I would 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.
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 especially at an early age. Current events are also a great way to develop critical thinking skills while also being engaging. After considering the feedback that was given on my last Formative Assessment Design 1.0, I have decided to move away from using Google Form. I realized that it was far more summative than formative. It is also harder to give feedback. While the integration may have made grading quicker, it wasn’t as interactive and reflective as it could be. I have chosen to instead format the formative assessment in Google Slides. Understanding by Design made me think differently about the way in which I was assessing my students and showed me that I need to be thinking with the end in mind. My ultimate goal for spending time on current events, besides addressing the Teaching Tolerance Framework and Illinois State Standards for Social Studies, is to have students begin collaboratively discussing their critical thinking process. By changing the format, this assignment becomes interactive (more of a group study model), form of a portfolio (continuously working within the same document allows for students to look back), feedback is streamlined (using Slides commenting feature), and finally it is well organized. One initial concern is whether or not 3rd graders would be able to handle this type of collaboration. From previous experience working with Google Slides some students found it difficult to be working on the same document. I also feel that designating a particular group to each slide would be more manageable for the age group then using something like Google Docs. With the right classroom culture and scaffolding around feedback, this assessment could be achieved. To make this assessment as successful as possible and not knowing what next years class will be ready for, I would choose to wait at least a month into the school year to ensure a positive classroom culture has been established for peer feedback. I would then begin scaffolding the assignment itself by having students do an article on their own. We could then try an article with a partner. Once this has been established we could start to incorporate the technology aspects of the assessment and peer feedback. While I could see being able to jump in more quickly in a middle school or high school classroom, easing into this type of complex assessment would be more appropriate for 3rd grade. By using the commenting feature in Google Slides, I will be able to give quick feedback to groups. But also by Google Slides having the capability for multiple people working within the same document, it will allow students to provide peer feedback. Since I am not seeking to produce a one off assessment, but to create a classroom routine around this assessment, I will be looking for students to improve on their critical thinking and summarizing skills. After giving the appropriate feedback I will be looking for students to make the appropriate changes in future articles. Instructions: Answer the following questions in response to the article. This article can be found on the News ELA page of our classroom website: https://macleodsclassroom.weebly.com/current-events.html. (just as an example) Today you will be responsible for answering question about the article with your partner. I will be providing feedback by commenting on your slide at the end of the day on Monday so you have a chance to make revisions (if necessary) before receiving feedback from the other groups on Wednesday. Wednesday you will be responsible for providing feedback to both of the other groups working on this article. It is very important that we keep our feedback positive. By drawing from what you read in the article and the way you answered your questions, what are some things that the other groups did well by identifying something that you may have missed the first time or something you find interesting about their response. Let me know if you have any questions. Google Doc: Formative Assessment Design Document 2.0 Google Slide Document: Formative Assessment Design 2.0 - NewsELA Group Template
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Questions and Evidence of Understanding
Is my assessment meaningful?
Does my assessment address my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)?
Does my assessment provide the opportunity for feedback to improve learning?
Checklist Annotations Question 1: Is my assessment meaningful? The question is rooted in whether or not my assessment involves critical thinking and real-world application. If the assessment is inauthentic and meaningless then students will be disengaged. While this applies to my students overall learning experience, it also translates into my own teaching. By staying authentic and meaningful in assessment I am able to be more passionate, translating to improve student engagement and achievement. By knowing this about my assessment I can also ensure that identifying “What’s the big idea?” or “Why should we learn this?” is more digestible for students. For example, in a recent project my 3rd grade students were working on, they were given an issue of insufficient revenue in a simulated community that they had been building as part of our lesson on community issues. A few of the students used their prior knowledge of taxes that we had briefly talked about earlier in the year. While this was far from the outcome that I was expecting them to come to. By giving a complex, realistic problem to solve they rose to the challenge and reached a deeper level of understanding. Evidence of Understanding Shepard explains that “School learning should be authentic and connected to the world outside for school not only to make learning interesting and motivating to students but also to develop the ability to use knowledge in real-world settings.” (Shepard, 2000, p. 7) Shepard raises an interesting point for the importance of keeping learning, therefore assessment, relative to the world outside of school. In my experience, when students can be posed problems that could or have happened they have a vested interest in coming to a solution. Wiggins & McTighe support this idea by saying, “The problems that we develop for students should be as close as possible to the situation in which a scholar, artist, engineer or other professional attacks a problem.”(Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 94) As long as I keep my assessment relatable, students will be able to make real-world connections to their learning. Question 2: Does my assessment align with my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)? It is essential that my assessment is related to the establishment of my learning goals, therefore ensuring alignment with content standards. This will help keep to my long-term goals for student understanding. Wiggins and McTighe talk extensively about the alignment of established learning goals in Understanding by Design (2005). I found their question, “What should they walk out the door able to understand, regardless of what activities or texts we use?” to be profound in my thought process of established learning goals (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 17). Evidence of Understanding It is imperative to have established learning goals that are aligned in assessment because without them I may fall into “...[having] no check on the teacher habit of merely teaching to short-term, content-related objectives” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 58). Being able to consistently refer back to established learning goals will provide a more comprehensive understanding. To take this a step further Shepard raises the point of, “...content of assessments should match challenging subject matter standards and serve to instantiate what it means to know and learn in each of the disciplines” (Shepard, 2000, p. 7). Question 3: Does my assessment provide the opportunity for feedback to improve learning? It is important that both the student and the teacher have a chance to reflect back on an assessment and be given constructive feedback. For the student it is important that they get the opportunity to reflect on an assessment to identify what they have done successfully and what they need to improve on. This needs to be performed on a deeper level than simply right or wrong but as a conversation of learning. It is equally important for the teacher to reflect on his/her own teaching based on student performance from an assessment. Evidence of Understanding To improve the effectiveness of student feedback, you must be cognizant of “student motivation and self-confidence” to avoid discouragement, this is often a “balancing act” (Shepard, 2000, p. 11). Using the feedback of student assessment, a teacher can gain a better understanding of where they may have needed to better support their students and “know what to do next” (Hattie, 2007, p. 102). References Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Google Document Link See-Think-Wonder
Working with 3rd graders (8 and 9 year olds) in Social Studies a See-Think-Wonder (Richart, 2011, p. 55) serves as a formative assessment to explore new content while also giving students the opportunity to dive deeper. The benefit of a See-Think-Wonder, especially when exploring new content, is that it allows for students to make immediate connections aided by prior knowledge. When it comes to comparing and contrasting what they have answered with their peers, it gives them a chance to broaden their overall understanding and/or their misconceptions on the topic. Explanation In a See-Think-Wonder students begin to explore educational materials (e.g. text, video, picture) that can be primary or secondary sources. The See involves a surface level observation or identification without making inferences. For example, a lesson that I have done with students was to provide them with a multi-media exploration of different Chicago neighborhoods that were curated into QR codes that could be scanned and explored using an iPad. (Activity can be found HERE) Students explored Hyde Park, Chinatown, and West Town using Google Maps Street View locations and pictures from different areas throughout each of the neighborhoods. The Think involves making an interpretation from the materials. This often involves using their prior knowledge to help make sense of what they are exploring. Finally, the Wonder involves building questions around the topic which can be prompted as “What are you curious about?” to help guide future learning. The Wonder can sometimes be hard for students depending on their prior knowledge or the amount of information given in the materials, it can be beneficial to scaffold. Evaluation In evaluating a See-Think-Wonder as an assessment genre against my Assessment Design Checklist 1.0 questions of “Is my assessment meaningful?” and “Does my assessment align with my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)?” that I am fairly well aligned. A See-Think-Wonder is a meaningful way of interpreting content in terms of personal experiences and/or prior knowledge and can help students relate to the content. By students identifying, interpreting, and wondering about a topic it shows me what students already know so I can meet them where they are. A See-Think-Wonder can also be aligned to established learning goals through carefully choosing the materials that you choose for students to using. This can be slightly more difficult than in other assignments because you are having students come to their own conclusions using the materials, but it can be done. Using the UbD framework a See-Think-Wonder it is not best suited as a performance task for the unit but can be a great piece of Other Evidence in the Stage 2-Assessment Evidence. Recommendation While its best uses may be at the beginning of a unit, I found it beneficial to use this thinking routine several times throughout a unit. By using similar materials but raising the expectations in responses from previously scaffolded lessons, I was able to see their progression into deeper levels of critical thinking throughout the lesson. It served as a great formative assessment throughout the lesson. One criticism with this method of assessment is that it can be difficult, even when being very intentional in the materials being used, for students to show the deepest levels of thinking. While it is great for exploring new content and working as a check-in during a unit, it is my suggestion that when reaching the end of a unit as you are seeking more analysis and evaluation of the content that you steer away from this form of assessment. Digital Contexts Ideas of how a See-Think-Wonder could be adapted into a more digital context could be by creating a template in Popplet that students could follow allowing for greater editing/maneuverability of content after completion. Another possible digital adaptation could be the use of iCard Sort(an index card categorization app) with pre-completed cards that can be pushed out to the students iPads as a way of getting them started with deeper level thinking examples in an attempt to drive conversations. References Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making thinking visible: How to promote engagement, understanding, and independence for all learners. ASSESSMENT GENRE CRITICAL REVIEW DOCUMENT Is my assessment meaningful?
Does my assessment address my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)?
Question 1: Is my assessment meaningful? The question is rooted in whether or not my assessment involves critical thinking and real-world application. If the assessment is inauthentic and meaningless then students will be disengaged. While this applies to my students overall learning experience, it also translates into my own teaching. By staying authentic and meaningful in assessment I am able to be more passionate, translating to improve student engagement and achievement. By knowing this about my assessment I can also ensure that identifying “What’s the big idea?” or “Why should we learn this?” is more digestible for students. For example, in a recent project my 3rd grade students were working on, they were given an issue of insufficient revenue in a simulated community that they had been building as part of our lesson on community issues. A few of the students used their prior knowledge of taxes that we had briefly talked about earlier in the year. While this was far from the outcome that I was expecting them to come to. By giving a complex, realistic problem to solve they rose to the challenge and reached a deeper level of understanding. Evidence of Understanding Shepard explains that “School learning should be authentic and connected to the world outside for school not only to make learning interesting and motivating to students but also to develop the ability to use knowledge in real-world settings.” (Shepard, 2000, p. 7) Shepard raises an interesting point for the importance of keeping learning, therefore assessment, relative to the world outside of school. In my experience, when students can be posed problems that could or have happened they have a vested interest in coming to a solution. Wiggins & McTighe support this idea by saying, “The problems that we develop for students should be as close as possible to the situation in which a scholar, artist, engineer or other professional attacks a problem.”(Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 94) As long as I keep my assessment relatable, students will be able to make real-world connections to their learning. Question 2: Does my assessment align with my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)? It is essential that my assessment is related to the establishment of my learning goals, therefore ensuring alignment with content standards. This will help keep to my long-term goals for student understanding. Wiggins and McTighe talk extensively about the alignment of established learning goals in Understanding by Design (2005). I found their question, “What should they walk out the door able to understand, regardless of what activities or texts we use?” to be profound in my thought process of established learning goals (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 17). Evidence of Understanding It is imperative to have established learning goals that are aligned in assessment because without them I may fall into “...[having] no check on the teacher habit of merely teaching to short-term, content-related objectives” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 58). Being able to consistently refer back to established learning goals will provide a more comprehensive understanding. To take this a step further Shepard raises the point of, “...content of assessments should match challenging subject matter standards and serve to instantiate what it means to know and learn in each of the disciplines” (Shepard, 2000, p. 7). Google Document Link: Click Here |
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
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