ETP425 Teaching and Learning 3 Assignment Task: Assessment for and of Learning

Part A: Assessment Task

Overview of teaching context It is Term 1 in a Year 3 class of 22 students in a Melbourne Bayside suburb. The curriculum currently in use is AusVELS. This is a creative writing activity, held in the ICT area. Each child has a computer and is working in a word processing program. They do not have access to spelling/grammar check. They need to start up their computer, log in, open a new file, and save it to their own folder on the computer. Task Write a short narrative an adventure story including characters, setting and plot. Decide whether you are writing in past or present tense. Remember to use proper punctuation and capital letters for the start of sentences. Try to use adjectives (words that describe nouns) and adverbs (words that describe verbs) to keep your readers interested. A well planned story has a plot that develops from setting the scene at the beginning, through the action in the middle, and to the end where you tell your reader what happens to the characters, clear up any mysteries and tie up any loose ends.

GIBSON Melissa

ETP425

Semester 2 2012 2

Assignment 1

Part A: Assessment Task (continued)

The writer has used imagination to compose a simple story. She shows a basic understanding of the writing task. It is easy for the reader to follow and uses appropriate word order. Narrative tense controlled. Uses humour to engage readers (mum... rolling pin in her hand) Uses simple narrative marker (One day...) to open the story. Attempts to engage the reader with fantasy story and descriptive words (ugly shadow and it smelt, still stinky). Contains a beginning, a complication and resolution. Ideas show some development. Use of conjunctions to link ideas. Use of exclamation mark to punctuate ending. Correct spelling of most simple words and some common words. Attempts to spell a wider range of words using soundletter knowledge (brack/break; behinde) Word processing program used successfully to construct text.

Shows a basic understanding of the task. Setting is vague - the writer only names the setting No character development, brief story and simple ending. Compound sentences are used but are long and unwieldly. They rely on a simple conjunctions to continue. One paragraph break used. Capital letter for beginning of sentence only used at start of story. Capital letters are not used for names. Full stops are used most of the time. No use of commas. No speech marks are used for direct speech Mostly simple single verbs, nouns and adjectives. No use of pronouns. Common homophones confused (there, their; herd, heard).

GIBSON Melissa

ETP425

Semester 2 2012 3

Assignment 1

Part A: Assessment Task (continued)

Teaching and learning implications To gain an accurate assessment of this student!s work and areas of need a larger sample of their work needs to be assessed, both informally during lessons and formally via assessment tasks. How much time was allocated to the task? Was time allocated to reviewing and editing? Does the student have an ESL background? I am conscious that we are looking at this learning task in isolation, but in my opinion the text demonstrates that the student is in a transition stage between Level 2 and Level 3 (Australian Curriculum). The following curriculum areas relate to the student!s work. Although the student is in Year 3 there are some items included from Year 2 content descriptions (Australian Curriculum). The following are areas I would focus on for future learning in working towards Level 3 achievement standards: Using language to describe characters, and to describe settings using visual features (ACELT1601, ACELT1599). Increasing time spent reading to start developing an awareness of narrative text structure, character development, setting portrayal and to expand vocabulary (ACELT1594). Developing skills in rereading and editing text for spelling, sentence-boundary punctuation and text structure (ACELY1672). Building vocabulary including descriptive language: adjectives and adverbs (ACELA1484). Develop understanding of homophones. Discuss use of capital letters for proper nouns and start of sentences (ACELA1465) and how paragraphs are used to organise texts (ACELA1479). Start to improve complex sentence structure including appropriate use of a range of connective words.

GIBSON Melissa

ETP425

Semester 2 2012 4

Assignment 1

Part A: Assessment Task (continued)

Sample lesson plan outline: narrative settings (lesson 1 of a series) Objectives: By the end of the lesson, all children must be able to act out feelings in a given setting to create an atmosphere. Most children should also be able to recall the ideas of setting, mood and atmosphere verbally. Encourage children to read with fluency, feeling and dramatic effect to evoke an atmosphere. Activity: The teacher chooses an appropriate book to read, discuss and analyse. Starter: The children sit on the carpet as a group. The teacher reads the title and first section of the book out to the children, using lots of expression. The teacher explains we are going to investigate settings, and the mood and atmosphere in the setting. Main: Start by looking at the setting of the story. Can anyone tell me what a setting is? What is mood or atmosphere? Read the story, then ask children whether they can describe the setting. What is the mood and the atmosphere? How does it make you feel? Encourage use of good descriptive words. Divide the students into groups of three. Each student is given a copy of the story, and are asked to read silently. Are there any words or sentences you don!t understand? The groups are then asked to take turns to read aloud to each other (1 page each), acting out the mood and atmosphere with actions, facial expressions and voice. Plenary: The class returns to the carpet and a volunteer from each group acts out a page of the book to the class. Revise the meaning of setting, atmosphere and mood. This lesson is part of a series. In the following lessons other texts are read and discussed. Setting, atmosphere and mood are addressed again, then descriptive language including adjectives, adverbs, verbs and nouns and how they are used to engage the reader. The focus moves more toward group work. They work through describing a picture using interesting words and lots of adjectives. Eventually the students can continue on from their settings to write a short story. A worksheet is given to help them organise their writing with a checklist to refer to.

GIBSON Melissa

ETP425

Semester 2 2012 5

Assignment 1

Part B: Reflection
Key ideas and understandings Stakeholders in learning, assessment and reporting include students, parents and teachers; school management; local, national and international government bodies; business groups and NGO!s; and the community. There are many types of assessment and a range of strategies for assessing. Assessment is an ongoing process and can be used as a pre test to evaluate current knowledge and understanding, a formative assessment upon which to base further learning on, and/or a summative assessment at the end of a topic or stage. Being invloved in the assessment process and treating assessment as learning (including self assessmsnt and peer assessment) engages students in their learning. Assessment methods need to be explicit, authentic, valid, reliable, and fair. Assessment and reporting should enhance and facilitate student learning: be a part of the learning process. The outcomes need to be recorded systematically. Triangulation and moderation are an important part of this process. Rich tasks and backwards planning help to facilitate meaningful, engaging and effective learning and assessment. Learning outcomes need to be defined in order to design teaching and assessment approaches.

Questions to take to practical placement I am interested in investigating the school!s assessment and reporting methods including the tools they use (written, online, software used) and observing the moderation process. Following on from this, how are the students passed on to their new teacher at the start of a new year? What meetings take place and how much/what information regarding their learning and assessment is passed on?

GIBSON Melissa

ETP425

Semester 2 2012 6

Assignment 1

References Assessment and Progression in Writing Skills (2007). Retrieved from http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=3011276. AusVELS. (2012). Retrieved 10th August 2012 from http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Mathematics/Curriculum/F-10#level=2. Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority BBC KS2 Bitesize English. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/ Literacy Benchmarks Year 3. Retrieved from http://cms.curriculum.edu.au/litbench/build.asp?pg=1. Curriculum Corporation TES Year 3 Narrative Unit 1 Resource pack (2012). Retrieved from http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=6161783

GIBSON Melissa

ETP425

Semester 2 2012 7

Assignment 1