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Child’s Name: ‘P’ Teachers Name: Kristen ZaleskiAge: 5 Grade: Kindergarten
Assessment for Child P
P is an attentive and motivated student. She adds great diversity to the class with
her background. She was born on May 26, 2007. P is an Indian child that speaks English
as her second language. For this reason, the school was in the process of completing an
IEP for her language. P sees a speech therapist once a week to improve her speech. P
lives with both parents at home. While living in NH, her parents owned a food and
discount store. Her mother also just gave birth to a baby boy. This is P’s only sibling.
She currently lives in Massachusetts and no longer attends Westmoreland School. There
was no indication why they moved, but she longer attended Westmoreland as of October
24, 2012. P did not talk about home that often while in school, but did talk about her baby
brother a few times. P enjoys morning meetings and free choice where her favorite
activity is playing house.
Physical
In the time P spent in our classroom, I observed her in each domain by taking
photos, collecting work samples, and taking notes. The first domain I will discuss is
physical. Copple and Bredekamp discussed some milestones for Kindergartners.
By the end of the year, kindergarten children should be able to do things such as walking and running using mature form, traveling forward and sideways in a variety of patterns, changing direction quickly in response to a signal, demonstrating clear contrasts between slow and fast movement, rolling sideways without hesitating or stopping, tossing a ball and catching it before it bounces twice, kicking a stationary ball using a smooth continuous running step, and maintaining momentary stillness while bearing weight on various body parts (190).
P is has no setbacks when looking at her physical development. She is very active at
recess and runs most of the time. In the class she can move side to side in a variety of
patterns. P shows this during P.E. and when we do activities in the class such as yoga or
dancing. P sometimes struggles with changing direction quickly because of her second
language. At times she doesn’t understand what to do and will be slower than other when
reacting. She can roll sideways with ease as well. P can also toss a ball and catch it.
During morning meeting she can toss our passing pumpkin to the person next to her and
catch the one being tossed to her. Her momentary stillness is also on track. She is still
when the P.E. teacher blows his whistle and will hold her balance.
Children will be able to lengthen their attention span, improve with writing,
drawing, painting, working with clay, and construction with Legos. They will also
improve with sorting small objects, stringing beads, zipping, buttoning, and tying articles
of clothing. P is doing great with her fine motor development. Her pencil gripping is
always correct and she practices writing everyday with it. P is very steady with her
coloring and takes time to make her work neat. M can button her clothes and tie her
shoes when coming into school, going out for recess, and coming home. She may need
assistance at times when zipping her backpack because she tries to fit her coat in her bag
some days. P has been observed using Legos at choice time and can build efficiently
with them. P is also improving with her drawing as well. She likes to draw during
choice time and her lines are more steady and precise.
M is aware of her health, but sometimes does not take care of bodily functions.
She will sanitize her hands after using the bathroom or blowing her nose. P can use the
bathroom, but has had a few accidents during the year. They have all been while she is
out of the classroom. Reminding her of using the bathroom before leaving the classroom
for specials or recess may take care of this problem. Overall, P is in great condition with
her physical development and I see no setbacks or problems for the next school year.
Cognitive
“Compared with younger children, kindergartners show more flexibility in their
thinking, greater ability to conceptualize categories, advances in reasoning and problem
solving, and gains in knowledge of the world, ability to pay attention, and use of
memory” (Copple & Bredekamp, 200). When working with P, she does best when it is
one-on-one. I often point to the part of the page we are working on so she can connect
directions to that area. Since English is her second language, she often struggles with
conceptualizing categories. For example, I was teaching a science lesson and P thought
the bin we picked apples out of was called a beach. Simple mix-ups like these are a daily
occurrence with P. It seems she can understand directions and follow them, but when
vocalizing, she mixes up some categories. She can reason and problem solve with some
scaffolding. Asking questions helps promote her thinking. P has a great memory with
what has been learned. She knows all sight words and can write the entire alphabet. She
does not seem to remember repeated activities. For example, she doesn’t remember how
to do the same thing with sight words during reading rotations. She will complete a page
and ask, “Okay, what is next?” This is not a serious problem, but just an observation. P
pays attention very well, but may not grasp the directions all the time. She is very good
at raising her hand to clarify. If needed, she will raise her hand and repeat what has been
said to help herself understand. This seems to be a great strategy for her.
Lev Vygotsky believed that the cognitive development of children and
adolescents was enhanced when they worked in their Zone of Proximal Development.
The ZPD is the range of tasks that one cannot yet perform independently, but can
accomplish with the help of a more competent individual (2005). With scaffolding, a
child can successfully improve a skill and be able to individually complete the task over
time. I do scaffold with P. She does better when I am beside her and guiding her through
the activity. Over time, she will be able to work individually. P has some struggles with
cognitive development, but for having English as her second language, she is doing pretty
well.
Language
“Kindergartners become increasingly knowledgeable about the features of
language” (Copple & Bredekamp, 206). They understand sentence structure and use
correct grammatical structures most of the time. The meaning of words and increasing
vocabulary is known at this age as well. “One ability strongly linked to mastering
reading is phonological awareness; that is noticing the sounds of spoken language-
speech sounds and rhythms, rhyme and other sound similarities, and, at the highest level,
phonemes, the smallest units of speech that make a difference in communication”
(Copple & Bredekamp, 207). P struggles in this area with her language needs. She
scored very low on her KLA. For the entire assessment, she knew 50%. She does not
recognize beginning sounds as well as rhymes. P has trouble with blending phonemes
and phoneme isolation. This will be closely looked at when assessing her academic skills
in the literacy section of the case study.
As reading comprehension and fine motor skills improve, the children move into
developing their writing skills. They are aware of upper and lowercase letters and may
use drawings or paintings to interpret their writing. As a teacher it is important to
introduce the structure and uses of print, basic phonemic awareness, and ability to
recognize and write most letters of the alphabet (Copple & Bredekamp, 209). P is
successful in writing. During the first couple weeks of observing, I asked the children to
write all the letters they knew and she wrote the entire alphabet in uppercase letters. She
then continued to write them in lowercase. She knows her alphabet very well. P cannot
write the sound she hears, but can write the alphabet. Once the IEP is completed, P will
be able to specifically focus on her struggle areas with language and literacy to be more
successful in the future. Her motivation is evident; it is just a matter of creating a plan
that fits her specific needs.
Social and Emotional
In the social and emotional domain, children are learning a great deal in school
and in life. Within the prosocial behavior factor of this domain, children will be able to
cooperate, resolve conflicts, and follow rules with other classmates and peers. They
begin to use negotiation to settle disputes, give guidance, use proactive strategies to
organize, direct, and sustain interaction with others. P interacts with all classmates and
engages cooperatively. On her last day, all the children made cards for her without
directions from the teacher. This is evidence that she made great friends. She became
very close with another child in the class. They played together at free choice and recess.
P often tells friends to not do something that is bad. For example, if a child works ahead,
P will tell them that they are not supposed to go ahead. She cooperates very well and
follows all rules. She is a great model for other children in the class.
Another factor is sociability. “Kindergartners learn best when they feel valued,
needed, and loved by the teacher, are confident that the teacher will meet their basic
needs promptly, and can count on the teacher to interact with them in intimate, playful,
and personal ways” (Copple & Bredekamp, 193). P feels valued in the classroom. I
always made sure to compliment her work to make her feel loved and confident. She
came to me when she needed help with tying a shoe or cutting something out. This
showed that P felt comfortable in the class as well as valued.
Communication skills and understanding of feelings also improve. Friendships
are an important part to growing socially in the kindergarten field. P communicates with
her classmates, but sometimes they do not understand her from her accent. This is not a
large issue because the children will ask her to repeat and will understand it the second
time. She made great friendships while she was in the classroom. She always had
friends to talk to at snack and lunch and always stayed with one specific friend during
playtime.
The emotional development is placed hand in hand with social development.
Children come to interact in positive ways with one another. “Vulnerable children who
lack a foundation of emotional security also are at risk for eliciting further criticism and
harshness because they show inappropriate behavior that is hard for teachers and peers to
respond to in positive ways” (Copple & Bredekamp, 195). P does is doing really well
with her emotional development. She has never cried in class and can self-regulate with
ease. Even after her accident in gym class, she kept composure and simply changed her
clothes. Self-regulation is an ability kindergartners develop when they can control their
emotions and behaviors. P does not argue with other children and is very cooperative
when solving problem. When she accidently stepped on a child’s hand, she apologized.
She understands problem solving and the feelings of others. Overall, P is
developmentally stable in the social and emotional area. There are no problems or set
back for the future.
Creative Expression
The last domain is creative expression. Children at this age will use dramatic
play using their imagination, props, blocks, or anything they can think of. Children
expand their creativity through drawing, painting, and crafts in the classroom. They are
given the chance to be creative often and can express themselves in doing so. P really
enjoys choice time. At recess she runs around and is active, but at choice time, she
engages in several activities. This shows her creative expression. Some days, P will play
house with her closest friend in the class. They will do this using play food. She has also
been known to play with Legos as well and build houses for dolls. Of all activities at
choice, P is most seen drawing with crayons or markers. She makes people, animals, and
objects in the classroom. When I asked her to draw a pumpkin somewhere in the room,
she drew the entire shelf. Not only was her drawing recognizable, but also it was also
accurate. She shows her imagination and creativity most during choice time. Even
throughout the day I will see impressive drawings on her worksheets. P is very creative.
Considering the observations I have seen, P is developmentally stable in the area and has
great imagination and creative expression.
Literacy Assessment
With a balanced literacy, many components are involved. This includes reading
aloud, literature study, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, shared and
interactive writing, guided writing, independent writing, and word study. These are all
areas that begin to develop at the emerging, developing, and transitional stage.
Emergent reading is a term used to describe gradual development of literacy in
children around ages birth to five. Using the balanced literacy elements, emergent
reading is detectable. Children begin to, “Internalize purposes of print and understand
that print is used to communicate and make meaning” (Combs, 2010, pg. 27). P has
trouble in this area. Since her second language is English, she does not always
understand meaning. She understands that print is used through story and
communicating, but doesn’t know how to communicate with print. She will say, “What
happened?” A concept P understands very well is the alphabet. When looking at her
KLA, she scored 26/26 with knowing uppercase letters as well as a 26/26 with lowercase
letters. I know that P sees a speech therapist a couple times a week to focus on her
literacy and language. P says that she practices her letters all the time. One of her work
samples attached shows her knowledge of writing the uppercase alphabet. She is very
familiar with letters, which is really great to see this early in the year.
Phonological awareness is also beginning during the emergent stage. Children
recognize that a book is read left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom of the
page. When looking at P’s KLA, she scored a 5 out of 11 with concepts of print. When
looking at what P did know, she could find the front of the book, start on the left of the
page, move left to right across the page, and make a return sweep to the next line. She
could not match words by pointing to each word as reading, point to just one word, point
to one letter, or point to the first and last letter of a word. It may be helpful if P worked
with a specialist to meet her needs with concepts of print.
During this stage, children also, “Recognize that the same letter shapes reoccur
from word to word and can appear in different places within words” (Combs, 2010, pg.
27). Sounds and words are also noticed in how they have a relationship. Children also
notice how there are spaces between words in a sentence. This emergent stage is very
important for children. They learn and retain so much information during this time.
When looking at the concept of a spoken word, P scored 5 out of 6. She scored 3 of 6
when recognizing rhymes. She knew that top and hop rhymed, bed and said rhymed, and
that run and soap did not rhyme. She did not see that hand and sand rhymed, funny and
bunny rhymed, and that bat and base didn’t rhyme. When producing rhymes, P could
only produce 1 of 6. This shows that P is familiar with rhyming, but may not fully
understand what a rhyme is.
“Developing readers typically function somewhere between early/mid first-grade
and early third-grade level” (Combs, 2010, pg. 76). In this stage, children are learning to
look at print and create word-to-word matches. “They are intent on generalizing their
concepts about words in print and letter-sound patterns to the world that dominate their
reading texts” (Combs, 2010, 76). P does very well with sight words. After explaining
the meaning and working through an activity, P will remember most sight words studied.
She completes the activities with ease.
By the end of this stage some can become proficient in reading two and three
syllable words. “As writers, these students are gaining control over their conventional
spelling of one-syllable words, particularly predictable vowel patterns” (Combs 2010,
76). They also gain skill in representing second and third syllables in longer words.
When looking at P’s KLA, she was able to blend 6 of 6 syllables. Examples include pen-
cil, rain-bow, and side-walk. She also completed 6 of 6 with syllable segmentation.
With this, P would push up a chip every time she heard a syllable. What she struggled
with was syllable deletion. She could down separate syllables such as town from down
town of af from after.
With phonemes, P understood isolating the initial sound, but struggled with
isolating a final sound as well as blending phonemes. She also failed to blend phonemes,
segment phonemes, and delete phonemes from the initial sound. Moving on through the
test, P also failed to delete phonemes from the final sound. She scored 1 of 6 with adding
phonemes and 2 of 6 with substituting phonemes of the initial sound. Since this KLA
was taken in the fall, it is not a huge deal that P doesn’t understand phonemes that well.
However, she should have the idea understood to an extent.
Goals for Literacy
The first major goal for P is to improve her phoneme scores by at least 50% by
the spring. She will understand uses of phonemes, deleting phonemes, and isolating
phonemes. A recommendation to reach this goal is to sing a song that practices with
isolating phonemes. When singing the song, the child will guess the sound and beginning
of the word and the sound at the end of the word. From here P can advance into deleting
phonemes. Another way to reach this goal is by creating a sorting activity with objects
and sounds.
Another goal for P is to improve her rhyming scores by 50% by the spring. To do
this there are several recommendations. First, reading books with rhyming will certainly
help. P can first listen to the story, but going through it again she can try to help
complete the rhymes. Again, matching cards can help with sorting rhymes. If cards are
flipped over, P is to find two words that rhyme. If she doesn’t get a match, she flips the
cards back over and tries again. This technique has seemed to work with her before when
looking at 6 beginning sounds. To include her family with helping, it would be great for
them to read a book to her that has rhyming. Much of the enrichment in school comes
from reading to children. At home this would also be great.
Mathematics Assessment
In Kindergarten, math concepts include numbers and operation, algebra,
geometry, measurement, data analysis & probability, and process. At a national level in
the numbers operations concept, students should count with understanding and recognize
things like "how many" in sets of objects; use multiple models to develop initial
understandings of place value and the base-ten number system; develop a sense of whole
numbers and represent and use them in flexible ways; connect number words and
numerals to the quantities they represent, using various physical models and
representations; understand and represent commonly used fractions, such as 1/4, 1/3, and
1/2 (NCTM). P left early in the school year so not much has been able to be assessed. Of
what I have observed and collect, P can count and recognize how many. In her math
journal, she was to find how many legs there were with one rat and one hen. After
drawing a rat and hen with the correct amount of legs, P counted and wrote the number 6.
Here she is using drawings to help her keep track of counting. Another entry in the
journal was to figure out how many pets there were if there were 3 dogs and 3 cats. P
again drew the animals and counted 6. She does very well with understanding how
many. With P moving, there was no assessment of her ability to understand place value
or connecting numbers to words. She is able to count and write numbers through at least
15. Beyond that is unknown.
In the algebra concept, students should sort, classify, and order objects by size,
number, and other properties; recognize, describe, and extend patterns such as sequences
of sounds and shapes or simple numeric patterns and translate from one representation to
another; analyze how both repeating and growing patterns are generated. P struggles
with different kinds of patterns. She did well during the introduction lessons, but after
discussing multiple types of patterns, she seemed to lose track of which was which. She
does well with pattern cubes, but has trouble with class worksheets. For example there is
a worksheet I had her do with drawing which shape would come next. On the sheet I
used 6 different patterns. Of the 6 she answered 3 wrong. Another pattern activity I had
her do was to create a pattern using stickers. Her sheet has stickers, but there was no
pattern detected. She used the same stickers for her pattern. This is a struggle area for P.
Following algebra is geometry. In this concept, students should, recognize, name,
build, draw, compare, and sort two- and three-dimensional shapes; describe attributes and
parts of two- and three-dimensional shapes; investigate and predict the results of putting
together and taking apart two- and three-dimensional shapes (NCTM). P knows her
shapes and can sort them well. She can also describe the attributes. She notices that
triangles have points and that circles do not. She can also separate the difference between
a rectangle and square. She can also explain attributes of three-dimensional shapes such
as a ball or a cube. P has no struggles with the geometry concept.
In the next concept, measurement, students should recognize the attributes of
length, volume, weight, area, and time; compare and order objects according attributes;
understand how to measure using nonstandard and standard units; and select an
appropriate unit and tool for the attribute being measured. Following the measurement
concept is data analysis and probability. At a national level, the expectations here show
that students should pose questions and gather data about themselves and their
surroundings; sort and classify objects according to their attributes and organize data
about the objects; represent data using concrete objects, pictures, and graphs. Within the
process standards, students will use problem solving, reasoning and proof,
communication, connections, and representations. P used measurement and data analysis
and probability during teddy bear week. Here, she matched her teddy bear to someone's
in the class and looked at the difference. She classified her bear based on attributes and
then preceded to measure the length of her bear by her hand size. She was able to
measure the bear accurately she how much smaller her bear was to her partners. She
demonstrated basic knowledge of data analysis and probability.
Goals for Mathematics
There are a few goals for P with her academic skills in mathematics. The first
goal is to help her distinguish the different types of patterns. Since her problem area is
working with sheets, a recommendation would be to use objects before transitioning to
sheets. P could create a pattern using blocks or other objects in the classroom. She could
also look at patterns with body movements or sounds. Focus on a specific type of pattern
each day until she grasps it and can individually make a correct pattern. The hands-on
approach will help P understand better. P could also work on making patterns at home
with her family. Conferences to talk about Ps progress may also inform her family of
where she is at and what could be done at home to contribute to success. With more
assessment, I could better create some goals for P. Since she left in mid October, there is
not much to assess and see if there needs to be improvement. P seemed to be following
along great with math besides her understanding of pattern. If she continues as she has
Other Academic Areas
Other academic areas in the classroom include science, social studies, art, P.E.,
health, and technology. With such a strong focus on literacy and mathematics, there are
fewer observations noted in these areas. With P leaving early, there are even less
observations. There is not much time devoted during the school say towards these
subjects. With what I have seen in the month P attended our school, she actively
participated in P.E. P practiced with her gross motor when running in P.E. and focused
on balancing. When a whistle was blown, P always froze in a funny position as if she
was captured in time. P is also aware of her health. During health class she will
contribute to discussions. During a discussion about family, she pointed out a baby in a
picture of a whole family. This may have been because of her newborn brother that she
recognized him as a family member and related him to the lesson. P is aware of self-care,
but did have an accident while in P.E. This may have been because there was no
bathroom near the gymnasium that she didn’t want to walk alone to find the bathroom.
In art, P shows great interest and ability. She takes her time when painting or
drawing and uses many different colors. It is evident that she has a vivid imagination and
it is captured through her artwork. This is not only seen in art class, but also in the
classroom during centers and free choice. The art teacher believes that P does very well
in her class and does not struggle. P did well in technology too. She did not get to use
any technology since she moved so early, but she comprehended books read to her during
class time and raised her hand to contribute to discussions. An observation noticed
during specials is that when the class is noisy, P will give the quiet sign with her finger
raised in the air. She demonstrates rule following and respect by doing this.
M seems to enjoy the socials studies and science academic area. We did a unit on
apples, which was very fun. We first read a book about apples. P seemed confused
during this introduction. She sometimes mixes up vocabulary out of confusion. She said
she went to an orchard and picked off the beach, when she meant to say out of the bin in
reality. She comprehends the reading, but doesn’t know how to respond at times. Again,
with English as her second language, this is very normal for her age. During the apple
activity, students were to color code apples based off of my directions. We then
classified apple tastes into three categories: like, so-so, and don’t like. The children
marked off what they thought of each apple and shared their answers. P had trouble with
this sheet. She marked up her entire page so I couldn’t even translate it when looking
over worksheets. Based on observations, I know she enjoyed all the apples because she
took her friends share when he turned them down. She marked different answers on her
paper, which shows that she may have been confused. I tried to walk her through the
worksheet and when I walked away and returned she didn’t follow directions. Though
she struggled with the sheet, P followed a procedure and was able to classify her apples
by attributes and tastes when speaking about them. We used social studies in this unit by
discussing apples, how they grow, and what they are used for. It is important for P to
engage in social studies because of her languages. Enrichment of the environment will
help P adapt to the vocabulary of this culture.
Goals for Other Academic Areas
For these academic areas I have a few specific goals and recommendations. My
first goal is to have P focus on classifying science experiments on a worksheet. To do
this, a recommendation would be to first have her describe her classifications out loud
and then record on her worksheet. Speaking out may help her categorize where to mark
off areas on worksheets. A second goal is for P is to engage more with social studies to
help with her vocabulary expansion. To do this I recommend incorporating social studies
into curriculum areas. Reading a book about something or talk about an interest of the
class each week will contribute to P’s success. Also keeping contact with P’s parents will
track her progress with her speech therapist and figuring out how to meet her needs in the
classroom. P was a motivated and positive student at Westmoreland. She will grow and
blossom at her new school as she began to here. With proper assessment and
observation, she will do great in her new location.