The

Assessment Plan
Sally Reaves

My Assessment Philosophy

I believe that assessments should strictly be used to let the teacher know where students fall in
relation to the goals and objectives we set prior to beginning a lesson. They play a key role in teachers
communication with students about how well they are mastering the material presented in class. As teachers,
we must continually strive for a straightforward approach to assessment, never trying to trick students. I can
see how some would say that students are constantly responsible for their knowledge of the material, but
springing quizzes on students will not help them master that information. Rather than getting an accurate
read on what students know and dont know, pop quizzes only leave students feeling defeated. We should
keep in mind the importance of preparation for assessment. Performing well under pressure is a
characteristic that can take us far in life. But we must remember that building stamina to review information
and taking time to understand and follow rules is just as important if not more. I feel as if students can learn
to review notes a little at a time and learning how to take direction will help even more so in the professional
world. Let us not forget that our ultimate job as teachers is to prepare students to be responsible citizens in
the world.


Unit Objectives to be Assessed
Cognitive (to know and to understand)
1. Students will understand that researching their pasts can lead to a better understanding of themselves.
2. Students will understand that writing is a form of reflection.
3. Students will know the benefits of collaborating in groups.
4. Students will know that research projects can be a way to get to know one another better.
Affective (to feel/value)
5. Students will value a friend or family members point of view when reflecting on a meaningful life moment.
6. Students will value multiple creative writing genres that allow them to convey research.
7. Students will value the opportunity to reflect on their progress and experiences throughout the unit.
8. Students will feel supported by having a group of classmates to collaborate with.
Performative (to do)
9. Students will be able to conduct research about their pasts.
a. Students will be able to conduct an interview with a friend or family member about a difficult situation
10. Student will be able to use multiple creative writing genres to express research.
a. Students will be able to create a personal ad that describes them.
b. Students will be able to create a black out poem.
c. Students will be able to create 2-4 pages of a storybook with their group.
d. Students will be able to create text incorporating information from the personal interview in a personal
letter to their past selves.
11. Students will be able to share their research and writing with their teacher and their peers.
a. Students will be able to create a writing portfolio
b. Students will be able to give a 10-15 minute presentation to the class.
c. Students will be able to create a booth displaying their work and findings about themselves.
12. Students will be able to reflect on their own work and experience as well as that of their peers.
a. Students will be able to provide feedback to their classmates about what they thought of everyones
display and presentation.

Methods of Assessment Informal

Blackout Poem Objective 10B
This Blackout poem is derived from the personal advertisements students create in the first week of this unit.
I am a firm believer in never grading poetry; I think that this type of writing is often so personal and stylistic
that it is best to grade the process. This works well for the Blackout poem, because the purpose of this
assignment is to demonstrate to students to multiple ways to create writing. I will give students 2 points for
actively participating in the creation and sharing of the poem and 1 point for having the actual product. This
grade will fall under both participation and final drafts of texts.

Gallery Walk & Presentation Worksheet Objective 12A
During the gallery walk and student presentations, students will be required to fill out two worksheets to
provide feedback for their classmates. This holds them accountable for really looking at their classmates
displays and pieces of writing. Students will fill these out and reflect upon 10 different classmates
presentations and displays. This grade will fall under participation.

Interview Reflection Objectives 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Students will be asked to write a quick reflection synthesizing the information they learned about themselves
during their interview. This is meant as a stepping-stone for the friendly letter, so I will grade this only for
participation.

Visual Genre of Choice Objective 1, 6, 9, & 10e
I did not teach students a lot about this type of text because I wanted students to be able to choose whatever
genre they wanted to include. Because of that, I am only going to grade this informally. The two criteria are
that information is conveyed in this genre and that there is a balance of the text and visual.
Appendix A

Methods of Assessment Formal
Personal Advertisement Objectives 6, 9, & 11
The personal advertisements will be graded on both promptness and a revision from the first draft to the
second. The main purpose of this is to ease into creative writing, provide a stepping-stone to create Blackout
poetry, and to assess the students revision skills. This grade will fall under final drafts of texts.
Appendix B

Interview Transcript Objectives 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10D, 11
Interview transcripts will be assessed both on their neatness and their content. I will be looking for context
within the questions about the experience being discussed, the relationship between the two having a
conversation, and the depth of the interview questions. This will fall under final drafts of texts.
Appendix C

Storybook Objectives 3, 4, 6, 8, 10C
Creating a storybook will show students that information can be conveyed concisely and in fun ways. I also
want them to know that there is a place for storybooks in the classroom. I will be grading the storybooks to
make sure that these stay true to a storybook definition and that the group members equally contributed to
the creation. Additionally, I will assess to see whether or not the storybooks created were related to the
groups assigned vocabulary words.
Appendix D

Friendly Letter Objectives 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 10D

These friendly letters come straight from the interview transcripts. I wanted this to be a reflective piece of
writing that also has a distinct format that students will need to follow. I want to see information derived
straight from the interview, demonstrating how this piece of writing can convey information. I will be grading
this under the final drafts of texts category.
Appendix E

Reflective Essay Objectives 1, 2, 7, 12
I want this piece of writing to be an element of reflection on the students progress both as a writer and as
their own self. I am very interested to know what the students think of this project, and this will be a good
way to get some feedback. Overall, however, I am looking to see what the students believed they improved
upon. There is an added element of inserting a coordinating conjunction (from a Sentence of the Week
activity) into the writing of this essay.
Appendix F

Presentation
Students will be graded on the formal presentation in front of the class on the last day of the unit. I will be
assessing students on multiple aspects of the presentation, including making eye contact with the audience,
delivering a calm and collected presentation, and a clear speaking voice. I also added the display area
students create for the gallery walk in this rubric. The displays add extra character and allow us to get to know
each other better, but I did not believe that it was important enough to have its own rubric.
Appendix G

Unit Grade Formula
Participation 20%
Presentation/Booth creation 20%
Final drafts of texts 40%
Reflections/Peer feedback 20 %

Participation Grade Breakdown

Assignment
Creation of nameplate
Sharing of nameplate
First Day Survey completion
Think-pair-share classroom norms
Group discussion classroom norms
Brainstorming for personal advertisement
Blackout poem creation
Blackout poem product
Norms discussion (day 2)
Two truths and a lie game
Sentence of the Week activity (week 1)
Life Highlight sharing
Group name creation
Vocabulary poster creation
Vocabulary poster sharing
Discussion about friendship and storybooks
Brainstorming for interview
Introductory paragraph about interview
The Giving Tree reflective prompt
The Giving Tree guided reading worksheet
Sentence of the Week discussion (week 2)
Sentence of the Week group check
Interview reflection
Visual text
Sentence of the Week participation (week 3)
Exit slip
Exit slip
Sentence of the Week group check
Conference
Gallery walk worksheet
Presentation worksheet

Point Value
1
1
2
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
-1 or +1
2
2
1
1
1
-1 or +1
2
2
2

Final Drafts of Texts Breakdown

Assignment
Personal advertisement
Interview transcript
Storybook
Friendly letter
Reflective essay

Point Value
2
2
1
1
2

Appendix of Rubrics & Tools

Appendix A: Visual Genre of Choice Rubric


1
Information Conveyed
No information about the
author is presented in the
text
Balance of visuals and
No visual aspect is
text
included in the text; it
looks very similar to a
piece of prose;

2
Two specific facts about
the author are presented
in the text
There is an aspect of the
visual in the text, but the
majority of the
information is
overwhelmed by words

3
At least three specific
facts about the author
are presented in the text
The text includes both
words and visuals, but
the majority of the piece
is aesthetic

Appendix B: Personal Advertisement Rubric

Student Name


First draft
Second draft
Revision

First draft of personal

advertisement is not turned
in on time
Second draft of personal
advertisement is not turned
in on time
No visible transformation
from the first draft to the
second

First draft of personal

advertisement is turned in
on time
Second draft of personal
advertisement is not turned
in on time
There is clear
transformation from the
first draft to the second;
revision goes beyond
surface-level grammatical
and spelling errors; sections
of ad are reconstructed and
shifted around

There is some
transformation from the
first draft to the second;
majority of revision is
surface-level grammatical
and spelling errors

Appendix C: Interview Transcript Rubric

Student Name


1

Experience/Situation Dont know what the

Interviewee

Questions

Preparation

Transcript

Clearly identified by
interviewer; background
information is included
and explained thoroughly
Connection and
relationship to
interviewee is clearly
explained; reason why
interviewee is asked
about specified situation
is clearly stated
Only surface level questions Mainly surface level questions are Some surface level
are asked; no deeper
asked; at least 1 question that
questions are asked; at
questions are asked; no
digs deeper at a bigger
least 3 questions that dig
follow-up or clarification
theme/message; some follow-up, deeper at a bigger
questions included
clarification questions are asked
theme/message; several
follow-up, clarification
questions are asked
Prepared questions are not
Prepared questions are turned in Prepared questions are
turned in on time; less than 5 on time; at least 7 questions are
turned in on time; at least
questions are created
created
10 questions are created
ahead of time
No transcripts is turned in on Neatly typed or handwritten
Transcript is neatly typed
time
transcript is turned in late
or handwritten and
turned in on time
situation addressed is; no
background information is
included or explained
Connection and relationship
to interviewee is not
addressed; reason why he is
interviewed is not clear

Not clearly identified by

interviewer; background
information is included and
explained broadly
Connection and relationship to
interviewee is not clear; cannot
understand why the interviewee
is asked about this situation

Appendix D: Storybook Rubric

Group Members

Group work

Topic

Elements of storybook

Group members submitted

an uneven amount of pages
OR
Each group member
submitted 1 page of the
book that he/she created
independently
No correlation between
theme and assigned
vocabulary word

Every group member

submitted at least 2 pages
of the book that he/she
created independently

Every group member

submitted at least 3 pages
of the book that he/she
created independently

The theme fits with the

assigned vocabulary word,
but only after much
explanation

Theme clearly fits with the

assigned vocabulary word

Either the pictures or the

text could be completely
removed from and the
reader would still
understand the story

Majority of pictures and

text work together to
create a meaning; some can
stand alone and present an
understandable meaning

Pictures and text work

together to create the
meaning; neither one can
stand alone to present an
understandable meaning

Appendix E: Friendly Letter Rubric

Student Name

Interview

No connection between
interview transcript and
letter; interview transcript
is not tuned in

Some information from

transcript corresponds to
the letter; copy of the
transcript is turned in

Situation

Neither the event nor the

significance is clearly
identified

The situation of the

interview is clearly
identified; the significance
of the event is not

Advice

No advice is given to
yourself

One piece of advice is given At least two pieces of

to yourself
distinct advice is given to
yourself

Format
(x2)

Two or more aspects of a

friendly letter format is left
out

Follows the format of a

friendly letter, but 1 aspect
is left out

Most information in the

letter clearly corresponds
to the information gathered
from the interview; copy of
the transcript is turned in
The situation the interview
was centered around is
clearly identified; the
significance of the situation
is obvious

Follows the exact format of

a friendly letter; every
aspect of the format is
included

Appendix F: Reflective Essay Rubric

Student Name

Reflection

Student does not identify

something he learned
about his personality or
his writing

Experience

Growth

Sentence of the Week

Student identifies
something he learned
about his personality but
does not expand upon it;
student identifies
something he learned
about his writing but
doesnt expand upon it;
OR
Student identifies only
what he learned about
his personality or his
writing skills an expands
upon that
Student does not identify Student identifies his
his favorite genre or
favorite genre was;
experience throughout
identifies his favorite
the unit
experience OR
Presenter identifies only
his favorite genre or only
his favorite experience
and expands on it
Student neither identifies Student identifies which
nor shares the work he is genre he is proud of but
most proud of
does not share it with the
class
No example of a
Only one example of a
coordinating conjunction coordinating conjunction
used
is used and bolded or
underlined in the essay
OR two examples are
used, but neither are
bolded or underlined

Student identifies
something he learned
about his personality and
expands upon the
discovery; student
identifies something he
learned about his writing
and expands upon the
discovery

Student identifies what

genre he found most
enjoyable and why;
student identifies his
favorite experience
throughout the unit and
why
Presenter identifies
which piece of writing he
is most proud of and
shares it with the class
At least two examples of
a coordinating
conjunction is used and
bolded or underlined in
the essay

Appendix G: Presentation Rubric

Speaking Skills Counts for 40% of overall presentation grade

Student Name
1
Delivery

Eye contact

Posture & Volume

Display Area

Presenter is rushed and

speeds through
information; no
enthusiasm for
information; uses a lot of
words such as like, um,
er, etc. mostly
incomplete sentences
Presenter keeps head
down for the entire
presentation or looks only
at the teacher; reads
directly from material
Speaker is continually
asked to speak up and
cannot be heard by
students in the middle of
the room; does not face
the audience at all;
posture is very slouched
No mementos or pictures
are brought in to display;
students multi-genre
research project is
disorderly and scattered

Presenter is a bit rushed;

shows little enthusiasm;
uses many words such as
like, um, er, etc.; some
incomplete sentences

Presenter does not rush;

shows enthusiasm; avoids
saying like, um, er, etc.;
uses complete sentences;

Speaker keeps head down

for most of the
presentation; speaks to a
few people (mainly the
teacher); reads from
materials
Speaker is asked to speak
up two or more times;
does not face audience for
most of the presentation;
posture is a bit slouched

Speaker looks up at the

audience; speaks to the
teacher and classmates;
does not read much from
materials

Student has brought in

one or two items that
represent themselves and
display; students multi-
genre research project is
neat but not bound
together

Student has brought in at

least three items, pictures,
or tokens that are
meaningful to them and
displayed them on their
desks; students multi-
genre research project is
neat and bound in an
orderly manner

Speaker is asked to speak

up only once or not at all;
faces audience; does not
fidget; stands up straight

Appendix G continued

Information counts for 60% of overall presentation grade
Student Name
1
Reflection

Experience

Growth

Presenter does not

identify something he
learned about his
personality or his writing

Presenter identifies
something he learned
about his personality but
does not expand upon it;
presenter identifies
something he learned
about his writing but
doesnt expand upon it;
OR
Presenter identifies only
what he learned about
his personality or his
writing skills an expands
upon that
Presenter does not
Presenter identifies his
identify his favorite genre favorite genre was;
or experience throughout identifies his favorite
the unit
experience OR
Presenter identifies only
his favorite genre or only
his favorite experience
and expands on it
Presenter neither
Presenter identifies
identifies nor shares the which genre he is proud
work he is most proud of of but does not share it
with the class

Presenter identifies
something he learned
about his personality and
expands upon the
discovery; Presenter
identifies something he
learned about his writing
and expands upon the
discovery

Presenter identifies what

genre he found most
enjoyable and why;
presented identifies his
favorite experience
throughout the unit and
why
Presenter identifies
which piece of writing he
is most proud of and
shares it with the class