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Teacher Tools
Whether you are a classroom or preservice teacher, teacher educator, content leader, department chair, or administrator, the materials below can assist you in implementing the practices presented in the video clip.
Assessment and Evaluation: Some Useful Principles
The terms assessment and evaluation are often used as synonyms. Distinguishing between them can be helpful as you plan instruction. Assessment means looking at what students can do in order to determine what they need to learn to do next. That is, assessment, whether of individual students or an entire group, is done in order to inform instruction. Typically assessment is holistic, often recorded simply as "credit" or "no credit."
Evaluation occurs after a concept or skill has been taught and practiced and is typically a scaled response, indicating the level of achievement or degree of competence a student has attained.
Structuring Literary Responses
Many teachers find it helpful to provide students who are learning
ways to respond to literature with a simple chart or form to
record responses. Mr. Holden's chart simply asks students to
list what they liked, what they didn't like, puzzles (questions
or confusions) they identified, and personal connections they
made. In this way, he is able to identify (and explicitly accept)
a range of responses. The categories on the chart assume that
students will find some aspect of the poem pleasurable, but
it also accepts the fact that there may be parts that a reader
doesn't like. The chart foregrounds questions and confusions
as a normal part of literary response, and provides an opportunity
for making such problems visible so they can be dealt with.
Finally, the chart reminds students that personal connections
are central to the understanding and enjoyment of literature
and brings those connections front and center for group sharing.
You may wish to adopt Mr. Holden's chart "as is" for use in
your classroom (see "Poetry
Response Chart"), or you may find that modifying it will
make it more functional for you and your students. See "Students
Informal Written Responses to 'Last Touch' " for samples
of how Mr. Holden's students responded to this activity.
Text Pairings
As you plan literature experiences for your students, consider
offering text pairings. Some teachers like to introduce students
to a number of works by the same author. Others try to find
texts with similarities in theme or content. Works or authors
that have received awards and appear to be developing into
contemporary classics are also favored choices. No list of
suggestions can be complete or can address every criterion.
You may find it useful to follow Mr. Holden's example and group
specific poems for specific
lessons. The list of poetry collections found in the Additional
Resources section of the print support materials should
provide a helpful starting point for collecting poems that
your students will enjoy.
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