Pre-Assessment Nouns and Verbs

Pre-Assessment (the actual assessment)

I administered the Pre-Assessment to the children when they were in their reading groups. This
allowed me to talk with the students in a small group setting rather than in a large group. My
Pre-Assessment consisted of me verbally asking the students if they knew what a noun and a
verb were, and if they could give examples of a noun and a verb. Because I was in a small group
setting, I was able to ask each student individually if they knew what a noun or a verb was, and if
they could give examples of nouns and verbs.
Results of the Pre-Assessment

Total Number Correct per Concept

25

20

15

10

0
Nouns Correct Incorrect Verbs
 B: What do they need to
know next?
A: What do the students
know at the beginning of the
unit?
Students
Nouns are places and things.
Verbs are action words or
things we can do.
Give examples of nouns and
verbs.
Differentiate between nouns
and verbs by sorting pictures
into nouns and verbs.
A noun is a person. A verb is
not a noun.
Brekken
Nouns are people, places, and
things.
Verbs are action words or
things we can do.
Give examples of nouns and
verbs.
Differentiate between nouns
and verbs by sorting pictures
into nouns and verbs.
No background knowledge on
nouns and verbs.
Drew, Sydney, Wyatt, Elsie,
Ethan, Paisley D., Westen,
Taydree, Bryant, Brigham,
Lincoln, Paisley H.,
McKinley, Jason, Garon,
Aria, Klinton, Connor, Rayce,
Harley, Mason

The graph and chart above show my student’s knowledge on nouns and verbs. Brekken was the
only student who knew that a noun was a person. He didn’t know that a noun was also a place or
a thing, and he had no background knowledge on verbs other than they were not nouns. Sydney
said that nouns and verbs are words, but she was not able to give examples of nouns or verbs.
The other students in my class did not know what a noun or a verb were, and they gave random
answers when asked if they knew what a noun or a verb was, and if they could give an example
of a noun or a verb. This pre-assessment shows that overall my students have little to no
background knowledge on nouns or verbs. Brekken does have a little background knowledge in
nouns and he knows that a noun is a person. He also knows that a verb is not a noun. I think that
he will be a good resource for me when I am teaching the beginning lesson on nouns because he
already knows nouns can be people and he can give examples of people and share them with the
class when I first teach that a noun is a person. Lincoln and Mason were absent on the day I gave
the pre-assessment. I will need to make sure I give them the support them the support they need
as I am teaching the lessons and listen to their answers to see if they have background knowledge
on nouns and verbs.
The pre-assessment results give me valuable data on my student’s knowledge of nouns and
verbs. Overall, the students have little to no background knowledge on nouns and verbs.
Because of this, I can do large group activities to introduce and teach nouns and verbs. As I
teach large group lessons, I will continue to gather data on my students’ knowledge and
differentiate the lessons and activities based on the students’ needs. Because my students do not
have a lot of background knowledge on nouns and verbs, I do not believe they will be bored with
the lessons I teach. I may need to play extension activities for Brekken to make sure he doesn’t
become bored as we learn about nouns and verbs.
Post Assessment
For the post assessment on this unit, I gave each of the students eight pictures. The pictures were
either nouns and verbs. I asked the students to cut the pictures out and decide whether the
picture was a noun or a verb. They then glued the pictures on a separate piece of paper that had
the heading noun and verb. Before beginning the post assessment, we met in the kiva and I
asked the students to give me different examples of nouns and verbs. I was impressed with their
answers, and the students were able to give examples of nouns and verbs. I then showed the
students the paper they would be working on at their tables and explained that they would be
looking at the pictures and deciding whether it was a picture of a noun or a verb. I explained to
the students that I could read the word under the picture to them, so they knew what the picture
was, but I couldn’t tell them where they should put the picture. I explained that this activity
helped me know what I needed to teach them next regarding nouns and verbs.
The following table shows the results of the post assessment. I organized the table with the
child’s name in the first column, the pictures they glued under nouns in the second column, and
the pictures they glued under verbs in the third column. The blue highlights indicate incorrect
answers.
Student Name Pictures Placed in Noun Pictures Placed in Verb
Column Column
Bryant Run, ride a bike, play Swim
House, lion, car, policeman
Mason House, lion, car, policeman Play, swim, run, ride a bike
Klinton Car, house, lion, policeman, Play, run, ride a bike
Swim
Harley House, policeman, lion, car Play, run, ride a bike, swim
Conner House, car, lion, policeman Swim, play, run, ride a bike
Sydney House, policeman, car, lion Play, run, swim, ride a bike
Elsie Policeman, car, lion, house Swim, run, ride a bike, play
Ethan House, policeman, lion, car Play, swim, ride a bike, run
Lincoln Policeman, lion Run, play, ride a bike, swim
Car, house
McKinley Policeman, car, lion Ride a bike, run
Play, swim House
Westen Policeman Play
Ride a bike, run, swim Lion, car, house
Aria House, car Swim, run
Play, ride a bike Policeman, lion
Paisley D. Policeman Swim
Play, ride a bike, run Car, lion, house
Brigham Policeman, house Run, swim
Play, ride a bike, Car, lion
Taydree Policeman, house Swim, ride a bike,
Play, run Lion, car
Paisley H. Lion, car Run, ride a bike, play, swim,
 Policeman, house
Drew Lion, house, policeman, Run, swim, ride a bike
Play Car
Jason Policeman, house, lion Ride a bike
Play, swim, run Car
Garon Policeman, house, lion Play, ride a bike, swim
Run Car
Wyatt- Absent
Rayce-Absent
Brekken-Absent

Overall, I am pleased with the post assessment results. Each of the students showed growth and
understanding of nouns and verbs compared to the pre-assessment data. I was impressed that
many students were able to give specific examples of nouns and verbs before I gave the post-
assessment test. I was happy that they were able to remember the difference between nouns and
verbs. A possible reason why some students didn’t perform as well as I thought they would
could be due to the pictures I used on the post-assessment. Even though there were words at the
bottom of the picture to let the students know what the picture was depicting, I can see how some
of the students might have been confused with the picture. One picture in particular was the
“play” picture. It showed a boy playing with a car. The students might have thought this picture
was showing a boy, which is a noun. If I could do this post-assessment again, I would make sure
that I selected pictures that clearly showed a noun or a verb to help avoid this confusion.
Another reason why some students didn’t perform as well as I had hoped is the fact that they had
never done a picture sort of nouns and verbs by themselves. We had always done this in the
large group setting. It could have been beneficial for the students to do a picture sort of nouns
and verbs with a partner during one of the instructional days of the unit, thus allowing them to
have an understanding of what I was asking them to do for the post-assessment.
Overall, I feel that these results show many of the students in the class have a basic
understanding of nouns and verbs. They understand that nouns can be people, places, or things,
and that verbs are action words or things we can do. In future units and lessons, I will refer back
to this foundational knowledge so the students remember nouns and verbs, and also teach more
in-depth content regarding nouns, verbs, and grammar in general.
I was impressed that Mason, Harley, Conner, Elsie, Sydney, and Ethan were able to correctly
sort all eight of the pictures into nouns and verbs. There are many students who still need
additional support and instruction to differentiate between nouns and verbs. Giving additional
examples and non-examples of nouns and verbs would be beneficial for the students who missed
a few of the items on the post-assessment. It would also be beneficial for them to have
additional practice sorting pictures or objects into nouns and verbs, thus allowing them to see the
difference between nouns and verbs.
Bryant, Westen, and Paisley D. will need more individual attention as they were only able to
correctly answer one or two of the questions correctly. They may need additional instruction
with what nouns and verbs are, and it would be beneficial for them to receive this instruction in a
small group setting so the teacher can clarify any misconceptions they have on nouns versus
verbs. It would be beneficial for each of these students to hear examples and non-examples of
nouns and verbs in isolation. It would also be beneficial for them to have opportunities to sort
objects and pictures into nouns and verbs.