Assessment & The English Language Arts Curriculum

University of ManitobaJanuary 21, 2013

Reflect on and explore ideas, methods, and purposes of assessment and the English language arts curriculum

Goal

Build understandings of the big ideas, structure, and entry points of the English language arts curriculum.

Reflect on planning for rich learning.

Consider effective assessment practices.

Outcomes

Curriculum Landscape

A Gallery of PrinciplesAs a Table Group: Read and discuss the statements at your table

◦ What do they mean to you?◦ What might they look like/sound like in the classroom?◦ What do they make you think/wonder?

Decide on 3 responses to add to your posters & post on the walls

Individually: Read & reflect on each of the principles and table group

responses Add your thinking to each of the posters (in response to the

principles and/or the table group responses) End the gallery at your own poster and reflect on the

written “conversation.”

Big Ideas and ELA Curriculum

Reflecting on

Learning

Communicating Meaning (speak, represent, write)

Making Meaning(listen, view, read)

Critical Literacy

General Learning Outcomes:1. Explore thoughts,

ideas, feelings, and experiences

2. Comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, literary, and media texts

3. Manage ideas and information

4. Enhance clarify and artistry of communication

5. Celebrate and build community

6 strands: viewing, representing, listening, speaking, reading, writing

Interrelated, integrated, overlapping, supportive

Vehicles

Multimodal Thinking & Multiliteracies

Processes & Products

Literacy and ELA

Learning through Rich Contexts and Multiple Texts

Example – Whom Am I (MY) Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen carefully (Littlefoot’s mother, Land Before Time)

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Inquiry/Driving Questions:◦ What makes or breaks relationships?◦ Is multiculturalism real or just an artifice in

Canada?◦ What is the real cost of fame?◦ What does it mean to be a man?

Issues/Themes◦ Gender and equity◦ Identity◦ The real cost of war

Rich Contexts – Some Examples

◦ Personal and Philosophical exploring loyalty, love, & relationships; beginning &

becoming; discovery & disillusionment; rites of passage

◦ Social, Cultural, and Historical conflicts, challenges, issues, & choices; in search of justice

◦ Imaginative and Literary indigenous narratives; imagined worlds

◦ Communicative listen to the music; popular culture; telling the story -

newsmakers

◦ Environmental and Technological building a better planet; turning points

Rich Contexts –More Examples

Selecting Resources

◦Same text for all – increase scaffolding and structures

◦Different texts – provide different information/lenses/challenge on a same topic and pool the knowledge

Text Sets A wide range of oral,

visual, print, and multimedia texts on a topic or theme◦ developmentally and

culturally appropriate ◦ non-fiction and fiction

texts◦ more than one point

of view Think: vertical and

horizontal

Goal:

Performance(s)Demonstration(s)Product(s):

ClassroomProcesses:

GeneralLearningOutcome:

1

2

3

4

What do I want my students to know and be able to do in this learning experience?

What will the evidence of student learning look and sound like?

How will I design the classroom contexts and processes to facilitate learning?

Planning for Quality …

Knowing Where to Start

What GLO(s) will be my entry point into the ELA Foundation for Implementation?

Four Steps in Planning with the End in Mind (adapted from McTighe)

Scenario 1- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to be able to access and organize information from a variety of sources.

Scenario 2- Teacher’s Goal:

I want my students to explore and to see value in different viewpoints and make connection to their own opinions/ideas

Scenario 3- Teacher’s Goal:

I want my students to reflect on how text might marginalize certain voices, individuals, or culture

Scenario 4- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to be able to experiment with and reflect on purposes of language and techniques used in a range of persuasive text.

Scenario 5- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to explore creative processes in order to design communications in various forms.

Entry Points

Collecting & Documenting Evidence

Conversations: over the shoulder, conference, peer, journals, book talks

Products/Processes: journals, portfolios, projects, skill applications, process pieces, reflections

Observations: focused, around the room, individual/partner/ group, checklists

Insert pic of environment from Reading and Writing in Action

Learning Experience / Targeted Learning OutcomesSpotlight on Identity: Build and extend the skills and

strategies that proficient learners use to make meaning of text B-D-A

Identify how texts may influence learners’ beliefs, values, perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours and how learners, in turn, shape meanings in texts2.1.2Comprehension Strategies2.1.3 Textual Cues2.1.4 Cueing Systems2.2.2 Connect Self, Texts, and

Culture5.1.2 Relate Texts to Culture

Criteria Met Not Yet Met

Questions, makes connections, and infers before v/l/r

Practises/chooses appropriate strategies to monitor comprehension during v/l/r

Reflects on connections, asks new questions, supports opinions, and draws conclusions after v/l/r

Observation Date(s)/

Assessments

Student Names

DateShared viewing/ reading and discussion of identity comics or images

DateWalk around quotation

DateFairy Tale examination

DateLiterature Circles

DateAlternative story writing

AI think this was created in the “60’s. I noticed...

“The fact that she used the word ___ tells me...”

This version of Cinderella paints a different picture of women. I saw many references to...”

Poses various questions that provoke debate

Sourced out various photo essays and identified characteristics of form. Plans to create one.

B “I wonder...”“ I don’t get...”

No responseUnderlines confusing parts & notes questions

Shares an interpretation and refers to text

Sept. 14 Sept. 15 Sept. 16 Sept. 25

Asks questions before and during reading

S.W. L.P. C.L.J.B.

S.W. L.P. Work with R.T. in class to continue

supports with S.W. and L.P.

Met Not Yet S.W. L. P.

Makes connections to self, to other texts, and to the world during reading

S.W. L.P S.W. L.P.

Summarizes main ideas of the text after reading

S.W. L.P. C.L. J.B. B.M. I.L. D.T. G.B. L.C. C.O. A.N. B.P.S.D. K.O. E.E. H.K. L.G. S.P. G.L. G.K. C.E. I.D. G.P. C.B.

This is difficult for many – need to

continue practiceMet Not Yet

Date: Sept. 14 Course:ELA 10F Unit: Identity Focus: Comp. Strats.

Period/Block 1 Period/Block 2 Period/Block 3 Period/Block 4 Period Block 5

Asks questions before and during reading

S.W. L.P. C.L.J.B.

J.F. R.R. M.L.

Makes connections to self, to other texts, and to the world during reading

S.W. L.P R.R

Summarizes main ideas of the text after reading

S.W. L.P. C.L. J.B. B.M. I.L. D.T. G.B. L.C. C.O. A.N. B.P.S.D. K.O. E.E. H.K. L.G. S.P. G.L. G.K. C.E. I.D. G.P. C.B.

Date: Sept. 14 Course: ELA 10F Unit: Identity Focus: Comp. Strategies

Giving Effective Feedback

◦ Describe what the sample shows the student knows and is able to do (STRENGTHS).

◦ Identify one or two areas for improvement (CHALLENGES).

◦ Offer feedback that directs and motivates better performance on the next attempt. (GOAL SETTING FOR NEXT STEPS)

Conferencing: Some Thoughts Importance of feedback during the processes Teacher to student(s), student to teacher, student

to student, Author’s Chair, chosen audience, colleague to colleague

Can’t confer with every student every day...or even every week

If it takes longer than 10 minutes, it may need to be a minilesson for a small group or whole class.

Not just for students who are “struggling” Conference focus often stems from observations or

need to learn more from studentAdapted from Kittle, Penny. (2008). Write Beside Them. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Writing Conferences Early on

◦ Writer identity and goal setting◦ Finding a topic/ideas and focus◦ Making decisions about topic, format, and

audience Drafting

◦ Are my ideas focused? Are they developed?◦ Does the writing flow logically?◦ How effectively am I saying things?

Editing and Polishing◦ Voice: a personal tone and flavour◦ Word choice: a thoughtful approach to word choice◦ Sentence fluency: a rhythm and flow to the writing

that helps it convey the message. ◦ Conventions: grammar, spelling, punctuation,

capitalization, and usage. Reflecting and Goal Setting

Peterson, Shelley. (2003). Guided Writing Instruction, Strategies to Help Student Become Better Writers.

Listening in

What moves does Penny make?

How does she build student ownership?

Setting Goals

GoalsWhat do I need to get

better at?

StepsHow do I plan to do this?

Evidence What evidence will show I’ve

achieved my goal?

How can I get better at opinions?

•Write my thoughts everyday•Try writing different forms, such letter to the editor, comments on a blog…•Have someone in mind that I am writing for

•Writing journals•Blog entries •Planning templates

How can I get better at reading?

•Decide the purpose for the reading•Read often•Talk about what you read with someone•Reread when you don’t understand something

•Reading reflections•Reading log

How can I get better at studying for tests?

•Outline strategies to develop my ideas

•School assessments

Source: Kathleen Gregory, Caren Cameron, Anne Davies

Evidence of AchievementStudent ___________________________

1 – 2 – 3 – 4

M NM

Evidence for Sept-Oct

Reader Response

entry

Short non-fiction –

Talk to the Text

Independ- ent novel Conferenc

e

Shared novel (lit

circle)

Group Inquiry(notes)

So far

Sept 9 Sept 19 Sept. 30 Oct 13 Oct. 17

Making Meaning Retells, but includes relevant details

Makes relevant notes

Captures the gist

Makes basic connect. to life

Summarizes plot and desc. charac.

Graph org. reps. imp. ideas

Critical Literacy N/A Some comments questioning fairness

Retells section & notices gender rep.

Wonders about author’s context

N/A

Reflection N/A Merely states that it was hard – no reasons

N/A

Reflecting on Learning

What did I read/hear?

What did I see/notice?

What do I think/feel/ wonder?

What are my next steps?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5292150656/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewomensmuseum/3707554617/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinielsen/64372218/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/rustystewart/300021362/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/34281632@N03/3842472527/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/verylastexcitingmoment/3119328322/ http://www.cartoonstock.com/blowup_stock.asp?imageref=shl080425&artist=Hilburn,

+Scott&topic=identity http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173381758l/

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http://readingthroughlife.ca/i-d-stuff-that-happens-to-define-us-review/ http://www.amazon.ca/Define-Normal-Julie-Anne-Peters/dp/0316734896 http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://literarytreats.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/

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http://www.buzzle.com/articles/african-last-names.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7BQRGXFLJs

Image Credits