Free reading benchmark assessments
FREE Reading Assessment Tools for Teachers for Easier Testing
When it comes to completing reading assessments, there is always so much to do! Teachers have to gather their materials, prepare both students and parents, find testing checklists, and keep track of important data. I know you are already doing so much to serve your students, so I wanted to help make reading assessments easier for you!
I decided to put together The Reading Assessment Teacher Toolkit – a free downloadable pdf that has tons of resources and tools for you! This toolkit is packed with checklists, parent notes, and testing signs to make testing a little lot more efficient! Let’s jump right into what all is included!
Phonemic Awareness Checklist
Building phonemic awareness is the foundation of reading, and young readers need strong phonemic awareness for success in reading. I included a checklist of the skills students should be working on mastering to help you get a picture of where each child is.
Phonics Skills Assessment
Next in the reading assessments toolkit you’ll find a phonics skills assessment. This list will help you understand and get a solid picture of how your readers decode words. You’ll be able to see if there is a certain skill (digraphs, vowel teams, etc.) that they struggle with.
Dictation Assessment
The dictation assessment will help you see how your students take the knowledge and skills they have and write what they know. Reading is input, and writing is output.
Running Record Cheat Sheet
A huge piece of guided reading assessments is running records. Instead of having to flip around in different books to find coding symbols and percentages, I put everything you’ll need in one handy cheat sheet. Just print it off and stick it in your guided reading binder!
Comprehension Questions for Reading Assessments
Part of gathering a picture of the whole reader is to ask comprehension questions after reading a text.
Some books may include specific questions to ask, but most do not. I compiled a list of comprehension questions to ask for both fiction and nonfiction texts that will work with any book!
Reading Strategies and Skills Checklist
Next, to help you keep track of skills and strategies students use for your reading assessments, there is a checklist that you can use throughout the year. This makes data tracking easy. Plus, you can use it to help write effective lesson plans to address areas of need.
Dolch and Fry Sight Word Lists
Help students get warmed up for assessments and find out how many sight words students know. In the reading assessments toolkit, you’ll see both the Dolch and Fry sight word lists for kindergarten, first, and second grade.
3 Parent Conference Forms for Reading Assessments
Another big piece of reading assessments is keeping parents informed of what their child can do, what their child is working on now, and where you want them to go next.
For each grade in kinder through second grade, there is a parent conference form you can fill out. This will help guide you through the conference and give parents a great picture of their student as a reader. You can also use these with progress reports, too!
Table Top Testing Tents
To help minimize distractions during testing, use the table tents to remind students not to interrupt unless it is important. I teach my students about the 3 Bs – blood, barf, bathroom. I recently adding bullying to my list, too! Just set up the tent on your table and assess away!
Testing Door Signs
Remind students (and staff) that you’re doing reading assessments with your students by hanging one of the cute door signs out on your door. If we can minimize distractions, we can provide a great testing environment for students.
The Reading Assessment Teacher Toolkit was carefully designed with kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers in mind. Be sure to download it today for your beginning, middle, or end of year reading assessments.
If you want to dive deeper into reading assessments for guided reading, sign up for the waiting list for Rethinking Guided Reading. This online course is self-paced and has tons of resources for you like printables, teaching videos, and helpful forms.
I’ll coach you through everything you need to know about guided reading – assessments, writing and implementing effective lessons, meeting with groups while distance learning, and how to complete and read running records. The doors will open this summer for a short time. You won’t want to miss out!
Click HERE to get on the waitlist.
Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This FREE guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!
Benchmark Passages | Assessments | Reading A-Z
- English
- Spanish
Target students' instructional needs by assessing their reading skills with developmentally appropriate texts while recording reading behavior.
Benchmark Passages are short text selections that are one part of a three-part process to provide effective reading instruction for students and to assess their readiness to progress to more difficult text.
- Assign and listen to recordings of Benchmark Passages and Books.
- Score recordings using an online running record tool.
- More About Benchmark Passages
Showing 116 of 116 Passages
The Animals in Summer
Animals have sun, grass, and mud in summer. Nonfiction, Lexile BR60L
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Running Record
My Animals
A child lists his favorite stuffed animals.
Fiction, Lexile BR40L
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Running Record
The Spring Day
Children enjoy spring weather.
Nonfiction, Lexile BR10L
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Running Record
The Little House
A child plays with a doll house.
Fiction, Lexile BR80L
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Running Record
Here is a Number
Here are numbers 1-7.
Nonfiction, Lexile BR110L
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Running Record
He Has Two
A man has two of a number of things.
Fiction, Lexile BR10L
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Running Record
This Plane
A plane moves in different ways.
Nonfiction, Lexile BR90L
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Running Record
Three Birds
Three birds show different positions related to a birdhouse.
Fiction, Lexile BR90L
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Running Record
Big and Little
Many things are big and little.
Nonfiction, Lexile BR20L
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Running Record
Ted Sees a Pond
While on a walk, Ted and his dog see a pond and the things that live there.
Fiction, Lexile 40L
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Near the Pond
Many animals are near the pond.
Nonfiction, Lexile BR50L
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We Read About Animals
A child and an adult read a book about some animals.
Fiction, Lexile 50L
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Running Record
Read speed test.
Online simulator for developing reading speed and awareness skills in 2021! Reading speed is an important indicator not only for schoolchildren, who regularly check it. It is very important for an adult in the modern world to be able to navigate in huge flows of information. A reading speed test will help you determine your current level and see if you need to work on improving this skill or if you are reading fluently enough.
Content
1. How to check reading speed?
2. How can I check my reading speed myself?
3. How to test a child's reading speed?
4. What reading speed is considered normal for adults and children?
5. How to choose the right text to test reading speed?
6. The book "Everything you wanted to know about speed reading, but were afraid to ask"
How to check reading speed?
The easiest way is to take a stopwatch (you can use the application on your phone), a text to check your reading speed and read it at a normal pace for one minute.
It is important that the text is non-technical, does not contain highly specialized terms and concepts, and is not familiar to the reader. The text should not be too primitive. The testee must see the text for the first time so that the results are not artificially inflated.
But what do you care about speed, if you don't understand with what awareness you absorb the text? :)
A much better way to find out your reading speed is to take a free online test. To do this, sit back, enter your name in the form above, press the button and you will immediately see the text that you need to read, slowly, trying to understand everything that is written.
When the entire text is read - click on the button at the very bottom. The program will automatically determine the reading speed and prompt you to answer a few questions to understand the degree of assimilation of the material. As a result of testing, you will receive not only the result of your reading speed and awareness, but also recommendations for improving your reading technique in the format of the book "Everything you wanted to know about speed reading, but were afraid to ask.
" Enter a name. Click the button and find out your real reading speed. Have a good day.
How can I test my reading speed myself?
We have prepared for you a tool with which you can independently check the speed of reading. Our tool include a certain amount of text that you need to read as quickly as possible. You will then have the opportunity to answer a series of questions about the text, allowing the program to determine your level of understanding. Based on the data received, a result and a certificate are issued. This certificate can be shared with your friends on social networks and challenge them to a battle to test the speed and awareness of reading :).
If you want to do it yourself, you can do it according to the following scenario. A text of medium complexity is taken, located on one sheet. You will need an assistant who will keep track of the time and will be able to test the level of your understanding of the information. Check algorithm:
Simultaneously with the start command and the start of the stopwatch, you begin to silently read the text.
When the text is finished, you say stop - time stops.
Then you need to answer a few questions regarding the content (reading speed implies a full reading comprehension).
The last step is to count the words in the text and determine the average number of words per minute (words in the text can be counted before reading).
This is the certificate you can get based on the results of passing the test
How to check the reading speed of a child?
A child's reading speed can be tested in a similar way. The child should read aloud, at least in elementary school. Then you can switch to the usual way of checking for adults.
Schools often test reading skills by counting the number of words read per minute. This gives a small error, since words come in different sizes, but a similar verification method can also be used.
What reading speed is considered normal for adults and children?
The average reading speed for an adult is 200-230 words per minute.
Below average, but an acceptable rate is 150-200 words per minute. Adults who read more than 230 words per minute are considered fast readers. For the speed reading technique, the optimal speed is 350-400 words per minute.
In children, the indicators are dynamic and change depending on age. Approximate norms used in elementary school:
20-30 words per minute for first grade;
45-60 words per minute for second grade;
70-85 words per minute for third grade;
90-125 words per minute for fourth grade.
How to choose the right text to test reading speed?
The criteria for selecting text to test reading speed are identical for adults and children. The only difference is the volume and complexity of the information. The text must match the following parameters:
medium difficulty appropriate for age;
the absence of specific unfamiliar words or their minimum number;
no dialogs;
location on one page;
large, comfortable to read font;
lack of pictures and other distracting elements.
In our tool for testing reading speed and comprehension, we tried to take into account all these factors so that the resulting tool would be convenient for both adults and children. At the same time, he gave a fairly clear answer to the question about the real reading speed.
It should be remembered that reading speed is a variable parameter, which decreases if a person rarely sits down at a book, and increases with constant reading. There are many special techniques aimed at significantly increasing the speed of reading text information.
Everything you wanted to know about speed reading but were afraid to ask test. So don't waste a second,
go back to the very top of the page and go take the test!Reading speed test online is simple, convenient and fast
We have already written so much here about how to correctly measure your reading speed, achieve awareness and interpret the results, that every second of delay before you pass the online reading speed test and receive a personal certificate is just like death.
Return to the very beginning of the page, enter your name in the field under the video and go to the enchanting world of unfamiliar texts and tricky questions :).
📖 Reading speed Q&A section
📕 What formula is used to calculate reading speed?
If it’s very short, then the formula for calculating the reading speed is as follows: V = (Q / T) x K. This formula allows you to get a real figure for reading speed with a correlation to the coefficient of meaningfulness. You can read more about the formula here in this article .
📗 What books do you recommend reading to develop speed reading?
We have compiled a list of the most useful books for the development of speed reading and posted it in a separate post on the blog. The list is constantly updated and gives an idea of the main books with which you can develop speed reading skills.
📘 What if I want to increase my reading speed?
You can start by learning the theory, or you can download our workbooks , which we have created especially for those who who wants to start learning speed reading. There are two of them: one notebook for adults, the second for children. Contains some theory and practical exercises designed for several weeks of regular classes.
📙 How to check a child's reading speed?
The reading speed test, which is located on our website, is suitable for both adults, as well as for children. We specifically tried to choose mostly literary texts that will be easy to read. to understand the child. Just go to the reading speed test page from the link above, enter child's name and start reading. Then the program will do everything for you.
📔 I want to check my reading speed online for free.
How to do it?
Easier nowhere. The tool, which is located at https://bukva.info/rapid/ , was created just for this. You just enter your name, read the text and answer the questions. The program monitors the speed of your reading and its meaningfulness. After answering the questions, you will receive a certificate with your result. The certificate can be shared with friends in social networks :).
📓 What is the "Read Fast" project?
Read Fast is a project dedicated to the problem of fast and conscious reading. We believe that you can read 3-4 times faster. However, the quality of memory reading material will only increase. Let's try together :).
Best Online Level Tests
Every English learner wants to know where they are in order to plan their learning process, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and find the right materials for their level.
The most popular way available to everyone is online tests.
In this article, I have collected resources for you that will help you assess your level of knowledge of the English language.
I already wrote an article on how to determine your level yourself. And once again I want to remind you that the test is not the only measuring device for your knowledge. The number of correct answers and the speed of execution is not the final indicator. Typically, the results of multiple choice tests are advisory in nature. Only a comprehensive test that includes all four types of speech activity can accurately determine your level: reading, listening, writing and speaking, and speaking and listening must be assessed by the examiner.
So how do you assess your level? Let's look at resources and sites.
ENGINFORM test of your English level >>
After passing it, you will be able to determine your level and receive free personalized recommendations on which topics you need to work on and for the best result.
We recommend you go now!
Test Your Vocab
This service helps you evaluate how wide your vocabulary is.
The principle is simple: from a number of words you choose those that are familiar to you. The system analyzes your answers and gives an approximate estimate of the volume of your English vocabulary.
Online English Vocabulary Size Test
The test consists of 50 questions, your task is to choose synonyms or antonyms of the given word. After that, the system calculates how big your English vocabulary is. Of the disadvantages - you can not go back and look at your answers.
ENGINFORM level test
Our author's level test, which includes 25 vocabulary and grammar questions. After passing the test, you will receive a detailed analysis of each question and detailed study recommendations for your level. And based on the results, you can sign up for a free introductory lesson with our teachers who will help evaluate your speaking skills.
British Council test
25 grammar questions. You are required to choose one correct out of three options. For each question, you also indicate how confident you are in your answer, there are options Certain, Fairly sure, Not Sure.
Online English Grammar Test
30 grammar questions of different types and difficulty that ask you to fill in the blanks, find a mistake, choose the wrong answer, understand the logic. Based on the results, the system calculates how high your level is. The assessment of your level is not given in the usual way, according to CEFR, but in the form of descriptions. For example, 3-year-old kid, School Student, Language God.
Grammar Tests
Three more grammar test resources that provide a quick assessment of your CEFR level. After passing, you can analyze your answers:
Test of 50 questions
Test of 15 questions
Test of 40 questions
ExamEnglish: Level Test
The test includes two parts: Grammar and Vocabulary and Listening. The questions get harder or easier depending on how you answered the previous question. After completing the test, you will receive feedback in the form of an assessment of your current level: from A2 to C2.
ExamEnglish: Cambridge Exams Free Practice Tests
Of course, for a complete picture of your level, the test should include not only grammar testing, but assessment of all types of speech activity: reading, listening, writing and speaking. On this site you can download free practice tests and check your skills and level for the IELTS, First (FCE), Advanced (CAE), Proficiency (CPE), Preliminary (PET), Key (KET), BEC (Business English) international exams Certificates) and BULATS (Business Language Testing Service).
Cambridge Exams (official site)
This resource offers several tests that you can take yourself online:
General English test : 25 questions (vocabulary and grammar), after the answers you get feedback - which international exam you can start preparing. There is also a function to view your answers.
School Student Test: Cambridge offers a range of student exams and to determine what level a student is at, they can take a 25-question test to determine which test they are best suited for.
Business English Proficiency Test: 25 questions that test your knowledge and understanding of grammatical structures and business vocabulary. Based on the results, a recommendation is given for which exam you can start preparing for.
Cambridge Exams: Practice tests
Practice tests for all Cambridge exams can also be found on the official website. You can take the test online or download paper versions. With reading and listening, you can easily check your answers against the keys, but to assess your speaking and writing skills, you may need the help of a specialist.
Test English.com
On this site, which is completely dedicated to tests, you can not only pass the Level Test, but also find a lot of tasks in grammar, listening, reading, use of the language (Use of English) of varying complexity and for different levels.
Now you can choose the most convenient test and more clearly determine your level of knowledge of the English language.
