I would currently like to strengthen assessments in social studies to better measure student growth. I have created a weekly activity for students to read one of three News ELA articles that I post to my classroom website. I then require students to identify the main idea and answer an open ended question that I have posted related to the article. I would like to find a more efficient and reflective formative assessment to go with this assignment.
The purpose of this assessment is to work on summarizing, interact with current events, and improve critical thinking. Many of my third grade students struggled with the concept of summarizing, so this activity is a good way of reinforcing the skill. Interacting with news, that is age appropriate, is an important skill to develop at an early age. Current events are also a great way to develop critical thinking skills while also being engaging. Interpreting the News. When I think about assessment I often think about an initial assessment to gauge my students prior knowledge at and an exit slip as a concluding assessment for after a lesson to ensure students are walking away with the overall understanding I intended. I have spent far less time thinking about interactive assessments (Shepard 2000). I would like to move closer to this model to provide a more organic way of integrating assessment into this activity and lessons. My initial thoughts on a revised assessment for this activity would be a google form that allows students to type their responses and populate a google sheet with their answers to improve efficiency. I could also include a check in at designated stoping point in the form of multiple choice question for reflection. Instructions: (can also be found in the form) Answer the following questions in response to the article 3D Printing Houses. This article can be found on the News ELA page of our classroom website: https://macleodsclassroom.weebly.com/current-events.html. Make sure to answer all the questions on this page, every question must be answered in order to submit your answers. On the 4th question of this assessment be sure to "stretch your thinking." Article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wsM9qLdi3GS0AFJz5o8JzQumxd6gTnb6/view?usp=sharing Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdSl9jiyI8QaHBBdDecP4AU0RVmsDxXv64-SFHh3OPnkXkffA/viewform?usp=sf_link
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The Neighborhood Building Project is an assignment that students have been working on over the course of two months as a culminating project for the 3rd grade Social Studies curriculum. It was a group project that had students focusing on problem solving issues communities face. The purpose of this assessment was for students to reflect on the choices they made when building their communities. A few of my assumptions are students are able to recall prior knowledge around evidence based writing, understanding of needs versus wants in a community, and they were able to stay on schedule to build at least 3 buildings. When comparing my previous post regarding my Three Important Aspects of Assessments, I align to my beliefs on both formative and summative assessments throughout the course of the project. Giving several opportunities to formatively assess students work in different areas of the project. While growth and potential is most certainly visible, it is objective and may benefit from a rubric to provide more concrete data. Through the reflection of their work in the assessment they will be reinforcing and challenging their learning while also reaching deeper levels of understanding. Many of the assertions from Social Constructivist Theory relate closely with the culmination of the Neighborhood Building Project. Students must actively put their knowledge to use when evaluating their buildings. When considering the scope of the project and the collaboration it entailed to be successful, there was a large influence on motivation and self-efficacy stemming from peer reliance. Another significant factor in student learning from this assessment is prior knowledge and its impact. As an example student’s establishment of a complex urban environment (Chicago) as their community context significantly shaped their perspective. This assessment does have some Behaviorist theory tendencies such as an incremental approach towards mastery and questions that align with the content taught, but the ideas of Social Constructivist fit the overall assessment much closer.
Formative and Summative Assessments
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AuthorMy name is Ryan MacLeod and I live in Seattle, WA. I am currently a K-8 Lab Coordinator. I have a passion for educational technology integration and curriculum design, especially when it comes to the social sciences. Archives
April 2021
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