Writing Assessments Informal

WORK WITH YOUR SLP Writing tied to language and reading

Physical process Dysgraphia: difficulty in writing, or poor writing Poor motor control Visual-spatial difficulties: trouble processing what the eye sees Language processing difficulty: trouble processing and making sense of what the ear hears

Young Students Letter formation Name Simple words

Spelling Scribble Pre-phonetic Semi-phonetic Phonetic Transitional (Orthographic-Morphological) Conventional spelling

Improving Writing As reading improves so does writing To improve writing you have to write Non threatening Reading responses Free response and journal writing Writing from pictures—a good place to start Edit and improve writing

Writing connected to reading To get better at reading you read To get better at writing you write Free response as a formative measure of writing

Free response, as a formative assessment Read a selection aloud—stop and ask students to respond Write a sentence or draw a picture (younger students) Responses about content, character, or vocabulary Responses may include: – What do you like or dislike about the text – Where does the selection take place? – How does it make you feel? – What do you predict will happen? – How does the character remind you of someone you know? – How does the text connect to you and your life? Think, pair, share or turn to your neighbor Reread your response to yourself Group discussion Still agree with your response? No right or wrong answers

CBM (4 minutes) 1 to think, 3 to write Correct word sequences

T- Units T-unit: One main clause and any other clauses embedded in it or subordinated to it is a “minimal terminal unit.”

Calculating T-Units Mark each t-unit in a writing sample with a slash, count the words in each t-unit and find the average of the words in a t-unit

Type token ratio for younger kids Number of different words spoken in a language sample. (Norms for different age groups) Used by SLPs.

Type token ratio for older children Easy method: Count number of words 7 letters or more in a sample and divide by the number of words in the sample. (Gives you a percentage.) Harder method: number of different words divided by the total number of words. (Gives you a percentage.) Gives a percentage of unique words used in a sample It is a vocabulary measure

Advanced Syntax Morphology Noun phrase elaboration Verb phrase elaboration Adverbial use Complex sentence structure