Formative & Summative Assessments
Exit Cards – Formative Assessment
I used exit cards to collect assessment for learning. An exit card was given to the students at the end of a lesson on adjectives. The lesson started off by checking students’ prior knowledge. Afterwards, I taught the lesson using a variety of tools to meet the needs of all students. For example, I orally explained adjectives and provided examples. Then, I had some examples for students to try to identify the adjectives. This was followed by a Youtube Video explaining adjectives. I then created a list of adjectives with the students on the whiteboard. I left this list on the whiteboard so that students could refer to it during their cooperative learning activity. In groups of 2-3, students had to complete a “Mad Libs” story on adjectives. Students loved working together to think of adjectives and create a funny story. Once students were done, they were given a package of exercises to practice identifying and developing adjectives. Right before recess and once students had had a chance to start their package, I handed out the exit cards.
To access the exit card I made for a lesson on adjectives, click here.
This exit card was extremely useful for me to check which students had mastered this concept and which students still needed some extra help. After school that day, I looked through all the exit cards. I made two piles; one for students that mastered the concept and one for students who needed a review/extra help. I was happy to see that most students understood the lesson. The following day, I took the time to see the students who did not do so well on their exit card. I met with the students individually to go over their exit card and to verify their progress in the package. I gave them some extra help and reviewed the areas they might be struggling with. I found this to be extremely effected and well done because I did not single out the students. I found a time during the day to speak to each student individually. By doing it this way, the students need not feel shy to communicate their needs and questions with me.
Writing/Journaling – Formative Assessment
During a unit on bees, students learned about different aspects of a bee – what they look like, how they are different from wasps, the life cycle of a bee and why they are important to our environment. One formative assessment tool used was journaling and drawing. After reading two parts of a book about bees, students were asked to write one thing that they learned about bees and to draw a picture. This type of formative assessment has been very effective for Grade One students as it gives them a chance to write and tell their teacher about something interesting they learned. Here are some examples of students’ work.
Summative Quiz
During my fourth field experience, I create a unit on Nutrition Month for my Grade One class. Over a month and a half students participated in various lessons learning about different aspects of Nutrition Month. Throughout this time students completed many formative assessments as a way to evaluate student learning and progress. At the end of this unit, students were given a short, one page quiz to evaluate students’ learning of Nutrition Month. This quiz was designed for Grade One students.
Laura D'Altilia's E-Portfolio 