Emily Tidemann CI 517 FINAL PAPER

Formative Assessment:

Science Posters on Mammals (Bats, Tiger, Dolphins, Kangaroos, and Grey Wolves)

In order to do this assignment, I interviewed a classmate, Hallie Sturdyvin, who is a 3rd grade bilingual teacher at a local school, Garden Hills. I spoke to her about formative assessments that she has conducted in her classroom recently. According to Herrera (2013), teachers use formative assessments in order to evaluate what and how students are learning so that they can modify their instruction according to what the students have or have not learned while the instruction is still in process. Thus, formative assessment would be different from summative assessments in which instruction cannot be modified because the assessment is done at the termination of instruction (Herrera, 2013, p. 186). Two formative assessments that Hallie has recently used were posters of mammals that the students had made and an experiment in which the students practiced asking in-depth questions.

The first assessment that Hallie showed to me was a poster in which the student displayed what they learned about mammals. The class had been reading books about mammals, and afterwards, they conducted a research project. To do this, the students worked with the members from their reading groups. First, they created their own research questions, which were things that they decided that they wanted to find out about their mammal. One group’s questions were: “where does it live, what does it eat, does it have any predators, and what are other interesting facts?”. Then, to answer their questions, the students conducted research on the internet. They were allowed to research in either Spanish or English, but Hallie said that the students primarily chose to research in English. She thought they chose to research in English because the students have a high proficiency in English, but she also found out that they did not know how to look for sources in Spanish. During this lesson, she happened to mention to the students that if they wanted to find sources in Spanish all they had to do was type their question in Google in Spanish. She said she thought this was unknown information for the students.

This was the first time that Hallie had used this assessment, and she used it to connect to multiple content standards. The students had formulated their own research questions and had decided what they would do in order to answer their questions. Thus, she was able to connect to ISBE science standard 11.A.2a, “Formulate questions on a specific science topic and choose the steps needed to answer the questions”. Then, the questions that the students asked related to predator/prey relationships. Thus, this assessment also connected to ISBE science standard 12.B.2a, “Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments (e.g., predator/prey, parasite/host, food chains and food webs)”. In the final step, the students put the information that they collected onto posters in order to display and show to their classmates. Thus, they were able to connect to standard 11.A.2c, “Construct charts and visualizations to display data”. Hallie was able to assess their language learning by observing how they talked and collaborated with their partners as well as how they were able to read information on the Internet. Thus, this activity also became a language use task (McKay, 2006, p. 102).

A special feature of Hallie’s school is seeking membership into the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB-PYP). As a result, the school focuses on inquiry-based learning in which students ask and respond to their own questions. Considering the emphasis on the inquiry-based learning and engaging in high-order thinking, Hallie wanted to guide her students to create more in-depth questions. To do this, she had the students conduct experiments in pairs. Each pair tried to see how many drops of water they could fit on a penny before it splashed over. Each pair collected data and reported their findings to the class. There were different outcomes across the class, and so after the experiment, Hallie had the students write their questions on post-it notes about why there were differences and what could be affecting these differences. Then the students posted their post-it notes to the front board and they discussed, as a class, their questions. Through this assessment, Hallie was able to connect to standard 11.A.2d, “Use data to produce reasonable explanations” and 13.A.2b, “Explain why similar investigations may not produce similar results”. In terms of language learning, this assessment could evaluate the students’ ability to formulate questions.

PART II. After speaking with my classmate, the 3rd grade bilingual teacher, about her formative assessments, she admitted that she did not know how they could currently inform her very well about her students’ language learning. Thus, I felt that these assessments could be adapted in order to better assess language learning as well as content. To do this, I chose the assessment on mammals. In this assessment, I felt that it could be improved by having thematic lessons that teach and assess the students across the two languages, strategically encouraging interaction between the students and assessing their interaction, incorporating listening, speaking, reading, and writing, strategically observing the students, and including a self-assessment component.

For this assessment, it would be assessing content and language connected to the ISBE standards. For content, it would assess:

1. 12.B.2a  Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments (e.g., predator/prey, parasite/host, food chains and food webs).

2. 12.B.2b Identify physical features of plants and animals that help them live in different environments (e.g., specialized teeth for eating certain foods, thorns for protection, insulation for cold temperature).

In assessing the language learning, it would connect to:

1. Illinois Spanish Language Arts Standards 1.C.2c Summarize content of reading material, make generalizations and connect to other readings and real-life experiences.

2. (Literacy) 1.A.2b Apply word analysis skills to decode and comprehend unfamiliar words.

This assessment would be done in the classroom, and the materials would include poster paper, colored markers, books in Spanish and English on mammals, computers for students to conduct research on the internet, and a printer. This project would take 1-2 class periods.

First, considering that this is a bilingual classroom, the goal should be that the students become bilingual and biliterate. Therefore, I believe that the students should learn the content through a thematic unit in which they are introduced to the topic in their L1, Spanish, and then they further expand upon the topic in their L2, English. To do so, the students could be reading books in Spanish about ecosystems, predators, prey, etc., and then do a Science lesson which builds upon this knowledge, in English (Basterra, 2011, p. 259). In the lesson that my classmate created, the students were learning about mammals. In order to learn about relationships between animals, however, I think it would be better to focus on a particular ecosystem, such as the rainforest, and study the animals within this particular ecosystem so that students can make connections within a particular context that is meaningful and authentic. Thus, in my lesson, I will have the students learning about rainforests, and we will have just finished reading the book, El gran capoquero by Lynn Cherry, in Spanish, which will have introduced them to the topic of rainforests, the relationships between animals and the environment, the consequences of deforestation, and some of the key vocabulary.

Afterwards, in the Science lesson, the teacher will have the students get together with their partners. Within each partner there will be one student who has a higher proficiency in English so that the partner can serve as a language model and L1 assistant for the student who has lower language proficiency in English. After the students have their partners, the teacher will give each student a picture along with the name of a plant, animal, or insect that lives in the rainforest. Each pair of students will be given two plants, animals, or insects that have a relationship to one another. After receiving their pictures, the class will create a list of research questions that they want to answer. These research questions may be similar to the ones in Hallie’s class, such as “Where does it live (within the rainforest), what does it eat, who is its predator, and other interesting facts”. If the students do not mention it, the teacher can add one question of her own, which is, “Does the plant, animal, or insect have any special characteristics that help it survive?” After students have their questions, the teacher will give them their self-assessments so that they can know what they will be required to do for this activity. By giving the students the self-assessment at the beginning, it can guide them for what is expected of them and increase their motivation. After they have their self-assessment, they will coordinate with their partner for how they will find the answers to their questions. They will have the option to search the internet because there will be 4 computers available in the classroom. The pairs will take turns using the computers. Students will also have the option of reading books in either English or Spanish. These books will be brought to the classroom by the teacher who has borrowed them from the local libraries. If students are having difficulty finding their information, the teacher can provide this website in Spanish and English: http://www.anywherecostarica.com/attractions/reserve/la-selva.

Third, this assessment could be improved by incorporating listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To do this, the students will work in pairs, and after they have conducted their research, the pairs will get together with their other small group members, and they will share what they’ve learned. The students should see a relationship between the plants, animals, or insects that they have been given. Afterwards, the students will make a poster with four quadrants; in each quadrant, the student will put their photo and the description of their plant, animal, or insect and arrows to show relationships between the organisms. Afterwards, each small group will present to the class. While students present, the other students will listen to their classmates and use their graphic organizer “food web” to fill in information they hear. By completing this graphic organizer, it will visually show the food web relationship.

The second way to modify the assessment is to encourage increased group interaction and to strategically monitor the language use of the students. As teachers, we want our students to be developing their BICS and CALP (McKay, 2006, p. 32). Thus, we need to be assessing both their BICS and CALP. To do so in this assessment, the teacher will have a list (see attachment) with the list of the students’ names and the goals for this lesson. “The ability for students to perform well, depends on accurately understanding what they are required to do” (Basterra, 2011, p. 131). Thus, the first goal for the students’ BICS would be that they follow multistep directions, and secondly, if they have questions, that they would ask questions and negotiate meaning with their peers or with the teacher. The first goal for CALP would be that they use key vocabulary in speech and writing, and second, that they make connections to cognates between Spanish and English.

Afterwards, in the Science portion, the students should be making connections between prior knowledge and new knowledge. In terms of language learning, the students can do this by showing their knowledge of cognates that they find within the content. By encouraging students to find cognates, this will benefit their language learning so that when they see new words in English, they can relate them to words they already know in Spanish. Furthermore, the teacher can relate the lesson to background knowledge that the students might have of the rainforests. For students who come from southern portions of Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, and various other places of Central and South America where there are rainforests, they or their families may know something about rainforests. As Basterra (2011) says on p. 260, it is important to consider the cultural knowledge that the students might be able to connect to science.

Finally, I would adapt the assessment to include a self-assessment portion. The self-assessment would be given to the students at the beginning of the lesson to guide their work and so that they know what is expected of them. According to McKay (2006) and Castori et al. (2003), when students are able to assess themselves, it increases ownership and motivation for the students, which in turn, improves the results of the assessment.

PART III. By adapting this assessment, I was able to incorporate a great deal of what I learned in this course. I believe that the assessment that I created would be a fair and valid assessment of students’ knowledge of content as well as language learning according to the usefulness framework by Bachman & Bachman (McKay, 2006, p. 113-117). First, it is a reliable test because it incorporates the teachers’ observation along with a student self-assessment. If the assessment relies solely on the teacher’s observation of students’ interactions with their partners, then it is impossible for the teacher to hear all conversations and observe all students’ language use ability at the same time. With the assessment that I have created, however, it incorporates the teacher’s observations as well as the students. If the teacher is not present at the time when a student meets a language learning goal, then the student can write this on their self-assessment so that the teacher knows it occurred. By having the teacher and the student assessing, the reliability is increased so that whoever is assessing the students will get more or less the same results. This assessment also has a high level of authenticity and interaction because partners are working in collaboration with one another in order to solve their own authentic inquiries, and in order to do so, they are using language to discuss how they will collaborate, what they will do, ask questions for what they do not understand, and read articles on the internet. There is also validity in this assessment. The validity of a test determines whether the decisions that made based on the results of this test will be meaningful and accurate (McKay, 2006, p. 113). There is validity because the assessment was created specifically for emerging bilinguals and so it was not normed on monolingual English speakers. Secondly, the assessment seeks to draw upon any cultural background knowledge that the students bring with them, and so it seeks to mitigate any culture bias that may be present (Basterra, 2011, p. 261). Furthermore, the assessment reflects the instruction. This is also a practical assessment because the materials being used are common materials found in schools, and the time allotted would be within the normal school day. In terms of the computers, in Hallie’s class, there are 4 computers for the students to use, and if the students needed more computers, there is also a computer lab, which all students go to weekly at Garden Hills. The impact on the students should be positive because they have the opportunity to work alongside a partner and other group members, they are answering authentic and meaningful questions, and they have the opportunity to assess their own learning. All of this lowers the affective filter because the students know what to expect, and it raises the motivation to learn.

I think that many things that I learned in this course were further instilled in me by adapting this assessment. First, when planning the assessment, I had to know the purpose and I had to know the instruction. Thus, it instilled in me that instruction informs assessment, and in a formative assessment, the assessment can inform the instruction in a continual feedback loop. The second thing I learned is that even an “informal” assessment like observing students can still be strategic (McKay, 2006, p. 154). When the teacher has a list of the students and the specific behaviors that s/he will be observing to see if exhibited, it makes the assessment more reliable and valid. I also learned that a having a self-assessment portion adds to the reliability and validity. Although I was not able to implement this, I have taken self-assessments, myself, and given self-assessments in a class I taught. From those experiences, I learned the benefits of having a guide for the academic expectations and a way for the students to be a part of the evaluation process. When the evaluation of work comes from the students, they have ownership and can see themselves as experts who can lead the process of improving their learning (Castori et al., 2003, p. 7). As I will be student teaching next fall in a 2nd grade bilingual classroom at Garden Hills, I think what I have learned from adapting this assessment will be useful for student teaching as well as a future teacher of emerging bilinguals.

Grupo 1:

Animal 1: El mono congo

Animal 2: Jaguar

Animal 3: Hummingbird

Planta 1: Heliconia

Grupo 2:

Animal 1: Capuchin monkey

Animal 2: Boa constrictor

Animal 3: Vampire bat

Planta 1: Rafflesia

Grupo 3:

Animal 1: Scarlet macaw

Animal 2: Blue morpho butterfly

Planta 1: Cocoa tree

Planta 2: Kapok tree

Grupo 4:

Animal 1: Three-toed sloth

Animal 2: Narrow-headed vine snake

Animal 3: Poisenous tree-frog

Planta 1: Bromelia

Planta 2: Lianas

Grupo 5:

Animal 1: Cayman

Animal 2: Garcilla verde

Animal 3: Warszewitschii frog

Planta 1: Mangrove

Students can visit this website:

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/attractions/reserve/la-selva

Food web:

Directions:

1. Draw a plant or animal in the circle

2. Write the name of the plant or animal below the circle.

3. Put an arrow between two things that have a relationship. (For example, put an arrow between a predator and its prey.)

Name ______________________ Date __________________________

Ecosystem___________________________________

Assessment of BICS

Assessment of CALP

Goal 1: Student successfully follows multi-step directions

Goal 1: Student uses key vocabulary in speech and/or writing

Goal 2: Student seeks clarification and meaning negotiation with peers and/or teacher

Goal 2: Student identifies cognates between Spanish and English

Student Names:

Student Names:

1.

1.

Teacher observational assessment of language learning:

Students’ self-assessment:

SELF-ASSESSMENT

PLEASE GIVE AN EXAMPLE:

1. I was able to follow the directions.

Yes, I followed the directions.

No, I didn’t follow the directions because ____________.

2. When I didn’t understand something, I asked my partners or the teacher.

One example of something I didn’t understand was _________. I asked _______ and he/she told me _____________________.

3. I contributed to my group’s poster and our presentation.

I contributed to the poster by ________ and I contributed to the presentation because ____.

4. I was able to use 5-7 key vocabulary words while talking to my partner(s) or in my writing.

I used ___________ when I was talking and/or ___________ when I was writing.

5. I was able to identify 6 cognates.

The cognates I identified were ___________.

6. I was able to answer all my inquiry questions.

I was able to answer all my inquiry questions.

No, I was not able to answer all my inquiry questions. I did not find out _____________.

7. I made a connection between something I’ve learned before and something I learned today.

I saw a connection between ___________ that I learned ________ and ____________ that I learned today.

8. I learned an example of a predator and prey relationship.

A ________ eats ________. ________ is the predator and ________ is the prey.

9. I learned a special adaptation that an animal has

I learned that ____________have/do/make ___________ in order to _____________.

10. My favorite thing I learned today was……….

Open response

Key vocabulary:

Non-cognate:

a. prey (English)/ presa (español)

Cognates:

b. predator (English)/ depredador (español)

c. food web (English)/ red trófica (español)

d. ecosystem (English)/ ecosistema (español)

e. dependent (English)/ dependiente (español)

f. relationship (English)/ relación (español)

g. adaptations (English)/ adaptación (español)

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