Wednesday, September 12, 2012


 

Assessment Plan
Dawn Stevane
EDU645: Learning & Assessment for the 21st Century (MRB1231B)
Instructor:  Richard Newman
September 11, 2012

 
            I choose to do my assessment plan on poetry, I love poetry and figured to find a way to teach the children so they can share the same love as I do. The purpose of this plan is to be able to teach the children to master organization skills. Using this plan will help students show how they learned to organize what they have been taught.  While using this plan the students will be able to show their learning outcomes by demonstrating how they can use their organization skills in and out of school. I think that the children will learn through my plan that reading poems or any other literature is fun.

            When it comes to the assessment context of the assessment the students will be able to demonstrate the different types of poems in their journals. One of the main purposes of this assessment is to be able to support the learning outcomes of organization that will be used with the following types of lessons such as essays, fill in the blanks and multiple choice questions. This type of test was chosen because it is design to test to see how they are understanding what they have learned and to let them know that because the right words is in the answer does not mean that that is the correct answer and that they should read the whole answer and look at all the other choices to ensure them of picking the correct answer because everything that looks right doesn’t mean that it is right.

            In the assessment context the students and I will use this time to be creative, I believe teaching and modeling what the students are learning, if the teacher follows the steps to writing poetry the students will follow the steps as well. The students will have to be, good listeners in order to follow instructions for their final presentation at the end of this session. During this unit week’s student will be assessed, by multiple choice questions, oral exam, journal writing skills, short answer and essay questions.  

            The Holistic rubric does not list all the separate levels of performance for each criterion but instead it assigns a level of performance. The holistic rubric does tend to be used when a quick or gross judgment needs to be made. But if the assessment is a minor one such as homework it may be sufficient to use the holistic judgment to check or review the student’s work then this should be good enough just for this purpose only.

            When we do an assessment there is some testing constraints that can be used when testing that can be imposed on the students that need to be in place in order for them to be able to achieve the highest level of accomplishment that is possible. There has to be enough time for the students to be able to take the test so that they will not feel that they need to rush and by doing this they will have plenty of time to time the test without pressure. It is also the teacher’s part to make sure that other children will not be allowed to cause distractions while the other children are taking their test. The teacher will have behavior plans that will be put in place to prevent distractions. When having the children learn to not bother the other children you are teaching them the skills that they need to understand and be respectful.    

            Writing an essay can be very important when it is being used for the students to understand how important it is when they know how to use the functions that goes along with using the five management skills of organization. The learning outcome behind the essay is to get the students to know what the instruction objective because they need to know that there may be times that there will be advantages and disadvantages to using these types of management depending on the formats that could influence the choices of their answers. The questions should

Be centered on the ages of the children. The question was designed to be able to support what they have learned. The learning outcome need to be developmental appropriate for the students to be able to understand what was taught to them and be able to execute the same results when given the information on a test.

            The students will be provided with all the materials need for them to be able to be prepared for the test such as paper, pencils and the test questions. If the students have all the material needed for the test they should do well on it. The amount of time given is 60 minutes totally for completing a performance test. Student were given materials four sheets of school lined paper stapled together alone with two number pencils. Verbal and written instruction about completing their essay paper were to be at least one page writing about the author and instructions on how to answer and define vocabulary words.

             Students were instructed to do their best but to circle any question they were unsure of and return back to before the testing session ended. Remain seated and sit quietly until all tests have been completed and turned in. All students will have knowledge of the scoring criteria that is inserted into their testing materials; the scorning system is consistent and fair. There is one proctor assigned to class during testing sessions students may not ask her help in reading materials. The second testing session students will be assigned to a computer and given one hour to create a power point presentation to demonstrate prior knowledge what they have learned, for this is a very weighted score. By now parents and students should know the standards by which I will score their project and assessment. Information used from (Kubiszyn & Borich, pg.201, 202). 

            After reading some of Shel Silverstein pomes I began to think of activities and ways to introduce poetry writing to my struggling fourth grade language arts class. In addition, the purpose of my assessment plan will function as a guide for me during my teaching career as it allows me to stay on track, the sole purpose is to remember what was taught in this course that “instructional objectives should be a clear and concise statement of skill or skills that your students will be expected to perform after a unit of instruction” (Kubiszyn & Borich, pg.110, 2010).  Let’s see where our poetry writing journey will take us. My 4th grade Language Arts class will be expected to write poetry and define the terms.
 

References:

Kubiszyn, T. & Borich, G. (2010). Educational testing & measurement: Classroom application and practice (9th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.



Purpose and Learning Outcome, Assessment Context, Holistic Rubric & Testing Constraints


Grade 4

Subject Language Arts: Poetry Writing

Purpose:

The purpose of this Poetry writing project is to develop an assessment plan, as I bring this course to an end I first need to take my journey a step further having knowledge how to organize, reliable method of teaching, learning and assessment plans for field of early education. In my reading and through our assignment it is important to have a strong objective and learning outcomes are also important for this assessment plan. My intention is to demonstrate to my students reading poems or any literature can be fun.  After reading some of Shel Silversteim pomes I began to think of activities and ways to introduce poetry writing to my struggling fourth grade language arts class. In addition, the purpose of my assessment plan will function as a guide for me during my teaching career as it allows me to stay on track, the sole purpose is to remember what was taught in this course that “instructional objectives should be a clear and concise statement of skill or skills that your students will be expected to perform after a unit of instruction” (Kubiszyn & Borich, pg.110, 2010).  Let’s see where our poetry writing journey will take us. My 4th grade Language Arts class will be expected to write poetry and define the terms.

Learning Objective:

The skills that I wanted my students to focus on are the writing activities and journal writing. I will be grading on creativity, neatness. Student and parents will receive a rubric assessment for this unit, that would assess the student’s proficiency after completing the three week poetry writing unit and activities and their journal writing exercises; and a Journal Checklist that would be used for following the guidelines to assess the content knowledge they learned.

Learning Outcomes:

We will spend time learning to analyze, reading the biography of Shel Silverstein as well as memorize a poem, individually recite a poem, recite poetry together as a class, improve their pronunciation skills.

Assessment Context:

In the assessment context the students and I will use this time to be creative, I believe teaching and modeling what the students are learning, if the teacher follows the steps to writing poetry the students will follow the steps as well. The students will have to be, good listeners in order to follow instructions for their final presentation at the end of this session. During this unit week’s student will be assessed, by multiple choice questions, oral exam, journal writing skills, short answer and essay questions.  

 

The following Journal Checklist will be used to assess the content of this assignment:

 Does the journal:

1. Demonstrate the acquisition of key skills?

2. Include tips and discussion notes?

3. Include original poetry?

4. Include activities and pre writing exercises?

Holistic Rubric:

While creating the holistic rubric for this assignment my “students are required to have knowledge and remember testing items such as apply what they have learned, analyze, created, fine and identify” (Kubiszyn & Borich, pg.118, 2010

Grading Percentage                                                              Percent

Oral Discussions                                                                      10%

Paper Pencil Test                                                                     25%

Creative Writing                                                                       25%    

Project                                                                                     40%

Total:                                                                                       100%                                      

Rubrics

Below are the test items and scoring rubric, the rubrics are used to assess students’ proficiency with poetry writing activities. Students will be evaluated on whether they are improving or whether they may need additional instructional help or support from the teacher or support team.

Scoring

5                      Proficient                  A high degree of competence.

4                      Capable                    An above average degree of competence.

3                      Satisfactory              A satisfactory degree of competence.

2                      Emerging                  A limited degree of competence.     

1                      Beginning                 No Key elements are adequately developed.

 

 

Testing Constraints:

The amount of time given is 60 minutes totally for completing a performance test. Student were    given materials four sheets of school lined paper stapled together alone with two number pencils. Verbal and written instruction about completing their essay paper were to be at least one page writing about the author and instructions on how to answer and define vocabulary words. Students were instructed to do their best but to circle any question they were unsure of and return back to before the testing session ended. Remain seated and sit quietly until all tests have been completed and turned in. All students will have knowledge of the scoring criteria that is inserted into their testing materials; the scorning system is consistent and fair. There is one proctor assigned to class during testing sessions students may not ask her help in reading materials. The second testing session students will be assigned to a computer and given one hour to create a power point presentation to demonstrate prior knowledge what they have learned, for this is a very weighted score. By now parents and students should know the standards by which I will score their project and assessment. Information used from (Kubiszyn & Borich, pg.201, 202). 

 

 

References:

 

Kubiszyn, T. & Borich, G. (2010). Educational testing & measurement: Classroom application and practice (9th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems/14833

 

 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Validity, Reliability, and Accuracy


Validity, Reliability, and Accuracy
Dawn Stevane
EDU645: Learning & Assessment for the 21st Century (MRB1231B)
Instructor:  Richard Newman
September 3, 2012
 
            Week five assignment is to choose a learning outcome and draft an assessment that supports the outcome and also explain how you used validity and reliability in your assessment. I will use the poem Batty by Shel Silverstein. I will read the poems from Shel Silverstien and this will help the children by using rhyme and repetition. By reading these poems to the children they will help the children to gain their memorization skills and learn to create an enjoyment and interest in poetry. Even though they are short they are just the right poems to try and figure out what the message is in the poems.

            The learning outcomes will be:

The student will memorize a poem, the student will individually recite a poem, the students will recite poetry together as a class, and the students will improve their pronunciation skills.

 

 The objective to the first lesson will be the children will start to recognize the rhyming words from each line. The children are given a copy of two poems.

Test Item:

The students will read the poem to try and memorize it. The students will find the rhyming words in each line. Then will answer questions to figure out what the poem is about.

Questions about poem one are; What words rhyme with light?,  How many times is the word light used?,  Does the word light have the same meaning each time it is used?,  When is light used as a noun, verb, or an adjective?

Questions for poem two are; What words rhyme with rain?, What word rhymes with head?, When is rain used as a noun, verb, or an adjective?

 Poem 1 Batty By Shel Silverstein

 The baby bat

 Screamed out in fright,

 “Turn on the dark,

 I’m afraid of the light.”

 Poem 2 Rain by Shel Silverstein

I opened my eyes

And looked up at the rain,

And it dripped in my head

And flowed into my brain,

And all that I hear as I lie in my bed

Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

 I step very softly,

I walk very slow,

I can't do a handstand--

I might overflow,

So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--

I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

 

            When the class has finished reading the poem they will discuss what they have learned and then they will write in their journals about the poem and also try and write a poem in their own words about the poem the read or anything they can think of. Then they will compare the poems of everyone else and look how the poem should be written while the teacher writes it in the board with the correct punctuation. The teacher will ask the students which poems are similar and why. The will also discuss which poem they liked and which poems they disliked and why. The students will write these notes in their journal so they can have all different types of poems in their journal to research the different kinds of poems.

            Then the children will read other poems form the author of the first poem and compare each poem because they are all different and have different styles. Some poems are short and some poems are long, some have rhyming words and others don’t have a word that rhymes at all. After writing their own poem in their journal the children will draw a picture that represents what they think their poem means.

Hypothetical Assessment

            I have chosen theoretical; if students were assessed on every element of the learning outcomes (e.g. multiple choice items, essay items, authentic assessment, true false, matching etc.) then the teacher would have covered every learning objective describe. If the students researched, listen to the read materials, took notes completed their journal writing assignments, explained and defined the major differences of poems, drama, and prose, were able to refer to the structural elements of the follow writing process to create poetry at first glance this should have been fairly easy.  

            The class should be able to relate and make a connection to the author by following the provided activities creating a list of words using nouns and adjectives as well as brainstorming, and writing ideas for their own poems this was in the first day of introduction to poetry writing.

The objective was to introduce students to Poetry Writing; by expanding their knowledge through visual connections, auditory while learning and explaining the terms and having fun do this project. The student should be able to demonstrate proficiency when completing the test items.

Testing Constraints

Students were told to do their best but not to spend too much time on a question they were unsure of but to circle the number and if  time permits return to that question and work on the question some more. At best students will have to apply their cognitive thinking skill. The teacher will write on the board the time they may begin and the time they will end. A 10 minute warning will be announces down to times up. The students will be provided testing materials two number two pencils and each student will be given four stapled sheets of paper to record their answers on. The students will be instructed what to do next. Write complete sentences and at least one page essay about the author and add at least three or more sentences to complete poem one and poem two.

Rubrics

Below are the test items and scoring rubric these rubrics are used to assess students’ proficiency with poetry writing activities.

5 -                    Proficient
4                      Capable                                  

3                      Satisfactory                           

2                      Emerging                                    

1                      Beginning                                 

            In conclusion I will make sure that the children learn the lesson before I move on. I will go over it until the children understand it. I will also have after and before school help of the children need it. It is important to make sure that the children understand  a lesson before moving on.

 References:

Kubiszyn, T. & Borich, G. (2010). Educational testing & measurement: Classroom application and practice (9th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.