NOTE: I started to update this communication profile, but instead developed a companion piece: Six Traits of Speaking. The compete rubric, plus a cute little picture sequence are available free. I use a new category for levels of development, called OLDS (for Oral Language Decontextualized Stage). for more information on OLDS, please see my Substack: Building Eager Learners While Building Oral Language. Enjoy.

Teachers have a rich store of knowledge concerning student language use. They know, for example, who quickly and accurately answers questions, who strays off topic, and who remains silent. Help teachers harness what they know about language with this easy-to-use language development rubric. Ten general categories of classroom language use (answers questions, speaks in sentences, uses vocabulary, etc.) are divided into 5 levels with descriptions of language behavior at each level.

To use, teachers mark the box that most closely describes how a student uses language for each of the categories. Additional observation time is not required, since teachers are rating behaviors that are readily noticed during the classroom day. The observations can be converted to a raw score for easy pre- and post-intervention comparisons.

This is a revision of a form that originally appeared in my book, Preparing for Success: Meeting the language and learning needs of young children from poverty homes.