Writing Assessments

Informal

WORK WITH YOUR SLPWriting tied to language and reading

Physical process

• Dysgraphia: difficulty in writing, or poor writing

• Poor motor control

• Visual-spatial difficulties: trouble processing what

the eye sees

• Language processing difficulty: trouble processing

and making sense of what the ear hears

Young Students

• Letter formation

• Name

• Simple words

Spelling

• Scribble

• Pre-phonetic

• Semi-phonetic

• Phonetic

• Transitional (Orthographic-Morphological)

• Conventional spelling

Improving Writing

• As reading improves so does writing

• To improve writing you have to write

• Non threatening

• Reading responses

• Free response and journal writing

• Writing from pictures—a good place to start

• Edit and improve writing

Writing connected to reading

• To get better at reading you read

• To get better at writing you write

• Free response as a formative

measure of writing

Free response, as a formative assessment

• Read a selection aloud—stop and ask

students to respond

• Write a sentence or draw a picture

(younger students)

• Responses about content, character, or

vocabulary

• Responses may include:

– What do you like or dislike about the text

– Where does the selection take place?

– How does it make you feel?

– What do you predict will happen?

– How does the character remind you of

someone you know?

– How does the text connect to you and

your life?

• Think, pair, share or

turn to your neighbor

• Reread your response to

yourself

• Group discussion

• Still agree with your

response?

• No right or wrong

answers

CBM

• (4 minutes)

• 1 to think, 3 to write

• Correct word sequences

T- Units

• T-unit: One main clause and any

other clauses embedded in it or

subordinated to it is a “minimal

terminal unit.”

Calculating T-Units

• Mark each t-unit in a writing sample

with a slash, count the words in each

t-unit and find the average of the

words in a t-unit

Type token ratio for younger kids

• Number of different words spoken in

a language sample. (Norms for

different age groups)

• Used by SLPs.

Type token ratio for older children

• Easy method: Count number of words 7 letters or

more in a sample and divide by the number of words

in the sample. (Gives you a percentage.)

• Harder method: number of different words divided

by the total number of words. (Gives you a

percentage.)

• Gives a percentage of unique words used in a sample

• It is a vocabulary measure

Advanced Syntax

• Morphology

• Noun phrase

elaboration

• Verb phrase

elaboration

• Adverbial use

• Complex sentence

structure