Four Reasons to Assess Letter Sound Knowledge Regularly
Knowledge of letter sounds is a critical first step in learning to read. As you teach
the sounds, it is important to assess student progress regularly. There is,
however, more to assessing letter sound knowledge than whether or not a
student knows the sound(s) a letter represents. The speed at which a student
responds and the accuracy of the response are also important. Kindergarten and
first grade students need to be able to say 31 letter sounds (21 consonant
sounds and 10 vowel sounds) in 60 seconds or less. If you are doing the 48
letter sound assessment, students should be able to say all the sounds in two
minutes or less. They should also say the sound correctly without adding “uh” or
“ah” after the letter—“mmm” rather than “mah”.
Four reasons to assess letter sound regularly are:
1. To see if students are remembering the letter sounds you have taught.
The focus here is on the student. For example, if you have taught ten
letter sounds and 18 out of 20 students remember eight or more sounds
and two students remember only two or three sounds, you might need to
take a closer look at those two children to see if they could have learning
disabilities.
2. To see how quickly students say the letter sounds. In order to read words
quickly and fluently, it stands to reason that students must first be able to
say each letter sound quickly. Their response must be automatic so that
mental energy is devoted to comprehension rather than on individual letter
sounds. If students know the letter sounds, but cannot say them quickly,
you need to add more repetition and review into your daily instruction.
3. To see if your teaching methods are effective in helping children learn
what you have taught. The focus here is on you.
Are you teaching the letter sounds in a fun and memorable way?
Are you doing daily reviews of letter sounds you have taught?
Are you teaching the letter sound accurately without adding “uh”?
If, for example, you have taught ten letter sounds and the majority of your
students remember seven or less sounds, you need to look at how you
are teaching and reviewing letter sounds. If the majority of students are
adding “uh” after the letter sound, you may need to listen to how you are
saying the individual letter sounds.*
4. To monitor the pace you are teaching. The age of your students helps
determine how quickly you can teach the letter sounds. A good rule of
thumb is:
3 year-olds – 2 letter sounds a week, with daily review
4 year-olds – 3 letter sounds a week, with daily review
5 year-olds – 4 to 5 letter sounds a week, with daily review
If you are reviewing letter sounds daily and providing a variety of ways for
students to practice letter sounds (games, songs, books, etc.), students
should easily be able to remember the sounds you have taught.
(see www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IwJx1NSineE for
hearing how to sounds letter sounds correctly)
How to Administer the Alphabet Workout Letter Sounds Assessment
The letters in the Alphabet Workout Letter Sound Assessment are in the same
order they should be taught. By using this arrangement of letters, you can begin
assessing after only five or six letters have been taught and stop the assessment
when you get to the last letter you have introduced. This process allows you to
progress monitor regularly. Use this assessment until students have mastered
all the letter sounds expected for their age. For the final assessment, use the
Letter Sounds in Random Order Assessment.
There are three levels of the assessment:
3 year olds: 26 Letter sounds (One sound for each letter of the alphabet,
students should say the short sound of the vowels)
4 year olds: 32 Letter Sounds (Includes two sounds for 's', 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', and 'u')
5 year olds: 48 Letter Sounds (All of the sounds taught in Alphabet Workout)
There are two ways to score the assessment depending on how you are going to
use the information. Method 1 allows you to have a separate recording sheet for
each student so you can quickly see how an individual student is progressing
and to have a document to share with parents. Method 2 allows you to keep the
entire class records on one sheet to see at a glance how the class is
progressing.
Method 1: Individual Student Records
Set up: One laminated copy of the “Alphabet Workout Student Card, Letters
Sounds in Order of Introduction” for the student to use
Copies of the Alphabet Workout Individual Student Assessment
Recording Page to record student responses
Highlighter for highlighting letter sounds known
A timer to time the assessment (We do not recommend timing 3- and 4year olds)
Administer the Assessment:
1. Set the timer to zero, and start it after you give the instructions in Step 4.
2. If you are right handed, the student should sit on your left so you can score
the assessment without distracting him. If you are left handed, the student
should sit on your right.
3. Say to the student, “Put your finger under the first letter and tell me the sound
of that letter.” If the student says the letter name, say, “That is the name of the
letter, can you tell me the sound of the letter?” (For 3- and 4-year olds, you may
need to point for them. 5-year olds should be taught to move their finger across
the page.)
4. Say to the student, “Move your finger across the page and say the letter
sound as quickly as you can.” (For letters with more than one sound, the number
of sounds the student should say is written in small print to the right of the letter.)
5. Highlight each letter the student says accurately.
6. At the end of the assessment, write the date, the time it took for the
assessment, and the number of letter sounds known at the top of the page.
Method 2: Class Records
Set up: One laminated copy of the “Alphabet Workout Student Card, Letters
Sounds in Order of Introduction” for the student to use
Class Recording Page – Alphabet Workout Letter Sounds in Order of
Introduction
Highlighter for highlighting letter sounds known
A timer to time the assessment
Administer the Assessment:
1. Set the timer to zero, and start is after you give the instructions in Step 4.
(We do not recommend timing 3- and 4-year olds)
2. If you are right handed, the student should sit on your left so you can score
the assessment without distracting him. If you are left handed, the student
should sit on your right.
3. Say to the student, “Put your finger under the first letter and tell me the sound
of that letter.” If the student says the letter name, say, “That is the name of the
letter, can you tell me the sound of the letter?” (For 3- and 4-year olds, you may
need to point for them. 5-year olds should be taught to move their finger across
the page.)
4. Say to the student, “Move your finger across the page and say the letter
sounds as quickly as you can.” (For letters with more than one sound, the
number of sounds the student should say is written in small print to the right of
the letter.)
5. Highlight each letter the student says accurately.
6. At the end of the assessment, write the date, the time it took for the
assessment, and the number of letter sounds known on the Class Assessment
Summary.