The education of children requires careful and comprehensive planning in order to meet the educational needs of young learners (Temple, Ogle and Crawford p.36). It is paramount that teachers establish a learning environment that fosters absorption of knowledge by children and as such, carefully reviewed strategies can enhance efficiency of acquisition of knowledge.
This three-day assignment is designed for an elementary classroom, particularly a first grade classroom environment. English language is the basis of the assignments and thus requires core principles for informational texts. As for the instructional methods and activities in the unit, these coincide with the principles, as the students can use the various details and illustrations to define and identify critical factors in stories.
The main topic under study relates to plants and trees, where student participation increases significantly as the children began to explore the main terns attributable to different plant types and trees present in the text. The topic also offers a great platform to educate students on how to categorize facts in homogenous groups. This is attainable because students understand how they can use the information available to them from the text to answer a variety of text-related questions.
Students also get an opportunity to engage in several group activities. Some requirements of the assignments require that students work in pairs or in groups of three or more. This assists them to enhance their team building skills and to cooperate in seeking solutions to answers. The group activities are designed to ensure that each student participates equally and benefits from the group tasks. It also plays a critical role in assisting the students who may not be fast learners to catchup with their peers.
The children are also required to take a preliminary assessment tests in order to receive comprehensive feedback as to the level of understanding and learning of the students. The students should also go through preparation for a more comprehensive summative assessments derived from the text and its related supporting studies and activities. At the completion of the different lessons and assessments, students should have learned significant general knowledge relating to plants and trees and in fact, should be able to apply this knowledge in their lives (McKenna and Stahl.).
Part 2: Summative Evaluation
The objective of issuing summative assessments to students is to evaluate their learning at the conclusion of an instructional unit through the comparison of the work done by students against predetermined benchmarks or set standards (Dixson and Worrell p.153). The summative assessments for the assessment plan are three and take place over a period of three days. In each day, the students will take part in activities oriented towards improving their general knowledge, with reference to plants and trees.
For the first two summative assessments, options exist for the students to do the assignments and activities individually or in groups. According to Goldstein, it is recommendable for them to work on the activities in pairs. This can allow them to share ideas and assist each other in completion of the tasks. However, each student should do the final summative assessment individually, as it is paramount that the learning progress of each student be subject to proper evaluation.
Day One: Matching
For the assignment, the summative evaluation aims at testing whether children understand fruits and the various parts that constitute them. This is among the main lessons in the assessment plan and could be done by the children as individuals or in groups.
The first assignment requires children to identify the various parts of an apple fruit as follows:
Day One: Answer
Day Two: The Life Cycle of an Apple Fruit
The objective of this assessment is to evaluate whether students understand the phases through which an apple goes through, from planting to harvesting and preparation as food. Students are required to identify the stages and place categorize each with the picture illustrated, which assists significantly in the thought processes of children.
Day Two: Answer
Day Three: Final Summative Evaluation
Name: ______________________________________
1. The tree that grew in the story was ______________?
a. Berry tree
b. Mango tree
c. Apple tree
2. Are trees living or non-living plant?
a. Living
b. Non-living
3. Circle the apple from the pictures below.
a. b. c.
4. Explain the order of growth of plants.
5. During fall season, what happens to the leaves of trees?
6. Identify and circle the option with parts of a tree.
a. Flower, leaf, fruit, branch, trunk
b. Stem, seeds, core, leaves
c. Roots, water, grass, air, stem
7. In the text, what happens to seeds before they can grow?
8. How do leaves grow?
9. What was the name of the discussion text?
a. Apples for Everyone
b. Trees are plants
c. Trees, Plants and Fruits
10. What do you think about the story? Would you like to grow your own apple tree?
Rubric for the short answers
Criteria
1
2
3
A portion of the answer is addressed but with insignificant detail
Part of the answer is given with details
Complete answer is given with detail and good organization
Answer Key for Day Three Assignments
1. C. Apple tree
2. A. Living
3. B. Apple
4. Seeds are planted in good soil. Water is introduced to the soil. The seed grows and develops roots, stem and branches. Flowers begin to grow on tree. The flowers turn to apple.
5. Leaves fall from the trees. At the end of the season, most trees have no leaves but the leaves grow again in other seasons.
6. A. Flower, leaf, fruit, branch, trunk
7. The seed requires soil, sunlight and water to grow. It has to be planted in a place with good soil in order to grow well.
8. Roots grow from the seeds of plants and trees. They grow beneath the soil. They can grow very deep as the plant grows. The roots help the trees and plants to get food to help them to grow. They also make sure that plants grow upright and do not fall over, as they get bigger.
9. B. Trees are plants
10. The answer for this question varies from one student to another. Students are free to write their own feelings
Conclusion
Proper execution of the assessment plan can result in numerous benefits for the children in terms of increasing their knowledge as well as teaching them skills that can benefit them in the future. The assessment plan above is designed in a way that it educates children about plants and trees. The plan optimizes the various elements of children studies including direct and indirect instruction as well as interactive and experiential learning of Grade One students. The assessment of the students can result in identification of their strengths and weaknesses as well as provide a platform to guide future classes based on the results of the assessment.
References
Dixson, Dante D. and Frank C. Worrell. "Formative and summative assessment in the classroom." Theory into practice
(2016): 153-159.
Goldstein, Jessica, D. Betsy McCoach and HuiHui Yu. ""The predictive validity of kindergarten readiness judgments: Lessons from one state." The Journal of Educational Research 110.1 (2017): 50-60.
McKenna, Michael C. and Katherine A. Dougherty Stahl. Assessment for reading instruction. New York: Guilford Publications, 2015.
Temple, C. A., et al. All children read: Teaching for literacy in today's diverse classrooms. London: Pearson, 2018.
