Reading placement test g4 6

Reading Placement Tests Easy Assessments to Determine Students’ Levels in Phonics, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension 4th–6th Grades N E W YO R K • T O R O N T O • L O N D O N • A U C K L A N D • S Y D N E Y M E X I C O C I T Y • N E W D E L H I • H O N G KO N G • B U E N O S A I R E S Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Scholastic Inc grants teachers permission to photocopy material in this book only for personal classroom use No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher For information regarding permission, write to Permissions Department, Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 Cover design by Josué Castilleja Cover art by Royce Fitzgerald Interior design by LDL Designs Pages 62–70 © CORE 0-439-40413-4 Copyright © 2002 by Scholastic Inc All rights reserved Printed in the U.S.A 10 40 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Table of Contents Overview Description of the Placement Tests Directions for Administering the Tests Diagnostic Placement Test Student Pages Grade Grade 23 Grade 40 Scoring the Tests 57 Using the Results 61 CORE Phonics Survey 62 CORE Phonics Survey Record Form 63 CORE Phonics Survey Student Material 68 Percentage Scores Chart 71 Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Overview The Diagnostic Placement Tests and Phonics Survey for Grades 4–6 are designed as entry-level assessments for your students The Diagnostic Placement Test is intended to be used at the beginning of the school year and has three main purposes: • to determine each child’s level of proficiency in reading, based on grade-level skills • to identify specific instructional needs for individual students and for the group as a whole • to provide a baseline from which to measure a child’s growth in reading During the first weeks of school, it is important to determine children’s reading levels The Diagnostic Placement Test, designed to be administered to groups of students, measures Phonological awareness is an umbrella important skills in Phonics/Phonological term that includes phonemic awareness, or awareness of words at the phoneme Awareness, grade-level Vocabulary, and Reading level It also includes an awareness of Comprehension For most students, results from word units larger than the phoneme this test will provide the initial screening inforPhonological awareness includes the following (Eldridge, 1995): mation you’ll need for instructional planning • words within sentences After completing the Diagnostic Placement Test, • rhyming units within words you may want to collect more information about • beginning and ending sounds within some children by administering the CORE words Phonics Survey* (pages 62–70) to individuals • syllables within words This survey measures alphabet skills, reading and • phonemes, or sounds, within words decoding skills, and spelling skills (phonemic awareness) Assessment information from prior years may • features of individual phonemes also provide valuable information about each such as how the mouth, tongue, vocal cords, and teeth are used to child’s current level of proficiency and his or her produce the sound instructional needs for the coming year Description of the Placement Tests Directions for administering and scoring the tests appear on the next few pages The Diagnostic Placement Test has three sections: * © 1999 by CORE Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Phonics/Phonological Awareness This first part of the test assesses skills in phonics and phonological awareness (10 Questions) Vocabulary This part of the test assesses children’s familiarity with grade-level vocabulary words All vocabulary words are tested in sentence context (15 Questions) Comprehension This last part of the test assesses children’s comprehension of reading selections, both fiction and nonfiction Children respond to comprehension questions based on fundamental grade-level skills (25 Questions) All questions on the Diagnostic Placement Test are in multiple-choice format Each test item has four answer choices Below you will find directions for administering the tests Then turn to pages 57–61 for information on scoring the tests, and using the results Directions for Administering the Tests The Diagnostic Placement Test is designed to be administered to a group of students, in either one or more sittings You, the teacher, should read aloud the directions Students will read the questions and reading selections themselves and will respond to questions either by filling in bubbles beside the answers they choose or by circling their answer choice on the answer sheet (final page of the Student Pages) These tests are not intended to be timed; allow as much time as children need to complete each part of the test However, for planning purposes, the chart below shows the estimated time required for administering the test Estimated Time for Administering Tests Phonics: Vocabulary: Comprehension: 10 minutes 15 minutes 25 minutes Total: 50 minutes Make sure each child has a copy of the reproducible Diagnostic Placement Test Student Pages and two pencils Before starting, have each child write his or her name on the cover or on the Answer Sheet, whichever will be turned in for grading When you are ready to begin the test, read the directions on the front cover Then have children answer the sample question Make sure children know how to mark their answers Once everyone understands how the test works, have children turn to page to begin Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Grade • Page Name Date _ Diagnostic Placement Test Student Pages 4th Grade Directions This is a Reading test Each question in this test has four answer choices Read each question carefully Then choose the best answer Fill in the bubble for the answer you choose or circle your answer choice on the Answer Sheet Sample Question Read the sentence Which word best fits in the blank? As the rain started falling, the wind began to _ ❍ A glow ❍ C slow ❍ B blow ❍ D flow Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Grade • Page Phonics Questions 1–10 Read each sentence Choose the word that best fits in the blank Franny got very upset, but Jade stayed _ ❍ A calm ❍ C comb ❍ B camp ❍ D call Most of the farmers here grow corn, soybeans, and _ ❍ F sheet ❍ H wheat ❍ G cheat ❍ J greet We stood on the _ and waved as Casey sailed across the lake ❍ A sure ❍ C shower ❍ B share ❍ D shore Did you _ your new sweater today? ❍ F where ❍ H ware ❍ G wear ❍ J were Members of the band ran onto the _ and began to play a song ❍ A stake ❍ C stack ❍ B stage ❍ D staff Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Grade • Page 10 Beekeepers have to be very _ when they work with bees ❍ F cares ❍ H cared ❍ G careless ❍ J careful Grandpa said he would be _ to have us visit him ❍ A placed ❍ C pleased ❍ B pleated ❍ D planted A word that has three syllables is _ ❍ F memory ❍ H neighbor ❍ G operator ❍ J quickly Jack opened the back of the TV cabinet and _ the VCR ❍ A connecting ❍ C connection ❍ B disconnected ❍ D unconnected Two fishing boats were tied up at the _ ❍ F pear ❍ H pier ❍ G peer ❍ J pare Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Grade • Page Vocabulary Questions 11–25 Choose the word that best fits in each sentence 11 Cal gave me his computer but did not _ that it was broken ❍ A paddle ❍ C mention ❍ B flutter ❍ D attend 12 My favorite flavors are lemon and _ ❍ F peppermint ❍ H emperor ❍ G rubber ❍ J brass 13 The birds in the rain forest are very _ ❍ A colorful ❍ C maple ❍ B western ❍ D otherwise 14 Mom put the plants on the _ so they would get some sun ❍ F shepherd ❍ H symbol ❍ G waterproof ❍ J windowsill 15 Theo has _ every morning for breakfast ❍ A sapling ❍ C border ❍ B cereal ❍ D lagoon 16 Mrs Palmer does not _ to be at the meeting ❍ F adopt ❍ H combine ❍ G intend ❍ J divide 17 Every year the ducks _ south before winter comes ❍ A knead ❍ C hitch ❍ B provide ❍ D migrate Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Grade Answer Key Phonics C (r-Controlled Vowels) G (Vowel Digraphs) D (Words with ) J (Open/Closed Syllables) A (Silent Letters) F (Suffix -ly ) C (Silent Letters) J (Vowel /i/i, y, i–e, igh ) A (Related Words) 10 H (Vowel Teams) e Vocabulary 11 D 12 J 13 A 14 G 15 A 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 H B H C F D J B H A Comprehension 26 J (Plot) 27 A (Character) 28 F (Context Clues) 29 B (Draw Conclusions) 30 H (Make Predictions) 31 C (Theme) 32 G (Main Idea/Details) 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 A F C H A H D J A G B F C H A G D G (Make Inferences) (Context Clues) (Compare/Contrast) (Compare/Contrast) (Draw Conclusions) (Setting) (Plot) (Context Clues) (Sequence) (Character) (Make Inferences) (Summarize) (Main Idea/Details) (Main Idea/Details) (Compare/Contrast) (Cause/Effect) (Make Inferences) (Make Predictions) 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 B G C J D H A F B G C F C H B J D G (Main Idea/Details) (Sequence) (Draw Conclusions) (Context Clues) (Sequence) (Draw Conclusions) (Plot) (Context Clues) (Character) (Compare/Contrast) (Theme) (Make Inferences) (Main Idea/Details) (Context Clues) (Summarize) (Draw Conclusions) (Main Idea/Details) (Make Predictions) Grade Answer Key Phonics B (Vowel /i/i, y, i–e, igh) F (Silent Letters) D (Blends) H (Open and Closed Syllables) A (Prefixes and Combining Forms) G (Syllabication: /e/, /ûr/, / l/ ) A (Vowel Teams) H (Suffixes -ity, -ness) C (Vowel Teams) 10 G (Compound Words) e Vocabulary 11 A 12 G 13 C 14 J 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 D F B J A G D H A J C Comprehension 26 H (Cause/Effect) 27 D (Compare/Contrast) 28 J (Character) 29 B (Make Inferences) 30 F (Context Clues) 31 A (Make Predictions) 32 G (Theme) Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Diagnostic Placement Test Scoring Chart Student’s Name _ Grade Teacher’s Name _ Date _ Test Section Test Item Numbers Number of Correct Responses Percentage Score Phonics/Phonological Awareness 10 10 Vocabulary 11 14 17 20 23 12 15 18 21 24 13 16 19 22 25 15 Comprehension 26 31 36 41 46 27 32 37 42 47 28 33 38 43 48 29 34 39 44 49 30 35 40 45 50 25 Total Test 50 Comments/Notes Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Placement Test Summary Chart Teacher Name _ NAME PHONICS Grade VOCABULARY COMPREHENSION Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources TOTAL Using the Results Use the test scores from the Diagnostic Placement Test to determine each student’s current level of reading proficiency and to help determine instructional plans for the beginning of the year Information from other assessments may be used to support or supplement instructional decisions For example, children may have different developmental needs in reading and writing To use the results of the Diagnostic Placement Test, evaluate each child’s scores on the test The total test scores may be used to identify those children who are reading below grade level, at grade level, or above grade level, as defined below A total test score of… Suggests that… Less than 60% The child is reading below grade level 60%–89% The child is reading at grade level 90% or higher The child is reading above grade level Scores on each part of the test may be used to help determine instructional plans For any part in which a child scores 60 percent or less, the child will probably need additional focused instruction For example, a child might score 80 percent in Phonics, 50 percent in Vocabulary, and 70 percent in Comprehension This child is probably at grade level in Phonics and Comprehension but will need additional help to improve Vocabulary To help pinpoint specific needs for children, you can refer to the Answer Key For each test item in Phonics and Comprehension, the answer key lists the skill or strategy measured by the item You may use this information to help identify a child’s specific needs For example, a child might answer four of ten Phonics items incorrectly, and all four items concern long and short vowels This information might suggest that the child needs additional instruction in vowels and vowel sounds For any child whose test scores are ambiguous or seem inconclusive, additional, individualized assessment is recommended You may want to administer the CORE Phonics Survey (page 62) Follow-up Many students develop reading skills rapidly and at different rates The Diagnostic Placement Test provides an entry-level assessment and a baseline from which to judge children’s progress However, each child should be assessed periodically to monitor his or her progress and help make adjustments in instructional plans or grouping Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources SKILL ASSESSED: Phonics CORE Phonics Survey GRADE LEVEL: K-6 GROUPING: Individual APPROX TESTING TIME: 10–15 Minutes MATERIALS • Pencil and Lined Paper • Record Form (5 pages) • Student Material (3 pages) SOURCE Consortium On Reading Excellence (CORE) WHAT The CORE Phonics Survey assesses the phonics and phonicsrelated skills that have a high rate of application in beginning reading The survey presents a number of lists of letters and words for the student to identify or decode Pseudowords, or made-up words, are included since the student must use decoding skills to pronounce these words correctly and cannot have memorized them This assessment is best used to plan instruction for students in the primary grades and to develop instructional groups It may be administered every four to six weeks WHY A student’s ability to use knowledge of sound/letter correspondences (phonics) to decode words determines, in large measure, his or her ability to read individual words A detailed assessment of a student’s phonics skills points to areas in which the student is likely to benefit most from systematic, explicit phonics instruction Also, knowing the skills that the student does possess will help in selecting reading tasks that offer the most effective reinforcement of those skills HOW Instructions for administering each part of the survey are included on the Record Form (pages 63–67) Students read from the Student Material (pages 68–70) To focus the student’s attention on the part of the test being given, cover the other parts with a piece of paper The Record Form shows the same material that appears on the Student Material, in a reduced size, so that you may easily record the student’s responses Following administration, score each of the test parts and transfer the results to the first page of the Record Form under Skills Summary Retest every four to six weeks but only on parts not yet mastered Be aware of the student’s behavior during testing If the student is tiring or making many consecutive errors, discontinue testing at that time WHAT IT MEANS This test is a mastery test It is expected that students will ultimately get all items correct • In five-item subtests, a student who misses two or more items would benefit from more direct instruction in the indicated element • In ten-item subtests, three or more errors warrant attention WHAT’S NEXT? Use the information to monitor phonics instruction and to design skill groups in direct instruction in the particular element measured Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources CORE Phonics Survey Record Form Name Grade _ Date SKILL SUMMARY Alphabet Skills _/26 Letter Names – uppercase _/26 Letter Names – lowercase _/23 Consonant sounds _/5 Long vowel sounds _/5 Short vowel sounds Reading and Decoding Skills _/10 Short vowels in CVC words _/10 Short vowels, digraphs, and -tch trigraph _/20 Short vowels and consonant blends _/10 Long vowels _/10 Vowel diphthongs _/10 r- and l-controlled vowels _/24 Multisyllabic words Spelling Skills _/5 Initial consonants _/5 Final consonants _/5 CVC words _/5 Long vowel words Skills to review: Skills to teach: _ Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Letter Names—Uppercase Say to the student: Can you tell me the names of these letters? If the student cannot name three or more consecutive letters, say: Look at all of the letters and tell me which ones you know _/26 D T K A Y U N E G S C B X O F Z M Q J R V L P I H W Letter Names—Lowercase Say to the student: Can you tell me the names of these letters? If the student cannot name three or more consecutive letters, say: Look at all of the letters and tell me which ones you know _/26 d t k a y u n e g s c b x o f z m q j r v l p i h w Consonant Sounds Say to the student: Look at these letters Can you tell me the sound each letter makes? Be sure to ask if he or she knows of another sound for the letters g and c If the sound given is correct, not mark the Record Form If it is incorrect, write the sound the student gives above each letter If no sound is given, circle the letter If the student cannot say the sound for three or more consecutive letters, say: Look at all of the letters and tell me which sounds you know _/23 d t k l y w n p g s c b x h f z m q j r v Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Vowel Sounds Ask the student: Can you tell me the sounds of each letter? If the student names the letter, count it as the long vowel sound Then ask: Can you tell me the other sound for the letter? The student should name the short vowel sound e i a o u l = long sound s = short sound Record “l” on the first line for the long sound (letter name) and “s” for the short sound on the second line If the student makes an error, record the error over the letter _/5 Long vowel sounds (count the number of l’s above) _/5 Short vowel sounds (count the number of s’s above) Reading and Decoding For items A through G, students must read both real and pseudowords (made-up words) For the first line of real words, tell the student: I want you to read these words If the student cannot read two or more of the real words, not administer the line of pseudowords Go to the next set of items Before asking the student to read the line of pseudowords, say: Now I want you to read some made-up words Do not try to make them sound like real words A Short vowels in CVC words _/5 sit cat get _/5 vot fut dit but ket hot lat (real) (pseudo) B Short vowels, digraphs, and -tch trigraph _/5 when chop thin shut match (real) _/5 wheck shom thax phitch chud (pseudo) C Short vowels and consonant blends _/5 stop trap quick spell _/5 stig brab qued snop _/5 ring fast sank limp _/5 mang nast wunk kimp plan dran held jelt (real) (pseudo) (real) (pseudo) Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources D Long vowels _/5 tape _/5 pofe Pete bine cute joad paid vay feet soat (real) (pseudo) E Vowel diphthongs _/5 few down toy _/5 moit rew fout hawk coin zoy bawk (real) (pseudo) F r- and l-controlled vowels _/5 bark horn chirp _/5 ferm murd gair roar dall (real) (pseudo) cold chail G Multisyllabic words Administer this item if the student is able to read most of the single-syllable real and pseudowords in the previous items Say to the student: Now I want you to read down the first column of words Each of the real words in this column has two syllables Point to the first column If the student can read at least three out of eight of the words in this column, say: Now I want you to read some made-up words Do not try to make them sound like real words Point to the second column Repeat the same procedure for the third column NOTE: The following made-up words can be pronounced in two ways: sunop (su-nop or sun-op); wopam (wo-pam or wop-am); potife (po-tife or pot-ife); zuride (zu-ride or zur-ide); and zubo (zu-bo or zub-o) _/3 _/3 _/3 _/3 _/3 _/3 _/3 _/3 Closed-closed Closed silent e Open-closed Open-open Open silent e Consonant – le r-controlled Vowel team kidnap compete depend zero locate stable further outlaw pugnad slifnate sunop zubo potife grickle tirper doipnow quibrap prubkine wopam yodu zuride morkle pharbid loymaud Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Spelling A Give the student a pencil and a sheet of lined paper Tell the student: Listen to each of the words I read and write the first sound you hear Write the student’s responses over the words _/5 fit map pen kid hand B Tell the student: Listen to each of the words I read and write the last sound you hear Write the student’s responses over the words _/5 rub fled leg sell less C Tell the student: Listen to each of the words I read and write the whole word _/5 beg yam sip rod tub _/5 train float steep drive spoon Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources CORE Phonics Survey Student Material D A N S X Z J L H T Y E C O M R P W K U G B F Q V I d a n s x z j l h t y e c o m r p w k u g b f q v i d l n s x z j t y p c h m r k w g b f q v e i a o u Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Reading and Decoding A B C D sit cat get but hot vot fut dit ket lat when chop thin shut match wheck shom thax phitch chud stop trap quick spell plan stig brab qued snop dran ring fast sank limp held mang nast wunk kimp jelt tape Pete cute paid feet pofe bine joad vay soat Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources E F G few down toy hawk coin moit rew fout zoy bawk bark horn chirp roar cold ferm murd gair dall chail kidnap pugnad quibrap compete slifnate prubkine depend sunop wopam zero zubo yodu locate potife zuride stable grickle morkle further tirper pharbid outlaw doipnow loymaud Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Percentage Scores Chart Number Correct 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Total Number of Items 10 15 25 50 10% 7% 4% 2% 20% 13% 8% 4% 30% 20% 12% 6% 40% 27% 16% 8% 50% 33% 20% 10% 60% 40% 24% 12% 70% 47% 28% 14% 80% 53% 32% 16% 90% 60% 36% 18% 100% 67% 40% 20% 73% 44% 22% 80% 48% 24% 87% 52% 26% 93% 56% 28% 100% 60% 30% 80% 32% 85% 34% 90% 36% 95% 38% 100% 40% 42% 44% 46% 48% 50% 52% 54% 56% 58% 60% 62% 64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74% 76% 78% Number Correct 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 # of Items 50 80% 82% 84% 86% 88% 90% 92% 94% 96% 98% 100% Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources Notes: Reading Placement Tests: 4th to 6th Grade © CORE and Scholastic Teaching Resources