Think of a lesson plan from your licensure area. Knowing that assessment is an integral part of teaching, explain at least four informal and formal assessments that you will use in your lesson plan to provide you with feedback and involve the students in assessing their own learning.
In my teaching rotation I am able to observe a math lesson at Mooreland Heights Elementary School. I previously didn't feel very comfortable about teaching math, but by watching Ms. Hutson, my mentor, I have found some confidence. Most of her lessons follow the same format, something that I wish to do when I'm a teacher. I think it gets the kids in a good routine and makes them feel comfortable with topics and also some of the forms of assessment I am going to discuss.
For the sake of this blog I will say we're learning about adding and multiplying fractions in a fifth grade class (that is what we're doing at MHES). As most of us know, fractions can be a pretty scary topic and can be confusing so I think it's a great topic to be assessed in frequently, so no one will get left behind.
Below I have stated some of the different types of assessment I will use when teaching fifth graders about math.
-Have some sort of "bell ringer" work that reviews topics from the previous day. This was I can see if students need a little extra time to review what they learned in the previous lesson or if they feel comfortable to move on. This is informal assessment.
- Frequently throughout the lesson have students show me "thumbs up, thumbs down, or thumbs in the middle" as an indicator of how well they understand what's going on. When I first heard my mentor teacher doing this I thought it may not be accurate beacuse students would be embarrassed or shy to say that they are struggling, but I've found that even with fifth grade they're not afraid to ask for help! This is also an informal assessment.
- Students will work individually on whiteboards when I present a problem on the smartboard or main whiteboard. I will have students hold up their whiteboards when they are done so I can see how they're doing. If possible I will have a co-teacher walking around checking everyone's work and taking notes of how they're progressing. Again, this is informal assessment.
- I will present students with a real life situation involving fractions... I'm thinking along the lines of a Hershey's chocolate bar, or pizza slices, and see if they can apply what they've learned to a real life situation. Informal assessment.
- Lastly I will give my students a formal quiz or test at the end of the unit over adding and subtracting fractions. Even though this will be a formal test I will be sure to do what I can to make my students feel at ease, like giving them their white boards to work out problems or drawing a picture if they need it. This is a formal assessment.
I've included a link that has a great, extensive list of informal assessments for math lessons. Some are strategies that I have mentioned in my assessment ideas and there are a lot of new strategies as well! This would be a great link to bookmark. http://loticonnection.cachefly.net/iste_2010/Informal_Assessment_Strategies.pdf
Lily,
ReplyDeleteWe had a lot of similar ideas about about different types of assessments to use for math. I especially love that you would have the students use whiteboards during the lesson! I have used this technique many times with students and it is so beneficial. Certainly you have to enforce some rules, so that the students don't just draw on the white boards, but overall they are an excellent teaching tool. For some reason students always seem to think an assignment is so much more fun if they can do it on a white board instead of a piece of paper.
I think your idea about using real world food problems is a really good idea. Fractions may bore kids, but everyone loves food! And I definitely agree that whiteboards are such an effective tool. When we use whiteboards in speech pathology, the kids are so much more engaged in the lesson compared to normal. I'm sure the same is true with math, so I think that's a really good idea.
ReplyDeleteI love the different types of assessment - using food for fractions is great! I like the idea of a bellringer too - it's such a great way to start the class off and get students focused.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you included so many different ways to assess the students throughout the week. Since everyone learns and tests differently, the variety you provided will give each student the opportunity to relate and understand the material.
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