Assessments at the beginning of the year are a challenge! There is so much you need to individually test for. With these challenges in mind, I created some back-to-school digital assessments that will hopefully make the process a lot easier for you!
Beginning of the Year Skills
I sat down and wrote out all the beginning of the year skills that I would like my students to have. Then, I made a Boom Card to address each skill. First up was obviously uppercase and lowercase letter recognition and letter sound skills.
You can watch each of these videos to get a preview of how to play the card.
Letter Recognition
Rhyming Word and Sight Words
Next, I moved on to sight words and rhyming pair recognition. To be honest, I don’t usually have many students who have these 2 skills masted at the beginning of the school year. If I do, I know that I really need to start thinking about advanced differentiation.
I’ve had students come into kindergarten with a second-grade reading level from the start, and that can be a challenge!
Math Skills
If all students come in with number recognition, production, and counting skills 0-10 I’m happy! If they know some teen numbers, I’m ecstatic!
In reality, I usually have 2-4 students who are still working on their numbers to 10. For them, extra assistance is needed (especially at the beginning of the year).
Digital Assessments
These cards can be sent to each student to complete independently at home. If you are not doing distance learning, you can have them complete the cards in front of you while you record their answers.
In the reporting section of the Boom website, you will see progress information. This area lets you know how many of the cards each student got right.
It doesn’t tell you exactly which letters, numbers, or words they are missing. It does give you a clear view of what skills they have already grasped.
This information is invaluable when you are setting up your small group instruction, RTI, homework, etc. Even if you have to start the school year in a distance learning model you can still get a picture of your student’s incoming knowledge and begin differentiated instruction immediately.
Click on the links below if you are interested in this Kindergarten Beginning of the School Year Assessment Bundle. This product is listed on both the Boom Learning website and on TPT.
All decks are also listed for individual sale on the Boom Learning platform.
Boom Learning – Beginning of the Year Assessment Bundle
TPT – Beginning of the Year Assessment Bundle
Let me know what you think! Are there any other skills I should add to this bundle? You can also learn more about Boom Cards with the following posts:
