Monday, 13 October 2025

Better Start Litercy Approach (BSLA) - Right There Questions, Think & Search and Author & Me Data.

 

Overall Summary

This table tracks the performance of eight students across two stories, assessing three distinct levels of reading comprehension: Right There (literal), Think & Search (inferential), and Author & Me (schema-based inference). Overall, the group demonstrates a strong foundation in literal comprehension, with more variability and challenge appearing in the higher-order thinking skills.


Group Strengths

The students show a clear strength in "Right There" questions.

  • High Performance: Six out of the eight students (Ame, Del, Sio, Cas, Sad, Ang) achieved a perfect score of 4/4 in this category.

  • Interpretation: This indicates that the group as a whole is highly proficient at locating and recalling information that is explicitly stated in a text.


Areas for Development

The primary areas for growth are in the more complex comprehension categories.

  • Think & Search: While still a strong area, there is room for improvement. Half of the students (Sio, Cas, Joa, Ang) missed one question in this category. This suggests a need to practice synthesizing and connecting information from different parts of a text.

  • Author & Me: This category, which requires students to use their own background knowledge along with the text, shows the most significant need for attention. The scores vary more here than in other sections, indicating that making inferences by connecting the text to personal experience is the most challenging skill for this group.


Key Observations & Data Inconsistency

Important Note: There appears to be a data entry error in the table for student Gra in the "Author & Me" category. The scores for Story 1 (3) and Story 2 (2) should total 5, but the listed total is 1. This evaluation proceeds assuming the total should be 5, but this should be verified.

Student Performance Highlights:

  • Consistent High Performers: Ame, Del, and Sad demonstrated excellent comprehension across all three categories, achieving perfect or near-perfect scores. Cas and Joa also showed very strong results.

  • Needs Targeted Support:

    • Gra: Shows a significant discrepancy. If the total of '1' is accurate, this student needs immediate, intensive support in "Author & Me" questioning. If it's an error and the score is 5, their profile is much stronger, though still slightly weaker than peers in the "Right There" category.

    • Sio and Ang: These students performed well on the most complex "Author & Me" questions but missed a point in the "Think & Search" category. They may benefit from strategies focused on tracking and connecting details within a text.


Recommendations

  1. Focus on Higher-Order Thinking: Dedicate instructional time to "Author & Me" and "Think & Search" question types. Model how to find textual clues and combine them with prior knowledge to draw conclusions.

  2. Small-Group Instruction: Form a small group with Sio, Cas, Joa, and Ang to specifically practice "Think & Search" skills.

  3. Verify Data: Double-check the scores for Gra to determine their actual level of need. A plan for intervention can be created once the correct score is known.

Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) - Reading and Comprehension

Evaluation by Year Group

The data shows a similar pattern in both the Year 4 and Year 5 cohorts, with a small number of students ready for extension and a larger group needing continued support at their current level.


Year 4 Students

This group has one student who has mastered the Year 4 level and three who are still developing their skills.

  • Ready to Transition (Level 2): Gra is at the highest level for Year 4. This indicates Gra has strong reading and comprehension skills and is ready to begin working with Year 5 level texts.

  • Needs Support (Level 1): Ame, Del, and Sio are at the lowest level. They require further instruction and practice with Year 4 texts to build their foundational skills before they are ready to move on.


Year 5 Students

The Year 5 group mirrors the pattern seen in Year 4.

  • Ready to Transition (Level 2): Ang is at the highest level for Year 5. This suggests Ang is a confident reader who is prepared for the challenge of Year 6 level texts.

  • Needs Support (Level 1): Cas, Joa, and Sad are at the lowest level for their year group. They would benefit from targeted support to strengthen their comprehension of Year 5 texts.


Key Takeaways and Implications

  1. Clear Need for Differentiation: In both year groups, there is a distinct split in abilities. The primary implication is the need for differentiated instruction. The teaching approach cannot be the same for all students.

  2. Extension Group: Gra and Ang form a clear extension group. They are ready for more complex reading materials and higher-level thinking activities to keep them engaged and challenged.

  3. Focus Group for Core Skills: The six students at Level 1 (Ame, Del, Sio, Cas, Joa, Sad) would benefit from working in a focus group on core reading and comprehension strategies appropriate for their respective year levels.

Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) - Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)

What is Oral Reading Fluency?

Oral reading fluency (ORF) is the ability to read a text aloud with a combination of accuracy, speed, and proper expression (prosody). It's a key indicator of a person's overall reading ability, as it demonstrates that they can decode words automatically, allowing their brain to focus on comprehending the meaning of the text.

Here are the core components:

  • Accuracy: Reading the words in a text correctly.

  • Speed (or Rate): Reading at a conversational pace, not too fast or too slow. This is often measured in Correct Words Per Minute (CWPM).

  • Prosody: Reading with natural expression, paying attention to punctuation, and using appropriate intonation and phrasing. It should sound like natural speech.


Evaluation of Your Data

The data you've provided gives a clear snapshot of the oral reading fluency for eight individuals. Here is a breakdown and evaluation of their performance.

For context, reading accuracy is often broken down into three levels:

  • ✅ Independent (95-100%): The reader can handle the text easily.

  • 🟡 Instructional (90-94%): The reader can manage the text with some guidance. This is the ideal level for teaching.

  • 🔴 Frustration (<90%): The text is too difficult for the reader, leading to poor comprehension.


Here is the data organized by performance level:


Survey Names

ORF - Correct

ORF - Errors

Accuracy

Composite Score

Performance Level

Gra

83

1

99%

298

✅ Independent

Ang

107

5

96%

345

✅ Independent

Ame

65

2

97%

291

✅ Independent

Del

72

2

97%

294

✅ Independent

Sio

43

4

91%

283

🟡 Instructional

Joa

59

8

88%

305

🔴 Frustration

Cas

31

8

79%

282

🔴 Frustration

Sad

10

10

50%

265

🔴 Frustration

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Key Observations and Analysis

High Performers (Independent Level)

These individuals can read the text with very few errors.

  • Ang: Is the fastest and most efficient reader, with 107 correct words and 96% accuracy. The high composite score of 345 also marks them as a top performer.

  • Gra, Ame, and Del: All show excellent accuracy (99% and 97%). They are reading comfortably and making minimal errors, which allows them to focus on what the text means.

🟡 Instructional Performer

This individual is in the ideal zone for learning with this text.

  • Sio: At 91% accuracy, Sio finds the text challenging but manageable with support. The 4 errors suggest specific areas where instruction could help improve their decoding skills.

🔴 Performers at a Frustration Level

These individuals found this text too difficult, which negatively impacts both fluency and comprehension.

  • Joa and Cas: With accuracy at 88% and 79%, respectively, they are making too many errors for this text to be productive for them. They would benefit from reading easier material to build foundational skills and confidence.

  • Sad: This reader is struggling significantly with this text. An accuracy of 50% (making one error for every word read correctly) is a clear sign that the material is far beyond their current reading level. They require immediate and intensive intervention with much simpler texts.

Summary

The data shows a wide range of reading abilities. Ang and Gra are excelling, while readers like Sad, Cas, and Joa require significant support. Identifying these levels is the critical first step in providing the right instruction for each person.

Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) - Orthographic Data


What is Orthography?

Simply put, orthography is the technical term for the spelling system of a language. It's the set of rules and patterns that govern how we use letters and letter combinations to represent sounds and words in writing.

Think of it as the brain's mental blueprint for words. When a child has strong orthographic knowledge, they can quickly and automatically recognize that "phone" starts with "ph" not "f," or that "night" contains the "igh" pattern. This skill is vital for both fluent reading and accurate spelling because it allows a reader to recognize words instantly instead of having to sound them out letter by letter.


What Your Data Tells You

This data gives you a clear picture of how your students' spelling knowledge impacts their reading skills. The "Orthographic Assessment" was scored out of 20.

1. Spelling Knowledge is Still Developing

No student has mastered this area, as the highest score is 14/20. This shows that all students are still learning the complex spelling patterns of English.

2. There's a Clear Link Between Spelling and Reading Accuracy

When you compare the orthographic scores to the reading accuracy, a strong pattern emerges:

  • High Orthographic Score = High Accuracy: Gra has the highest orthographic score (14/20) and also has the highest reading accuracy (99%). Her strong knowledge of spelling patterns means she can decode words correctly with very few errors.

  • Low Orthographic Score = Low Accuracy: Sad has a developing orthographic score (10/20) and the lowest reading accuracy in the group at 50%. He made 10 errors while reading only 20 words, which strongly suggests his difficulty with spelling patterns is causing him to misread a large number of words. Similarly, Cas has a score of 12/20 and a lower accuracy of 79%, making 8 errors.

3. Spelling Knowledge Drives Reading Fluency

Strong orthographic skills also lead to more fluent, automatic reading.

  • Ang is a perfect example. She has a strong orthographic score of 13/20 and the highest Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) score, reading 107 words correctly in one minute. Her brain can recognize words quickly, allowing her to read with speed and confidence.

  • In contrast, students with weaker orthographic scores like Sio (7/20) and Cas (12/20) have much lower fluency scores (43 and 31 words correct per minute, respectively). They are likely spending more mental energy trying to figure out individual words, which slows down their overall reading pace.

In summary, your data clearly shows that orthography is a foundational skill for literacy. The students with a better grasp of spelling patterns are reading more accurately and fluently. Those who struggle with orthography are finding it much harder to read the words on the page.


Some specific teaching strategies to support the students who have lower orthographic scores.


With the likes for  Sio, Ame, Joa, and Sad.

The goal of these activities is to move beyond rote memorization and help students see the patterns and logic within words. This builds their mental "filing system" for spelling, which in turn boosts their reading accuracy and fluency.


Strategy 1: Word Sorts

What it is: This is a hands-on activity where students sort a list of words into different categories based on their spelling patterns.

Why it works: It trains students to look for and recognize common letter patterns instead of seeing words as a random jumble of letters. It’s an active, analytical process that makes spelling patterns explicit.

How to do it:

  1. Choose a specific spelling pattern to focus on. For example, the different ways to make the long 'a' sound.

  2. Write words on small cards. Include words with the target patterns (rain, play, make) and some that don't fit (ran, map).

  3. Ask the student to read each card and sort them into columns based on the pattern (e.g., an 'ai' column, an 'ay' column, and an 'a_e' column).

  4. Discuss why they sorted the words the way they did. "What do you notice about all the words in this column?"

Example for Joa (Orthographic Score: 8): You could give him cards with words like boat, toe, snow, hope, and hot. He would sort them to discover the different 'oa', 'oe', 'ow', and 'o_e' patterns that make the long 'o' sound.


Strategy 2: Sound Boxes (Elkonin Boxes)

What it is: Students listen to a word and move a token into a box for each sound they hear. They then write the letter or letter combination that represents each sound in the boxes.

Why it works: This strategy directly connects the spoken sounds of a word (phonemes) to the letters that represent them (graphemes). It's a powerful way to build the phonics foundation needed for strong orthographic mapping.

How to do it:

  1. Draw a series of connected boxes, one for each sound in a word (e.g., the word "sheep" has 3 sounds, /sh/ /ee/ /p/, so it needs 3 boxes).

  2. Say the word "sheep" slowly.

  3. Have the student push a counter into a box for each sound they hear: /sh/ (one counter), /ee/ (second counter), /p/ (third counter).

  4. Finally, they write the corresponding letters in the boxes: sh in the first, ee in the second, and p in the third.

This would be excellent for Sio and Ame (Orthographic Score: 7) to reinforce the basic sound-symbol relationships they are struggling with.


Strategy 3: Word Building & Word Ladders

What it is: Using magnetic letters or tiles, students build a word and then change one letter at a time to create a new word.

Why it works: This activity forces students to pay close attention to the sequence of letters in a word. It demonstrates how changing just one letter can completely change the word, improving their visual memory for correct letter order.

How to do it:

  1. Start with a simple three-letter word, like cat.

  2. Ask the student to change one letter to turn cat into bat.

  3. Then, change one letter to turn bat into bit.

  4. Continue the chain: bit -> sit -> sip -> ship.

Example for Sad (Orthographic Score: 10): A word ladder could help him analyze words more carefully instead of guessing, which likely contributed to his 50% reading accuracy. Starting with simple CVC words and moving to words with blends and digraphs would be very beneficial.

Better Start Litercy Approach (BSLA) - Right There Questions, Think & Search and Author & Me Data.

  Overall Summary This table tracks the performance of eight students across two stories, assessing three distinct levels of reading compreh...