Chapter 9: Lesson Plans and Assessments
Comments(2) The chapter’s development and focus of lesson plans and assessment strategies I found to be incredibly practical and relatable. It seemed to finally put together all of the theories, strategies, and example activities and how they can be effectively put to practice in different classroom environments.
That being said, I wish that this format and general summarization had been introduced earlier on in the course. Using lesson plans and assessment strategies as a framework to base the various techniques studied would have allowed more tangible ideas and possible activities to be envisioned for future lesson plans. Perhaps this is my own learning bias, but given examples that I can take and reshape to specific classroom settings that I will encounter would have allowed me to better appreciate what has been reviewed. Providing the structure and the details about how to organize components of lesson plans and incorporate different techniques within different stages, may have better emphasized the significance and impact of activities such as read alouds or visual organizers for example.
Thank you for putting into words exactly what I was thinking as I read through chapter nine. I agree that reading this chapter earlier in the semester would have been beneficial for me prior to beginning my short practicum. That being said, this chapter does summarize many of the key assessment strategies and lesson planning concepts that we have discussed briefly in class.
I think that this chapter would have given me a much better understanding of the differences between diagnostic, summative, and performance assessment. I think that the information regarding assessment rubrics also would have been extremely useful for me because I found assessment to be a bit problematic at times. It would have been great to see an example before I started the short practicum to ensure that I gave the students the clarification they need. I also agree with you that being given specific assessment techniques might have been useful to read about earlier in the semester. Learning about visual organizers or pre-reading and pre-writing techniques would have given me a basic understanding of useful activities to use in the classroom. Luckily, I have now read the chapter and I think that I could easily put these activities into practice in the future.
Erin Milne
Though the chapter and overall book has some flaws, I found this text to be incredibly helpful. The information it provided about teaching and understanding ELLs has opened my eyes to new perspectives and new techniques that I had never considered previously. I have found that, out of the numerous texts I have read so far in this program, this text is the most applicable to the everyday classroom situation and has the most practical advice, which translates directly to the management of a classroom and the planning of lessons. The activities and techniques described in this text are applicable to effectively teaching our content areas as well as to the teaching of academic language and I believe that I will use many of the techniques in this book numerous times, as I plan lessons for my practicum and further teaching.
I agree that this chapter (Chapter 9) is particularly helpful because it integrates much of the information from the other chapters into more fully developed lesson plans, which gives readers a clearer idea of how to use these activities and strategies in a broader context.
One of the elements of the chapter that I thought was most interesting was the use of rubrics. I have always viewed rubrics as a method of assessment that defined the criteria for grading. However, this chapter broadened my understanding of what rubrics can be used for and how they can enhance, not just evaluate, learning. Having the students create their own rubrics is an excellent way to discuss expectations for what the students should know about their content area. This helps the students to focus on the most important information when doing research and creating their products. It also works to give the students a sense of autonomy and create a more democratic classroom environment. I also like the idea of having the students assess their own and other students’ works using rubrics. This helps the students to fully comprehend what good quality products are and how to create them. It is especially helpful if the students are able to edit and rework their product before the final assessment of the teacher. These methods of using rubrics will undoubtedly improve students’ learning as well as the quality of their final products.
Melanie Reich