for students to match beginning sounds of words.
My experience: My experience in this assessment has been positive; some students are able to begin to realize what letters sound the same. For example: K in king is like C in Cat.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with hearing beginning sounds of words; this could be because of a speech and language problem and would need further assessment.
Isolating Final Sounds
Directions: Tell the student that you will be saying some words. Ask the student to listen carefully to the ending of the words, and then ask the student to tell what sound they hear at the end of each word.
Model: Say the word “top”, the sound at the end of top is /p/.
Assessment: Ask the student to say one word at a time, and then ask the student to say the sound at the end of each word. Have the same list of words in front of you to check if the student comprehends.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to understand if students are able to isolate final sounds in words that they are familiar with.
My experience: My experience with students isolating final sounds is fairly positive, students are able to recognize final sounds in words that they are familiar with.
Blind spots: Some problems that students have with isolating sounds are that sometimes students isolate whole endings such as “ing”.
Phoneme Matching (Final sounds)
Directions: Ask the student to listen to a word, ask the student to listen to the ending sound of each word in the sequence, and then ask the student to say which words have the same endings and what the ending sound is.
Model: Listen to these words carefully, “fun, bun, king”, tell me which two have the same ending. What is the ending sound of the word?
Assessment: Ask the student to listen carefully to the three words that you will say, then ask the student to orally say what two words have the same ending, then ask the student to say the sound of the ending of the two words.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is for students to match final sounds of words.
My experience: My experience in this assessment is that I have worked with students who are much more efficient at matching final sounds as well as final letter endings of words.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with hearing ending sounds of words; this could be because of a speech and language problem and would need further assessment.
Phoneme Blending
Directions: Explain to the student that you are going to say each sound of the letters in a word, Then ask the student to tell you the word that they think the word is, but explain that they must say it fast.
Model: If I say /w/ /i/ /g/, the word is wig. (Have a list of words you would assess)
Assessment: Ask the student to listen carefully of each word that you say, then ask the student to say the word at a “normal”/”fast” pace. Have the words in a checklist and mark each word the student gets correct.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to determine whether students are able to recognize words phonetically, and are able to regurgitate each word back at a normal pace.
My experience: My experiences with this assessment is that students are able to recognize words when said phonetically, some students struggle with the pace changes that occur when listening during the assessment.
Blind spots: Some students are unable to recognize real words when said slowly and with each sound said individually.
Segmenting Sentences
Directions: Ask the student to listen carefully to different sentences, and then ask the student to give the number of words in the sentence.
Model: How many words are in this sentence? “I fed my cat”.
Assessment: Ask the student to explain number of words in this sentence. The correct response would be four. (For the above example)
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is the ability to recognize how many words are in a sentence. Students should be able to segment sentences as well.
My experience: My experience with this assessment is that students are able to recognize the number of words.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with segmenting sentences, and cannot comprehend numbers with words and may become confused with numbers of words with numbers of letters.
Alphabet Letter Recognition
Directions: Create a quick chart with both upper case and lower case letters of the alphabet, and then ask the student to name each of the letters of the alphabet.
Model: “A” is the letter a.
Assessment: This assessment should be done individually, and you can use your classroom alphabet poster to check for comprehension of alphabet letter recognition in both upper case and lower case.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to recognize the letters of the alphabet in both upper case and lower case.
My experience: In my experience some students are able to recognize letter recognition at the beginning of their school career.
Blind spots: Some students are not familiar with the letters in the alphabet, only by recognition of the alphabet song.
Alphabet Sound Recognition
Directions: Create a quick chart with the letters of the alphabet, and then ask the student to listen as you say the sounds of the alphabet. Explain to the student that you will be saying a letter in the alphabet and they must say the sound of the letter.
Model: The name is “a” the sound is /a/.
Assessment: This assessment should be done individually, and you can use your classroom alphabet poster to check for comprehension of alphabet letter sound recognition.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to recognize the sounds of the letters of the alphabet.
My experience: In my experience some students are able to recognize sound/letter recognition at the beginning of their school career.
Blind spots: Some students are not familiar with the letters in the alphabet, only by recognition of the alphabet song, and are unable to say the sounds.
Syllable Blending/Segmentation
Directions: Ask the student to listen while you say different syllables of words. Tell the student that after each word they will say what the word is as a whole.
Model: When I say the word “pen…cil”, that word is pencil. Then give the student more examples of words.
Assessment: This assessment can be used in conjunction with sight word reviews. Teachers may use checklists to have the words at your fingertips.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to recognize if students are able to blend and segment syllables in a word.
My experience: My experience with this assessment is that students are able to segment syllables, and blend the same syllables back together.
Blind spots: Some students struggle with segmenting some syllables, and tend to segment words by sounds of letters rather than syllables.
Recognizing Rhymes
Directions: Tell the student that you will be saying two words: (Map and Cap), then ask the student if the two words sound alike, explain that when two words sound alike that it is called a rhyme.
Model: Give the student different examples of words that Rhyme (the directions can vary based on age, for example: same endings versus just sounds).
Assessment: Have a list of two words that rhyme (or do not rhyme), then ask the student to put a “thumbs up” for something that rhymes, and a “thumbs down” for words that do not rhyme.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to determine whether or not a student is able to recognize rhyming words based on sounds or on word endings.
My experience: Some students are able to recognize if words rhyme by their endings, although some students are not able to recognize by sight, but by sounds, this is why this assessment works nicely with students of different ages and levels of learning.
Blind spots: A student may not recognize words chosen; teachers may use nonsense words that may confuse the student.
Isolating Beginning Sounds (Phonemes)
Directions: Tell the student that you will be saying some words. Then ask the student to listen carefully to the beginning sound of the word. Next ask the student to tell you the first sound of the word.
Model: Give the student different examples (words they are familiar with), For example: match, /m/ is the first sound in match.
Assessment: Ask the student to say each word that you say and give the student time after each word to say what the first sound is in each word.
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to determine if a student is able to isolate the beginning sounds of a word.
My experience: Some students are able to recognize and isolate beginning sounds of words, although most students will forget and say the letter rather than the sound.
Blind spots: Students may not be familiar with certain sounds that letters are supposed to make, some students with speech or hearing difficulties may struggle with this assessment.