adjusting assessments

Last week Gabbie, Candace, Professor Mace and I reviewed the assessments we have created. We discussed how it is had to stick to one standard when making the assessment. Then we gave each other tips on how to make each assessment better and more clear to understand.

For example, on my assessment my first question was "What characters do you need to create the number 324?" ( see last post for code) I decided to change it to... "Using all three characters how many of each character do I need to create the number 324?" Followed by the follow up question of "Is there other ways? Explain yes or no." By doing this I hope to give my students a clearer idea of the answer I am looking for.

Overall, I think it was very helpful to look back on each others work and trying to improve it. It definitely makes us think about the standards and how to use them in other content areas.

The standard I decided to add was CC.1.2.2.K Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade-level reading and content, choosing from a range of strategies and tools. I believe this standard fits my assessment by clarifying what numbers would go with what character which would be the "unknown".

I would be able to incorporate a science standard in to my assessment by changing the character to the life cycle of a butterfly into a caterpillar. The caterpillar would be 1, the cocoon would be 10, and the butterfly would be 100. This would cover the standard...3.1.4.C. Illustrate patterns that regularly occur and reoccur in nature.

Doubling Up On Standards

The last time we met, Candace, Jen, and Professor Mace, and I browsed throughout each other's assessments from our last blog. While browsing through our assessments, we made a few revisions to our assessments. We are also going to try our hand at applying other standards to our lesson.

In regards to revisions, I have only made two changes to my assessment. I changed my first question, "1. How many circles are below? How do you know?" to "1. If there are seven pairs of cheese sticks in a bag, what is the total amount of cheese sticks in the bag?" My reasoning for this change is that the phrasing of the question and its accompanying graphics allows students to just count each circle one by one. The new question provides them with a visual of a bag of cheese sticks, but it does not show how many cheese sticks are in the bag nor can you count how many cheese sticks are in the bag. This encourages them to use the concept of pairs and count by twos. The other revision I made was simply moving the correct answer in number two to letter b that way it was less obvious.

The standard I chose to apply to my assessment is CC.1.2.2.G, "Explain how graphic representations contribute to and clarify a text." I could apply this to any of my questions by asking the students if the graphics helped them answer the questions and why or why not.

I also chose a science standard to apply to my assessment. The standard I chose is: Standard - 3.1.2.A5: Explain how different parts of a plant work together to make the organism function. To do this, I could have each part of the plant represent different factors of a number; the plant would represent the product of those factors. The question would be as follows: the roots = 2, the stem = 16, the leaves = 5, and the flower = 6. Using the number representations of each part of the plant, choose one part to create the number 30 which represents the whole plant. How many times did you have to use that one part of the plant to create 30? Do this with a different part of a plant. 

Adjusting Assessments

Last week, Prof. Mace, Gabbie, Jen, and I reviewed each of the assessments that we created. We were able to discuss each part of our assessments and give feedback when necessary. This week we decided to search through common core standards to see if our assessment could be adjusted to fit other standards in other subject areas. 

I particularly looked at English/language arts common core standards for second grade first. The standard I found that could possibly work with my assessment after some slight adjustments is CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.2.1; Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. My original assessment has very little text above the bar graph. For my assessment to fit this standard, I would have to add more text at the top of the paper to allow the students to ask more questions about the text and bar graph before answering the assessment questions. They could discuss in groups or with their partner what they are thinking when just looking at the graph. It would also allow the students to answer the questions that they are being assessed on that relate to the graph. After talking to their classmates and asking questions, they might have even answered the assessment questions without even realizing it! 

For my assessment to relate to a science standard I would have to change the topic of my bar graph to how tall plants grow with different amounts of water and sunlight. The standard that I could fit my assessment into if I changed the content would be standard 2-LS2-1; plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. This experiment would be very hands on for the students and they would be able to see the difference in plant height each day at school for the span of a week. The students would be able to water the plants that receive water and put plants around the room exposing some to sunlight and others to darkness. The students could even record their findings and the teacher would create the results into a bar graph with 2-3 questions to assess the students. The bar graph could show the results of how tall or short the plants grew after receiving different amounts of water and sunlight. The students would not even realize they are being assessed on the results because they were involved in the process. 

Making an Assessment

Last week Gabbie, Candace, Professor Mace and I reviewed assessments and discussed how we can pull in other standards beside our own. My standard is CC.2.1.2.B.1,  using place-value concepts to represent amounts of tens and ones and to compare three digit numbers.
Which means children must be able to understand place values in three digit numbers. They also must know how to represent tens place, ones place, and hundreds place.

The assessment I made was based around Disney characters.

What characters do you need to create the number 324?

What characters would I have to take away or add if I have the number 845 and I want the number 671?

Where it says "Text box were pictures of each character. I thought making this assessment was fun and made me think past my standard. It required me to get creative with my thinking. This assessment brought in adding and subtracting along with relating numbers to pictures. Overall I think it was a fun experience.

Creating an Assessment

Last week, Prof. Mace, Gabbie, Jen, and I discussed whether the assessments we chose could fit into standards other than the standard we originally chose to focus on. This week we decided to try and create an assessment that fits our standard and possibly other standards under our domain as well. The assessment could also fall under other standards in other domains too. The standard I have been working with is CC.2.4.2. A.4 which states; represent and interpret data using line plots, picture graphs, and bar graphs. This standard is under the domain measurement, data, and probability.

The assessment I created is called favorite color. I based this assessment off of a previous assessment I reviewed called We Scream for Ice Cream. Favorite Color discusses how all of the students in Miss Smith's second grade class voted for their favorite color. The results are displayed into a chart with three questions to follow for the students to answer thoroughly. The questions are worded to make the students think. They are not just yes or no questions. The questions are written to make the students have to explain their reasoning. The students can also talk with their group members to discuss their reasoning to the questions they answered. The students can work together and come to a final answer for each question.

I created the Favorite Color assessment on Microsoft Word. I used Microsoft Excel to make the bar graph and then typed three questions below the graph that would help the students interpret the graph. I had used Excel to make a bar graph for another class so that was not difficult at all. Assessments are typically thought of as tests but that is not always true. Assessments can be fun and engaging for the students but also give the teacher a well-rounded idea of how each student is progressing in the concept that is being assessed. For my assessment, the teacher is able to walk around the classroom and observe the students approach to the problem. The teacher is able to see how the student interacts with others and what questions they are asking about the assessment. The students can clarify with their peers if they are stuck on a certain question. Creating this assessment was not as complex as I thought. I did base my assessment off of another assessment on the Balanced Assessment Project website but came up with my own scenario. I hope that with more experience and time I will be able to create my very own assessments to assess my students.

My Shot at Creating an Assessment

Today has been a day for sailing on uncharted waters. For the very first time, I have created my very own assessment which (hopefully) covers my entire standard (CC.2.2.2A.2: Work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication) and possibly other standards. I unfortunately cannot attach my assessment to this post, but I will give a brief overview of it.


In my assessment, I posed my questions in such a way to veer my students towards using certain strategies for each question.

1. How many circles are below? How do you know?

This question is accompanied by three groups of three circles. My objective with this question was to get the students to recognize the equal groups and use that strategy to skip count by threes instead of counting each circle one by one.

Answer: 9 circles

2. Choose the number sentence that represents the number of cats:

a. 4+4+4+4=16
b. 5+5+5+5=16
c. 4+4+2+2=16
d. 8+8+7+1=16

I presented them with four rows of cats which all contained four cats. My objective with this question was to get the students more acquainted with the idea of using equal groups and be able to see equal groups represented in number form.

Answer: a. 4+4+4+4=16

3.Use repeated addition to create a number sentence that represents the amount of phones above.

The students are shown three rows of phones with five phones in each row. Since they had already been introduced to the idea of created a number sentence based on equal groups, I decided to test their knowledge with an open ended question. This allows them to practice this strategy entirely on their own, so they may make the connection between the physical groups and numbers.

Answer (may vary): 5+5+5=15

4. Kieren wants to get a cake for his class of 32 students. One cake has 8 slices. If two students share one slice of cake, how many cakes would Kieren have to buy? Explain how you got this answer.

This is a very complex question for children at this age level; I do not expect them to do division to solve this problem. A simpler way to solve this problem would be to use the graphic of the cake I provided to skip count around the circle and track how many times they must go around the circle until they reach 32.

Answer: 2 cakes

To my surprise, the process of creating my own personal assessment was not as difficult as I though it would be. Breaking down the standard, reviewing other assessments and lessons, and discussing it with the group certainly helped quite a bit. If I were to create a lesson and teach it before creating this assessment, I think creating this assessment would have helped even more. By that point, I would be so familiar with the standard that it would be secondhand knowledge. With time and practice, I could most definitely start creating assessments with no problem at all.

assessment review

This week we were given the task to go on the balanced assessment program webpage and find another assessment that fits our standard. My standard is CC.2.1.2.B.1,  using place-value concepts to represent amounts of tens and ones and to compare three digit numbers.
Which means children must be able to understand place values in three digit numbers. They also must know how to represent tens place, ones place, and hundreds place.

Unfortunately, I could not find any other assessment that fit my standard in grade two. I went on to review the grade three assessments. Fermi four is the assignment I decided to review.

One of the questions on this assessment was "If your parents tell you to be good for 1 million seconds does that mean you have to be good for 12 hours, 12 days, or 12 weeks." This question meets many standards in second grade including B.1. B.3. and B.2 under numbers and operations. I also can touch on the algebraic concepts.

Assessment Review

Last week, Professor Mace, Gabbie, and I talked over an assessment we each chose that fit our standard. We discussed how the assessment content filled the standard. We then looked to see if the assessment fit into any of the other standards in our domain or if the assessment fit into standards in the other domains. This week I chose another assessment that relates to the standard I have been working with which is standard CC.2.4.2.A.4 which states; represent and interpret data using line plots, picture graphs, and bar graphs. This standard is under the domain measurement, data, and probability. The assessment I chose to work with this week is called Beach Day. 

Beach Day

Beach Day talked about the Smith family who wanted to go to the beach but wanted to choose the nicest day. The students are given a 7 day forecast of the weather for the week that the Smith family wants to go to the beach and are asked to interpret it. The first question wants the students to pick which day would be the best for the Smith family to go to the beach and explain why they chose that day including a description of the weather in their answer. By answering this question, the students are interpreting the weather forecast by choosing which day has the best beach weather based on their observations from the 7 day forecast. The second question asks students to explain why they did not choose the other days in the week for the Smith family to go to the beach. This allows the students to interpret the weather day by day because they can only choose one beach day for the family. They have to be able to describe why all the other six days cannot be beach days. 

There are no other standards that this assessment would fit under. There are numbers included in the forecast but they represent the temperature each day of the week and do not follow a specific pattern. Weather and temperatures are unpredictable and random. 

There are no other assessments besides We Scream for Ice Cream and Beach Day that relate to my specific standard. Yet, there is another assessment that relates to another standard in my domain. The assessment is called Measure for Measure which asks students questions about measuring different items with M&M's. This is not a standard form of measurement but still allows the students to gain a basic understanding of measurement and why we measure objects the way we do. The standard that this assessment could fall under is CC.2.4.2.A.1; measure and estimate lengths in standard units using appropriate tools. The students are asked to measure their thumb and their partner's thumb using M&M's. They are trying to determine how many M&M's it takes to measure their thumb and their partner's. M&M's are not typically used to measure the length of objects but it gets the basic concept of measurement across to young learners. It is also a hands on activity because the students are using something tangible to measure with and it is a lot more fun for the students to measure their thumbs using M&M's than them just using rulers. 

Balanced Assessment Project Review

Last week, the group and I reviewed lessons from the balanced assessment project that met our respective standards in our domains. After breaking down the assessments more thoroughly, I realized how applicable these assessments were to a number of our standards. They don't seem to be very complex problems when you initially look at them, but a lot of these problems use a variety of skills from a variety of domains in the standards. For that reason, I will be reviewing a few more assessments that meet the standard in my domain and determining what other standards in other domains (as well as mine) apply to this assessment as well.

As a reminder, my standard is: CC.2.2.2A.2: Work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication.

Birthday Cupcakes

The prompt for this assessment is: Mr. Ramon wants to buy cupcakes for his son Jaime's birthday party at school. The cupcakes are sold in boxes each box has either 6 chocolate cupcakes or 6 vanilla cupcakes. There are 27 students in Jaime's class.

Throughout this assessment, the questions prompt the students to do some form of multiplication whether that be skip counting or using equal groups along with some addition. Due to the way the prompt and questions were written, the students are almost forced to use equal groups to determine the answer for two of the questions. For that reason, this assessment met my standard: work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication.

As for the other standards, there were a few that this assessment met. One question required the students to subtract a two-digit number from another two-digit number. This problem could be solved mentally or on paper, so it could fulfill standards CC.2.1.2.B.3: Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract within 1000, CC.2.2.2.A.1: Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction within 100, and CC.2.2.2.A.2: Use mental strategies to add and subtract within 20. It did not however fit into the domains of geometry and measurement, data, and probability.

Postal Puzzles

The prompt for this assessment is: In the imaginary country of Philalia, the only kinds of stamps are ones that cost 3 tekos and ones that cost exactly 4 stamps on it.

In the questions that follow, the students must use multiplication strategies to answer. These problems in particular encourage students to use equal group and try a combination as well which allows them to work on their addition and possibly multiplication skills. For that reason, this assessment fulfills my standard: work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication.

In this assessment, the only standards being fulfilled are the standards in the domain, Algebraic Concepts. This assessment doesn't focus on place value concept at all, so it cannot fulfill any of the standards in Numbers and Operations, nor does it cover any standards in the Geometry domain or Measurement, Data, and Probability. Although the problem does encourage students to use a currency, the questions do not require the students to make change, so it cannot fulfill the standard: Solve problems and make change using coins and paper currency with appropriate symbols.  As for Algebraic Concepts, it does fulfill the standards: Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction within 100 and CC.2.2.2.A.2: Use mental strategies to add and subtract within 20.

Beach Day!

This week we were given the task to go on the balanced assessment program webpage and find a assessment that fits our standard. My standard is CC.2.1.2.B.1,  using place-value concepts to represent amounts of tens and ones and to compare three digit numbers.
Which means children must be able to understand place values in three digit numbers. They also must know how to represent tens place, ones place, and hundreds place. The assessment that I found that was closest to my standard was Beach Day. Although, it did not compare three digit numbers, it requires children to understand place value in the tens and ones place.

The assessment had various temperatures and asked what day would be the best day to go to the beach. The child would then have to depict the hottest day by knowing what value each number held. The child would them have to explain why the other days were not ideal to go to the beach.

I think this is a good lesson but not completely for my standard. With this assessment we are pulling science and math together which I think is a great idea however, I would change a few things to have it better fit my standard. One thing I would change is that I would have them subtract two temperatures to get one days temperature. For example, Fridays temperature would be 130F-46F=84F. 84F would be the temperature for Friday. I would do that so three digit numbers would be reviewed along with subtraction.

We Scream for Ice Cream

We have been breaking down different standards these past few weeks and each of us chose a specific standard to focus on. The standard I have been working with is standard CC.2.4.2.A.4 which states; represent and interpret data using line plots, picture graphs, and bar graphs. This standard is under the domain measurement, data, and probability. This week I will be reviewing an assessment from the Balanced Assessment Project that follows my standard. The Balanced Assessment Project provides teachers with various assessments that they can use to assess their students in the different areas of mathematics. The assessment that I chose to review is called We Scream for Ice Cream which follows the standard CC.2.4.2.A.4. 

We Scream for Ice Cream had the students vote on their favorite flavor of ice cream and then record the data onto a chart to visually represent the data that was collected. The students were then asked a few questions that would guide them to interpret the data on the chart. To help students describe the trends in the data, I could provide questions that would help guide them to the trends I want them to see such as which ice cream flavors have the most cones. This would allow me to assess what students understand the concept and what students need more guidance. A question from this activity states, If the class can only buy two different flavors for the ice cream party, which two should they buy? Why? This gets the children thinking about which two flavors were most popular or which two flavors had the most votes. They are able to refer to the chart and count which two flavors had the most ice cream cones or just look at the chart and see which two flavors have the most cones. The data shows that orange sherbet and vanilla were the two most popular flavors and would be the two flavors bought for the ice cream party. Then to continue, the next question could be, How many students will not get their favorite flavor? How do you know? This will guide them to look at the other flavors that did not have as many votes as the top two flavors and why that is the reason that those flavors did not get picked. 

To be able to determine whether the students are grasping the concept or not, I would give the students another scenario such as what is their favorite color. I would have all students put their favorite color on the board. I would then give them three different types of data displays to choose from and organize the data on the board with the students help so they would not be confused and were able to be involved in the organization of the data as well. Then I would let them create their own type of data display using the data they collected and the knowledge they have with displaying data in various ways.