4 for Friday: Preassesssments

I've made great progress in my classroom, I've managed to get all of my boxes unpacked and put away. I won't be back until teachers report on the 27th. I'll spend the next 2 weeks vacationing with my husband and binge watching Netflix.
This week I want to focus on preassessing your students. It's important to gather data on your students at the beginning of the year so you can pinpoint exactly what they need before formal instruction and assessment takes place. 
Beginning of the Year Preassessments
Newmark Learning has created some wonderful assessments for every grade level in every subject. http://newmarklearning.com/free-resources.html 
1. Reading- I've been using the Comprehension Assessment for years now. I give the Pretest in September and the Posttest in January. I use the data from this comprehension assessment to form my flexible reading skill groups. My students will complete one passage a day for 7 days, I do not give it to them in one sitting.  Groups run from September to January and then January to May. I do guided reading from Monday-Thursday and on Friday I pull strategy and skill groups. Any student that scores 0-2 in a particular skill is placed in that group to be met with on a Fridays. I have 8-12 reading skill groups so I don't meet with all of them every Friday, it rotates. 

2. Math- They have a math assessment but I have never used it. When I taught 3rd grade I used the 2nd grade end of year benchmark assessment to assess what they had retained over the summer. Now that I'm moving down I will use a 1st grade cumulative assessment that targets our state standards (we are not a common core state). I use this data to form my guided math groups. 
3. Writing- It's important to get baseline writing data on your students so they can begin setting writing goals for themselves and so you can begin your list of writing mini lessons they'll need. I'll be using one Fiction and one Nonfiction prompt from Newmark Learning. 

4. Spelling- Now Newmark Learning does have a Phonics Assessment but I have not used it. My county administers the DSA: Developmental Spelling Assessment to each child. I use that data to form my word study groups.
I'd love to hear about how you preassess your students at the beginning of the year, leave a comment here or hop on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment.