Assessment Strategies

Four ways I would fit assessment into a lesson plan:

1. Questioning: Throughout the lesson, I would ask my students questions to get feedback on their understanding. This will help me know if I need to slow down, go back, or move on. This is an informal, formative type of assessment, and it's helpfulness can be underestimated. It can provide so much information that can change the direction of the lesson or keep it on track. 

2. Discussion: At some point in the lesson, I would have a discussion with the class. I would probably do this either at the beginning of the lesson to see what students know and get them interested in the lesson, or I would do it after some practice with the topic to see if the lesson worked. This is also an informal and formative type of assessment. 

3. Performance Assessment or Quiz: I would give my students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned from the lesson. I put performance OR quiz because sometimes I would do a performance assessment where students can show me what they've learned. And other times I would give a quiz for those students who prefer quizzes and tests over performing what they know. 

4: Reflection: At the end of the lesson, I would have my students write a few sentences on what they thought about the lesson. I would have them write something they learned from the lesson, something they liked about the lesson, and something they disliked about the lesson.

This chart was given to our Elementary Education 422 science class by Mrs. Patty Stinger-Barnes. I believe she said she kept a copy of this for years and eventually cleaned it up and retyped it into the format below, but she did not keep up with where the chart originally came from. I feel that this will be very helpful to all of us as we will soon have to devise ways to assess students. 

What Tools Should I Use for Assessing Learning?

Overview of Alternative Assessment Approaches

Assessment Ideas for Individuals and Groups

Tests	Products/Projects	Performances	Process Skills
Multiple Choice	Ads	Activities	Anecdotal records
True/False	Advice Column	Announcements	Checklist of observations for processes
Matching	Artifacts	Anthems	Concept Mapping
Fill in the Blank	Audiocassettes	Apologies	Conferences – teacher & peer
Short Answer	Autobiographies	Ballads	Debriefing interviews
Essay	Banners	Beauty tips	Debriefing questioning for lesson closure
	Blueprints	Campaign speeches	Experience checklists
	Book reviews	Character sketches	Interactional analyses
	Books	Charades	Interviews
	Brochures	Classroom maps	Invented dialogues
	Bulletin boards	Commercials	Journal entries regarding processes
	Cartoons	Cooperative Learning/Grp. Activities	Learning Logs
	Case Studies	Dances	Metaphor analyses
	Collages	Debates	Observations
	Computer creations	Demonstrations	Oral Questioning
	Costumes of characters	Discussions	Process-folios
	Crossword puzzles	Dramas	Question production
	Databases	Exercise routines	Responses to reading
	Diaries of historical periods	Experiments	Retelling in your own words
	Directories	Explanations	Tailored responses
	Displays	Fashion Shows	Tell how they did something and justify the approach
	Drawings	Field Trips
	Foods of a country or time period	Interactive book reviews
	Games	Interviews
	Graphs, charts, diagrams	Introductions
	Graphic Organizers	Jingles
	Handbooks	Job Interviews
	How-to books	Jump rope rhymes
	In-class group essays	Laboratory Experiments
	Job applications	Person on the street interviews
	Job descriptions	News reports
	Journals	Oral histories of events
	Lab Reports	Pantomimes
	Learning Centers	Plays
	Learning Logs	Presentations
	Letters to parents, editors, TV station or business	Psychomotor skills development
	Maps	Puppet shows
	“Me Bag” for introductions	Reports
	Mobiles	Role Plays
	Movies Reviews	Sales Pitches
	Newspapers	Simulations
	Pamphlets	Singing of songs from historical periods
	Parents Job descriptions	Skits
	Patterns	Sociograms
	Peer editing critiques	Song writing to fit a topic
	Pen-pal letters	Speeches
	Photographs	Spoofs
	Picture dictionaries	Storytelling
	Portfolios	Surveys
	Posters	Tongue Twisters
	Product descriptions	TV Talk Shows
	Projects	Verbal Comparisons
	Proposals	Warnings
	Protest letters	Weather Reports
	Questionnaires
	Research Centers
	Research Papers
	Resumes
	Reviews of a TV program
	Scrapbooks
	Short Stories
	Simulation games
	Slide presentations
	Soap Opera parodies
	Story Illustrations
	Student Kept Charts
	Timelines
	Travel Folders
	Videotapes
	Want Ads
	Work Products
	Writing Portfolios