Grade K: Emergent Literacy

Unless otherwise noted, assessments are appropriate for all students at this grade level.

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Concepts About Print Virtual Assessment

This assessment is appropriate for all students at this grade level at the beginning of the year, early September (BOY) and at the middle of the year (MOY).

This assessments can also be used diagnostically (d) to evaluate students as needed at the end of the year (EOY).

  • If you plan to conduct this assessment(s) in person, download or print the Concepts of Print – Teacher’s Words Assessment and individual checklist.
  • If you plan to conduct this assessment virtually, the prompts are provided below. Download the virtual student copy.
  • The virtual student copy has six slides with a sample “book” provided for free use.
  • Teachers will need to import the “book” into a classroom organization platform (e.g., seesaw) with touch screen technology.
  • Teachers may also scan portions of a book they already have and insert into slides. They will need to scan the front cover, the back cover, and one to two pages in the text that have the following components: (1) several lines of text and (2) punctuation marks (i.e., period, question mark, exclamation mark, comma, and quotation marks).

Virtual Assessment Concepts and Prompts

Slide 1

  • Front Cover (Book Concepts) – “Look at the two images on the screen. One image is the front of the book. Circle the image that is the front of the book.”
  • Back Cover (Book Concepts) – “Look at the two images on the screen. One image is the back of a book. Circle the image that is the back of the book.”
  • The Title (Book Concepts) – “Look for the name of the book. Circle the name of the book.”

Slide 2

  • Print carries the message (Reading Concepts) – “Circle the part of the page that I read.”
  • Beginning of text (Directional Concepts) – “Circle where I have to start reading.”
  • Left to right, top to bottom (Directional Concepts) – “Draw a line on the screen to show me where I start reading and which way I go as I read this page.”
  • Return sweep ( Directional Concepts) – “Draw a line to show where I go when I get to the end of the sentence.”

Slide 3

  • One-to-one match (Reading Concepts) – “I’m going to read this page. Draw a line to show that you are following along as I read the story.” (Read slowly, but fluently).

Slide 4

  • First word (Concepts of Word) – “Circle the first word on this page.”
  • Last word (Concepts of Word) – “Circle the last word on this page.”
  • Word (Concepts of Word) – “Circle one word. Now circle two words.”
  • First letter in a word (Concepts of Letter) – “Circle the first letter in a word.”
  • Last letter in a word (Concepts of Letter) – “Circle the last letter in a word.”
  • One letter/two letters (Concepts of Letter) – “Circle one letter. Now circle two letters.”
  • Letter names (Concepts of Letter) – “Circle three letters that you know on this page and tell me the name of each one.”
  • A capital letter (Concepts of Letter) – “Circle a capital letter.”
  • A smalll letter (Concepts of Letter) – “Circle a small letter.”
  • Period (.) (Punctuation Marks) – Circle a period on the page and ask, “What is this called?”

Slide 5 or 6

  • Question (?) (Punctuation Marks) – Circle a question mark on the page and ask, “What is this called?”
  • Exclamation (!) (Punctuation Marks) – Circle an exclamation mark on the page and ask, “What is this called?”
  • Quotation (Punctuation Marks) – Circle a quotation mark on the page and ask, “What is this called?”
  • Comma (Punctuation Marks) – Circle a comma on the page and ask, “What is this called?”

Writing Name

This assessment is appropriate for all students at this grade level at the beginning of the year (BOY).

  • If administering this assessment in person, provide the student with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil.
  • If administering this assessment virtually, you and your students will need a virtual classroom organization platform (e.g., seesaw) with touch screen technology.
  • Ask the student to write their name from left to right on the paper or screen.
    • If you think it may be helpful and not confusing to students, consider modeling by writing your own name.
  • Use the considerations below, or download or copy the Name Writing Considerations checklist to use, as you evaluate each student’s writing.
    • No letters in name written.
    • One letter other than the first letter in the name written.
    • First letter in the name written in the correct position.
    • First letter and one other letter in the name written in the correct position.
    • Full name written correctly.