Sample Sight Word Assessment

Student Name: ______________________________ Date: _________________

 
Materials:
  • List of words on classroom word wall and/or other words taught/highlighted as part of shared reading and interactive writing
  • List of word families (onsets and rimes) taught
  • Frequently used words chart such as the one below.
Frequently Used Words

By the end of grade 1, most students will recognize by sight the following words (Johnson & Pearson, 1984; Cox, 1999):

  • a, above, across, after, again, air, all, am, and, are, art, as, ask, at
  • back, be, before, behind, big, black, book, boy, but, been, by
  • came, can, car, children, come, could
  • day, days, did, didn't, do, don't, door, down
  • end, ever
  • feet, find, first, five, for, four, from
  • gave, get, girl, give, go, going, gone, good, got, great
  • had, hand, hard, has, have, he, help, her, here, high, him, home, house, how
  • I, if, I'm, in, into, is, it, its, it
  • just
  • keep, kind, know
  • let, like, little, look, love, letter
  • make, making, made, man, may, me, men, miss, money, more, most, mother, Mr., Ms., must, my
  • name, never, new, night, no, not, now
  • of, off, old, one, open, or, out, over, often, on, only, other, our
  • past, play, point, put, part
  • really, red, right, room, run
  • said, saw, school, see, seen, she, short, six, so, some, something, soon, still, say, shall, should, such
  • table, than, that, the, then, there, these, they, think, this, those, three, time, to, today, too, took, top, two, take, though
  • under, up, upon, us
  • very
  • want, wanted, was, way, we, well, went, what, when, where, which, who, why, will, with, work, were, would
  • year, years, you, yours, yet

Number and colour words could be added to this list.


 
Procedure:
  1. Develop a list of 25-40 words that are included in the word wall, word families list, or frequently used words chart and/or have been incorporated into language arts instruction through shared or guided reading or interactive writing activities. Copy these words onto an assessment form that includes a place for comments at the bottom. (The length and nature of your list is dependent upon the age of the learners. With very young learners, you might include only the names of the children in the room and a few words from some of the environmental print in the room.)
  2. Make a copy of the list for each student in the room.
  3. Assess students individually. Ask them to look at the word list you have created, and find and read all of the words that they know. Circle each word they read correctly and record what word was substituted above any words that were attempted and read incorrectly.
    • In looking over the assessment after it has been completed, note to what extent substitutions make use of some letter-sound knowledge. Include under "Comments" how confidently the child approaches decoding words in isolation, recognizes features of words, takes words apart, uses word family analogies, etc.
    • Repeat this assessment at least once each term either with the same list or using an extended list for students who were able to recognize most words on the initial list.