Floss Rule Probes

About this resource

Floss rule word reading and spelling, one skill, start to finish. An IEP goal, six word-reading forms, a one-minute form, two dictated spelling sheets, answer keys, and a graph scaled to the probe. Baseline on Monday, goal written by Tuesday, first data point on Friday.

Every word is one syllable with one short vowel and ends in a double letter from the rule, the way puff, bell, miss and buzz do. Form A uses only words with one consonant before the vowel (bill, hiss, well). Forms B to F add words that start with a blend (shell, class, staff), so the forms step up in difficulty. No word appears on two reading forms, so the score means the same thing on every form.

WHAT IS INCLUDED - 24 pages: six reading forms of eight words each (48 words), a one-minute form of twelve more words (60 different words in all), two dictated spelling sheets of eight words each, 368 type-in fields, a three-page answer key, a goal page, a how-to page, teacher notes, a graph and data log, a caseload summary, a filled-in example, a family update page and a binder cover with divider tabs

A Binder Cover And Divider Tabs (Page 4)

• A binder cover with student, case manager and school year fields
• Six divider tabs, one per section of this file, print and cut

The Goal Page (Page 5)

• A sample goal with every bracket meant to be edited by the team, and a spelling version
• The six-part goal frame as type-in fields
• A baseline table: three probes and the median
• Three benchmark rows with target date, target score, actual score and met
• The giving-and-scoring directions, and lines for this student's own scoring rules

How To Read A Floss Word (Page 6)

• A student anchor page: the four endings, three steps (find the short vowel, look at the last letter, write it twice), three worked words and a blank line to write one of your own

Six Reading Forms, A Through F (Pages 7-12)

• Eight words per form, large type, each with a small number so you can mark errors
• A big My name line and one short instruction with a book picture
• No answers, goal text or scoring strip on a student sheet

A One-Minute Form (Page 13)

• Twelve more words on one page for a timed check, with its own log on the graph page

Two Dictated Spelling Sheets (Pages 14-15)

• Eight numbered handwriting lines each, with a top line, a dashed middle and a baseline
• Spelling 1 dictates the eight Form A words and Spelling 2 the eight Form D words, so the spelling check is on words the student has already read

A Three-Page Answer Key (Pages 16-18)

• Every word on all six forms and the one-minute form, with its ending, so a paraprofessional can score without a list of their own
• A mark box for each word and a Correct ___ / 8 box under each form

Teacher Notes (Page 19)

• Reading the errors: the double letter left off, the vowel changed, a word guessed from its start
• Which words are left out of the pack and why: one-s words (bus, yes, his, gas) and -all words (ball, call)
• How to give the spelling sheets

The Data Log And Graph (Page 20)

• A y-axis already scaled 0 to 8, twelve probe columns, and the instruction to draw the aim line from the baseline to the criterion first
• A nine-row log with date, form, correct, errors, the score used on the graph and notes, plus a separate five-row one-minute log

The Caseload Summary (Page 21)

• Twelve student rows, baseline and criterion, eight probe columns, a trend column and a decision column

A Worked Example (Page 22)

• Eli, first grade, invented. Twelve weekly probes out of 8: the baseline as a median, three points under the aim line forcing a teaching change, the criterion met, and the progress-report sentence the log produces

A Family Update And Team Handoff Page (Page 23)

• A family update with blanks for this week's score, a team handoff checklist, and a meeting summary sentence with blanks for two numbers off the log

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF. The goal page, data log, caseload page, family update page and the mark boxes on the answer key are type-in fields: open the file in a PDF reader, click a line or a cell, type, and Save As once per student. The probe pages print clean: the student reads or writes on paper.

Who This Is For

Kindergarten, first and second grade special education teachers and case managers writing a reading or spelling goal for the ff, ll, ss and zz pattern, intervention teachers, and the paraprofessionals who give the weekly probe.