Daily, informal observation and monitoring provides Ms. Canzone with information about her children's strengths, weaknesses, needs, and progress. These assessments allow Ms. Canzone to adjust her Workshop groups to provide additional practice as needed.

Individual progress with phonics activities is likely to vary among children. Therefore, Ms. Canzone observes them closely as she conducts activities, noting the strengths and weaknesses of different children. This information will help her plan for individual and small-group instruction.

To make informal observation of phonics an easy and regular part of your classroom instruction, you might want to try the following:

• Use the Teacher's Observation Log below or a recording device of your own making.
• Before beginning an activity or lesson, decide which children you want to observe.
• Decide which aspects of the children's learning you want to observe.
• Keep copies of the log nearby, and record notes as appropriate. For example, you might answer the following questions:
  • - Which children aren't participating or seem to look at their peers before responding?
  • - Are some activities more difficult than others? (For example: Are some of the Decodable Books more difficult for some children than others? Is blending more difficult for some children than others?)
  • - Over several days, observe each child in the class. It is not necessary to collect information about each child every day.

Click here to view the Observation Log: Blending

Open Court Reading and SRA Imagine It! also include formal assessments that you may use to determine your children's progress in phonics and fluency. These assessments may be found in the following Grade 1 components:

Open Court Reading ©2002, Unit Assessments

Open Court Reading ©2002, Program Assessment

SRA Imagine It! Lesson Assessment

SRA Imagine It! Benchmark Assessment