Instruction and Assessment Go Hand in Hand

Creating this graph and reading Sunal's chapter 14 helped me learn a lot about the forms of assessment. This chapter was extremely informative for me considering I am not extremely knowledgeable of assessment. Upon reading Sunal’s chapter on authentic assessment, I have learned the three main types of assessment and decided which ones I should utilize in my future teaching. Since my main concern is my students’ learning, I will implement formative assessment. I like to think of this assessing as “benchmarking”. This means that I would be checking on students’ progress towards the learning objective which would result with me correcting any issues as they go along. It is better to find the issue as soon as possible and correct it rather than having the issue effect the rest of a student’s learning. In addition, formative assessment could help me modify my teaching strategies to fit the needs of the student.




Another strategy in assessment that I would like to use in my teaching is the self-assessment tactic. This form of assessment can be used in the earliest grades with collaborative goal setting. I think it is neat how the students can create their own learning goals so that they know what is expected of them. Students help decide what is to be learned through a task and what makes a complete assignment. I could create a checklist with learning goals stated as questions and encourage students to refer to them when needed at specified reflective times. I like the idea of a student-led conference in which students present the information from these assessments and show their work and progress to family members and teachers who ask questions.

Life in Colonial America Artifact Bag

For my artifact bag, I chose to go with a theme of a young colonial girl. The artifacts include a dress, bonnet, and a corn husk doll. This combination can give students a good idea of what the lifestyle was like during colonial times. It may be difficult for students to visualize life long ago when they are so accustomed to life today in the 21st century. Girls can especially contrast their dress and belongings with the contents of this artifact. Boys can contrast what they have observed girls wear and have with the contents of the article.

Click here to view Group A's artifact bags, books, and websites. :)