High school summer school is mostly about credit recovery. If a student fails a class, they need to repeat it to get the credits they need to graduate.
Middle school is not like that. They generally get promoted whether they passed or failed their classes. So, summer school is generally not held for middle school students.
But the district got money from the state (I think) to help those students who were "falling behind". They identified students who needed some extra academic help. They put together a program to work on those areas most needing attention. (They started this last school year. This is the second summer for the program.)
The classes don't get traditional report cards. They get progress reports. So, to measure their progress, we were to start out the classes with some pre-assessments.
First, we had them read a passage to measure fluency. Then they were given a spelling test.
Ah, but this was no ordinary spelling test. This was a spelling test of nonsense words.
On the first day of summer school, I informed them that they were taking a spelling test.
I explained that the words weren't real. I explained that we wanted to see if they could figure out how these words should be spelled from the sounds of the syllables. And I told them not to sweat it too much.
But still, I had way more fun with this thing than they did. Because the words...
Oh, the words were fun to say. They were mashed up syllables of recognizable words, changed just a bit so they had no meaning. (I think my favorite was grapherence.)
It was an interesting little assessment. (I'd share more of the words, but we want to keep them off the internet as I'm sure they're going to use this assessment again.) I wonder who comes up with these things.
Sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteIt was. More for me than them. Alas, grading the things took for...ev...er...
DeleteWhat a cool and fun way to learn words.
ReplyDeleteWith every device auto correcting my spelling, I don't think I'm a good speller anymore.
ReplyDeleteThat definitely takes some of the work out of writing.
DeleteI don't see how this would work, words are never pronounced how they're spelled. I mean, look at 'would'. It's got an L!
ReplyDeleteOh I sure do not miss school. LOL....and even better, I am glad that I was never a teach. Not a job I would ever wish to have. Sounds like it was fun and interesting. lol
ReplyDeleteThis spelling test was fun. For me. For them, not so much.
DeleteThat test was something else.
ReplyDeleteOh, it was.
DeleteSounds fun, but difficult knowing how English is! I have fond memories of summer school in CA in the 60s. I'm not sure where students failing were, maybe there weren't as many (I don't remember any classmates not being promoted), but it wasn't summer school. I particularly remember ceramics and science at a nearby school that had vending machines for ice cream bars and popcicles! The science teacher gave out collectible coins for doing well on "tests." I still have my second place/second to pick buffalo head nickel, still in the original packet from the teacher! I always liked school. Until geometry...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in school, we could do get ahead classes for summer school, too. As funding dried up, what the schools could offer dwindled down. And I'm sure some of your classmates didn't graduate, but in the '60s, they segregated those students away from the rest of the campus better. (Not that it was better for them.)
DeleteKeeping in mind that I have never taken any education classes or worked in a public or private school, I decided to google nonsense word evaluations. It was interesting, especially when I found a document discussing something called the DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) - most of it was written in education jargon. I think you explained it a lot better.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea if it really measures anything, but I was given this thing to administer, so I did.
DeleteStrange but interesting.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
Sounds fun and interesting!
ReplyDeleteYou are a great teacher, Liz.
An interesting approach to education. Have a wonderfully blessed week.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteLike this idea of nonsensical words. If they can give the spelling from the pronunciation of the word, it is an achievement.
ReplyDeleteI was a terrible speller. Sounding things out...never was good at that. I would probably not do well on your quirky assessment. I would summer school for MS would be really important so they don't start HS behind.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things we're working on is how to sound things out. I have a workbook that we're going through that goes over how different vowel combinations sound. (I'm actually learning a few new tricks myself.) So, the post assessment will show if they picked anything up from the lessons.
DeleteVery unusual and interesting :)
ReplyDeleteVery unusual :)
ReplyDelete