Assessment Paper Checklist o Purpose of assessment is clearly articulated o Methodology for using this assessment tool is clearly explained

o Introduction to child and setting included o Detailed description of findings in included this included both strengths and needs o Implications for instruction are included and are clearly articulated. These address the question: Now that the assessment is complete, how would you use it to teach this student? o Paper is well organized o Spelling and grammar are correct

Amy Peabody March 5, 2013 ELD 307 Professor Rich Oral Language Assessment

This semester I am in Wicoff Elementary school in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district. I spend my day in second grade with my cooperating teacher is Miss Refsin and twenty-three students. The students in this class are very diverse and there are some English Language Learners (ELL). The purpose of this oral language assessment is to observe and assess how the students talk in the classroom and to see how this affects literacy. The development of childrens spoken language leads to the development of literacy skills such as reading and writing. Children begin with speaking and later move on to reading and writing the words they are able to say. In the whole class observation, I was looking to see the differences between native speakers of English and ELLs. I was able to recognize the different levels of communication and literacy between the two groups. During my whole class observation, it became clear as to who contributed regularly to class voluntarily and who did not. Some of the students do not talk in front of the whole class but only in small groups; this is more common for the ELL students. The class is structured so that students know when they have time to talk to one another. Many students ask questions throughout the day and the students also express themselves through their thoughts and feelings when necessary. The class is broken up into tables and each table is a different color; when there are group projects the students work with one another at their tables, this eliminates students yelling across the room.

As a part of this oral language assessment, I evaluated one child individually; he is an eight-year-old boy who is an English Language Learner. I choose this student to observe because he focuses on all areas of concentration that I study; elementary education, Spanish and English as a Second Language or English Language Learners. I had given this student a language pre-assessment last week. This student is not the only ELL in the class, there are three. Sharing stories is one strength that this particular student has along with excelling in retelling events. I have seen the areas where this student excels and I know that this child communicates well with others. The ELL student that I observed demonstrates positive use of oral language. I have seen this students writing and he demonstrates strong knowledge of how to properly write because of how well he speaks. Personally I feel that this student is very competent when it comes to oral language because he communicates his feelings and emotions. He has confidence in himself when he speaks. This student expresses the ability to be a leader in the classroom and he does a good job at being the reporter for the group. The biggest weakness is that the literacy level of this student is lower than the average of the class, but he has improved dramatically since the start of the school year according to my cooperating teacher. I think that this student needs encouragement when he speaks in front of the whole class because it may motivate others to start volunteering in whole class discussion.