Assessment Plan

PURPOSE: The purpose of this assessment plan is to use children's interest in boxes to explore important social studies and science concepts and use skills in math and language. The children will learn how to describe attributes of different objects.

LEARNING OUTCOME: Upon completion of the unit, the Pre-K students will be able to describe at least two physical properties of boxes: weight, size, shape, color, or texture.

ASSESSMENT CONTEXT: During center time, provide a collection of five different shaped boxes. Ask the student questions like, what shapes do you see on these boxes (shape), which box is heavier/lighter (weight), which box is big/small (size), what colors are the boxes (color)and does the box feel bumpy or smooth (texture)?

HOLISTIC RUBRIC:

LEVEL	SAMPLE OBJECTIVES	EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
KNOWLEDGE	Students will be able to recall the different shapes of each box.	What shapes do you notice on the boxes?
COMPREHENSION	Students will be able to describe multiple attributes of each box.	Can you describe the box to me?
ANALYSIS	Students will be able to compare the boxes to determine the size of the box.	Which boxes are big and whic boxes are small?

Holistic Rubric for Boxes Unit
Response	Criteria	Rating
Proficient	Clarity of thought, Complete. Shows understanding of all processes, reasonable responses to questions, shows understanding, some verbal representation of concepts.	10
Competent	Clarity of thought, shows understanding of major processes, includes good questions, acceptable inferences and may have verbal representations.	9
In Progress	Completes the assignment, but explanations may be slightly ambiguous or unclear, may contain some incompleteness, inappropriateness, or unclearness in representation.	6
Nearly Satisfactory	Begins successfully, but omits significant parts or fails to complete, may misuse describing terms, representations may be incorrect, incorrect or incomplete in analysis	5
Fails to complete	Assignment and explanation is unclear or major flaws in concept mastery, incorrect use of description terms.	3
Not Yet	Product does not reflect the assignment, does not distinguish what information is needed, and restates the question without making an attempt at a solution.	1
No attempt	Does not begin to participate in the assignment.	0

TESTING CONSTAINTS: The only testing constraint is that only one child will be able to visit the block area at the time of assessing.  There will not be anyone in the area but the child that is being tested and the teacher.  I will also impose two of the same size boxes, but in different areas to see if students will notice that the boxes are the same size.

My Reasoning behind the Test and Essay Items

My thought process behind the test items was to make the "test" feel like play as much as possible. The only difference between the test and a regular day is that each child will feel like they have Mrs. TaNesha all to themselves, because I would only test one child at a time. I would create myself a checklist to make this process easier and keep my camera ready for any photo taking opportunities. The test items cover information that we have discussed numerous of times throughout the study of boxes. The essay item will simply address everything we have discussed and will give the children the option to select which aspect of boxes they chose to discuss.

****Picture borrowed from shirt.woot.com****

  

Boxes

Last week I received new school supplies for the classroom.  As I unpacked the box, I was ecstatic about the things that were inside the box and the children seemed to be more happy about the actual box.  I continued to take the supplies out and tried to explain what each item was, they still did not appear to be too happy.  Once I completed removal of the supplies, I placed the box in the block area.  The children raced to the back carpet and no one wanted to go to any of the other centers.  I thought long and hard this weekend about a new study unit and then it hit me, why not discuss boxes.  Boxes are functional and full of play possibilities.  Boxes are open-ended.  Children like to put things in them and dump things out.  They like to make special play spaces in boxes; they make spaceships one day and castles or caves the next.  Gifts often arrive in boxes.  Boxes contain the food people eat.  Children also see adults using boxes regularly.  They see people delivering boxes, opening boxes, and packing and stacking boxes.  They see people in trucks picking up boxes and carrying them away.


This study will show how to use children's interest in boxes to explore important social studies and science concepts and use skills in literacy, math, technology, and the arts. I have included test items immediately following each ojective to suport the learning outcomes.

Upon completion of the unit, the Pre-K students will be able to:

1. Describe at least two physical properties of boxes: weight, size, shape, color, or texture.

Test Item: Provide a collection of differently shaped boxes. Ask questions like, what shapes do you see on these boxes (shape), which box is heavier/lighter (weight), which box is big/small (size), what colors are the boxes (color)and does the box feel bumpy or smooth (texture)? Write down answers.

2. Line up boxes from smallest to largest.

Test Item: Provide a collection of different sized boxes, making sure that no two boxes are the same size. Place a long piece of tape on the left side of floor and a very small piece of tape on the right. Ask the child to place the boxes in order from smallest to largest or largest to smallest. Take pictures.

3. Sort between recyclables and non-recyclables.

 Test Item: Provide two bins. Put a recycling sticker on one and leave the other blank. Supply an equal number of items that are recyclable and those that are not recyclable. Instruct child to sort the recyclable and the non-recyclables. Take pictures or check off checklist.

Essay Item: Instruct the students to; Look at the boxes on the table. Use the paper and writing utensil to draw a picture of what you see. Tell me three things you see or know about the boxes.

***Because these learning outcomes are specific to pre-kindergarteners, I will write their answer to the essay questions.

                                             ***Picture borrowed from shelterness.com***