Private: Teaching Reading: 3-5 Workshop

Professional Development > Private: Teaching Reading: 3-5 Workshop > 8. Assessment and Accountability > 8.4 Put It Into Practice | Assessment and Accountability

English Language Arts

3-5

Assessment and Accountability Put It Into Practice | Assessment and Accountability

Choose Activities

In this section, you will build on what you have learned and develop strategies you can use in your own classroom. The following activities are designed to help you develop assessments and documentation. Choose one or both of the activities from the list below.

Activity 1 –Develop a Rubric

In this activity, you will develop a rubric for one of the grade-level benchmarks in your literacy program.

Activity 2 –Anecdotal Records Assessment

In this activity, you will begin to develop a technique for collecting evidence to demonstrate achievement of grade-level benchmarks.

Develop a Rubric

Rubrics provide teachers and students with a framework for scoring and interpreting student performance. They contain criteria related to a curriculum benchmark and reflect at least three levels of performance: 1) is working on or approaching grade-level expectations; 2) meets grade-level expectations; 3) exceeds grade-level expectations. In this activity, you will develop a rubric for one of the grade-level benchmarks in your literacy program. Use the following steps to guide you in creating your rubric. When you have finished, save your written work to submit as an assignment.

Select a grade-level goal or benchmark for reading or writing (e.g., students will write with a clear focus and organization of ideas).
Assign a task that reflects this benchmark.
List characteristics of student performance at each of the three levels noted above.
Develop a grid that categorizes the criteria you have noted for each level of performance. You may want to assign a number to each level.
Use the rubric to assess samples of student performance on the benchmark.
Use the results of the rubric to plan instruction.

Here is a Sample Rubric (PDF) to assist you in developing your own.

Benchmark: Students will be able to identify and understand how and why a character changes in a piece of fiction, based on what the character does or says and on what others say about the character.

Assignment: After completing a book, students will write at least three paragraphs describing how a character changed from the beginning to the end of the story.

After completing your own rubric, answer these questions:

How did the rubric help you to assess student performance?
Was the rubric an accurate reflection of the selected benchmark?
What changes would you make to your rubric for future assessments?
How will you share the rubric with your students? How could you include students in the development of other rubrics?
What instruction will you plan as a result of using this rubric?

Anecdotal Records Assessment

Assignment.

In order for assessment to inform instruction, anecdotal records need to focus on content standards. In this activity, you will begin to develop a technique for collecting evidence to demonstrate achievement of grade-level benchmarks. When you have finished, save your written work to submit as an assignment.

Reread Focused Anecdotal Records Assessment: A Tool for Standards-Based, Authentic Assessment (PDF) by Paul Boyd-Batstone, focusing on the following five components:
1. Observing students in instructional settings
2. Maintaining a standards-based focus
3. Making anecdotal records
4. Managing anecdotal records
5. Analyzing anecdotal records
Identify one reading comprehension benchmark: What do you expect your students to be able to do at the end of the year? (e.g., Students will identify the most important information in a nonfiction text.)
Choose a struggling reader.
Observe this student three times over the course of several days or weeks, focusing on the reading comprehension benchmark you have chosen.
Write a specific anecdotal record for each observation.
1. Write observable data.
2. Write records in the past tense.
3. Support records with examples as evidence.
4. Don’t tell what the student cannot do.
Analyze the anecdotal records, marking them for strengths (S) and needs (N). You may expand your analysis to include teaching points, misunderstandings, etc.
Write a paragraph reflecting on what you learned from the three anecdotal records and how they will inform your instruction of this student.

Series Directory

Private: Teaching Reading: 3-5 Workshop

Credits

Produced by WGBH Educational Foundation. 2006.

Closed Captioning
ISBN: 1-57680-815-7

Sections

8.1 Before You Watch | Assessment and Accountability

8.2 Analyze the Video | Assessment and Accountability

Watch the video, "Assessment and Accountability," taking notes as you watch. After you watch, jot down your answers to the questions below. If you prefer to watch the video in segments, pause the video when you see the next chapter heading.

8.3 Extend Your Knowledge | Assessment and Accountability

8.4 Put It Into Practice | Assessment and Accountability

8.5 Reflect on Your Learning | Assessment and Accountability

Supplementary: Assessment Chart

Handout

Supplementary: Examine the Literature Response Chart

Handouts

Supplementary: Focused Anecdotal Records Assessment: A Tool for Standards-Based, Authentic Assessment

Handout

Supplementary: Literacy Assessment and the Future

Handout

Supplementary: Assessment Conversations

Handout

Supplementary: Retelling Guide

Handout

Supplementary: Sample Rubric

Handout

Workshops

Workshop 1 Creating Contexts for Learning

This session examines how classroom organization, routines, and grouping practices can enhance literacy skills in the middle grades. Literacy expert Jeanne Paratore discusses teaching strategies that foster reading and writing skills. Classroom examples illustrate the research.

Workshop 2 Fluency and Word Study

This session focuses on how students in the middle grades develop vocabulary and reading fluency. Literacy expert Richard Allington discusses specific teaching strategies that help build fluency and vocabulary, illustrated by classroom examples.

Workshop 3 Building Comprehension

Comprehending text is one of the main goals of reading. In this session, literacy expert Nell Duke discusses what good readers do and strategies teachers can use to help students build comprehension skills. Classroom footage provides examples of comprehension strategies.

Workshop 4 Writing

This workshop examines the relationship between reading and writing in the middle grades. Literacy expert Nadeen Ruiz discusses the connections, conventions, and inventions that provide a framework for teaching writing, illustrated by classroom examples.

Workshop 5 New Literacies of the Internet

This workshop focuses on the evolving use of networked technology in education. Literacy expert Donald Leu discusses strategies that help students effectively read, write, and communicate on the Internet. Classroom examples illustrate strategies for using Internet resources in the classroom.

Workshop 6 Teaching English Language Learners

Changing classroom demographics call for a range or teaching strategies. In this session, literacy expert Robert Jim�nez discusses strategies teachers can use to create a successful learning environment for all students, while supporting English language learners. Classroom examples illustrate the research.

Workshop 7 Teaching Diverse Learners

In this session, literacy expert Dorothy Strickland discusses how teachers can meet the diverse needs of readers and writers in their classrooms. Classroom examples and teaching strategies address different aspects of diversity, including culture, language, background, ability, and learning approaches.

Workshop 8 Assessment and Accountability

This session explores assessment, standards, and outcomes. Literacy expert Kathy Au discusses the strategies teachers can use to assess students' understanding in reading and writing. Classroom examples illustrate how students can participate in their own assessment.