Assessment Plan

Grade level:

2^nd grade Spelling/Language Arts

Purpose:

The purpose is to learn the spelling words for the week. Form habit of doing spelling each night, and ultimately memorization and understanding of words to pass weekly test.

This would be achieved by utilizing “Spelling Soup" each week which list five different assignments for use with spelling words. Students can choose which assignment they want to, and insert weekly words. One assignment is due each night to be turned in at end of week for weekly grade.

Outcome:

1. Students will learn minimum of 80% of High Frequency words to be considered for advancement.

2. Students will develop habit by doing nightly assignment from Spelling Soup.

Assessment Context:

Holistic Rubric:

Students attain 30 total points (5 pts
for homework each night), and 10 points for all words spelled correctly.

Testing Constraints:

Spelling words are taken from the high frequency words that each child is required to know before leaving 2^nd grade. Each student will know all a minimum of 80% of the required high frequency words before moving on to 3^rd grade. These words are the basis of all reading and writing that will be done in 3^rd grade; therefore not allowing students to fall through the cracks is a necessity. In order for students to achieve these outcomes I will have objectives listed, handouts for students and parents. Testing frequently, as well as involving parents in any outside activity that can be done to reinforce these words.

Because these are performance based assessments the only true constraints placed on them would be time and scoring criteria. For time it would be a nightly assignment turned in “on time” each Friday, and the timed period to taking the spelling test itself. Scoring criteria is given to students and parents on each week’s Spelling Soup paper, so they are well aware of their needed points.

Test and Essay Items

In a previous blog post I outlined the Learning Outcomes Second graders tend to want to "read more into" their stories, and love variety in their reading. So a different "ditto" book regularly keeps their interests peaked, and allows their imagination to wonder within the bounds of the
assignments each week.

The three tests that would support the learning outcomes would include:

1. A grade based on reading the blue book out loud (to the teacher) each week.

The reason this would be an amazing testing tool is that it is two fold for these children. On one hand it gives them a personal strength by reading out loud, and possibly helping them to become stronger public speakers. Second, they read and reread the same story several times each week
therefore increasing their vocabulary, their pronunciation, and memorization.

2. Take the favorite part of the story and draw a picture and adapt it to their own story.

This testing option allows the children to tap into their imagination, and stretch it, all the while having them start out at the same place. It allows the children to step out of the busy work test taking, and see other sides of the same story through the eyes of their friends. And the best part is, this pushes them to think on their own, and they can't really be wrong.

3. While they take words ending in -y or -ly from the book, ask them to also think of words on their own that aren't in the book itself.

Assignments such as this are once again two fold, it forces the child to read the book again and look for "different" words, and two it has them thinking on their own to come up with "original" words.

As we saw in the Linda Darling-Hammond on Competing Internationally children need to utilize a "higher thinking" a type of research and these type of tests encourage thinking on their own, while adhering to the parameters of the assignment. Kids want to learn, and as teachers we are called upon to teach them, and they are all sponges and will continue to soak up all the knowledge that we can throw at them. However that being said, we need to remember to PUSH them to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.

Reference:
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Big Thinkers; Linda Darling-Hammond on becoming internationally competitive. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/international-teaching-learning-assessment-video

Learning Outcomes

Abstract
My assignment in week two was to create a blog to which would serve as a “professional portfolio” for my journey through the MAED program. My goal is to earn my Masters in Education with a specialization in special needs, so that I will be able to obtain a job working at any grade level throughout the school system and help children and their parents. I am a mother of a child with Autism, and having been through the IEP meetings, I want to be the person who parents can identify with to help them navigate the waters of special needs. I believe being one of these parents myself will allow me to be one of the people they identify with through some of the trying times they could face.

Learning Outcomes
This week’s assignment asked me to write at least three measurable learning outcomes for a hypothetical unit of study and grade level of my choosing. Since I currently have two children in second grade I chose this level so that I was able to utilize a book they work on each week to test my hypothetical unit of study.

Age group of interest
Second graders (weekly assessment to strengthen process)

Comprehension/Cognitive
Every week students are given same small ditto blue book with a story that intertwines with math, history, or language arts for each week. One of the main goals is to get the students into the habit of reading and rereading the same story each night to aid in comprehension and problem solving thinking on their own. Some weeks the stories are lower level readings and other weeks they are a bit higher, this is to keep each child regardless of their level on the same page and doing the same activity all the while they fit in because the whole class is doing it.

Outcome: Ability to manipulate story so that they can write a different ending to the book.

Assessment: Read the story, comprehend the story, and rewrite a short paragraph for a different prospective to the story.

Outcome: Ability to pull a “favorite” part out of the pages of the story.

Assessment: Reread the story and find a favorite part and write three-four sentences about what it is and why it’s your favorite part.

Outcome: Find all words that end in –y or –ly sound (this could be adapted to any ending sound or even syllables if the was the main goal in that weeks studies).

Assessment: Students will go through each page and read to find the words that end with these sounds and list them. This assignment will again have them reading the same story but looking at it through different eyes.

Outcome Testing

Second graders tend to want to "read more into" their stories, and love variety in their reading. So a different "ditto" book regularly keeps their interests peaked, and allows their imagination to wonder within the bounds of the assignments each week.

The three tests that would support the learning outcomes would include:

1. A grade based on reading the blue book out loud each week.

2. Take the favorite part of the story and draw a picture and adapt it to their own story.

3. While they take words ending in -y or -ly from the book, ask them to also think of words on their own that aren't in the book itself.