Reading Placement Tests

[Pages:32]Reading Placement Tests

Easy Assessments to Determine Students' Levels in Phonics, Vocabulary,

and Reading Comprehension

3rd Grade

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Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

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Cover design by Josu? Castilleja Cover art by Royce Fitzgerald

Interior illustration by Neil Reilly Interior design by LDL Designs

Pages 24?32 ? CORE.

0-439-40412-6 Copyright ? 2002 by Scholastic Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 40 08 07 06 05 04 05 02

Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

Table of Contents

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Description of the Placement Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Directions for Administering the Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Diagnostic Placement Test Student Pages. . . . . . . . . . . 6 Scoring the Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Using the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 CORE Phonics Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 CORE Phonics Survey Record Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 CORE Phonics Survey Student Material . . . . . . . . . . 30

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Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

Overview

The Diagnostic Placement Tests and Phonics Survey for Grade 3 are designed as entry-level

assessments. 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 individuals 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 adminis-

tered to groups of students, measures important skills in Phonics/Phonological Awareness, gradelevel Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension. For most students, results from this test will provide the initial screening information you'll need for instructional planning. After completing the Diagnostic

Phonological awareness is an umbrella term that includes phonemic awareness, or awareness of words at the phoneme level. It also includes an awareness of word units larger than the phoneme.

Phonological awareness includes the following (Eldridge, 1995):

Placement Test, you may want to collect more

? words within sentences

information about some children by administering

? rhyming units within words

the CORE Phonics Survey* (pages 24?32) to individuals. This survey measures alphabet skills, reading and decoding skills, and spelling skills.

Assessment information from prior years may also provide valuable information about each child's current level of proficiency and his or her instructional needs for the coming year.

? beginning and ending sounds within words

? syllables within words

? phonemes, or sounds, within words (phonemic awareness)

? features of individual phonemes such as how the mouth, tongue, vocal cords, and teeth are used to produce the sound

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:

Phonics/Phonological Awareness The first part of the test assesses skills phonics and phonological awareness, covering a range of skills from approximately the last half of second grade

* ? 1999 by CORE.

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Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

through the first half of third grade. (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. (10 Questions) Comprehension The 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. (15 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 20?23 for information on scoring the tests, and using the results.

Directions for Administering 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 by filling in bubbles beside the answers they choose or by circling their answer choice on the answer sheet (page 14 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

10 minutes 20?30 minutes

Total 40?50 minutes

Make sure each child has a stapled copy of the reproducible test and two pencils. (The Student Test book consists of 14 pages. They can be found on pages 6?19 in this book.) Before starting, have each child write his or her name on the front page of the test or on the answer sheet, whichever he or she will be handing in for grading.

When you are ready to begin the test, read the directions on the front page. 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 2 to begin.

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Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

Name ____________________________ Date _____________________

Diagnostic Placement TLZ[ Student Pages

+PYLJ[PVUZ 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 next to 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?

Harry picked a red _____ from the garden.

P ( UVZL

P * WVZL

P ) YVZL

P + SVZL

Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

7OVUPJZ

Questions 1?10. Read each sentence. Choose the word that best fits in the blank.

Last summer we took a _____ to Canada.

P ( JOPW

P * ^OPW

P ) [YPW

P + KYPW

The sky is blue, and the grass is _____.

P - NYLLU

P / NYPU

P . NYHPU

P 1 NYVHU

;erry picked up the ball and _____ it to me.

P ( [OYV^

P * [OYLL

P ) [OYV\NO

P + [OYL^

There are four _____ in the cup.

P - [VV[OIY\ZOZ

P / [VV[OIY\ZOLZ

P . [VV[OIY\ZOPLZ

P 1 [VV[OIY\ZO?Z

Did you _____ your new shoes today?

P ( ^HY

P * ^LHY

P ) ^OLYL

P + ^LYL

Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

Sarah _____ go to the skating show tomorrow

P - TPNO[

P / TH[L

P . TP[[

P 1 TLL[

Dad will be _____ when we get home.

P ( [OLPY

P * [OL`?YL

P ) [OLYL

P + [OL`?SS

>e will ride our bikes _____ the park.

P - HM[LY

P / HYV\UK

P . HYYV^

P 1 HSVUN

Grandma _____ me how to tie my shoes.

P ( [H\NO[

P * [LHJOLK

P ) [V[

P + [LHJO

( word that has three syllables is _____.

P - WYVISLT

P / YVVZ[LY

P . MYPLUKZOPW

P 1 OHWWPULZZ

Reading Placement Tests: 3rd Grade ? CORE and Scholastic, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

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