Introduction
The following assessment has been made using a Mathematics Skills Checklist and a Literacy Rating Scale. The discoveries made are required for the information regarding the child’s achievements and failures. It provides an idea of what tasks can be complicated for junior school students to complete. In this essay, I will depict the flow of my assessments and the results that I received from the child.
Assessment Evaluation
The assessment took part on April 11, at noon, in a classroom after the lesson and with the consent of his parents. I started with some uplifting phrases and used an engaged tone in my voice to make my student interested in the upcoming tasks. To avoid any possible disappointment from his side, I assured the child that he does not have to be perfect at everything he does.
I started with the color-related tasks that were given in the Mathematics Skills Checklist. First, I placed several various items of different colors (plush toys, pencils, etc.) and asked the child to sort them by color and name them (Nilson, 2017). While he was successful at differentiating between red, green, blue, and yellow, he had some struggles with telling some red and orange items apart due to the similarity of the colors.
Then, I continued the checklist by observing his skills in differentiating shapes. I placed different toys and asked to sort them by this category (Nilson, 2017). At first, he was quite successful. But then it was time for naming shapes, as I would draw them on the chalkboard, and he experienced difficulties with telling the difference between a square and a rectangle. The boy told me that those two shapes looked almost identical to him.
After the shapes, the tasks related to numbers and counting followed, and then the boy started struggling. He successfully counted to ten, but once it was time for the numbers that followed, he confused numbers like 17 and 70 because they sounded similar (Nilson, 2017). The boy was quite disappointed by that, but I gave him some confidence by reminding him that it was fine if he made mistakes. After he counted to 30 and experienced some difficulties in the process, I moved to the final tasks on the checklist. I placed items grouped by different quantities (2 and 5), and he was better at that. The final tasks required him to name the number that came before 3 and the number that followed 8, which were completed successfully.
At 2 PM in the same place and on the same day, I reviewed his skills using the Literacy Rating Scale (attached below). For the assessment, I read a paragraph from Sleeping Beauty to the boy. Since the child has not read much, he preferred adults reading stories to him than doing it himself. However, the boy was rather attentive the entire time, so I did not have to motivate him. To my surprise, he wasn’t distracted by the sounds coming from outside of the classroom and he actively asked questions about this part of the fairytale.
It is important for the boy to be more interested in reading and for me to review the rest of the skills mentioned in the scale. This is why I intend on reading with emotion and making sure he is involved in the process. I did not answer all of his questions, for I wanted the child to read the rest of the story on his own. To check for further improvement, I plan to ask questions about the fairytale’s plot and other details.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the boy’s math skills were limited, but the literacy tasks were easier for him. The documentation method allowed me to review his mistakes and achievements, thus, giving me more teaching experience and valuable information. This may be helpful in the future to understand the average skills of a child and decide on a further learning plan in case of any possible knowledge gaps.
Reference
Nilson, B. A. (2017). Math and science checklist. Week by week: Plans for documenting children’s development (7th edition). Cengage Learning.
