Fry Sight Words Progress Monitoring

Progress Monitoring… It can be extremely overwhelming sometimes. Whether it’s finding the time or simply trying to figure out what exactly you want to keep track of. One area that I knew I definitely wanted to keep strong data in was Fry sight words. A students ability to identify a list of Fry words can tell you A LOT! Therefore, I needed a tool that was accurate, easy to store, and quick to do.

I teach second grade and I have a wide variety of readers (from beginning of Kindergarten to end of third grade). But, I didn’t gain that knowledge until I did my first round of assessing with my students. I pulled out my second 100 fry sight word progress monitoring binder and got straight to work! I did one list at a time with each student and I was able to finish everyone in one class period, which is AMAZING! After the student read the list, I could either say they mastered the list or they are going to start with the list. I did have some students that could not complete 25% of the first list which indicated we needed to start at the first 100.

Overall, my students absolutely loved working with me. Because it was the beginning of the year, they loved showing me how much they already knew. Even though it’s a form of assessment, it really allowed me to build a relationship with my students. Working one-on-one with them and building their confidence was everything. I was also able to show them that I am there to help them and teach them. They’re favorite part was coloring in their graph to see how many words their knew! They were so excited for the second list and were begging me to “test” them. (Even though I always told them “This is not a test. I just want to see how big your brain is.” Hahah!)

The great thing about having the full set of 1000 words is that I can move up and down a full 100 set whenever I need to. As I said earlier, I had students that needed to go down to the first 100, list 1. On the other hand, I have students that mastered all of the second 100 so they are ready for the third 100. The bundle is also great because I have student copies of flashcards so my students keep the set that they are working on in their book box and they can pull them out whenever they have time to read in my class. They also LOVE to pick 3 cards and try to find the words in the stories they are reading during independent reading.

I know that progress monitoring can be overwhelming and stressful. I chose Fry sight word progress monitoring because it’s a very simple form of assessment: they either know it or they don’t! It’s also a baseline because each 100 corresponds with a grade level. Going back to my students, those that mastered the second 100 immediately are showing me that they can read above grade level. My students who couldn’t read the second 100, had to go to the first 100, and even had to start at list 1 showed me that they are very far below grade level. This super quick assessment helped me guess where to start them with TRC and so on. It’s crazy how something so simple and be so telling!

Before I had my own classroom, I was an EL Push-in. I wanted this tool because it would help the classroom teacher and myself prove that the students were growing or sometimes we could show that they were not. Now that I do have my own classroom it’s extremely helpful when it’s time for an IEP or even thinking about getting additional services. It’s proof that shows you’re instincts about a student! You’re an awesome teacher and don’t let anyone or anything tell you otherwise! I hope this helps you with your students.