As this unit plan is coming to a close, we still have some work to complete. Although we have several lessons created, we seem to be using the same type of assessment, a KWL chart. As beneficial as a KWL chart is, I am hopeful that we might be able to find additional ways to assess what our students have learned. Kirsten did create a rubric for the interview assignment, and I have a lesson in the works for the summation of the unit that will require me to grade the students in a variety of ways. The students will have to provide proof of their understanding of the book and the time period. I am also working on another lesson that will require the students to keep a journal that records their feelings about the book in general and the projects that we are requiring them to complete. Also, we have to rearrange the layout of the lessons. The way in which they are set up now does not flow as well as I would like. Kirsten and I have agreed that we should move the lessons around, and that will be something we have to discuss as a collaborative team.
I am extremely confident that we will end up with a wonderful collaborative unit that could be used within a middle school language arts classroom. Between the two of us working on different lessons, it has allowed us each to use things we already know, and it has given us a chance to work within a new capacity. I have to agree with several of my classmates that finding the time to work on this assignment has been difficult, but I fortunately have some time off this week that will allow me to devout a lot of my time to this unit plan.
Kirsten discussed the ways in which she, as the school librarian, could communicate what the students had learned by writing a short narrative within a school newsletter, and about discussing with the other staff members the effectiveness of the collaboration within a staff meeting. I think these are great ideas for the school librarian and I completely agree with her choices. As the teacher, I would like to be able to post and/or display the student's interviews that they conducted in some fashion. This could be done by loading them onto either the teacher website, media center website, or the school website. With the culminating assignment, I would love to be able to have the parents, administrators, and other staff members be a part of the presentations. This would not only encourage the students to do their absolute best and create a worthwhile project, but it would also give the community a chance to discover what the students are learning in school. Finally, I would like to create a poetry wall with the students. In one of the lessons the students will be asked to draw upon on of their journal entries to write a poem about the time period, or the characters. These poems will be displayed in an area that will allow those coming into the building to see them and take a moment to read one or more of them.
Giving the students a variety of ways in which to showcase what they have learned allows them to take ownership of their work and learning. In addition, it allows the teacher and school librarian to find new ways to assess their students. Ultimately the goal is to make the students feel successful and feel as though they have truly learned something new and exciting.
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Stacey,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading about some of the challenges you are having with mixing up the kinds of assessments you use, I thought about a book I use called Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT). I cannot recall the author and the book is geared toward college teaching but some of the ideas would transfer to K12 as well. For instance, the empty outline, the minute paper, the student generated exam questions, are a few of my favorites. KWL is good in theory, but I have not found it to be that successful in my own teaching. Perhaps you have some specific strategies to make it work. I look forward to reading your unit plan.