Brief Assessment Plan for a Unit of Study

Topic: The Renaissance Student Teacher: Oceana and Hannah

Diagnostic Assessment Details

In what ways will I find out what students prior skills, understandings and misconceptions are about the topic?

Brainstorm: One of the first activities I will do with the class at the beginning of the unit on the Renaissance will be a
think, pair, and share to find out what they already know about the Renaissance. I will present the questions: What
is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Renaissance?, What do you already know about
the Renaissance?. And Do you know of any famous people from this time period? If so, who and why?. Students
will discuss these questions in a think, pair, and share model. I will then ask the groups to number off 1-4 and ask
the number 2s at each group to say one piece of information mentioned in their group and I will record their
answers on the whiteboard. This activity will work well for this class and topic as it gives every student a chance to
speak on the topic. I will also be able to gage what my students actually remember from their previous
classes/grades on this topic.

Exit Slip: After the first lesson on the Renaissance I will tell students to write on a piece of paper one thing they
wonder about the Renaissance. This will give students the opportunity to ask questions or express interests that
they may not feel comfortable saying in front of the whole class. This will also let me see what aspects of the
Renaissance peak interest in my students and then I can discuss those parts more throughout the unit. They may
also present a topic I had not planned to discuss, so I may want to add it to one of my lessons.

Formative Assessment Details

In what ways will I use formative assessment to support learning throughout the instructional sequence? How can I use
the Performance Standards and the 6 Big AFL strategies to help me do this?

Kahoot: We will play a game of kahoot at the beginning of lesson 7 on the different topics we have covered of the
Renaissance. The performance of the students will help me know if there are any topics we should cover more or revisit, or if
we are able to move on to our next topic and inquiry project.

Formative Feedback/Check Ins: While the students are working on their inquiry projects, they will be using an inquiry
research guide to help guide them. Throughout the unit, as they work on their projects, I will be making sure they are on the
right track with their projects by having them hand in these research guides and checking in with them. By looking at their
guides, I will be able to see if they are up to date, using appropriate sources, and have an appropriate action plan for how
they will present their final product. I can let students know if they are going off track or if one aspect of their topic needs
some more attention.
 Summative Assessment Details
How will I evaluate whether or not students have achieved the learning intentions/outcomes? consider a balance of
representations of learning write/say/do

Inquiry-Based Project: Students will work alone or in pairs to conduct an inquiry project. Students will use the
Renaissance Research Organizer to conduct their research and organize their ideas. They will be responsible for
finding information from a variety of sources. Students in pairs will need to make sure they share the workload.
Students may choose how they present their information (i.e. powerpoint, brochure, poster, etc.). This project will
give students the opportunity to showcase what they have learned on their chosen topic from the Renaissance. They
will be assessed based on a rubric. Students will demonstrate their learning by presenting their project in the medium
they chose to the teacher and the class. To accommodate for presentation anxiety, students will have the option to
share their project in groups rather than the whole class. The project will be assessed based on the rubirc (see PDF).

Self Reflection/Assessment: Students will fill out the reflection part of the inquiry project organizer. They will write
down what went well, what they would have done differently, how they worked as a team (if done in pairs), and if the
use of the organizer was beneficial for them. This will let me know how the students think they did on their project
and gives them an opportunity to express the amount of effort they put into their project. The reflection on the use of
the guide will also let me know if this is a useful tool to use with future classes.

Unit Test: On the last day of the unit, students will take a unit test on all the information they learned. This test will cover the
map of Italy, key people and inventions of the time, and humanism. The test will comprise of multiple choice and short answer.

Reporting Details
How will I communicate the evaluation to students/sponsor teachers/parents?

I plan to keep notes on how students are working in class, especially in regards to the inquiry project. I will also keep records
of the formative feedback I give them for their projects and of their final grades. I will share this information with
students/teachers and parents if needed.

Final grades for the inquiry project will be based on the rubric with comments that will be shared with student/sponsor and
parents.

I will also keep a record of the assignments /activities completed throughout the unit.
Hannah Morales and Oceana Pazarena

March 30, 2017

Assessment Plan Reflection

This process of co-developing this plan was very effective. It was really useful to

bounce ideas off of one another and come up with activities and forms of assessment we

think would work well. Oceana and I worked really well together and easily collaborated with

one another. We both think that this assignment was very useful, as it helped us focus on

assessment as we were planning. It also had us thinking more about the three different forms

of assessment (diagnostic, formative, and summative), and helped us make sure we included

all of these forms of assessment in our plan.

We think that this plan will be effective in practice. The diagnostic activities will help us

gage what our students already know about the topic at the beginning of our unit and let us

know some topics they are interested in. The formative assessments will give us an idea of

what our students are learning and if they are ready to move on to other topics or projects.

The summative assessments will let the students showcase what they have learned and

reflect on how they have done on their projects.

The peer feedback we got was very helpful in making decisions about how to deliver

the content. We were reminded that not every students will be interested in exploring the

Renaissance through inquiry without justification. We will have to be clear about the benefits

of doing this assignment and why the Renaissance is worth exploring. We were able to

express our concerns about giving so much free independent work time that students might

struggle with self-regulation. Frequent and regular check-ins will be necessary to make sure

students are using their class time effectively. We are looking forward to using this

assessment plan in practicum!