CHILD OBSERVATION CHART
Date ……2nd March 2020………………….. (Month, if observation spread over
several weeks)
Initials of the pupil …C.L….
Date of birth ……28/8/2009………Age……10….. Class ……Year
5………… Girl
Completed by ……A.M………………………….
For each sign, note its frequency: 1 = Sometimes, 2 = Often, 3 = Always
She/her also means He/his and vice versa
Be sure to read the notes on page 5 about preparation and how the results
should be used.
Not all observations will be possible for younger children.
Signs showed by the learner Frequency Remarks by the teacher
1. Bodily awareness 1 2 3
Can point to on herself:
Her face
Her limbs
Her joints This is a Chinese learner learning
English as a second language.
She cannot remember most
vocabulary learnt in the previous
year.
Can point to on someone else:
His face
His limbs
Can name other parts of the body: The more obvious parts- head,
stomach, legs, hands.
On herself
On someone else
2. Orientation in time and space 1 2 3 Remarks by the teacher
Time
Knows the part of day
Knows the day of the week
Knows the month Only after writing it down in the
date for several days.
Knows the year
Knows the season
1
Aware of the passage of time
Shows awareness of order; the
succession of events
Space
Finds her row in class
Finds her seat in class
Finds the other classrooms
Finds her way about the school
Can use a simple map
Can show with respect to herself:
right / left Identified left as right and right
as left.
high / low
on / under Could not show ‘under’
above / below
Can show on a worksheet:
right / left
high / low
on / under
above / below
Knows the direction of writing
Knows which way round letters are Incorrect formation of ‘p’
Rhythm
Can reproduce a given rhythm
3. Motor skills 1 2 3
Has good balance Great at sports and sporting
activity.
Coordinates her movements
precisely:
- in everyday movements
(automatically)
- in creative activities (e.g. cutting Neat and artistic.
and pasting paper)
- when writing (holding the pen or
colouring crayon correctly)
- forming letters the correct way
round
- with fluent movement of the
wrist
- with careful writing (few Keen to copy the correct spellings
crossings-out) from the board or book. If own
writing however, a lot of spelling
errors identified.
4. Language 1 2 3
Problems with articulation: lisping Replaces ‘n’ with ‘l’ and ‘l’ with ‘n’.
… ; note which particular sounds
Is intelligible
2
Makes phonological mistakes, Lots of difficulty reading. Cannot
such as ‘disonaur’ for ‘dinosaur’ read word ‘dinosaur’
independently. Identifying
phonemes in CVC words
extremely challenging.
Recognizes a picture and can say May often lack vocabulary in
what it represents English but can say this in mother
tongue.
Can speak some phrases
Understands verbal directions
Has good phonological awareness Despite correction, learner shows
persistent recurrence of mistakes
over time.
Likes telling stories
5. Memory 1 2 3
Easily remembers nursery rhymes Has challenges with the alphabet
song and often leaves out some
letters.
Can memorize shapes
Easily repeats phrases
Can retell simple stories having
heard them
Can carry out, one after the other,
several orders given at the same
time
6. Behaviour 1 2 3
Is agitated or nervous
Seems tired
Gets discouraged
Complains of aches
Has low self-esteem
Is aggressive
Not interested in activities or Does not appreciate working on a
listening different activity from peers and
may become uncooperative in the
lesson as a result.
7. Reading ability 1 2 3
Appetite for reading: likes taking Learner more interested in books
up a book written in Chinese.
Appetite for reading: likes being
read to
Has good phonemic awareness
3
Reads regular words slowly Rushes over the words, often
substituting words, omitting some
elements or adding letters.
Reads pseudowords slowly
Leaves out letters and sounds
Inverts letters
Substitutes parts of words,
transforms words, makes up word
endings
Leaves out words and lines
Cannot follow the reading of
another child or adult
Repeats a word without realizing it
Does not observe punctuation
Makes visual confusions: p/b/d/q,
a/e, m/n/u, t/f, o/c
Makes auditory confusions: p/b,
t/d, k/g, f/v, ch/j, s/z
Cannot master any of the complex
sounds:
ai, au, ei, ea, ie, ia, io, oa, ou, oi,
ua, ui
Cannot use the ‘magic e’
(can/cane, hop/hope)
Cannot retain rules such as:
-ation, -ition, kn-, gn-, -ight, -ought,
-ious, -qu-, consonant doubling
(hoping/hopping)
8. Writing ability 1 2 3
(Note the task which induces
mistakes: copying, dictation,
spontaneous writing)
Leaves out letters, syllables, words Mainly in dictation and
spontaneous writing.
Inverts letters, syllables, words Mainly in dictation and
spontaneous writing.
Makes visual confusions: p/b/d/q, In spontaneous writing.
a/e, m/n/u, t/f, o/c
Makes auditory confusions: p/b, Dictation and spontaneous writing.
t/d, k/g, f/v, ch/j, s/z
Substitutes, transforms words Dictation and spontaneous writing.
Joins words together which are not
normally joined together
Has difficulty in remembering the
graphic shape of a letter for long
Shows difficulties in remembering
or using contextual or grammatical
rules:
-ation, -ition, kn-, gn-, -ought,
-ight, consonant doubling
(hoping/hopping), ‘magic e’
4
(hop/hope)
Leaves out punctuation
General remarks
C.L is a Chinese learner who has been learning English for about 20 months. She is
however not progressing at the same pace as other Chinese learners who came in after
her despite intensive intervention.
She forgets most vocabulary learnt and during the observation was unable to identify
parts of her body such as the neck, wrist, elbow and ankles.
Despite learning and relearning phonics, beginning with individual sounds, C.L
struggles to read CVC words, containing only 3 graphemes.
Signature or name of the teacher …Antonina
Madowo……………………………………………
Translated and adapted from French, with permission and thanks to:
Béatrice Colson, Speech Therapist, Fondation Dyslexie, Belgium
This chart appears in Génération Dyslecteurs – Bien Comprendre la Dyslexie pour
mieux Aider les Dyslexiques ('A generation of dysreaders'), in French, by Vincent
Goetry and colleagues. Erasme/Fondation Dyslexie, 2013. Available from
amazon.com.fr
NOTES
Please remember that some of these activities may be difficult for struggling
readers and so use your judgement in choosing the amount of time to spend
on them. Provide positive feedback wherever you can.
5
We advise you again that you are not diagnosing the child; you are
observing him or her and recording some notes systematically which
will help you adapt your teaching, and communicate with other staff,
specialists and parents.
