WORDS THEIR WAY
UPPER-LEVEL
SPELLING INVENTORY
Powerpoint Created by Jorgette Mullins
STEP 1
Give the students the 31
words spelling assessment.
The words should not be
given to them prior to the
assessment. Remember to
state the word, give the
sentence provided to you,
and then repeat the word.
STEP 2
To complete the Words Their
Way Upper- Level Spelling
Inventory Feature Guide,
compare the spelling of the
word given by the student to
the breakdown of the word on
the feature guide.
STEP 2 CONTINUE
For example, number 5 is the
word knotted.
The student
may have spelled the word this
way - knoted. On the feature
guide you would put a check
beside the O and the KN. You
would not put a check beside
TTED since that was the part
misspelled.
STEP 2 CONTINUE
The only mark you should
make is the mark next to the
CORRECT part.
Remember
not every letter of the word
will appear on the feature
guide. Complete this for each
word.
STEP 3
Next you are to count the
number of correct responses
vertically. For example, in the
first column on the example
sheet the word parts are sw,
sm, tr, sh, and cr. The student
got every one correct so the
subtotal is 5/5. In the third
column the student got 4/7
correct. Complete this step for
each word.
STEP 4
Add the totals across. You are
adding the numerator (top
number) of columns 1 – 9 and
putting that sum in column 10.
That number is the number
correct over 46.
STEP 4 CONTINUE
For example, the first group of
subtotals are 5/5, 8/9, 4/7, 2/8,
4/7, 1/2, 4/4, and 0/0 in the
example provided. The sum,
which goes in column 10, is
32/46. The number 32 is the
number correct in column 1 –
9. You will need to do the
same for words 21 -31.
STEP 5
Add
the
two
subtotals
together, the subtotal for
words 1 – 20 to the words 21 31. For example. The first
subtotal for words 1 – 20 is
4/4 for column 6 and for
words 21 – 31 is 5/6. Add
those two subtotals together.
The new total is 9/10.
STEP 5
Complete this for each column.
The final total goes in column
10. For example, the answer
for column 10 totals is 46/68.
STEP 6
In column 11 you will need to
put the number 1 if all parts of
the word is spelled correctly.
Put the subtotals and final
total.
STEP 7
To find the current spelling
stage of the student you must
find the first total where the
student had two or more
errors. For example, the totals
on the example sheet are 5/5,
8/9, 4/7, 2/8, 5/9, 9/19, 5/7, 6/7,
and 2/6.
STEP 7
The first total where the
student missed two or more
was in column 3 with the total
4/7. This is the column where
you find the current spelling
stage. The student’s column
falls between late Complex
Consonants
and
Early
Inflected Ends and Syllable
Juncture.
STEP 8
The final step is to record the
data in the appropriate places.
The Words Spelled Correctly
total comes from the total
found in the last row of
column 11. In the example the
number is 15/31. The Feature
Points comes from the total
found in the last row of
column 10.
STEP 8
In the example the number is
46/68. Add the totals together
to get Total. In the example
that would be 15/31 plus 46/68
to equal 61/99. The Spelling
Stage is found with step 7.
STEP 8
It is the level where the
student first missed 2 or more
words. In the example this
would be the 3rd column, late
Complex
Consonants
and
Early Inflected Ends and
Syllable Juncture.