How Tiny Steps Measures Speaking Progress

Looks at whether the child moves beyond fragments or minimal answers into a complete, relevant message with useful detail when the task calls for it.

Baseline evidence

Record the response type: fragment, one idea, connected ideas, or a fuller response, together with the prompt needed.

Visible progress

Responses become more informative and complete with less adult sentence completion or repeated prompting.

Do not judge it by

Word count alone. A longer answer is not automatically clearer, more relevant, or more independent.

Looks at spoken sentence completeness, word order, grammar in use, and whether errors prevent the message from being understood.

Baseline evidence

Note the sentence pattern the child can produce independently and the type of correction or model still required.

Visible progress

The child forms clearer sentences more independently and begins to reuse corrected patterns in fresh speaking.

Do not judge it by

Perfect grammar in every spontaneous sentence. The useful question is whether sentence control supports communication and is becoming more independent.

Looks at functional word choice, retrieval, useful detail, and the ability to choose vocabulary that helps explain the idea.

Baseline evidence

Note where the child relies on very general words, pauses for retrieval, or needs a supplied word to continue.

Visible progress

The child retrieves more useful words independently and can explain around a missing word instead of stopping completely.

Do not judge it by

Rare or difficult vocabulary for its own sake. Appropriate, usable language is more valuable than impressive isolated words.

Looks at choosing relevant ideas, sequencing and linking points, keeping a response focused, and—when the task involves opinion or discussion—supporting a position with reasons or examples.

Baseline evidence

Record whether the child needs the adult to choose the order, provide the structure, supply reasons or examples, or repeatedly bring the response back to the topic.

Visible progress

Ideas follow a clearer sequence with fewer structural prompts; on opinion or discussion tasks, reasons and examples become more connected and independent on a fresh topic.

Do not judge it by

Memorising one fixed script. Organisation should survive reasonable changes in wording or topic.

Looks at listening for meaning, staying on topic, answering the question asked, taking turns, following up, and repairing misunderstandings when needed.

Baseline evidence

Note whether the child answers a different question, repeats prepared material, misses a conversational cue, or needs the prompt repeated.

Visible progress

Responses connect more reliably to the prompt or previous speaker, with fewer repetitions and better follow-up.

Do not judge it by

Silent compliance or eye contact. Listening evidence comes from the child’s relevant response and interaction.

Looks at a clear situation, meaningful sequence, relevant detail, connections between events, and an ending or resolution appropriate to the task.

Baseline evidence

Use a familiar event, picture sequence, or short retell and note where the child needs sequencing questions or adult-added details.

Visible progress

The child keeps the story clearer and more complete with fewer sequencing prompts, including on a new story or event.

Do not judge it by

Memorising a teacher-written story word for word. Flexible retelling is stronger evidence of ownership.

Looks at audible delivery, manageable pace, pausing, emphasis, intelligibility and physical presentation choices that help communicate meaning.

Baseline evidence

Note the one or two delivery behaviours that most affect listener understanding on the current task.

Visible progress

The child adjusts a relevant delivery behaviour after feedback and increasingly notices or manages it independently.

Do not judge it by

Accent conformity, constant eye contact, loudness, theatrical performance, or copying one “ideal” speaking style.

Tracks prompt dependency directly: models, sentence starters, repeated questions, supplied ideas, keyword cues, thinking time and independent completion.

Baseline evidence

Record the lightest support that lets the child succeed instead of writing only “good” or “needs confidence”.

Visible progress

Support can be faded: full model to cue, cue to thinking time, and thinking time to independent completion where appropriate.

Do not judge it by

Speed alone. A child may need normal planning time and still be speaking independently.

Looks at purpose, opening, useful points, ending, audience awareness, handling simple questions, and using visuals or notes without becoming dependent on them.

Baseline evidence

Use a short show-and-tell or presentation task and note which parts the child can plan and deliver without adult construction.

Visible progress

The child can prepare and deliver a clearer short talk, adapt it for the task, and respond to simple audience questions with less support.

Do not judge it by

A polished memorised script alone. Presentation skill includes organisation, communication and response to the audience.

Checks whether learning survives beyond the exact practised prompt through fresh questions, unfamiliar pictures, new stories, new topics, or a different communication setting.

Baseline evidence

After successful practice, use one comparable but unfamiliar task and record what remains independent and what support returns.

Visible progress

The skill appears more reliably across fresh tasks, with less fall-back to the original model or memorised wording.

Do not judge it by

Success only on the rehearsed item. Familiar-task performance is useful practice but not sufficient evidence of transfer.