Activity-Based Assessment

Observation And assessment

Brigham Young University- Idaho

Kaelin Olsen

Ghanick Francillon

February 3, 2023
 Activity-Based assessment

This activity was set up at the content table. Children tend to be a bit calmer and quieter in

comparison to the sensory, block, and dramatic play areas. The materials for this activity were set

out throughout the table; the material included were, Different colored people counter along with

the matching colors in the houses. Pictures of the children's families were also set out on the

table. Balls of play dough were spread in 4 sections on the table. In the middle of the table a

basket filled with rolling pins, cookie cutters, pizza cutters, and scissors for the children to play

and mold the playdough.

Date: 01/23/23

Teacher: Gigi Francillon

Child: R.M.

Child's age: 2 years 5 months

Setting: Toddler lab, at the content table.

 Domain Domain

Cognitive/Math Cognitive/Math Physical well-being and

motor development

Skill: counting people Skill: Naming different Skill: using one-handed

counters. colors of houses. scissors.

(IELG: 4 goal:39) (IELG: 4 goals 42) (IELG: 2 goal:18)

Presentation of Presentation of materials: Presentation of

materials: 4 different colored houses materials:

The same amount of were set out on the table. A basket was set in the

people counters were set middle with different

out over the table in 4 objects to cut, shape, and

piles, with the matching mold including the

colored houses. scissors.

Prompt: Do/Say Prompt: Do/Say Prompt: Do/Say

“There are so many people “Look at the house, what “ Are you using scissors?
counters!” I'll use mine as well”
“Let's see how many colors do you see?” ● Model using
people counters we have?”
● If slow to respond, scissors with one
● The teacher points
and counts with ask them if it's a hand for the child
them through the
one-on-one specific color and and having them
correspondence
method.

Child’s Response:
Resumed counting the
people counters at the
same time.
Date: 01/31/23
Teacher: Gigi Francillon
Child: L.W.
Child's age: 2 years 11 months
Setting: Toddler lab, at the content table.
Cognitive/Math
see if they can start
answering that way,
and then let the
child answers for
the rest.
Child’s Response:
The child was able to say
the colors of the house
when asked the question,
answering “green, blue,
etc.”
Domain
Cognition and cognitive
process
attempt to match
what you're doing
or helping them
attempt it.
Child’s Response:
After using 2 hands to cut
with the scissors, she was
able to move to just using
one hand to make the
motion and cut.
Domain
Cognitive/Math
Skill: The child was able Skill: She Was able to Skill: She recognized that

to separate the people identify another classmate the shapes and lines that

counters by color when and showed awareness by the tools made were

mixed up. using picture references. different as well as being

(IELG 4 goal 39) (IELG 1 goal:16) able to use the tools from

the basket properly.

(IELG 2 goal:18)

Presentation of materials: Presentation of materials: Presentation of

Presentations of materials Family pictures of the materials:

were slightly altered, the different families of the Some of the tools were

different colored people children and their families still in the basket and

counters were mixed up were set out and spread on others were laid out on the

with other colors rather the table. table. Cookie cutters were

than being separated set out with the scissors

already and spread out and rolling pin and the

through the table. pizza cutter was in the

basket.

Prompt: Do/Say Prompt: Do/Say Prompt: Do/Say

“What colors do you see?’ ● “Look, do you see ● It was mostly

● I also moved one of any of our friends based on actions

the people counters in this picture? Do and I sat next to

from the correct her and modeled

 pile to the right pile you see them in the playing with the

to see if she could classroom?” different tools.

sort it out again.

Child’s Response: Child’s Response: Child’s Response:

When I moved the people She was able to look at the She would pick up a
picture after picking it up
counter to the wrong pile and point to one of the cookie cutter and make a
children in the classroom.
she quickly recognized it shape and each time
And when asked if she saw
and said laughing “No them in the class we would show it to me with
looked around together and
here” as she placed it back pointed out her classmate. excitement showing each

in the matching color. different shape she would

make with the playdough.

With me modeling beside

her she was also able to

demonstrate her fine

motor skills by using

those same tools whether

it was a pair of scissors or

a rolling pin and using it

correctly.
 ABA Narrative

The purpose of an activity-based assessment when teaching children is that it's a way to

evaluate children by integrating the activity within the curriculum that you're teaching. Through

this activity, you can measure children's performance and see where they are developmentally in

different areas. This makes ABA an authentic assessment because essentially what it does is

provide an alternate way to measure or test children's knowledge in a non-traditional way by

using their learning experiences.

To conduct this assignment, my team and I used the content table area since it was a way

for us to implement an activity where certain skills, like math, different motor skills, and

emotional/social aspects as well could be measured with children one on one. Using the content

table we decided to use playdough as the basis for the activity and adding different materials to

foster deeper experiences to evaluate the toddlers. When conducting this observation I used a

balanced amount of language and modeling because working with toddlers they aren't as

talkative and don’t have that large of a vocabulary so a combination of both helps get the most

out of this experience with them. Modeling and scaffolding were a great way to see if they were

developmentally where they needed to be depending on whether they were able to do a certain

task or not such as cutting, or using a cookie cutter to shape the playdough. Through simple

language and asking questions I was able to implement that language and get answers, when I

would ask “Hey what color is this” and wait for what they say.

As I went on and conducted this assessment, what I learned about R.M.'s skills is that

she’s pretty advanced developmentally compared to some of the other children. She is also a bit
older as well which can be part of the reason for that. I also learned that her math skills are good

and exactly where they need to be for her age. She was able to meet the Idaho learning

guidelines for the skills that were observed which were knowing her colors as well as counting

which are important when it comes to sorting in math, as well as one-to-one correspondence with

her counting. She was also impressive with cutting using one hand on the scissors. As I have

observed in other times, some children struggle using one hand to cut and have both hands on

the scissors which can make it difficult for them to cut through the item.

With L.W. I learned that one of her strong suits is language and awareness of others and

is something that in the future would be great to build on. I used the same balance of language

and modeling with her but she was pretty vocal when it came to not just answering the questions

I would ask but when sharing her thoughts as well. For example, when I removed one of the

people's counters and she went to fix it she expressed so much that she laughed and told me how

that counter didn't belong where I put it and placed it in the correct spot. She also mentioned

what color that pile of people counters was to me without me having to facilitate that

conversation.

Overall each child's skill performance was pretty typical for others in their age group.

Between 2-3 years skills such as counting one to one and sorting based on visible characteristics

are skills that they should have. Through this assessment, I observed that they both did. For R.M.

one of her skills was using scissors with one hand and when comparing that to the Idaho early

learning guideline in domain 2 goal 18, I could see that with her fine motor skills, she was

exactly where she needed to be. For L.W. when it came to her skills of recognizing one of her
classmates in the Idaho early learning guideline in domain 1 goal 16 being able to recognize

something familiar by looking at it was one of the developmental attributes for her age group.

She was able to show that she was where she needed to be by recognizing her classmate in the

picture and also connecting it to looking around the classroom with me and pointing her out.

Using this alternative assessment and the same activity allowed me to see the different skills that

both children had using the same activity and also learn more about them and what they know.

References
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