Running Head: KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 1

Assessment-Informed Instructional Design Capstone Project:

Kindergarten Consonant Blend Assessment

Kasey Jacobs

Aquinas College

EN 406 Application of Learning Theory

March 16, 2018

1169 Stonebrook Ct NE

Grand Rapids MI

Email: kaj005@aquinas.edu

Instructor: Stacy Slomski

Abstract
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 2

This paper explores an assessment on consonant blends with kindergarten students and the

findings that come from the assessment. Kindergarten students took a pre-assessment and post-

assessment on reading words with consonant blends. Many of the lessons that I created were

very rigorous and held a lot of repetition of consonant blends. The students were introduced to a

consonant blend song, movements to go along with their new consonant blends, and interactive

games that involve consonant blends. After a week of lessons, summative and formative

assessments on consonant blends, many students expanded their knowledge of consonant blends

by more than 50% from the pre-assessment to the post-assessment. With their success in

consonant blend words knowledge, the findings that I discovered from the assessments and

lessons is the importance of rigor and interactive lessons.

Table of Contents

Abstract 2
Table of Contents 3
Introduction/Overview 4
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 3

Supporting Literature 4
Population and Setting 5
Project Framework 5
Round One 6
Reflective Conclusions 11
Appendices 12

Assessment-Informed Instructional Design Capstone Project:

Kindergarten Consonant Blends Assessment

Overview
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 4

Student teaching in a kindergarten classroom has given me the opportunity to grow in my

understanding of assessments and reaching a goal of student learning. I have conducted a pre-

assessment and post-assessment on consonant blends. Students were given ten words with

consonant blends at the beginning and ending of the word and were asked to read the word. The

word was marked correct if the students read the consonant blend correctly, not the entire word,

since the goal was to assess their understanding on consonant blends and not reading the entire

word. I have expanded my knowledge on student growth and opportunity through doing

assessments and lessons on consonant blends.

Supporting Literature

When teaching students consonant blends, it is really important for the students to blend

the two consonants together. Students are used to blending consonant vowel consonant words,

but this is the first time they are introduced to consonant blends. Therefore, teaching the students

to elongate the sounds they hear in words will help them recognize the two sounds that they hear

to make one sound. Using a pretend rubber band between our hands to pretend to stretch out the

words helps the students to hear the sounds in the word. The kindergarten students are able to

hear the consonant blends when they are stretching out the word. Also, continuous practice with

consonant blends will allow for students to be familiar with consonant blends.

Population and Setting

River City Scholars Charter Academy is located in Grand Rapids in an urban setting. The

school is a kindergarten through 8th grade school in one building. It is an inner city school where

94% of the students are from low income families. The school opened up 5 years ago and is

working hard to make changes to benefit the well-being of the students. I work in a Kindergarten

classroom of 18 students with 11 boys and 7 girls.

KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 5

Project Framework

The subject I focused my research on is ELA. I focused more on phonics since it is very

important in Kindergarten, so I wanted to do my research on a subject that is very prevalent in

the early elementary grades. I chose to teach the students consonant blends with l and r. The

standards that I covered were count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words,

blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words, add or substitute individual

sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words, know and apply grade-

level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words, and demonstrate basic knowledge of

one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most

frequent sounds for each consonant. The learning objectives were the learner will come up with

words that have /l/ and /r/ consonant blends, categorize /l/ and /r/ consonant blends, blend

sounds to make words, and to make words with the /l/ and /r/ consonant blends.

Round One

To assess the students to see what they knew about consonant blends, I created a list of

10 words words with 5 /l/ consonant blends and 5 /r/ consonant blends. I varied the consonant

blends in the beginning of the words and the ending of the words. The students had never worked

with consonant blends before, so I knew the would struggle. Students typically struggle more

with consonant blends than one letter sounds, so I decided to see what it took to really get those

students to really understand something that may be difficult for them. The week prior to the

introduction of the consonant blends, I added /l/ consonant blends and /r/ consonant blends to the

alphabet powerpoint we do everyday, so they could see a consonant blend, so they would already

be familiar with it. I had every student read the list of 10 words. When the students read the

words, I only marked the words they read correct if they got the consonant blend correct. I
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 6

wanted to see what they knew about consonant blends, not how to read the entire word. Many of

the students read the word and completely missed the second letter in the beginning blend words

and completely missed the first letter in the consonant blend in the final blend. However, there

were some students that sounded out the consonant blend, but when they read the word, they

completely left out the blend. This showed me that the students do not look at the middle of the

word, but mostly look at the beginning and end of the word. Therefore, I know I needed to ask

tougher questions for the students that understood consonant blends quicker and to ask the

students that are average to ask the whole class. After assessing the students, I knew what I

needed to focus on when doing my lessons.

Instructional Plan

For my instructional plan, I wanted the students to see a lot of repetition so they

remember the blends. Therefore, I wanted to create my lesson plan to have a lot of repetition so

they remembered what to do when they encounter a consonant blend. I also wanted to make the

lesson interactive, since it is really hard for them to sit for a longer time and just listen. I began

by looking for videos that the students could sing along. I have noticed that when something is in

a song, they tend to remember it more. I also wanted them to have an I can statement because I

wanted them to see if they were successful in their I can statement at the end of the lesson. I

knew that the consonant blends would be tough for them, since only a handful of the

kindergarten students could read the words with consonant blends. Therefore, I decided that I

needed to make the consonant blends apparent in the beginning of the lesson. I figured the best

way to make the consonant blends easy to understand at first was to circle the consonant blends

that are in the words, to show them where the consonant blends are in the words. I was afraid

some of the students would not understand that a consonant blend was with just consonants, not
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 7

with vowels. So, I knew I needed to address what consonants were, as well as vowels. I decided

that showing a video on vowels that is catchy and something they could sing would be good for

their memory. Also, pictures really help the kindergarten students to remember certain subjects,

so I knew I needed to find pictures to help them understand. I also wanted the students to get

practice reading words with consonant blends and I knew if I could incorporate movement in

with their understanding, they would understand it a lot better. If I knew the students were

struggling, I planned on writing the word with the consonant blend on the board and asked them

what the consonant blend was after looking at the word. I realize that it was harder to hear the

word or look at a picture of the word with the consonant blend, as opposed to seeing the word

written out.

Instructional Delivery

The lesson delivery consisted of beginning the lesson with the I can statement of I can

identify /l/ and /r/ consonant blends. The students love songs, so I found a blends song with /l/

and /r/ consonant blends. We listened to the song before every phonics lesson that week, so by

the end of the week, they knew the song and knew the consonant blends pretty well. I proceeded

to ask them what a blend was and I made them sing what a blend was like they did in the video. I

found that if something is in a song, the students remember the concept better. I asked the

students what blends they heard in the video and they proceeded to share out what kind of words

they heard. We wrote down words such as slim, brag, and mask. I circled the blend in the word

and blended the word together with our hands. For the blend /sl/ in slim, we put the /s/ sound on

our left hand and on our right hand we put the /l/ sound and when we clapped our hands together

we put the two sounds together to make the /sl/ sound. Separating the sounds at the beginning

and blending them together after helped the students to see that two consonants make a sound.
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 8

We used that routine for 5 other consonant blends that they shared out from the video. I asked

the students what beginning blend they hear in crab, dress, brick, and frog. We stretched out the

sounds to each word. I had the students pretend to have a rubber band in between their hands and

they pretended to stretch out the words crab, dress, brick, and frog. This helped them recognize

what sounds were being heard in the words. I had them shout the beginning blend to me in each

word. Then, I had a picture that I found in the reading curriculum book and they had to find

words that had a blend in the beginning of the word. I did a few examples and I found the words

sled, brain, and trap. Afterwords, I had them share out the variety of words that they found and I

wrote them down and made a list. I underlined the blend in each word, as I pointed to the word

and said each word, I asked them to give me the blend that was in the word. This helped with the

repetition of the consonant blends. Next, I had the students figure out what words had the same

beginning sounds as frog, brick, crab, and dress. I knew this may have been tough for some

students, but I had them repeat the consonant blends multiple times so they remembered what the

blends were, since the words were not written on the board, they were just pictures of a frog,

brick, crab, and dress. I began by doing the first one together, the word was drain. The word

drain was on the board and we stretched out the word drain with our pretend rubber bands. They

realized that the beginning blend was /dr/, so I asked does frog, brick, crab, or dress have the

same beginning blend as drain. I did this same routine with words like crane, brain, frame, and

drag. I had the students repeat the I can statement, I can discriminate sounds. I asked the students

to point to the picture of the frog, brick, crab, or dress that had the same beginning blend. The

students thought of it as a game because once they figured out what beginning blend has the

same blend as frog, brick, crab, or dress, I would use the smart board to tap on the board and the

word moved to where the same beginning blend was. Therefore, the word drain would be moved
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 9

on its own to the dress picture after I clicked the smart board. Next, I had the students repeat the I

can statement, I can blend sounds to make words. I had the students use their arm as a way of

blending the words. The first consonant blend that they see they point to their shoulder, the

middle sound they hear they point to their elbow, and for the final sound they hear they point to

their wrist. For example, for the word crab, they pointed to their should for the sound /cr/ and

their elbow for the sound /a/ and pointed to their wrist for the/b/ sound. After they segmented the

sounds, they put the sounds together to make the word crab. We continued to do that routine for

drag, mask, slip, and other consonant blend words. Then, I had the students repeat the I can

statements we had during our lesson and I asked the students if they thought they were successful

in our I can statements. Afterwords, I had them do a worksheet where they had to write the

beginning blend of the words. For the entire week, I used the same routine for using consonant

blends, but switched up the words, so they were exposed to a variety of consonant blend words. I

wanted the students to have a routine, know what to expect, and be familiar with a variety of

words with consonant blends.

Post-Assessment

In the middle of the week, I wanted to see what they knew and what I needed to work on

to get the students to understand the concept of consonant blends. I had the students get white

boards and I asked them what the beginning blend in brain, clean, mask, and many more. The

students had to write down the blend they heard and write it on their white boards, if they got it

correct they got a ticket. The students write their name on the ticket and it goes into a raffle that

they could potentially get a prize for during assembly. During this, I was able to see what

students understood the concept of consonant blends and what students needed more support. I

also was able to see that when I had the students stretch out the sounds in the consonant blend
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 10

words, they were able to hear the sounds better and able to recognize what the consonant blends

sounded like. This was a good indication that some students needed to stretch out the word to

hear the consonant blends and some students heard it without stretching out the word. For the

final post assessment, I had the students take the same assessment they did at the beginning of

the week with the 10 words with consonant blends. They took this post assessment at the end of

the week, so we had a lot of work consonant blends during the week. I went to the students

individually and asked them to read 10 words with consonant blends with them and I reminded

them that they could stretch out the sounds if they needed to.

Summary of Student Learning Results

After reviewing the post-assessment, all eighteen students increased their scores from

their pre-assessment. Many of the students increased their scores by more than 60%. In the pre-

assessment, many of the students completely ignored part of the consonant blend, however

during the post-assessment, students were able to recognize there was a consonant blend. Many

of the students stretched out the sounds in the word or used their arm to sound out the word.

Most of the students were able to realize that there was a consonant blend in the word and used

strategies to help them read the word.

Reflection

After the pre-assessment, teaching the lessons, and post-assessments, I have gained a lot

of knowledge. I have learned that if their learning is in a song, they tend to remember it more. I

noticed a lot of the students when taking the post-assessment were singing the song on a video

that I showed them during the week. I have also learned that stretching out the sounds in the

consonant blends helps the students to hear the sounds in the word. I am also planning on
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 11

continuing to work on consonant blends with the kindergarten students, since they will continue

to see them when they are reading.

Conclusion

After the countless lessons, assessments, both formative and summative, the students

knowledge in consonant blends have increased. My understanding of kindergarten learning has

expanded, I have learned the importance of practice and interactive lessons. Students in

kindergarten cannot pay attention for long periods of time, but if the lesson is interactive and

incorporates movement, students are more apt to pay attention. The interactive lessons and

practice paid off to increase their post-assessment results from their pre-assessment results.

Appendices
KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 12
 KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 13

Step-by-Step Lesson Elements

Student Name: Kasey Jacobs

Grade Level: Kindergarten Subject Area: Phonics

State Standards:
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.A Recognize and produce rhyming words.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.E Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to
make new words.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by
producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.

Lesson Objective(s) & Targeted Outcome(s):

● TLW come up with rhyming words that correlate to a variety of words
● TLW pick out a word that doesn’t rhyme with the rest of the words
● TLW come up with words that have /r/ consonant blends
● TLW categorize /r/ consonant blends
● TLW blend sounds to make words
● TLW make words with the beginning /r/ consonant blend

Materials & Resources:

● Google Slides
● Consonant blend worksheets

Knowing the Students:

● Students will need to be familiar with rhyming
● Students will need to know their letter and sounds
Literacy Connection:
● Blending and segmenting words
● Students are using listening and reading skills to identify consonant blends
● Using their knowledge of letters and sounds to make words
● Rhyming words

Technology Integration:
● Google Slides
● Youtube
● Online educational game

Estimated 4. Instructional Procedures 9. UDL, Differentiation, and

Time Accommodations
 KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 14

Introduction/Activate Prior Knowledge:

● Champs song: C=voice level H=raise your hand A-
phonics M-in your spot P=Everybody is participating
S=success
● Students repeat I can statement on google slides, “I can
identify consonant blends”
5 min ● Ask students what consonant blends they worked on
yesterday
● Watch youtube video (What Is a Blend? | br, cr, dr, fr |
Writing & Reading Skills for Kids | Phonics Song | Jack
Hartmann)
● Ask students what blends they heard in the song (br, cr,
fr, dr) and write on the board
Step-By-Step Procedures
1. Today, we are going to learn about r consonant blends
● If students are
like br, cr, fr, and dr.
struggling with
2. Tell students to get their clapping hands ready, put the /b/
identifying blends in
sound in left palm and /r/ sound in your right hand and put
words, write the word
the sounds together as you clap it together to make /br/
on the board and
sound (do for the rest of the sounds /cr/ /fr/ /dr/)
underline the
3. Click on next slide in google slides. Ask students what is
beginning blend in the
the beginning blend you hear in brick, crab, dress, and
word
frog. Students will share out.
● If students are
4. Click on next slide in google slides. Ask the students what
struggling with finding
kind of words they see in the picture that have the blends
words, point out the
/br/ /cr/ /fr/ /dr/ and circle the pictures that the students
picture of bread,
come up with the r consonant blends. Give students a
dress, crack, or
moment to think about the word they see before they
freeze and ask what
share out
the beginning sound
5. Click on the next slide in google slides. Have students
of those words are
come up with the beginning blend in brick, crab, dress,
● If students are finding
>20 min and frog again. Tell students that words will appear on the
it hard to decipher
board when you click on the board and their job is to
beginning blends in
figure out what the beginning blend is and point to the
words, write the
picture of the brick, crab, dress or frog that has the same
beginning blend
beginning sound.
above the pictures
6. Click on the next slide in google slides. Tell students to
repeat the I can statement, “I can blend sounds to make
words”
7. Click on the next slide in google slides. Tell students to
get their arm ready because we are going to make words.
● If students don’t
Go through words, crib, drop, trap, and frog. The
understand rhyming
beginning blend you point to your shoulder, middle vowel
words, underline the
you point to the middle of your arm, and final sound you
ending sounds in the
point to your wrist. Put all sounds together on your arm to
rhyming words and
make all four words
ask what word
8. Click on the next slide on google slides. Have students
doesn’t have the
repeat, “I can rhyme words”
same ending sound
9. Click on the next slide on google slides. Ask students,
● Write the spelling of
which word doesn’t rhyme with the rest of the words?
the words crab, bed,
(Drop mop mat crop) Ask the students why it doesn’t
 KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 15

rhyme. Do same routine for may, sap, say, play and slip, and dress. Substitute
drip, drop, lip beginning sounds in
10. Click on the next slide on google slides. Ask students, the word to make
what is a word that rhymes with crab? Bed? Dress? (The rhyming words
words can be nonsense words, as long as they rhyme)
11. Click on the next slide on google slides and click on the
blends game link. When it asks what blends to go over ● If students are
during the game, click all r consonant beginning blends. struggling, write out
Pick sticks for students that are sitting successful to play the word of the
the game. Remind students that we will not be able to picture and ask what
finish the game because time does not allow it. Pick 4-5 the beginning blend is
sticks or ask students to
12. Click on the next slide on google slides. Go over the separate the sounds
worksheet they will have to work on. Their job is to write they hear in the
the beginning blend that correlates to the picture next to it. beginning of the word
When they are done, they can color the pictures. Do the
first two with them.
13. Pass out worksheets to students that are sitting quietly.

5. Closure:
1 min ● Thumbs up or thumbs down if they understand
● Tell students to kiss their brains because they rocked it!
10. Assessment & Evaluation:
● Asking questions throughout
● Ask students to come up with their own rhyming words
5 min ● Ask students to come up with beginning blend they hear
in certain words
● Ask students to give a thumbs up or thumbs down if they
think we were successful in the I can statement
● Blends worksheet
11. Reflection (after teaching lesson):
After teaching the lesson, I realized that that the students understood /r/ consonant blends better, but they still more than I
had anticipated. I am glad that I introduced some of the blends the prior week because some of the students recognized

Step-by-Step Lesson Elements

Student Name: Kasey Jacobs
 KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 16

Grade Level: Kindergarten Subject Area: Phonics

State Standards:
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.A Recognize and produce rhyming words.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.E Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to
make new words.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by
producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.

Lesson Objective(s) & Targeted Outcome(s):

● TLW come up with rhyming words that correlate to a variety of words
● TLW pick out a word that doesn’t rhyme with the rest of the words
● TLW come up with words that have /l/ consonant blends
● TLW categorize /l/ consonant blends
● TLW blend sounds to make words
● TLW make words with the beginning /l/ consonant blend

Materials & Resources:

● Google Slides
● Consonant L blend worksheets

Knowing the Students:

● Students will need to be familiar with rhyming
● Students will need to know their letter and sounds
Literacy Connection:
● Blending and segmenting words
● Students are using listening and reading skills to identify consonant blends
● Using their knowledge of letters and sounds to make words
● Rhyming words

Technology Integration:
● Google Slides
● Youtube
● Online educational game

Estimated 4. Instructional Procedures 9. UDL, Differentiation, and

Time Accommodations
Introduction/Activate Prior Knowledge:
● Champs song: C=voice level H=raise your hand A-
phonics M-in your spot P=Everybody is participating
S=success
● Students repeat I can statement on google slides, “I can
5 min identify L consonant blends”
● Ask students what consonant blends they worked on
yesterday
● Watch youtube video (What Is a Blend? | bl, cl, gl, sl |
Writing & Reading Skills for Kids | Phonics Song | Jack
Hartmann)
● Ask students what blends they heard in the song (bl, cl,
 KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 17

gl, sl) and write on the board

Step-By-Step Procedures
1. Today, we are going to learn about l consonant blends
● If students are
like br, cr, fr, and dr.
struggling with
2. Tell students to get their clapping hands ready, put the /b/
identifying blends in
sound in left palm and /l/ sound in your right hand and put
words, write the word
the sounds together as you clap it together to make /bl/
on the board and
sound (do for the rest of the sounds cl, gl, sl)
underline the
3. Click on next slide in google slides. Ask students what is
beginning blend in the
the beginning blend you hear in clock, blue, glove, and
word
slide. Students will share out.
● If students are
4. Click on next slide in google slides. Ask the students what
struggling with finding
kind of words they see in the picture that have the blends
words, point out the
bl, cl, gl, sl and circle the pictures that the students come
picture of bread,
up with the r consonant blends. Give students a moment
dress, crack, or
to think about the word they see before they share out
freeze and ask what
5. Click on the next slide in google slides. Have students
the beginning sound
come up with the beginning blend in flashlight, clock, and
of those words are
slide. Tell students that their job is to figure out what the
● If students are finding
beginning blend is and point to the picture of the
it hard to decipher
flashlight, clock, and slide that has the same beginning
beginning blends in
sound.
words, write the
6. Click on the next slide in google slides. Tell students to
beginning blend
repeat the I can statement, “I can blend sounds to make
above the pictures
words”
>20 min 7. Click on the next slide in google slides. Tell students to
get their arm ready because we are going to make words.
Go through words, slim, plot, club, flap. The beginning
blend you point to your shoulder, middle vowel you point
● If students don’t
to the middle of your arm, and final sound you point to
understand rhyming
your wrist. Put all sounds together on your arm to make
words, underline the
all four words
ending sounds in the
8. Click on the next slide on google slides. Have students
rhyming words and
repeat, “I can rhyme words”
ask what word
9. Click on the next slide on google slides. Ask students,
doesn’t have the
which word doesn’t rhyme with the rest of the words?
same ending sound
(hat, cat, bat, bit) Ask the students why it doesn’t rhyme.
● Write the spelling of
Do same routine for other words in the row.
the words crab, bed,
10. Click on the next slide on google slides. Ask students,
and dress. Substitute
what is a word that rhymes with hot? Cat? Lip? (The
beginning sounds in
words can be nonsense words, as long as they rhyme)
the word to make
11. Click on the next slide on google slides and click on the
rhyming words
blends game link. When it asks what blends to go over
during the game, click all L consonant beginning blends.
Pick sticks for students that are sitting successful to play
● If students are
the game. Remind students that we will not be able to
struggling, write out
finish the game because time does not allow it. Pick 4-5
the word of the
sticks
picture and ask what
12. Click on the next slide on google slides. Go over the
the beginning blend is
worksheet they will have to work on. Their job is to write
or ask students to
the beginning blend that correlates to the picture next to it.
 KINDERGARTEN CONSONANT BLEND ASSESSMENT 18

When they are done, they can color the pictures. Do the separate the sounds
first two with them. they hear in the
13. Pass out worksheets to students that are sitting quietly. beginning of the word

5. Closure:
1 min ● Thumbs up or thumbs down if they understand
● Tell students to kiss their brains because they rocked it!
10. Assessment & Evaluation:
● Asking questions throughout
● Ask students to come up with their own rhyming words
5 min ● Ask students to come up with beginning blend they hear
in certain words
● Ask students to give a thumbs up or thumbs down if they
think we were successful in the I can statement
● Blends worksheet
11. Reflection (after teaching lesson):
After doing the /r/ consonant blends, the students were very comfortable with /l/ consonant blends. The music that I
showed that went along with the lesson was really helpful with the students. They seemed to remember the consonant
blends with the music that went along with it. After looking at the worksheet they did at the end of the lesson, I could tell
majority of the students understood the concept.