Part C: Assessment Plan
Pre-Assessment / Formative Assessment / Post-AssessmentObjective 1:
Students will be able to identify characteristics and principles that make introductions and conclusions interesting and captivating for a reader (i.e. voice, tone, awareness of audience, sensory details) in both familiar and unfamiliar models/examples. / My cooperating teacher noticed that students were struggling with writing good introductions and conclusions. / I will ask questions as I show models of introductions and conclusions to assess whether or not they can identify characteristics that make them good. I will also observe students as they work in groups to make sure they are identifying good principles. Finally, I will ask students to share with the class the principles they discovered in their groups. / I will observe and help students as they work on their final drafts in the computer lab after our lesson. I will ask students to tell me what they are doing to make their introductions and conclusions more interesting. I will ask which principles they are using to improve their introductions and conclusions.
Objective 2:
Students will be able to apply the introduction and conclusion principles they learn from the models into their own writing by changing and adding details, strengthening their voice, and demonstrating an awareness of their audience. / My cooperating teacher noticed that students were struggling with writing good introductions and conclusions. / I will observe students as they work on their essays in the computer lab, making sure that they are incorporating the principles they identified into their writing. I will read through their introductions and conclusions and ask them why they made the choices they did. / My cooperating teacher will read the students’ final essays to evaluate whether or not they effectively applied the principles they identified into their final introductions and conclusions. She will use a grading rubric to do this, which specifies how their introductions and conclusions will be graded. She will then use their final drafts to determine whether or not the students need extra help and practice.
In my lesson plan, I try to incorporate pre-assessment, formative assessment, and post-assessment for each of my two objectives. As detailed above, I feel that each stage of assessment aligns neatly with its given objective in both content and complexity. Although both pre-assessment and post-assessment for the second objective will be conducted primarily by my cooperating teacher, I plan on observing students carefully during my lesson in order to ensure effective formative feedback. I also plan to effectively post-assess students on the first objective by asking specific questions based on my lesson plan as they write and revise their introductions and conclusions in the computer lab. I think this is the best way to assess students on this objective because having to explain the characteristics and principles they are using will demonstrate that they have identified them in models and can thus identify them in their own writing.
Along with following the assessment procedures I have outlined, I realize that I will also need to accommodate in order to work with students who may need adaptations or accommodations. For example, my first period class includes ten special needs students. I think the best adaptations for these students will just be to provide them with extra help during independent practice time (as they analyze models with a partner and as they work on their introductions and conclusions in the writing lab). None of these students have disabilities severe enough to require modifications on the essay requirements, but they will need extra help from my cooperating teacher and me as they work on improving the introductions and conclusions in their personal narratives.
In regards to performance criteria and scoring procedures, I mentioned in the chart above that my cooperating teacher has a rubric which she will use as she grades the students’ personal narratives. The rubric indicates that 10% of the students’ grade (10 out of 100 points) will be based on the introduction and conclusion of the narrative. She will grade the introductions and conclusions based on whether or not students incorporate the principles and characteristics discussed in this lesson into their introduction and conclusion.