Assessment Commentary

Write the Assessment Commentary (no more than 8 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by providing your response to each of the prompts below. 1. Analyzing Student Learning a. Identify the specific standards/objectives from the lesson plans measured by the assessment chosen for analysis. Minnesota State Standards: 9.4.1.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 9.4.2.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. 9.4.3.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. Lesson Objectives: SWBAT identify and explore story elements with graphic organizers. SWBAT cite relevant textual evidence to support their claims in discussion and in writing. b. Provide the evaluation criteria you are using to analyze the student learning. The worksheet is worth a total of 5 points. Students work was assessed on the following: 1) completion (at least 4 entries per question) and 2) answers that are based in the text rather than on guesses. If students met both requirements, they scored 5 points; if they met some of the requirements, they scored 3 or 4 points; if students did not complete the worksheet or failed to turn it in, they received 0 points. c. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative summary of student learning for your whole class. Be sure to summarize student learning for all evaluation criteria described above.

Student Learning Summary

d. Use evidence found in the 3 student work samples and the whole class summary to analyze the patterns of learning for the whole class and differences for groups or individual learners relative to comprehending and making meaning from complex text interpreting and/or responding to complex text Consider what students understand and do well, and where they continue to struggle (e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater challenge). Most of my students were able to answer the first two questions (What does the character do? and What does the character say or think?) on their own, even if they did not go back to the text. They struggled much more with the last two questions (How do others feel about the character? and How does the character change?), which required them to draw some inferences (standard 9.4.1.1). If there were questions left blank, they were consistently the last two questions. In an effort to get students to do their best work from the beginning and help them learn as much as possible about the processes involved in comprehending a complex text, I asked them to first complete as much as they could individually with the text in front of them. Once they had reached the end of their individual abilities, I asked them to share with a classmate and add any new ideas to their own worksheets. When the sharing gave way to gossip and chatting, I brought them together as a large group, and we walked through the four questions together. As we went, I asked them to explain their thinking and to justify their answers with quotes from the text. Again, students were largely able to point to evidence to support their responses for the first two questions, but the last two questions took some time. Those last questions directly address standards 9.4.2.2 and 9.4.3.3, so this worksheet was a great way for me to demonstrate the process of looking for evidence that implicitly supports an answer. My chart shows that the majority of students scored a 5/5, but the worksheet was assessed after our large group discussion; in other words, what students actually ended up being graded on was their willingness to add to their answers during discussion and whether or not they remembered to turn the worksheet in. Even so, I was able to informally assess each students understanding quickly based on how many of our discussion points were on each worksheet. If a student had only a few responses and they were all things we covered in discussion, he or she probably didnt do much individual work; similarly, if a student had additional ideas that were not discussed, he or she likely had a grasp of the depth of characterization. For example, note the responses to question 3 on the student work samples. All three students mention something about bravery (directly stated in the text), pity or sympathy (discussed as a large group), and the fact that the boy was tricked into volunteering to go through the pipe (discussed as a large group). These three students paid attention during the discussion, like most of their classmates. Student 1 has her response about the other diggers treating the boy like family near the top of her list; this was another idea that we discussed as a large group, and I believe it was one that she brought up for discussion. Student 1 is one of my gifted students, and I see it constantly in her work. 2. Feedback to Guide Further Learning Refer to specific evidence of submitted feedback to support your explanations. a. In what form did you submit your evidence of feedback for the 3 focus students? Written directly on work samples or in a separate document;

In audio files; or In video clip(s) from the instruction task (provide a time-stamp reference) or in a separate video clip? Written directly on work samples

b. Explain how feedback provided to the 3 focus students addresses their individual strengths and needs relative to the standards/objectives measured. All three focus students met the requirements and demonstrated progress toward meeting the objectives and standards, so I gave them a 5/5. I did not provide additional written feedback at the time. When 9th graders see a perfect score, they dont look any further; anything else I would have written on their worksheets would have been ignored. However, I took each students individual strengths and needs into consideration when scoring their worksheets. c. How will you support students to apply the feedback to guide improvement, either within the learning segment or at a later time? As I have previously stated, I intend to use this same graphic organizer for one or two more stories in our unit. The next time students encounter the character worksheet, it will be in the context of a new story, and they will have a chance to apply my guidance from our discussion to their own individual work. 3. Evidence of Language Understanding and Use You may provide evidence of language use with your video clips from Task 2 AND/OR through the student work samples analyzed in Task 3. Refer to examples from the clip(s) (with time stamps) and/or student work samples as evidence. a. Explain the extent to which your students were able to use language (selected function, vocabulary, and additional identified demands) to develop content understandings. The language function for this learning segment has to do with analyzing short story elements; during this assessment, students learned what it means to analyze a particular aspect of a text. I like to explain analysis as taking something apart and putting it back together to see the relationship between the parts and the whole. In the case of this character, we picked apart the different ways in which the author characterized him, and then put those pieces back together to get a better picture of the character as a whole. I was very pleased that students followed me to the point of putting it back together; many students would quit after taking everything apart. Our analysis of the character as a whole led us directly into the box at the bottom of the organizer that is labeled 5. Authors theme or point of view. Student 3s work sample proves the depth of students analysis as a whole class. Together, we came up with the theme of family extending beyond biological relations. That theme runs throughout the story, but it is buried beneath the obvious struggle of the boy against his own fear; I was extremely proud of my students for reaching that deeper level of analysis and not settling for the obvious. I told students to write our theme down, but did not specify that it had to be on this graphic organizer. Student 2 probably just chose to write it down elsewhere. 4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction

a. Based on your analysis of student learning presented in prompts 1cd, describe next steps for instruction for the whole class for the three focus students and other individuals/groups with specific needs Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/support (e.g., students with IEPs, English language learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted students). As a class, my students need more work on standards 9.4.1.1, 9.4.2.2, and 9.4.3.3, which deal with a solid, text-based analysis of complex characters. We will certainly do another character analysis. The three focus students, who are all bright and can be guided to make connections on their own, will likely catch on next time they see this organizer. Other students, like the one on a 504 plan and my one suspected English language learner, will probably need just as much support next time as they did this time. My struggling readers will need as much practice as I can give them. When students have trouble discerning the things that are explicitly stated in a text, navigating the implicit statements can be nearly impossible. For our next story, I would like to give students the same worksheet and see how much they can do on their own after my guidance the first time around. Then I can reassess their understanding of and familiarity with the process and adjust for the next time if necessary. If I wind up with a handful of students who dont even know where to start and another handful who are finished before we even start, I will look for a way to pair those students up and help each other. In that way, my struggling students will receive one-on-one support, and my gifted students will be challenged to explain themselves. b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of student learning. Support your explanation with principles from research and/or theory. (see response to #4a above)