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Transformative Assessment Blueprint Plan

Name Subject Area Grade Level

th
Sara Humzeh English 10
Estimated Time for Assessment Plan
Class Title Unit Title
7 Weeks total for whole unit. 1-2 weeks
English 2 The Great Gatsby each on projects/essays on whole though
separated into days

Part I: Align assessment plan with standards

What enduring understanding do you want students to learn through your content area?
List content-specific standards that your assessment plan addresses
I want my students to understand the realities of the American Dream and what it means to strive for success
beyond the material life that is a part of the “rags-to-riches” storyline. I want my students to learn that the
American dream isn’t just about following the perfect white-picket fence nuclear family ideal, but it can be
success based on different cultures and ethnicities that reflects true happiness and success.
 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the
language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text,
including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the
text.

Rationale: What criteria are implied in the standards and understandings regardless of the task specifics?
What qualities must student work demonstrate to signify the standards were met?

Students can understand the different meanings of words and how they connect to their own
personal/professional lives even though it’s not explicitly mentioned in the novel. Students will be able to
make connections to understanding multiple meanings even if the words and phrases may have only one
designated meaning in part of the novel they are reading. Students will also make connections based on their
own understanding and funds of knowledge that other students might not consider due to their diversity and
cultural influences. Some words or phrases can have different connotative and figurative meanings to some
students. Students will also determine the meanings based on their own skills and tools at their disposal,
reflecting that each student is at a different stage in their learning. Some students might not be able to
understand the connotation or how the language evokes a sense of time or place because of their background
knowledge. Qualities of student work that will demonstrate standards being met would be being able to
analyze and justify their determinations through informal or formal writing.

Part II: Design Performance Task (examples available in Week 13 Powerpoint & guest speaker)

Describe the authentic performance task that students will engage in to demonstrate understanding?
(open-ended, authentic context, multi-faceted and multiple steps, & interdisciplinary/21st century skills (e.g.
research, technology, presentation)
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Students will write a literary analysis paper with an open-ended prompt so students can write authentically
based on their reading of the novel and the lessons that reinforce key themes. Students will embark on their
writing journey by writing informally through journals or quickwrites to engage in the key concepts before
starting to write their drafts of the paper. Students will also peer-review their drafts before turning in a final
essay. Students will also create a 5 to 7 minute presentation that highlights the important aspects of their
paper including a summary, thesis, and two interesting ideas they wrote in their paper that they would like to
share with their peers. Finally, students will write a reflection paper that will explain their process and
journey as they wrote the paper. They will receive their final graded papers and notice their strengths as well
as the skills they need to learn to strengthen aspects of their writing in their reflection paper. All of this is a
multi-step process that requires 21st century research and presentation skills.

One idea is to compare Crazy Rich Asians to the novel that will further that idea of western world vs. eastern
world. They could look at various articles about the American dream and how it is real or not real in society
of the past and today to get an idea across several time periods and geography just how the idea of the
American dream came about and the ways the social narrative has altered the idea. It can also focus on the
types of imperialism that has sustained the American dream while also marginalizing and oppressing the
“other” that cannot achieve the dream because they don’t fit in the model society expects. This will help
students make connections to their own diverse backgrounds to realize how the American dream extends
beyond the grandeur of white, rich families to something more substantive and tangible. Students can also
create a pros and cons list for the reasons why the American dream is advantageous and disadvantageous on
multiple levels starting with race/ethnicity, gender, culture, and finally looking at a national/global
perspective. It can help them be aware of the realities of just how achievable the dream may be because they
will read stories of struggle and success.

Essential Question: What is the American Dream and to what extent is it achievable for all Americans?

Rationale: Explain how your task exemplifies culturally sustaining assessment through UDL principle of
expression.

My task exemplifies culturally sustaining assessment through the UDL principle of expression because
students will be given the chance to write their own prompt for their essay rather than use the one provided
for them. They can express their own connection with the novel. They will also be given multiple chances to
express how they wrote, what they considered as they wrote, and ways they can improve their writing
abilities over a length of time to build their skills. The presentation will ensure that they get a chance to
present their findings and ideas that they found the most fun or interesting.

Mark any of the principle(s) of Au’s (2009) restorative and transformative assessments that your
performance task addresses.

 Emphasis on healing, cultural self-knowledge, and/or decolonization

 Identifying and challenging institutional racism in their schools, districts, and communities
 Assess students’ understanding of, and capacities for, institutional and community transformation
 Nuanced, human, and complex expression of student learning, growth, and development

Rationale: Explain how your performance task is an example of transformative assessment

Students will engage in self-healing because they will read stories that alert them to the realities of how the
American dream can be unattainable not because it’s not for everyone but because our society and institutions

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are impediments that work against marginalized people to keep them from succeeding. These stories will also
be success stories because the American dream is different for everyone and all that matters is what they get
out of it, not the white-picket fence middle class narrative that society indoctrinates us in believing that this is
the only perfectly happy life. It also engages in cultural self-knowledge because students will read stories that
connect their own races/ethnicities to increase their identity while also fighting against the colonization
narrative that keeps people from being successful. They can see this in the first scene of Crazy Rich Asians
when the hotel owner comes in and the manager doesn’t believe it’s her because she’s Asian.

Students will also speak to how the students can understand the capacity/possibility of attaining the dream by
looking at local, state, and national heroes who had the inspiring rags-to-riches story.
The writing will help the students write down and express their ideas that will help them grow and develop
personally, professionally, and academically.

Part III: Formative & Summative Assessment

Summative Assessment: What student products and performances will provide evidence of desired
understandings?

Essay—literary analysis about multiple themes of the novel. One of the themes will be the American dream
and how attainable that dream really is both in the novel and in real life. Students will write an argument
paper that answers the essential question. Students will use the novel to compare themes, ideas, characters,
etc., to answer the essential question.
Project—roaring twenties to build on background knowledge.
Project—Crazy Rich Asians comparison. Students will watch clips from the movie and read the article from
The Atlantic “One Way That Crazy Rich Asians Is a Step Backward” by Mark Tseng-Putterman. They will be
challenged to notice the similarities and differences between the movie and the novel. Students will read
articles to build on this that are about success/hopeful stories from marginalized groups or ethnic people that
the students relate to themselves to read about how attainable the American dream is today and its realities.

Rationale: Explain how your summative assessment addresses content-specific standards

Students will explain a theme or idea in their paper and project and expand on the idea as it relates to the
essential question and American dream. It will also allow them to focus on certain words and phrases,
including quotes, to strengthen their writing and verbal skills.

Formative Assessment: What strategies will you use to monitor student learning prior to and during
performance task and summative assessment? Name at least 2

Journals
Quickwrites as entry and exit level ticket
Think-aloud or think-pair-share
Group collab on handouts (graphic organizers)
Independent handouts (graphic organizers)

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Part IV: Assessment Tools

Assessment Tool: By what criteria will student products and performances be evaluated?
Optional

Student Self- Assessment: What tool will you use for students to monitor their own learning?
Optional

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