Sentence Master Series Assessment Test

, by Laureate (R), Dr. Marion Blank

	Brief Assessment: Finding Out Where to Start Beginning readers vary greatly in their skills. To maximize learning and motivation, it's important to have children learn what they need to learn, while at the same time, not having them spend time repeating material they've already mastered. The Sentence Master is designed to meet the children's varied abilities through a series of four levels that systematically increase in difficulty. You begin with the level that best suits your child's abilities. The following brief assessment helps you determine which of the four levels of The Sentence Master is the right starting point for your child. In this assessment, you dictate a few sentences and your child writes each one in turn. Of course, if your student has no reading or writing mastery at all, bypass the assessment and begin the program with Level 1. The procedure is as follows: 1. Start with the sentences listed below under Sentences for Level 1. 2. Provide your student with lined paper and a pencil or thin marker, and say, "I want you to do some writing for me." (In case your student cannot handwrite, allow him or her to use the computer for writing.) 3. Read a complete sentence aloud (e.g., "There are some robots."). Follow this by offering a word at a time (e.g., "Now write the word there."). Give your student whatever time he or she needs in order to write the word. 4. Proceed through each word until the sentence is completed. 5. Repeat this procedure to complete all the sentences for Level 1. 6. During the assessment, do not offer your student any help. If your student requests help, say, "You have to do this on your own. Later on, I'll help you, but not now." 7. After the sentences for Level 1 have been completed, score the student's performance. For the scoring, a word is counted as either correct (if it is written correctly) or incorrect (if it has one or more errors in it). For example, a word like robots may have various misspellings (e.g., robts, robuts, robst- any of these would be counted as one error). Repeated errors on a particular word are only counted once in the group of sentences for a level. For example, if a student misspells the word are three times in the sentences for Level 1, it is still only counted as one error. Do not score punctuation. 8. At the end of the sentences for each level, you will see the scoring criteria for the sentences. If your student's performance on the sentences for Level 1 does not meet the set criterion, then The Sentence Master: Level 1 is the appropriate level at which to start the work. On the other hand, if your student's performance is above the set criterion, you move on to the sentences for Level 2. Continue in this manner until you find the level that is the right one for your child. The sentences your student will write: Sentences for Level 1 There are some robots. They are jogging. These men are helping the king. They like to help. That is a kid. She is swimming here. Criterion 0-4 errors; continue on to the Sentences for Level 2. 5 or more errors, stop the assessment; start your student on Level 1 of The Sentence Master Sentences for Level 2 The man wanted to clean his car but he did not have a rag. The puppy was trying to rest. This duck does not have to fly. Criterion 0-4 errors; continue on to the Sentences for Level 3. 5 or more errors (and fewer than 5 errors on Level 1), stop the assessment; start your student on Level 2 of The Sentence Master. Sentences for Level 3 Your friend says he can bring some pencils. Did everyone still need to fly on the plane? Can the barber cut the kid's long hair? Criterion 0-4 errors; continue on to the Sentences for Level 4. 5 or more errors (and fewer than 5 errors on each of Levels 1 and 2), stop the assessment; start your student on Level 3 of The Sentence Master. Sentences for Level 4 Why didn't the bird just stay where it was? Once the animal was alone, they never got to see it. When could you open that? Criterion 0-4 errors; your student is probably beyond the Sentence Master program. 5 or more errors (and fewer than 5 errors on each of Levels 1, 2 and 3), stop the assessment; start your student on Level 4 of The Sentence Master.