1.+Learning+Goals

1. Matching Learning Goals to Appropriate Assessment  In my Interdisciplinary Unit, I will be utilizing history and writing Georgia Performance Standards for grade 1. These standards include: **SS1H1**- The student will read about and describe the life of historical figures in American history. a) The students will identify the contributions made by Benjamin Franklin (inventor/author/statesman). b) The students will describe how everyday life of these historical figures is similar to and different from everyday life in the present (food, clothing, homes, transportation, communication, recreation). **ELA1W2**- The student writes in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive and response to literature. b) Begins to maintain focus. c) Adds detail to expand a topic.  **ELA1LSV1**- The student uses oral and visual strategies to communicate. b) Recalls information presented orally. (Georgia Performance Standards, 2008).

In the Early Intervention Program classrooms, all students are below-grade-level readers, and they require accommodations for this literacy level. This low literacy level makes the necessity for listening skills and orally presented information obvious. Throughout this unit, there are a variety of formative assessments used to assess the learning, as well as a summative assessment at the end of the unit.  For each learning goal, there is a performance-based assessment because these are often the most functional for my students. If they can show and/or tell me something that is often the easiest way for them to demonstrate understanding. The formative assessments are writing a 3 to 5 sentence paragraph about a given topic, maintaining focus on that topic. Their initial paragraph is the beginning of the assessment, showing writing skills and listening skills because the information will be presented orally.

Then, students are given time with the instructor to add a detail sentence to their paragraph. This individual development time is essential in the students’ learning process, as working on adding detail is something this class often struggles with. After the paragraph is complete and to the students’ liking, they will illustrate their paragraph in preparation for “publishing”; a time where we share our work as a group and give feedback as a class. This form of assessment will occur twice, once for each week and topic of the lesson. The first paragraph will be about Benjamin Franklin’s contributions to history, and the second paragraph will be about the similarities and differences between his time period and our own. These two separate, yet related works will require students to listen critically, retain information, and make connections to their lives. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Throughout the lessons and presentations, I will also be asking questions for understanding to see if students are grasping the information. While this is not a formal assessment, it gives me a guide of what needs to be retaught, what they have mastered, and what they are in the middle with. These informal assessments also ensure that students are engaged in the lesson and using their listening skills to gather the answers and information they need.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The final (summative) assessment will utilize a program called iRespond, which works in conjunction with the Smart Board. This program gives each student their own remote control and log-in code. After creating a multiple choice and true-false quiz in the system, students will view the questions one at a time. The questions will be read aloud while the students read along with me. After reading each question I will read the possible answers, and give students time to select the answer. The system shows how many students have answered, and will show the correct answer after every student has responded. The correct answer is displayed along with a bar graph displaying the number of students that selected each answer. This creates a game-like atmosphere for students while maintaining the confidentiality necessary during testing. No names are given, only a total number of students, which creates an atmosphere of elation when all students answer correctly, and provides the opportunity for discussion when this is not the case. At the end of the summative assessment I can print out the score report for each question as well as each student. This information provides me the opportunity to see if it is the question that was a problem, that particular portion of the lesson, or if it is an individual student issue.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">These forms of assessment, running throughout the entire unit, promote student learning and achievement because they give opportunities for students to show, explain, and tell about what they have learned. While the focus is on improving listening and writing skills, students in this class have a low literacy level which means they must be able to display learning in other ways. I feel that questioning, providing engaging activities, and the one-on-one time with students ensures that they can all be successful learners.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I believe that I embrace Reeves’ (2007) concept of assessing students against the standards and not against each other because all assessments are designed based on the state standard. Students’ writings are graded based on the content they describe, not necessarily their use of writing conventions. Also, a mountain curve (Reeves, 2007) allows the students to achieve to the best of their ability, not necessarily to a particular score or level set by someone with a different level of readiness. In my classroom, with students of low literacy levels, it is important to provide them assessment options that allow for accommodation and adjustment based on their readiness level, not just the common assessment that the entire grade uses.