The Word Flash Reading Assessment

Your Mission: You will select-with the help of your cooperating teacher or a peer’s cooperating teacher- one student to assess using the Word Flash assessment. You must assess a student in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade for this assignment.

What you Will Need:

1. The Word Flash computer program

2. The Word Flash teacher copies

3. Pencil

What you Will Do:

  1. The Word Flash is easy to administer because it is now computerized.
  2. You will flash each word to the student starting with the PREPRIMER list.
  3. You will continue through each list until your student has missed 50% or more of the words (10 or more words).
  4. As the student reads each list to you, you will have to record the student’s responses.
  5. If a student gets the word AUTOMATICALLY the first time you flash the word to them - you DO NOT need to mark anything on your teacher copy.
  6. If a student says nothing the first time you flash the word, you mark a dash (-) in the flash column on your answer sheet. Then you need to show the word to the student a second time. If they are able to read the word this time, you put a checkmark () in the untimed column on your answer sheet.
  7. If a student reads the word incorrectly the first time you flash the word, you need to write what they say in the flash column. For example, if the word is ‘with’ and they read it as ‘white’, you would write ‘white’ in the flash column. Then you ask them to try it one more time and you allow them to see the word again. If they get it right this time, you put a checkmark () in the untimed column. If they still read the word incorrectly, write down what they say in the untimed column.
  8. You do not need to continually flash the word until they read the word correctly. Show each word to them twice, if needed, and then move onto the next word.
  9. Each word is worth 5 pts for a total of 100 possible points for each list. You need to calculate the total words read correctly for each column. For example, if a student misses two words on the flash column, they will receive a 90% for the flash. If they are able to read these words correctly the second time they see them, they will have 100% on the untimed column.