7. Assessments for Irregularly Spelled High-Frequency Words

Ongoing assessment helps you keep track of what students are learning and whether they're applying new skills. It allows you to catch misunderstandings early so you can adjust your teaching. Regular check-ins also help you know which students need more support or practice.

Throughout the week, you can use informal assessments such as dictation or quick reading check-ins during small groups to monitor whether students are reading and spelling irregular high-frequency words accurately. These quick checks can help you determine whether students are applying what they've learned and provide insight into how you should adjust your instruction.

Depending on your students' developmental level, you'll need to decide whether you are going to assess irregular words for reading, spelling, or both. For younger students, such as kindergartners, you can focus primarily on their ability to read the irregular words. For first grade and beyond, you might assess for both reading and spelling.

Assessing for Spelling

Spelling assessment for irregular high-frequency words can take place at the end of the week alongside your weekly phonics assessment. So your assessment that week might include: 

• 7 to 8 words that follow the phonics pattern you taught
• 2 to 3 words with previously taught phonics patterns or skills
• 1 to 5 irregular high-frequency words introduced during the week

This approach helps reinforce both phonics skills and irregular word knowledge.