6. Assessing Student Learning of Phoneme Segmentation and Blending

It’s important to assess whether students have mastered the skill you just taught, in this case phoneme segmenting and blending. This will help you address any gaps in reading skills that could cause problems later on. 

Mastery assessments are quick checks to see if your students can accurately and consistently perform a skill. (We’ve got one for you below.)

Generally, you’ll know it’s time to give a student a mastery assessment when they’re able to perform their new skill accurately three times in a row on three different occasions (for example, three days in a row).

Here’s a short assessment for checking your students’ mastery of phoneme segmentation and blending. It should take no longer than three minutes per child. Feel free to share this assessment with your colleagues!

1. Assess one student at a time.
2. Give a student one task at a time.
3. For mastery, students should complete tasks without manipulatives.
4. Do not have any print visible, since you're assessing a phonological skill.
5. Do not set a time limit for tasks (typically, each takes two to three minutes per student).
6. Record incorrect responses. Address misunderstandings later on.
7. Do not mark issues caused by a student's dialect or speech impediments as errors.

Students who respond correctly 80% of the time (or higher) on the assessment we've provided are ready to move on from phoneme segmentation and blending.

For those who aren't reaching 80%, there are three instructional options you can use to provide additional support:

1. Add Time and Repetitions

You can increase the amount of time for instruction, slow the pace of instruction, or allow more time for practicing the skill. For example, while some children might catch on to phoneme segmentation after working through five words, other children might need 10 or 20.

2. Change Your Instruction

There are two ways to change instruction. One way is to simplify the task by choosing words with fewer sounds. Determine where the child had success with segmenting and blending. If success occurred in words with two phonemes, begin there and provide many opportunities for success. Once the child is confident, then move on to three-phoneme words. 

You can scaffold between two- and three-phoneme words using onset-rime. Select two-phoneme words starting with a vowel sound, words that your students have had success blending, such as at, it, and ice. Then add a beginning consonant phoneme that makes a word: b + at, s + it, and d + ice. Now using felt squares or sticky notes that represent the onset (small square) and the rime (small rectangle), practice segmenting or blending the onset and rime of bat, sit, and dice. To see this teaching strategy in action, watch Stephanie Fincher as she teaches her kindergartners to blend onset and rime. 

Another way to change instruction is to consider using an alternate teaching strategy with different manipulatives. For example, if you are using touch and say with felt squares, try using Elkonin boxes, where each square represents a phoneme and children move a chip into a square while segmenting. The physical act of moving the chip into the box while saying the sound could be helpful. 

3. Change Your Student Groupings

If students have been practicing only in whole group, try small-group instruction. If students are practicing in a small group and are falling behind most kids, consider one-on-one practice. Many students will need numerous individual practice opportunities with prompt corrective feedback to master a skill.