Informal Assessment

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Home : 2004 : June : 22

Informal Assessment
By EmmyJ

OOOPS!!! I wasn't very clear in my first answer. Sorry about that! I guess it would be helpful if you knew just "HOW" I used the informal assessment.

My informal assessment is ongoing. It helps me keep track of which
students know what. I don't use all the informal assessment for a grade. It helps me to target those students with difficulties, helps me see how well I have taught something (if a lot of the students are not doing well, I probably need to go back and reteach), and monitor progress. The cards in the file help me to know which students need more help. I will then pull them individually

and work with them or have my aide work with them so they can make progress. This in turn helps them when test time comes. Also, if one student has difficulty on one type of test, I can test them in a different way. For example, I had one student last year that had a hard time when he took a test on the continents and oceans. The test was set up with the map of the continents and oceans that were labeled with letters (but the letters were not in order A, B, C) North America might be "E", South America "A" Antarctica might be "C", Pacific Ocean might be "G". Then below were the letters in order with a blank for that continent or ocean A_______, B________C_______etc. He had a hard time getting each name on the right blank and was becoming frustrated. Sound confusing???? It is hard to explain here without you seeing it. It really wasn't confusing for the rest of the class, but he could NOT do it! So, I pulled him aside and he took the test orally by me pointing to the continents and oceans(out of order). He could do this, so I would just mark his map correct or incorrect as he told me.

Some informal assessments I might use for a grade. I will use a rubric that I make up for that particular activity. I will give a 4, 3, 2, or 1 (4=highest and 1=lowest) for each objective (I might have 5 objectives)that I want them to master. Then I total up their score. I like to use 4 possible scores X 5 just because it is easy to convert to a score on 100 scale. Does this make sense? If you need me to elaborate more, I will be happy to!

Here is something else that I use:

Have you heard of the KWL chart?
K=What I KNOW
W=What I WANT to Know
L=What I LEARNED

I put this up on the board (and give students a copy for themselves)
When using a KWL chart for the first few times, I walk them through it (I am really big on modeling procedures before I expect them to do it on their own). Then throughout the year, they can work on a KWL Chart on their own. I use this as I introduce a new Unit. I ask them to give me things they know on the subject (such as "BATS"). We list those under K.(I even list the responses they give me that I know are incorrect because after we have studied the unit, we will fill in what we learned, and they will see that was incorrect--it teaches them that we need to research things--just because we "think it" doesn't mean it is true). Then they give me ideas of what they want to learn about the unit. We list those under W. We fill in the L after we have studied the unit. Below is a KWL chart for the students.
http://www.abcteach.com/GraphicOrganizers/KWL.htm

Portfolios are a way you can assess if you wanted to try them. I just do a "showcase" portfolio, but their are different types. You might want to check out the link below on portfolios.http://www.coe.missouri.edu/~vlib/Jane%27s.stuff/Jane%27s.Page.html#PE

Here is another link you might want to look at.

http://tac.elps.vt.edu/newsletterv11n2.pdf

Sorry so long. Hope it helps. I will be happy to try to explain more if you need me to.

Smiles;)
~EJ