classroom assessment – Deb's Data Digest

October 11, 2011 Argument Writing, Checking for Understanding, classroom assessment, Common Core State Standards - English Language Arts, curriculum, Curriculum Development, Deb Wahlstrom, Deborah Wahlstrom Superintendent, formative assessment, Language Arts - WRITING, Nonfiction Writing, Unpacking Standards Post a Comment

Write to the Text

I am a fan of Kelly Gallagher’s Article of the Week. His website is loaded with weekly articles you can use to give students interesting topics to which they can write.

I recently read an article in Education Week and asked the author, Anothy Cody, for permission to turn his article, Color Coded High School ID Cards Sort Students by Test Performance, into an assignment for students.

I set up the assignment in a modified version of Article of the Week. I modified the directions and numbered each of the lines in the text. The numbered lines support students in citing the text during classroom discussions.

Download the assignment: Assignment: Argumentative Paper

The assignment includes a Writing Checklist, which you can download separately.

November 7, 2010 21st Century Skills, Checking for Understanding, classroom assessment, data analysis, Deb Wahlstrom, Deborah Wahlstrom Superintendent, Exit Slip, formative assessment, Instructional Strategies, Nonfiction Writing, Reading to Learn, Using Data to Improve Student Achievement, Writing to Learn 2 Comments

Exit Slips

Exit slips are as tool to check for understanding and get a sense of where your kids are on just about any topic you want. They are so easy to implement.

I’ve written basic directions and examples for using exit slips in your classroom.

Don’t let this idea slip away!

Click here to download the three-page document for working with exit slips.

August 14, 2010 Checking for Understanding, classroom assessment, Deb Wahlstrom, Language Arts - WRITING, Nonfiction Writing, Using Data to Improve Student Achievement 3 Comments

Quick-Writes

A quick-write is a literacy strategy that can be used in any content area. In this activity you give students a topic or let them choose one of their own and then give them five minutes or so to write quickly about the topic.

I’ve included brief directions for using Quick-Writes with your students and an example of how to have students fill in their writing logs.

Download the materials now and give the technique a try!

April 13, 2010 21st Century Skills, Analysis Questions, Checking for Understanding, classroom assessment, Common Core - Mathematics, Deb Wahlstrom, Deborah Wahlstrom Superintendent, formative assessment, Graphs and Charts, Informational Writing, Instructional Strategies, Language Arts - WRITING, Literacy Standards for Science, Literacy Standards for Social Studies, Mathematics, Nonfiction Writing, Science, Social Studies, Writing to Learn 2 Comments

Write About Data in Graphs – Elementary

Writing is a tool for thinking and learning. It doesn’t matter what content area you teach, you’ll find many opportunities to help students think through writing.

This quick overview gives a couple of ideas for having students write about data from a line graph.

Download the overview sheet and examples of having elementary students write about data.

21st Century Skills, Analysis Questions, assessment, Checking for Understanding, classroom assessment, Common Core - Mathematics, Common Core State Standards - Science Reading Literacy, Deb Wahlstrom, Deborah Wahlstrom Superintendent, formative assessment, Graphs and Charts, Informational Writing, Instructional Strategies, line graph, Literacy in the Disciplines, Literacy Standards for Science, Literacy Standards for Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Vocabulary Post a Comment

Analysis Questions – Line Graphs

In this pdf, I’ve included examples of analysis questions for two different line graphs. Both of these are for the elementary level. For each set of questions, I’ve also included a large size of the graph that you can project and/or give students as they work to answer these questions.

Download the pdf of the Analysis Questions for a Line Graph.

Remember the Success Sequence: Draw, Talk, Write. Have the students use the visual and talk about the answers – preferably in a structured way as you call out the question. Then have students write about the graph.

April 9, 2010 21st Century Skills, America Diploma Project - Math, assessment, classroom assessment, Common Core - Mathematics, Content Cards, curriculum, curriculum alignment, Curriculum Development, data analysis, Deb Wahlstrom, Deborah Wahlstrom Superintendent, Fractions, Mathematics, Unpacking Standards Post a Comment

Content Card – Adding Fractions With LIKE Denominators

Fractions, fractions, fractions. For so many students, these are quite the challenge to learn. One of the first things that adults should do when students struggle with an area of the curriculum is to make sure we’ve clarified the content that students are to learn. As you know, one of the ways to do this is through content cards.

Download a full-size pdf of the fraction content card.

As always, please let me know if there’s anything that should be added to the card.

March 23, 2010 21st Century Skills, America Diploma Project - Math, Analysis Questions, assessment, Bar Graph, Checking for Understanding, classroom assessment, Common Core - Mathematics, data analysis, Deb Wahlstrom, Deborah Wahlstrom Superintendent, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics, Nonfiction Writing, Science, Social Studies, Unpacking Standards, Using Data to Improve Student Achievement Post a Comment

Analysis Questions – Bar Graphs

One of the simplest things you can do to help students think deeply about visual material is to write analysis questions for the different types of visuals you use with students. This example is for bar graphs – and I’ve included two examples to give you an idea of how these questions might look. (I’ll be adding a whole series of analysis questions for different types of visuals, so be sure to check back often and/or subscribe to this blog.)

Overview Sheet – Analysis Questions, Bar Graphs

Analysis Questions, Bar Graph, Band Instrument Choices

Analysis Questions, Bar Graph, 3D Movies

After students talk about the information in the graphs, based on the guiding questions you provide, have them write a summary of what the graph says. You can make this a short and sweet summary that uses bullet statements or you can have students write a full paragraph. When you give students a chance to talk about the questions BEFORE having them write, they’ll do a much better job with the summary.

Use the graphs. Get students talking about the information in the graphs. Watch them develop deeper understanding because you guided them through deeper thinking of the material. And as always, don’t forget to add your own good questions. You may even want to add some here!

March 12, 2010 21st Century Skills, America Diploma Project - Math, assessment, classroom assessment, Common Core - Mathematics, curriculum alignment, Curriculum Development, data analysis, Deb Wahlstrom, formative assessment, Instructional Learning Cycle, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics, Rubrics, Unpacking Standards, Using Data to Improve Student Achievement Post a Comment

Know Data, Know Answers

I want to share a piece I wrote a number of years ago. I love the rubrics designed by the fine folks at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, but I wanted to unpack the rubrics. By unpacking the rubrics, I can get to data that allows me to see the specific parts of the problem-solving process in mathematics for which students need help. I hope you’ll read the article and add an idea or two to your assessment toolkit. Download the article here.

Download a copy of Northwest’s Mathematics Problem Solving Grid.

March 11, 2010 assessment, classroom assessment, data analysis, Deb Wahlstrom, Deborah Wahlstrom Superintendent, formative assessment, Instructional Learning Cycle, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Kindergarten Writing, Language Arts - WRITING, Looking at Student Work, Rubrics, Smart Data, Using Data to Improve Student Achievement 1 Comment

Using Data to Form Flex Groups – Kindergarten Writing

You’ve likely heard about using data to inform student achievement. You’ve also likely used assessment data from your state tests to try and do that. There are many ways to use data, including the kinds of data you collect in your classroom. This short piece describes how to use data from a rubric to form flexible groups for instruction. Download the pdf to learn more about how to use this data strategy.