Key Idea Cards
Informal Formative Assessment
The Key Idea Cards provide four short-answer questions for each text in the Student Book. Requiring short, simple answers in students’ own words, these questions can be used at the end of class to determine how well students have understood the key idea, or main point, of the day’s lesson. The four questions for each text are on one page; each question is on a quarter-page card. Teachers can select and cut out the card that applies to a particular lesson, and can use one or more questions per text.

Also included are reproducible Recording Forms to monitor student progress.

Unit Skill Tests
Formal Formative Assessment
Tests A and B are unit tests in standardized-test format. Each test has a reading passage tied to the unit theme, seven multiple-choice questions with four answer choices, and an open-ended response-to-reading question. One question uses the graphic organizer students have used in the unit. Questions cover the unit skill, general comprehension, and vocabulary. Click Show Answers to see each question labeled accordingly. Teachers can use one test or both.

Also included are reproducible Recording Forms to monitor student progress.

Unit Skill Diagnostic Tests
Formal Formative Assessment
Test C is an oral, individually administered diagnostic test. It has a shorter, easier reading passage than Tests A and B. The passage is tied to the unit theme. Test C has four multiple-choice questions of the unit skill. Each question has three answer choices (in contrast to the four answer choices in Tests A and B).
Test C can be administered by the teacher one-on-one to a student who has done poorly on other tests and/or in class. The student should read the passage aloud so teachers can note patterns of miscues. The student should also read and answer the questions orally. To target vocabulary, the teacher’s overlay, activated by clicking Show Answers, suggests that teachers ask if the student has had difficulty reading or understanding any word(s) in this text.

Also included are reproducible Recording Forms to monitor student progress.

Cumulative Skill Tests
Formal Summative Assessment
Tests D and E are tests of multiple skills in standardized-test format. Test D covers the first three unit skills of the level. It has a reading passage and ten questions: nine multiple-choice questions and one open-ended response-to-reading question. One question uses the graphic organizer students have used in one of the three units. Test E covers the entire level and assesses all six skills. It uses two reading passages to assess all the skills of the level. Each passage is followed by nine multiple-choice questions and one open-ended response-to-reading question. There are a total of twenty questions: sixteen comprehension-skill questions, two vocabulary questions, and two open-ended response-to-reading questions. Click Show Answers to see questions labeled accordingly. Two questions use graphic organizers students have used in the level.

Also included are reproducible Recording Forms to monitor student progress.

Library Assessments
Informal Formative Assessment
Tests F and G assess the Making Connections Intervention Library books in different ways. There is one Test F for each Library book. For this test, students complete a graphic organizer on the unit skill and an open-ended response-to-reading question. Test G, called Summary/Response to Reading, is a generic page that can be customized by the teacher. Students might be asked to write a summary of an entire book or of a single chapter, or the teacher might require them to write a book review or a more informal response to what they have read. Teachers can customize the page with questions or the elements of story structure, for example, before they copy the page and distribute it to students.

Also included are reproducible Recording Forms to monitor student progress.

Fluency Record Forms
Formal Formative Assessment
The Fluency Record Forms contain one page from each text in the Student Book. Each page corresponds to a Reread for Fluency section in the Teacher’s Edition, which designates one page in every text (excluding poetry and graphic stories) for students to read aloud for one minute. These forms show the number of words at the end of each line. Teachers follow the text as students read aloud to assess their fluency and record their scores. Teachers can also graph student progress using Recording Form 7—Fluency: Graph of Individual Student Data.

Also included are reproducible Recording Forms to monitor student progress.