Skip to main content

Choice in Assessment

I took a chance and tried something new today. We've been rehearsing and learning new vocabulary words for a few weeks and today we were showing off our knowledge...aka it was time for our summative assessment. I decided to give them three choices to show me that they owned these words. They could use the word in a sentence or write the definition or they could sketch or doodle the meaning of the word.

I was worried about the last choice. My worry wasn't for my students, my worry was for me. I wondered if I would I be able to see the mastery of the word in their drawing? The answer came to me in a resounding YES! It made reading over these answers interesting and fun too. I love sixth-grade readers!


Here are some of their sketches and doodles! Enjoy...
 

 

 

 


 

 

 

I celebrate choice in assessment. I celebrate the creativity of my sixth-grade readers and writers. 


Comments

  1. This is great! My 5th grader would LOVE this as an option!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are great! I have a spot for illustrations for our weekly root words and for some kids, this makes a huge difference in the learning of the words. But I never thought about using it as an assessment! Might just have to try this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amen!! Totally sharing this with our staff - we are amid a huge conversation about word study. What does it look like? Sound like? LOVE all of this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love seeing how your kids visually showed their understanding. I love the gum ball selfish example and the turbulent plane!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Choice in assessment is part of differentiation. Cool result.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is amazing! I love this idea. Choice in assessment - and the visual representations. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great way to show their learning. Too fun.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great assessment tool you created, Michelle. Tomorrow night, #NYEDChat is hosting our chat on Formative Assessments with Judy Dodge and Blanca Duarte. There will be give aways of the book. Hope you can join us. I just put up my post at http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2017/10/weeklong-celebrations.html.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree! I can totally tell that they own these words! I LOVE IT! I have a question...did they choose their own words, or they were assigned the words? I've been thinking a lot about things kids do in isolation and trying to figure out what's a good balance.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts. I love comments!

Popular posts from this blog

Whatever Happened To...

Sharing this post on Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Do you ever wonder whatever happened to your students after the year you spend together? I imagine how my students are finding life...are they happy? Successful? Do they still read? Write? What is going on with them?   I taught fifth grade for eight years. Fifth grade was such a fun year to teach because the students were still young enough that school was something they loved and old enough that they could show some real signs of independence. Fifth grade is the oldest grade in our elementary schools, so the students enjoyed their final year before moving onto middle school and the challenges that came with that new adventure.  2007 was a tough year for me personally. My dad collapsed in September of that year and then died in March of that same school year. He lived thousands of miles away, so my mind was definitely unfocused that year...but that year, Catie was in my class.  Catie was a quiet stude...

Chasing My Dream

I'm doing it. I'm chasing my dream. I've always wanted to run writing retreats and workshops for people, but I've always been too scared to do anything about it...until now. I don't know what's changed...maybe I've changed. I'm not allowing the fear to stop me anymore. I've started Selah Writing Retreats.  The past couple of weeks I've been getting the business end in order. I thought I would hate that...I don't. It's scary, but I am surprising myself with how efficient I am. Yesterday I went to a bank to set up a bank account. The woman I met with was kind and helpful and so enthusiastic about my dream. My website is set up. I've done lots of work on it. I hope you stop by and let me know what you think. It's  selahwritingretreats.com . Balancing creative with business has been challenging but fun. Creating the website, getting a federal tax id, making business cards, planning dates... My favorite voxer group is called Butt Ki...

I Love Me...All of Me

I'm fat. It's true. I'm not looking for comments like, "Oh you're not fat." I am. I want to take that word back. When we say that now, it has a negative connotation. I'm tired of that. I'm done. I'm fat. I'm working on loving my body just the way it is...by reading a book. I confess I'm reading the book on my Kindle app because I was embarrassed about the title. It's called, "Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls" and it's written by Jes Baker . Her mission is self-love...for all. I've highlighted so many lines, I can't possibly share them all, but here are some of my favorites: "Our bodies are our physical bookmarks that hold space for us in the world. Our bodies are magnificent houses for everything else that we are. Our bodies are a part of us, just as our kindness, talents, and passion are a part of us." (p.10)  "Your size is irrelevant to your ability to find fulfillment, purpose, love, a se...