Pedagogic Strategies
Section 2.7 Assessments
Section 2.7
Example 2: A sample checklist for formative assessment- Oral presentations
Table B-2.7-ii
Criteria Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Adherence to
the theme The propositions put forward do not match the theme
The team seems to understand the gist of the topic
The team shows a thorough understanding of the topic in all its dimensions Content Most of the informa-
tion is inaccurate Most of the information
is clear and accurate The information given is clear, accurate, and detailed Organization of
ideas and fluency
Most of the argu- ments are not relevant and there are many transition- al jumps
Most of the arguments are relevant and there were just a few abrupt transitions
All arguments are relevant and there is a logical transition from one point of argument to another Vocabulary and
pronunciation The range of vocabulary is limited. Most of the words are mispro- nounced
The range of vocabulary is limited. Many of the words are mispro- nounced
A wide range of vocabulary is used. Pronunciation is appropriate.
2.7.2 Summative Assessment
Summative assessments can be conducted half-yearly or yearly. The specific purpose is to track the children’s progress as per learning outcomes. Normally these exams are heavily memo- ry-based, but the real intent of the summative assessment is to assess knowledge, understand- ing, application, and dispositions. Summative assessment can be quantified, and students can receive marks for these. It will help in getting a sense larger picture of the class and learning trajectory. Though summative assessment is often a paper-pencil test, teachers can also incorpo- rate oral tests, projects, and assignments as part of this process.
2.7.3 Techniques for Assessment
a. Portfolios: A portfolio is a file, folder, pocket, or space allocated for each child where actual work done by a child, over a period, is collected. It may include written material
(worksheets, samples of creative writing, test papers, reports of out-of-classroom activities, like a visit to the nearby post office, bank, etc.), drawings, pictures, or observations by the teachers, observations from others (letters to or by the child to or by friends, family
members, any other), craftwork (paper folding, paper cutting, origami, greeting cards, etc.), collections (leaves, textiles, stamps, list of books, etc.), recordings of oral activities or presentations by the child herself or himself (opinion or feelings of self for others, samples of self-assessment sheets on questions framed by teachers or even by children themselves).
b. Anecdotal Records: An anecdotal record is an examination that is written like a short story.
They are the explanation of occasions or events that are important to the person perceiving them. Anecdotal records are short, objective, and as correct as possible.
c. Checklists: Checklists usually offer a yes/no format concerning student illustration of criteria. This is like a light switch; the light is either on or off. They may be used in recording observations of an individual, a group, or a whole class.
d. Rating Scales: Rating Scales allow teachers to show the degree or frequency of the behaviours, skills, and strategies displayed by the learner. To continue the light switch analogy, a rating scale is like a feeble switch that provides scope for performance levels.
e. Observation: In observation, information about a child is collected in a natural setting inside and outside the classes with the help of observation.
f. Questions: Questions are the frequently applied tool for finding out what children know, think, imagine, and feel. A teacher, while teaching, comes to know of learning difficulties in children by asking questions. Questions may be of various types like essay-type questions, short answer type questions, very short answer type questions, and objective-type
questions.
Teacher’s Voice B-2.7-i (To be edited)
My journey with assessments
My name is Malavika, and I teach students of class 6. There are a total of 20 children in my class. Last week, I was supposed to teach and assess the following learning outcome for the children.
Students explain how authors use characters, conflict, point of view, voice, and tone to create meaning with supporting details from the text
This learning outcome has two parts.
a. Students must read the text and explain their opinion about the characters in it and the uniqueness of those characters.
b. Students identify points of conflict in the text and the tone of the text. This will require them to mark out details in the text and some reasoning.
So, keeping these in mind, I designed two kinds of activities for the students. I also had to plan how to assess the learning outcome.
Activity 1: The first activity was to read aloud the story to the students and ask them to discuss the characters in the story. They were to discuss the main and other characters among those. Later in this process, I asked the students to write about something they like about a character and how important that character is to the story.
Reading 1: The Camp by Girija Rani Asthana
Brief description of the story: We rarely do come across people who are willing to help others. Such people can change the world with their love and care. Here is an interesting
Looking at what the students wrote, I regrouped children based on the rubrics I had created for the next activity.
a. Level 1: Identifies the main character and supporting characters in the story.
b. Level 2: Writes about why they have liked a particular character in the story.
c. Level 3: Explains how any character is important to the story.
On checking students’ responses, I noticed that 12 students were able to achieve the first level and 4 students had reached the second level. The remaining four students struggled to achieve level 1, and I read out a different, simpler story to them. These four students then discussed the simpler story and wrote about the characters from this story.
Reading 2: Making A Mango Pickle- Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay
This revolves around a poor family. The main characters of the story are Apu and Durga.
Durga is a dark-complexioned beautiful girl, who loves to wander in nature, and Apu is her brother. The story reveals the beautiful relationship between the siblings.
This way, all the students learned how to observe and write about characters of a story. I put all their writing worksheets into their individual Student Portfolios.
Activity 2: The second activity was about identifying theme, conflict between characters, the author’s viewpoint, voice, and overall tone in the writing.
Reading 3: The Tiger in the Tunnel by Ruskin bond
Brief description of the story: The story is about an Indian family who faces the difficult reality of their existence with a sense of honour and duty. The story highlights through its characters’ lives and actions the place of service to society and protectiveness in relation to family.
I started the activity with students sharing their overall view of the story, listen to others’
views, and discussed the author’s viewpoint. All students expressed their views orally and while they presented, I assessed their ability to explain the point of view. For this activity, I had put down the following rubrics based on which I regrouped the class students.
a. Level 1: Identifies the main theme of the story.
b. Level 2: Identifies the main theme of the story as well as, distinguish the conflicts between the character in the story.
c. Level 3: Can identify the author’s point of view, voice, and tone to create meaning with supporting details from the text.
After assessing the students’ performance in the second activity, I realized, they were facing some difficulty to reach level 3.
I came back to class the next day with a few other stories to show the students how to identify the author’s point of view, voice, and tone with supporting details from the text. For example:
Reading 4: The Girl and the Mushrooms by Leo Tolstoy
Brief description of the story: Leo Tolstoy’s story about two sisters while carrying mush-
After sufficient examples and conversation for this learning outcome, I decided to consoli- date the overall performance of the students. I gave them one fresh text (Final reading) and asked a list of questions based on characters, conflict, author’s point of view, voice, and tone of the text.
Final reading: How Far is the river? by Ruskin Bond
Brief description of the story: How Far is the River by Ruskin Bond is a short story about a child who wants to discover a river which he has never seen in his life. Between the boy and the river, stands a tall mountain full of shrubs, trees, and forest. The boy is aware that beyond that mountain runs a river and he has never seen that river.
List of questions for students:
a. What is the main theme of the story?
b. Why does the boy want to see the river in the story?
c. How do you think the boy would have responded if the river was not there even after he crossed the mountain?
d. What is your opinion on the boy character of the story?
e. What is the author’s voice like across the two to three short stories you have read in the class? Can you identify his style of writing in anyway?
Based on the responses, I assessed all the students once again and located their performance in three levels as follows.
Level-1 Identifies the main theme, character(s), and supporting characters in the story
0 to 5 Marks (C)
Tells only characters of the story – 3 marks (in question one)
Answers the first question clearly describing the theme – 4 to 5 marks.
Level-2 Identifies the main theme of the story as well as distin- guish the conflicts between the character in the story.
5 to 7 Marks (B)
If a student answers this along with the first question (including no 2) clearly - 6 marks If a student has answered questions nos. 3 - 7 marks
Level-3 Can identify the point of view, voice, and tone to create meaning with supporting details from the text
7 to 10 Marks (A)
If a student has answered questions no4 - 8 marks If the student has answered question number 5 coherently- 9 to 10 marks