Collaboration "Assessment"

In our "pre-planning" session, Christina and I chose a list of Third Grade benchmarks for Reading Literacy Development in Rochester Commuinity Schools. We decided to assess the standards which most third graders should be at by the end of the school year. [See pre-planning blog, February 3, 2009]

We prepared our assessments using the "Backwards Design Process." Our rubric was designed covering Language Arts and Social Studies standards placing more emphasis on covering Language Arts areas. We spent a lot of actual time and thought-process-thinking-time to develop a rubric assessment that was age appropriate and showing the elements of collaboration, reading literacy, and enhancing learning through technology and information literacy. We designed an eleven-day rubric plan which assessed each daily lesson. We made sure that Bloom's Taxonomy and Howard Gardner's Intelligences were integrated, so that all students had the opportunity to use their prominent intelligence in performing each assessment. The outcome was a kid-friendly product. Students enjoyed the unit and felt free of "test stress," because of the way Christina and I came up with an enjoyable, easy paced rubric. As we taught each lesson, we found adjustments we would make the next time we would teach this lesson (We commented on our wiki where we would make changes next time). A definite adjustment is time allotments. You will find our rubric assessments scheduled throughout the lessons. Rubrics are specific and clear and certainly communicate evidence of student learning to the school community.