• May be given almost anywhere, anytime, but don't plant the child in front of a word wall.
• You may place an alphabet strip in front of him for his reference
•  You give the child a blank piece of paper and a pencil.
• You say:  "I want to see how many words you can write.. Can you write your name?"   (begin timing)
•  You give a child around l0 minutes to write as many words as the child can write / You can give them all the help you want to and if they begin addings to the ends of words to create more words, each counts as a new word then.
•  Prompts you might give the child when they stop writing include:  Can you
•  write  "no"  or  "to?"  Can you write your name?  Can you write any color words....  Be careful not to interrupt the child's thinking when you give him ideas about words he might write.

• Each completed word counts  l point.
• The child does not necessarily need to be able to read the words he writes for this test, but AS he writes it, we are expecting that he knows what he is writing.
• If the child tells you a word he has written is "dog" and yet he has written "cat," you must mark it wrong.  (No, this does not  conflict with the remark above / think about it.)
•  If you determine the child does not know a word he has written, no points here either.
•  Reversed letters:
•  If you are sure it is a reversal, and not a misspelling, then he can have the point.
•  Words written backwords (right to left) Correct, also (as above)

 Series of words:
 look looks looking  looked
 hat, hats, fat mat sat mats etc.
 Each gets l point.
 Capital letters:
 no problem

LANGUAGE LEVEL
 1. letters only
 2. word
 3. 2-word sentence
 4. simple sentence
 5. punctuation ( 2 or more sentences)
 6.  paragraphed story (2 themes)

 DIRECTION:
 1. no evidence of direction
 2. some direction (L to R or top to bottom)
 3. reverses direction (right to left and returns right)
 4. correct directional pattern
 5. correct directional pattern and spaces
 6.  extensive text / spacing, etc.

 MESSAGE QUALITY
 1. uses letters / punctuation
 2.  message conveyed
 3. Repetitive / "here is a.... here is a.... this is a...."
 4. records own ideas
 5. successful compostion

 At the early level, the eye supports the hand (challenges hand-eye coordination). Later when he becomes a good reader, his eye will do the work, because it is faster than the hand.

 TYPICAL SCORES:
 Half of  5 l /2 yr olds...usually can write around 5 words
 6 yr. olds usually give you around 30 words.

What do we Know?
We have an indication of how fast the child is building control over basic writing and an indication of the development of his visual discrimination, too, in terms of knowledge of letters (if you can form them, you know something about them).   It is also a good indicator of a child's left to right sequencing behavior (required when one reads).

This test is very sensitive to the instruction a child receives, so it is NOT a test of basic intelligence, rather it demonstrates his learning progress, once taught.

 LOW SCORES:
 Low scores may indicate the child is not noticing visual differences in the print around him. We must begin to help such children ASAP.  They will need to hear stories, work with letters and puzzles, experience many writing and drawing opportunities, etc.
Despite the fact that reading and writing support each other, they are not necessarily linked. Some kids cannot read some of the words they write and some cannot write some of the words they read

AFTER 50 WORDS:
In the first year of school, there is a high degree of interdependence betwen reading words and wrtiting them. Once he can write around 40 words, this test loses it benefit.  You will need to watch his spelling and writing "progress" in more traditional ways.
The next test you can give a child who can write around 40 -50 words is to ask him to write some sentences or a "story" with as little help as possible.  Analyze his 'writing miscues' and begin to support him in finding authentic reasons for writing, writing well, and enjoying it.  A good assessment guide for both student and teacher is on pages 228-9 of "Snapshots" by Linda Hoyt / Heinemann, 2000.

Observation Survey Info (Texas approves pt. 2 of this Assessment battery)
Forms/ masters ONLINE http://www.heinemann.com/shared/products/E00534.asp
Order the book here http://www.heinemann.com/shared/products/E00484.asp
All Observation Survey pages online at amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0435087630/ref=lib_dp_sp_1/104-2527270-1760709?v=glance&s=books&vi=slide-show#reader-link
The tests in Observa Survey
http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/Cowpens/Teachers/Hall/Web%20Pages/observation%20survey.htm
How To Video, now 81$ purchsed online
http://www.heinemann.com/shared/products/002087.asp
Observation Survey and other assessment manuals by hienemann
http://www.heinemann.com/shared/resources/new_titles.asp#79

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