Start the webinar at 3:15 and watch until 12:00
How we assess students:
Comment on the following:
- Refer to page 3 in your workbook; choose one moment that you currently use in your Science instruction in order to assess and share what this assessment tells you about your students
- Why do you assess your students?
- Offer comments to others's posts on how to they assess and what certain moments tell us about students.
Often I will use a type of formative assessment during instruction to monitor progress. The task usually contains two or three questions and I can quickly get a feel for how the students are doing as I move around the room. I will then collect the students answers and read them after class. I will then use the results to determine what information I have to re-teach during future lessons.
ReplyDeleteI asses my students with diagnostics to determine what students know and identify misconceptions student might have going into a topic.
Most of my formative assessments are very informal but help me see how students are progressing.
I also use many informal assessments to see how my students are progressing, and use mini-journal writing questions to check for understanding.
DeleteIn the beginning of the year I use a lot of discussions, think/pair/share, and informal journal writing when learning about science. For example, as part of our curriculum, we went on a field trip and purchased apples from local farmers. We then planned out the steps to an experiment of float/sink, used a hand lens to look more closely at the apples, and graphed the colors/types of apples that were purchased. In addition, the students had to draw and label the parts of an apple. I assess my students to get a better understanding of their content knowledge, but also to see how I can extend the topic to meet the interests of the students. Overall, I want their beginning experiences with science to fun and engaging!
ReplyDeleteWendy-great ideas for assessment strategies. Think/pair/share is a way to get students engaged, while seeing what they know. I love the experiment that your class did on apples. A hands-on experiment is a beneficial way to assess students in science.
DeleteAwesome Wendy!!
DeleteOne type of assessment I use in science is diagnostic. Before starting a new unit, I give the students 5-10 minutes to free-write anything they know about the topic. We share out and I just listen to their responses without giving feedback as to whether it is factual or not. I tell them up front that what they think they know may not actually be fact, and we will clear up the misconceptions throughout the unit. Often I refer them back to those responses, or sometimes they recognize that what they though to be true was not actually a fact!
ReplyDeleteI assess my students as a means of measuring their progress towards the standards. While I am required to have a numerical grade for my 5th graders in science, I rely more on how well they met the target versus a grade.
As a district, we also use a mid-term and final exam in science as a periodic assessment.
This is GREAT!, im so glad to hear you are doing this!! Do you think the students like it or are they hesitant to share?
DeleteI think they like it, there are always a few students apprehensive about sharing but I make sure from the beginning not to worry about being "right or wrong". I just want them to start the thinking process.
DeleteI like this idea as well. Often when this is used it sparks conversation and debate to the point where students challenge each other to prove themselves or disprove others.
DeleteWe asses our students to see if they comprehended the material that was taught. Assessments are used for monitoring students' learning in the classroom. At the elementary level, a lot of our science is incorporated into ELA. There are many times we use ELA grades for science. An assessment we use often are formative assessments. We give exit tickets, weekly quizzes, and vocabulary tasks. We use summative assessments at the end of a chapter or unit. Most of the time chapter tests are used from the reading series, due to lack of time. If we had more time, we would definitely be using more projects and presentations. However, during summer curriculum planning, we did find a few ways to incorporate summative tasks that involve science and ELA. An example is an animal research project we will be using later in the year.
ReplyDeleteI agree Nicole. We often have to use ELA to teach social studies and science. It is all about assessing the student's comprehension of the material, regardless of the subject. I would much rather to projects and demonstrations for science too, but time is always a factor.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could always assess by seeing the kids "doing" but i think teachers are afraid if they dont have the paper pencil evidence they arent assessing them correctly!
ReplyDeleteOne formative assessment I have seen takes place the morning after a lesson is taught. For bellwork/morning work students are given 1-3 questions or a simple task to complete which gauges their understanding or ability to use information from the previous day's lesson. The teacher reviews this with the students at the beginning of class and can correct misconceptions or reteach if necessary.
ReplyDeleteStudents are assessed to gauge their understanding of what has been taught, to inform a teacher's instruction and to help students inform their own learning. Ideally all three will happen depending on the type and timing of the assessment.
I know with all the testing that is going on today and the backlash that the common core gets that we sometimes get lost in the idea of teaching. Assessments are a natural part of education. They take many different and creative forms throughout the school year. Science teachers have developed so many hands on skills and lessons in the classroom that kids of all educational levels often take to this class. Formative, authentic, and diagnostic are just a few that I see daily within the science classroom. The teachers and the special ed consultants can very quickly gauge what the kids know and what they struggle with. Science involves multiple step by step situations that allow the teacher to rapidly assess where the kids are.
ReplyDeleteI will repeat myself and state that in Science there is more opportunity to be hands on and do activities/labs that are productive and at the same time fun. Unfortunately, CFA's and testing testing testing has cut into that creativity.
ReplyDelete