On Demand Writing Assessment Samples

These writing samples are a result of an on demand writing assessment that I gave my students during the first week of Kindergarten for the 2008-2009 school year. It is an on demand assessment because students weren’t given any prompts or support during this activity. This on demand assessment was given to the students before any writing instruction was taught as a means to determine my student's current abilities in writing. The description is written in their "own words."



"My moms birthday"

"Flowers"

'The car"

"The bus"

Children at this phase are just developing an understanding of the writing process. They are learning to be creative and expressive. It is important to foster this ability in children. If you child or student is at this phase of writing, while I am no expert, I would suggest that they be given as many opportunities to write and express themselves as possible. However, it is important to remember that a child at this level may not yet write to communicate a meaning. A child at this stage may simply make marks on the page for the sheer pleasure of making marks. Or they may produce a drawing that they know how to make (e.g. hearts, flowers) and decide on the meaning for the text only when they are asked to read their story.