This week we were asked to put together an assessment rubric to evaluate the overall performance of our students and their digital storytelling project. We were to create an analytic rubric, which is one that addresses each component of a student's project. I was a little worried when I created this rubric using irubric, but was pleasantly surprised to see how many sample rubrics were available for my viewing pleasure. I did a basic search for science K-5 rubrics on animal habitats. I found numerous rubrics that addressed science in both the primary and intermediate science category. After reading about both holistic and analytic rubrics I was pleased to learn that we needed to create an analytic rubric. I like the idea of assigning points to each aspect of what was expected from my students.
Due to the grade level and real expectations I had for my students I really wanted to look at whether or not they could provide at least 2 good examples of animal habitats. Did they include sentences that included good detail about the animal habitat they were describing? Were pictures used to support their writings? I was particularly focused on the aspect of their abilities to work with their partners in creating their presentation on Prezi. I had to decide what criteria I was going to grade and I went from there. I really felt that it was going to be pretty clear cut in my criteria because we are talking about assessing what a firstgrader can do. After looking at some of the rubrics on irubrics my mind was changed. There were so many things I didn't even think of that I could use for grading criteria. Did they work well with their partner? The difficulty came for me when deciding what was excellent, good, and poor. I did not include a criteria for my students writing for this project. I felt like the writing part is so subjective, so instead I will use a criteria of did they include important details from their writing in their presentation.
Other components include: did they gather information as a team? Did they work together as a team and help each other? What was their overall teamwork like? Were they positive, supportive, and respectful? After looking at my rubric I am happy that some of my focus was on the social aspect, as this is an important skill I think first graders should be held accountable for. Enjoy the rubric and please let me know what I can fix.
Kari,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed following your project for the past couple weeks. Although, I had my students do their project individually, I like how you added a "working together" component to your rubric. Sometimes we forget as teachers how important collaboration is as a life skill for the real-world. I also like how most of your rubric is quantitive so that you can accurately judge how well the students did on the project and in return the students know how much is expected of them, I cannot wait to see your final project!
Kari,
ReplyDeleteCredit where credit is due, my friend! I have consistently enjoyed reading your posts since it is clear that you are very thoughtful in your work. For example, this week you really sat down and dissected what you were going to grade of this project and then built from there. Too many times do I see teachers start from the other end and just squish elements into their pre-set rubrics.
I also felt your number scores and percentages were evenly and fairly distributed, allowing for a very complete picture to emerge of each project. I especially liked how teamwork got a nod in there at 10%, since that seems to be a skill too many people either forget or never learn. Not only will this rubric work wonderfully for this project, but I think it will serve for any and all of your future students. Great job!
Like the others, I also enjoyed the teamwork aspect, something not present in my project. It is interesting to see how teachers of all grade levels and subject areas are making this project fit the needs of their students, going as complex or simple as need be, as when you stated, "Due to the grade level and real expectations I had for my students I really wanted to look at whether or not they could provide at least 2 good examples of animal habitats." As the father of a second grader, I believe you have created an appropriate project.
ReplyDeleteCreating a rubric was an interesting experience, and it seems like most of us have benefited from it in some way, It seemed like a good way to examine what we really want our student to learn from and include in their projects. Hopefully this is a skill we can apply to other areas of our lesson planning as well.
I really enjoyed how you incorporate the use of team work for your project. It is very important that students can learn that working as a team helps build confidence. This is especially true for primary students. I taught second grade for several years and they absolutely love working together.
ReplyDeleteI also love how you,as well as others, presented your rubric so that it was age appropriate. The students have to be able to read and understand how they were graded. If it is too high for them to understand than there is no point. You really thought about how the students would understand whether or not they passed or failed their project.
You make a great point about how writing is so subjective. However, it could be a great assessment for mechanics-capitalization, punctuation, etc. I also loved how you assessed for pictures matching with their writing. This is an excellent way for ESOL students to modify their projects. Overall, I enjoyed your blog this week.
I like your components that include on your rubric. I believe that every student should have a general idea of what’s expected from them when completing a project. Including working together is a big component when it comes to our students. Working in cooperative grouping is not easy task for any students but it will help them to share ideas and opinion with each other. Your rubric will help your students see what quality work looks like and it can help them to be independent to judge their own work. It also teaches them more responsibility of their final product. Parents who work with their children will also have a clear understanding of what is expected for a project.
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