I used the following survey to assess literacy levels of students in my class. I wanted it to be very informal and not intimidate the students with yet another assessment test. Hence, I chose the title "My Preferences". It turned out to be a good decision because the students answered the survey thinking it was something about their likes/dislikes. The questions about their feelings for reading and writing were  targeted at assessing their interest and motivation in these areas. The students were quite open and honest in saying they read over 15 or zero books. Specific titles of the books they read in summer gave me the idea of their reading levels. Lastly, a short description of their first day at school served the purpose of assessing their grammar and writing skills.

My preferences

Name  ________________________________________________________________________________

Reading makes me feel  _____________________________________________________________

This summer, I read  ___________________________________________(number of books)

Title:

Most of the time, I would rather

o   Choose from given options

o   Write short descriptions with few sentences

o   Write long and detailed descriptions

My first day of school was _________________________________________________ because