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.